I agree!!!! - well said!!!! -----Original Message----- From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of J Perchalski Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 12:54 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Apologies Just saw the posts about Tom Slater and wish I had seen them sooner. I don't know who personally decided that Tom was unfit for our elite group, and I guess I don't really want to know. But if people had reacted that way to Jean and I during our early postings, we would have been long gone to, and would have missed a wonderful learning experience. As it was, the folks on this mailing list, from the newest to the old experienced birders were very reassuring, nurturing and encouraging, and we are better birders for it. If this is the way we react to new members now, someone needs to remind me when the change came about, so I can help change it back to the way it used to be. My take on Tom's posts was that he was prepared to exchange his long experience with photography for some education about birds, and I for one was looking forward to that. If we cannot lure Tom back to give us a second chance, I certainly hope that we can at least encourage our existing members to not behave this way in the future. There is no-one in this group who knows so much that there is nothing more for them to learn (and if there was, they wouldn't have need of our list anyway). The Ohio birding community needs to rethink its priorities if we are to remain a "community" and continue to hold ourselves up to the rest of the birding world as a group to be emulated. Sorry, Tom. Jean & John Perchalski ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]