Birding can be a lovely solitary endeavor — but how wonderfully special birding becomes when shared with others. As a child Mary Key's parents nurtured her interest in birding.  Mary's elementary school teacher Mini Burk expressed her own appreciation of nature by decorating the room with prints of birds.  Although there were no binoculars available, afternoon recess often included watching for birds.  At some point a Scarlet Tanager instilled in Mary a life-long passion for birding. The love of her life and the love of birding were beautifully intertwined.  As a young woman, Mary was employed by the Dutchess County Home Extension and she garaged her car at the Nelson House in Poughkeepsie , where her future husband Jim worked.  Once they met, Jim's interest in motorcycles took a back seat to his love of Mary, nature, and birding. They would bird at College Hill on their afternoon breaks.   They married in 1931 and throughout the years birding enriched their lives together.  A rare bird alert that Jim might receive at Texaco meant a telephone call to Mary and excited preparation for an after-work field trip in the hopes of a life bird.

Mary at IES, September 2004

Mary is a charter member of the Waterman Bird Club, having joined at its inception in 1958.  By 1959 she officially termed herself a serious birder.   Only occasionally does Mary attend a club birding walk but she still joins the group for car birding and for lunch.  She attends the monthly meetings and has many bird stories to share.

At a club's monthly meeting during the celebration of her 95th birthday, Mary delighted the audience with her knowledge of cedar waxwings.  The beginner birders were heard exclaiming, "I did not know that!"  Mary loves to meet new members and is eager to answer questions regarding birding.  She is full of energy and has a warm, inviting smile. Many countries have their national living treasures.  The Waterman Bird Club is fortunate to have its own treasure--Mary Key.  Art Jones and Chet Vincent     present Mary with her cake

Wings Over Dutchess, November 2004

Addendum

It seems that the admirable trait of modesty is possessed by many Waterman Club members.  Mary Key, who as a young woman worked for Dutchess County Farm and Home Extension of Cornell University and whose husband was employed by the Texaco Research Center, played a vital role in the history of the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club.

Mary joined the club in the late 1950s and became the membership chairman.  The membership chairman's job was more than keeping the list of members, their addresses and sending out renewal reminders.  Mary and Jim made sure every new member felt welcome.

She took on the arduous task of producing the club newsletter, Wings.  Florence Germond would gather the news articles that were written in longhand by the club members. Mary would then type the articles and cut the stencil for the mimeograph machine.  The club had purchased the machine and Mary would run off the copies in her home.  Club members would then help to assemble the news bulletin.

Mary also initiated the Rare Bird Alert Relay.  Initially, upon receiving a notice of a rare bird, she would telephone all of the members on the list.  In one instance Dick Guthrie arrived at Mary's home to drive her to the site of a rare bird sighting and found her still on the telephone contacting members.  He urged her to hurry or they would miss seeing the bird.  Mary, however, would not leave until she had made the telephone calls to the last two people on the list.  She is truly a Waterman Bird Club treasure.

Wings Over Dutchess, February 2005