Hello everyone.

Thanks for all of the lovely feedback on last month's newsletter. Remember, it was written by all of you, not by me. I'm just the editor. It certainly was heart-warming to put together though. It is wonderful to see how John touched so many people in so many ways.

With the holiday's approaching I start to think on things that I am thankful for. I want you all to know that I am thankful for each and every one of you for being a part of my life in such a wonderful way. This past year has been one of very mixed emotions and having this group along the way has made it more bearable for many of us.

We are still looking for input into our logo contest. There are now two on the webpage (http://members.aol.com/tybrenn/index.html). Hopefully this will inspire some of you to want to submit a design too. If interested, please send your design to Sandy (tybrenn@aol.com) so she can display it on the page as well. Everyone will get a chance to vote on the final logo.

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Quote of the month:

The month's quote is from Karen in NY, the author is unknown:

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Fundraisers:

Get those recipes out! It's time to submit them for "Cyber Cookbook - The Sequel". Last year's cookbook was a big success and raised almost $500 for The Hunger Project. Let's make this cookbook an even bigger success. We can do it with your help. Please submit all recipes via e-mail to Sandy (tybrenn@aol.com) and include the word "Recipe" in the subject heading. If the submitted recipes are not your own original recipes, please include a reference to your source. Recipes should be in text format and should be cut-and-pasted into you e-mail message. Please do not attach files. You should also include your name (first is sufficient), your e-mail address, and your location Please let us know if we may include this information in the cookbook along with your recipe. If you would like, you may also include a brief thought, poem, tribute, etc. about John Denver. It will be placed in the cookbook just after your recipe. Price and ordering information will be available in the future.

Don't forget to contact me to vote for which charity to donate proceeds from the Holiday Party to. You do not have to be attending the party to vote. The choices are: Plant-It 2000, The JD Meadowlands (actually through the NADF), or High Winds Ranch. Votes must be received by 12/1 to be included.

Would you like to contribute to the JD Memorial Bench in Central Park? The bench costs $5,000 and last I knew they are almost there! There is a JD web site with color photo's of the memorial site and info on it: http://www.johndenver.net/newyork

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Adopt-A-Highway

There is an effort started by Evelyn Pinney and the Colorado Friends of JD to have a national highway cleanup in May 1999. Let's see if we can include all states. Please consider looking into adopting a section of highway, a visibility site, etc. for this coming spring.

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Gatherings:

We had a small, but wonderful gathering of IAT members at Melissa Blake's home on 11/8. There were about 20 or so people. Music was provided by Paul Swanton and Kevin Yeargin. Thanks so much to Melissa and to all who were involved in making the day so warm and special.

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Environmental Issues:

I received an urgent phone call from the NWF today. They have a deadline of NOV 30 to attempt to stop the killing of buffalo in Montana. For those not aware of the situation, buffalo are being shot and killed upon crossing an INVISIBLE BARRIER in Montana. Now, I don't know about you, but I suspect the buffalo aren't aware that they are crossing any barriers! I'm so outraged by this situation! They have asked me to contact as many of you as possible and ask you to all spread the word too. Send this information to ANYONE you can think of! Please contact the NWF through either the webpage http://www.nwf.org or by calling them at 703-790-4000. Remember they need these funds desperately by Nov 30. I urge you all to do this in John's memory. I'm sure he would want us to do all we can to stop the senseless killing of God's innocent creatures. THANK YOU!!!!

INFORMATION ON THE JOHN DENVER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP In order to honor the life and memory of a good friend, JOHN DENVER, The International Center of Tropical Ecology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis has established an endowment scholarship in his name. Family friends have donated $25,000 in the way of a challenge grant, with the hope that The International Center for Tropical Ecology can raise an additional $25,000 or more. This endowment scholarship will be perpetual and keep John's name and vision alive, a vision which challenges us to take responsibility for the future of our planet, including the wildly diverse tropical forest. The scholarship will help students from all over the world to obtain a graduate education and conduct research in tropical biodiversity conservation. The International Center for Tropical Ecology awarded John it's FIRST WORLD ECOLOGY MEDAL in 1990. When John accepted the medal he called on all Americans to learn more about environmental issues and said the "the biggest part of the problem is educating people about the environmental problems on this planet." The 1991 medal was awarded to Jacques Cousteau and subsequent winners have included Prince Sudadrin Aga Khan, President Jose Maria Figueres of Costa Rica and Richard Leakey. Obviously, this is a very prestigious award. It was awarded to John because tropical rain forest conservation was one of his great concerns. "We feel a personal loss in his death," said Dr. Bette Loiselle, Director of the International Center for Tropical Ecology. "John Denver helped raise the profile of the environment and the need to live sustainably". The saving and preservation of the tropical rainforest was of a great concern to John. John's commitment to environmental conservation and human rights is evident not only in the numerous organizations he supported but also reflected in people who knew him. One such person is Jeanne Fair, who is a graduate student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the Department of Biology. After spending much of her childhood in Aspen, Colorado, Jeanne went to first study music in college and then switched to ecology. John as a child, Jeanne says positively influenced her in many ways by his untiring enthusiasm for life, and the environment. Jeanne is completing a Ph.D. in Ecology in the same program that awarded John that first World Ecology Medal. She hopes to continue John Denver's commitment to environmental conservation around the world and is proud to be part of the International Center of Tropical Ecology that John Denver supported.

