Sarvey Wildlife Center

A Volunteers Story
by Will Miller

I remember the day like it was just last week, I was in fifth grade and we were going to have an educational speaker. Her name was Kaye Baxter and she was to teach us about the importance of Birds of Prey and their role in the environment. It was a blast, she taught us about Owls, Hawks and Falcons. When Barnie the Barn Owl had an accident on the floor she told us how it wasn't funny and we should not laugh at him. "Don't you laugh, why is it so funny? Is it funny when you raise your hand and ask to go to the bathroom? When he has to go, he just does it, there's nothing funny about it so quit your laughing." If any of you have ever been lectured by Kaye you know how we felt. That day I learned a great deal from her, but the one thing I learned that seemed of little importance at the time, was the one thing that would matter. At the end of her lesson she said "until we meet again". Her people, who are also mine, do not say goodbye, they say "until we meet again," because goodbye is forever. I didn't really think twice about it until a few years later, I was a sophomore in high school and doing volunteer work at a fifth grade outdoor education camp. My how the tables had turned, I was the one guiding the children and helping them on the road to success. While at the camp we were to have a guest speaker, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the same one that I had when I was in fifth grade. Again she taught us about the different birds and the importance they have to the world we live in. After the show, I approached her to talk some more about the birds and she gave me her card. I was supposed to call her sometime to come up to the Center and do some work. I didn't have a car and my parents weren't going to drive from Goldbar to Arlington just so I could work with wild animals. When we parted she told me she'd see me again, I said goodbye. I filed the card in my wallet and didn't see it again until two years later. It was my freshman year in college, being the smart one that I am I opted to get my two year degree at Everett Community College instead of spending an arm and a leg at a four year university. One day I was cleaning out my wallet and ran into an old business card for Sarvey Wildlife Care Center. Well I called Sarvey and the next thing you know I was at the Wildlife Center for four hours a day, once a week. Four hours became six, and six became about fourteen to twenty depending on the week. Now I'm almost finished with my freshman year of college and I'm at the center as often as possible. On some occasions I'm the one out with Kaye giving the same education programs that I sat through as a teen. I work with all kinds of animals and have the pleasure of working with a Great Horned Owl named Hear-No-Evil. Sometimes I wonder if I will one day meet a young volunteer that reminds me of the time when I came out to their school and helped to teach them about the Raptors we share the world with.