Text Box: GLEN ECHO PARK ACTIVITIES Text Box: ADVENTURE THEATRE The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe November 17-26 Weekends at 11:00 and 1:30 Tickets: $12.00 Call 301-634-2270 Text Box: THE PUPPET THEATRE The Three Billy Goats Gruff Through November 21 The Nutcracker November 28-December 31 Wednesday through Friday, 10:00 & 11:30 Saturdays & Sundays, 11:30 & 1:00 Tickets: $8.00 Call 301-320-6668 Text Box: YELLOW BARN STUDIO & GALLERY Individual and group art exhibits can be viewed every Saturday and Sunday from noon-5:00 p.m. Exhibits change weekly. Text Box: LETTER TO THE EDITOR Upon returning home from a week in "Mother Chautauqua" in southwest New York, I was bemused to read in the October Echo about our town's efforts (and $1200 expense) to find a new home for bats, away from the Town Hall’s attic and shutters, where they were leaving a mess of droppings. Just the prior week, I'd been propagandized by residents about the special role of bats in Chautauqua, NY. That community works hard to attract and then protect its bats and is known as one of the world's most bat-friendly communities. Its history dates back 50 years in which bats, rather than pesticides, are used to control mosquitoes, especially in the late summer when bat activity is at its height. (Chautauqua, NY becomes, in the summer, a resort community with a 9-week summer season, attracting, on average 7,000 persons per day, to its lectures, dance and music performances, art classes, religious services, etc. Many of these activities are held outdoors, at dusk when bats fly outside looking for food.) Residents brag that the town has virtually no mosquitoes, attributable to their bats. (A single brown bat will eat 600 mosquitoes in an hour.) While bats could be carriers of rabies, none of the many bats sent to NY State public health laboratories (2002-06) tested positive for rabies. Bat motifs are found all over that town – metal lawn ornaments and logos on t-shirts, jewelry, etc., attesting to the town's affection for their bats. The Chautauqua Area Bat Association encourages the construction of bat habitats, both by providing free plans and by selling ready-made bat houses. Being scrumptious to mosquitoes every summer, I, for one, am delighted that our town has provided a welcome, custom-made habitat for our bats. One day, we may vie for runner-up status in bat honors. Gloria Levin Text Box: TREASURER’S REPORT September 2008 Dennis Alexander (auditor) $2,271.48 Tim McDowell (bat removal at T.H.) $1,700.00 Edward E. Paden (Oxford Rd. traffic mgmt. $350.00