Fall Celebration at Black Bayou Lake NWR
  The climax to National Wildlife Refuge Week

The Friends of Black Bayou, in cooperation with the U.S.. Fish and Wildlife Service, will celebrate its 11th annual
Fall Celebration  at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Saturday, October 11, 10 am-3 pm. 
The public is enthusiastically invited to attend!

In memory of Nell Odom.

Her Black Bayou Lake Fudge Pie recipe can be copied at this link.
Click here for Nell's recipe.

LIST of ACTIVITIES

As usual, fried catfish with all the “fixins,” Black Bayou Lake Mud Pie made from Nell's recipe, jambalaya, and drinks will all be served free at lunchtime. 

This year’s Celebration will also include family-oriented activities such as free canoeing on the lake, guided bird walks and arboretum walks, family hikes (with prizes!),  a black bear maze, a release of baby alligator snapping turtles, and a display of the winners of the annual FoBB Photo Contest.  Also, cooperating partner organizations such as the Biedenharn Museum, Masur Museum, Children’s Museum,  Louisiana Purchase Zoo, Home Depot, and LSU Raptor Rehab Hospital will participate with activities for all ages.  New Black Bayou Lake NWR T-shirts, as well as other souvenirs, will be available in the Gift Shop. 

At 1 pm, children will be invited to help in turning the Blue Goose Migratory Bird Sculpture from north to south (the direction of bird migration at this time of year), followed by the baby turtle release—an annual favorite, directed by ULM professor Dr. John Carr.  Other scheduled activities are the first bird walk of the day at 8 am, followed by an arboretum walk at 10 am.  Finally, a drawing for a new kayak will be held at 2:30 pm.  Kayak donation tickets are available from FoBB members and at the Refuge Gift Shop.

Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge opened in July 1997, and Friends of Black Bayou came into existence in August 1997.  The Refuge consists of 4,500 acres including a 1,700-acre lake and beautiful wetlands.  Besides the Visitors’ Center,
originally a planter’s home built in the 1880s and renovated by the Friends of Black Bayou, the Refuge includes a Conservation Learning Center, a Wetlands Art Project, a Birdwatching/Photography Blind,  a 400-foot wildlife observation pier, an observation deck, a mile-long nature trail and boardwalk through wetlands, an arboretum, and many other opportunities for wildlife observation, fishing, and hunting.


Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located 7 miles north of I-20, about 1.5 miles north of CenturyTel, off Hwy. 165. 

Bring your entire family and join in the celebration.


  FoBB Officers
 President:  Wallace Hardy
Vice President:  Ann B. Smith (318) 342-1144 or (318) 503-5125, email:  asmith@ulm.edu
Treasurer:  Robert Eisenstadt (318) 342-1151, email:  eisenstadt@ulm.edu
Education Director:  Amy Ouchley
Refuge Shop Director:  Leslie Calhoun
Recording Secretary:  Carla Hardy
Membership Secretary:  Millie Hyde
At-Large Board Members:  Joe Davis, Becky Ham, Gary Stroud, Charles Carmichael, and George Mouk
For question about this website, email: jimmy@jnpayne.com
This page  last updated: September 28, 2008