If we all could give a donation in John's name to help fulfill the scholarship, we all, in our own way could help honor his memory . This is a fitting tribute because he cared so much about the environment. If you wish to donate to this endowed scholarship in memory of JOHN DENVER, please send a check to :

Please make the check payable to The International Center for Tropical Ecology and under the memo portion of the check, please indicate that this money is to go to the John Denver Endowment Research Scholarship. Each donation is tax deductible and a receipt will be sent back to you. For more information, the website for the International Center for Tropical Ecology is http://ecology.umsl.edu/~biology/icte

From Miriam in MA: The Dallas Morning News Wednesday, November 4, 1998; Page A23 Despite Name Change, Agency Can't Shed Killer Image USDA Unit That Hunts Livestock Predators Is Under Attack; Foes Allege Cruelty to Animals, Subsidy for Ranchers By Doug J. Swanson

'It's war out there on the western range. Each year, federal government hunters kill about 100,000 coyotes, bobcats, feral hogs and mountain lions to protect livestock. They shoot them from airplanes, grab them with traps or poison them with cyanide. But the bigger battle now might be raging on the public relations front, where Old West attitudes collide with New West sensitivities. Not for nothing did the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Damage Control program change its name last year. The new, more creature-friendly title: Wildlife Services. Or, as agency spokeswoman Robin Porter said, "I call it the lifestyle protection program." The agency has fewer than 300 employees and its annual budget of $10 million for predator control is a drop in the sea of federal spending. The name change notwithstanding, this small, obscure agency has continued one of its main jobs, the killing of animals that prey on sheep and cattle. Last year, it eliminated 14,500 coyotes in Texas alone, more than in any other state. Its mission stirs passions. The agency has attracted the opposition of several advocacy groups dedicated to the demise of Wildlife Services-a name that many critics won't use. "We refuse to honor the name," said Nancy Zierenberg of Wildlife Damage Review, an environmental group in Tucson. "We believe they're not doing anything to service wildlife at all." Critics say the agency brutalizes animals and wastes money in the process. "Public money is being spent to kill publicly owned wildlife . . . for the benefit of a small percentage of private livestock producers," said a recent report by the Montana-based Predator Project. Added a publication of the Wildlife Damage Review: "This taxpayer-supported program is a government subsidy to the livestock industry and is driven by predator prejudice." Some have gone further to express their hostility. In June, arsonists destroyed two buildings near Olympia, Wash., that housed Wildlife Services research. The shadowy Animal Liberation Front took responsibility. The group said in a "communique" that it had "decided to have a bonfire (or two) at facilities which make it a daily routine to kill and destroy wildlife." Wildlife Services officials said studies at the labs dealt with nonlethal control of animals, such as the use of bear repellents. "We lost two years of research valued at about $1.3 million," said agency spokeswoman Porter. "They burned taxpayer money, basically." This kind of virulent opposition has made the agency extremely self-conscious. Still reeling from a congressional attack on their funding in June, agency officials do not wish to put the details of their predator-control efforts on display. Gary Nunley, Texas director for Wildlife Services, refused a reporter's request to watch his hunters work. Added Porter, "We are not going to show you animals dead in traps. . . . It's not sensitive to the public." Instead, Wildlife Services presents itself as an operation dedicated to deterring coyotes instead of killing them. Agency brochures show pictures of healthy mountain lions and bears. The annual report speaks of the "removal" of predators, not their deaths. Agency employees often feel under siege, Porter said. " You couldn't imagine the amount of death threats I get on a daily basis." A recent caller, she said, left this message on her voice mail: "I'm going to track you dow and shoot you down like a coyote." In Texas, the agency spends about $5 million a year on hunting animals that kill livestock. About three-fourths of that comes from state and county funding as well as fees paid by ranchers. Each year in the state, predatory animals kill sheep and cattle worth an estimated $11 million, according to USDA figures. Coyotes represent the major predator problem, ranchers say. "They're a wily species," said William Edmiston, president of the Texas Sheep and Goat Predator Management Board, an industry group. Some ranchers respect the cunning of coyotes but curse their ways. "You have to respect them because of the way they have survived over the years," said Joel Dennis, a Borden County, Tex., sheep rancher. "But if you have ever seen a mutilated sheep that has not been killed. . . . Sometimes they eat [part of] them and leave them alive. That is the most disheartening sight I can think of." In 1995, according to federal surveys, coyotes killed 19,000 calves in Texas. The year before, they killed 27,000 sheep and lambs. Of the coyotes put to death by federal hunters last year in Texas, about 5,300 fell victim to the M-44, a baited device that ejects a poisonous sodium cyanide mixture into their mouths. Some 1,850 were gunned down from airplanes or helicopters. Another 4,900 were shot after being caught in neck snares set along fence lines, according to government statistics. The setting of snares apparently is high-security work. "We don't need anyone going along and messing up the trap lines," said Nunley, who oversees operations in Texas. "The employee has a job to do there. He doesn't need to be taking people with him." On many West Texas ranch lands, the coyote hunter is treated in the same manner that a homeowner with a rat problem gratefully regards the exterminator. Dennis, 53, raises sheep on his Flying D Ranch about 60 miles southeast of Lubbock. A Wildlife Services trapper usually visits his ranch twice a week, he said. "He's looking at fences, he's looking for tracks on the ground." In a typical year on his ranch, Dennis said, coyotes or bobcats will kill as many as 75 lambs, and government hunters will take 100 or more coyotes. Despite that, he said, the coyote population remains strong. "No matter how hard you hunt them, they will always be there." But if federal predator control were to vanish, Dennis said, "I would disappear, too." In June, the House voted to cut $10 million from Wildlife Services, a move that would have eliminated predator control in the West. Agency allies mounted a defense, and a second vote the next day restored the funding. Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) vowed to challenge the agency again next year. "He thinks it's wasteful and cruel," said Kathie Eastman, an aide to DeFazio. The cruelty argument doesn't carry much weight with some. "He [the coyote] is living on me and he's eating on me," said Edmiston. On other fronts, critics have tried to embarrass the agency by exposing its inner workings. But getting information has not been easy, they say. Jay Tutchton, a Denver lawyer, had to sue to get data on buffalo killings near Yellowstone National Park. The buffalo were feared to be carrying the bacterial infection brucellosis. He said Wildlife Services drags its feet when dealing with such requests. "They send a letter that says, if you don't like it, screw you," he said. Responded Porter: "That is completely uncharacteristic of the federal government." Critics also have tried to determine which ranchers are the beneficiaries of predator-control services. The agency generally refuses to release those names on privacy grounds. After being sued in New Mexico, the agency did reveal the names of some ranchers using government hunters. Among them, said anti-agency activist Pat Wolff, was newsman-rancher Sam Donaldson and Rep. Joe Skeen (R-N.M.). Those who are fighting the agency say they will step up their efforts. Wildlife Services, meanwhile, continues to promote the image of an agency that will, in the words of its mission statement, "improve the coexistence of people and wildlife." As for the coexistence of the agency and its critics, that might resemble the relationship of ranchers and coyotes, as described by Edmiston. "They can coexist," he said, "but they can't peacefully coexist." ' (c) Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

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Up-Coming Events:

Email either Sandy (tybrenn@aol.com) or myself (morswell@earthlink.net) with what type of item you will be bringing. Sandy will then post the list on the webpage so that people can see what types of culinary delights to expect and to help those that can't make up their minds with what types of dishes are needed most. Remember to vote for either Plant-It 2000, The JD Meadowlands at the Windstar Land Conservancy (through the NADF), or High Winds Ranch. There will also be items for sale and for silent auction. If you have ANY items to donate, whether JD related or not that you would like to contribute, they would be more than welcome. There will be music provided by wonderful performers such as Paul Swanton, Val Cooper, Kevin Yeargin and Chris Westfall. If you are interested in volunteering in any way, please let me know. We appreciate all the help we can get. Especially with set-up (1:00pm) and clean-up. I have put together directions to the church so email me if you would like them.

From Ann Schnitz in DE: My friend Charlie Zahm will be performing a JD Memorial Concert on December 6 at O'Friel's Irish Pub, 706 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware. Anyone in the area should come check this out! Charlie will be performing John's music with three other folksingers. His usual repertoire includes Celtic and Maritime songs and he has a wonderful baritone that makes John's songs sound really lovely.

From Val in CA: California Friends of John Denver Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 30th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. It will be at the Huntington Beach Library and Cultural Resource Center at 7111 Talbert Ave. in Huntington Beach. The cross street is Golden West. It is in Room C which is downstairs. We will be discussing our mission statement and future projects. A pilot from the missing man formation is tentatively scheduled to be there. Come and be a part of this! Any questions? e-mail CFJDenver@aol.com.

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A Word from Our Reps:

From Ann Schnitz in DE: Here's something long overdue -- the CMA's 40th Anniversary Country Music's Biggest Homecoming will open with a tribute to our own JD. It will be on CBS Saturday, November 28 from 8 to 10. Set your VCRs!

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Misc:

"Colors in Time" musical memories of John Denver is the title of the CD Pete Huttlinger and Chris Nole recorded in memory of John. It is currently available through: INSTAR RECORDS P.O. BOX 90244 NASHVILLE, TN. 37209 The price is $15.00 + $1.50 shipping (U.S.A.) Other countries should email for shipping charges. The reviews are extremely good! This is a must have!

From Jeanne in CA: Henninger Capitol Provides Post-Production Video Services to West Star Production of John Denver Documentary WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 1998--Marking the one-year anniversary of John Denver's death this month, Henninger Capitol Friday announced that it has completed post-production work on the West Star Productions co-produced documentary titled "John Denver: Let This Be a Voice," a one-hour episode of co-producer WNET's "NATURE" series. Culminating more than a year of film processing, video transfer, on-line editing, color correction and dirt fixes, Henninger Capitol delivered the final edited version of the documentary to Sandy Ostertag, president of West Star Productions based in Wilson, Wyo. Ostertag shot the documentary's scenes at various locations in four Western states and Alaska where Denver was inspired by the natural beauty that underscores many of his songs. The camera follows Denver on journeys along rivers and over mountains, cliffs and plains as he retraces some of the wilderness experiences that gave spirit to his music and helped shape his life. Many of his songs are heard on the soundtrack. "Working with the Denver material, Henninger Capitol, as a member of the Henninger Media Services (HMS) network, was able to leverage the expertise and services of the entire group," explained Bobby Wright, Henninger Capitol general manager. "Our aggregate capacity and capability are ideally suited to support large, complex projects like the Denver documentary which, for example, required 700 cuts when finished. In addition, we afforded West Star Productions the economies of scale that allowed them to optimize their budget requirements." "John Denver: Let This Be a Voice" will have its premiere on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. (EST) on PBS (check local listings).

From Nancy (Nyteowl) in New York: This article, which I wrote for the November issue of several New York church newsletters, has appeared online on a church website as well as in newsletters mailed out to church members. One more way to spread the word about John Denver.

PRAYER AND THE FRIENDS OF JOHN DENVER Recently, I took part in a unique online experience that I would like to share with all of you. There are a number of places on the Internet where fans and friends of the late singer/songwriter, John Denver, gather to talk about the man and his music. Each in his/her own small way tries to carry on a part of the work that he began; planting trees, protecting wildlife, aiding hunger projects, working to better the environment, etc. His desire for Peace left a strong imprint on his fans. Many online friendships have been forged among this large circle of people. One of our group, Dot, needed cancer surgery in August. A Prayer Circle for her was organized via the Internet. People were asked to pray, focus, center, or meditate on the day of her surgery, according to their particular beliefs. These were men and women from all over the U.S. who had never met Dot in person, who only knew her via the Internet. What made this Prayer Circle so unique was that it was not just "I'll say a prayer for her." Although, that was very important too. Most of those involved signed up for a particular half hour or hour and concentrated solely on her for that period of time. Dozens of men and women took part, covering the entire twenty four hours of the day of her surgery. All went well. She is now recovering and needs no further treatments. She feels that the Prayer Circle helped to play a big part in her recovery. This is yet another way and place to enhance the power of prayer.

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I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Please be sure to keep in mind those less fortunate than ourselves - the hungry and homeless. If we all do our own little part, the whole CAN make a difference.

Peace to you all, Marcelle

"It's about time we start to make it the dream we've always known." -John Denver