Slidell, LA

1-13-97

Dear Ed,

Thanks a lot for putting on the Blue Ribbon Bear Board. I am honored to serve with such fine fellows as yourself, Tommy Giles, and the Hon. Bill Ballou. I am not personally acquainted with the other BRBB members, but after reading their brief histories and credentials in Columbia! and just the fact that they are on the BRBB assures me that they are an outstanding group of impeccable characters.

Just in case anyone would ever question my qualifications to be on the Board, I will relate to you the following 2 events:

1) It seems like a coincidence, but just last summer a BEAR was sighted by several people here in Slidell and other locations around St.Tammany Parish. This caused quite a commotion when the New Orleans Tv stations and the Times-Picayune picked up the story. Come to find out, this was a Louisiana Black Bear, a subspecies of the American Black Bear that had been over in the Florida Panhandle and was on its way back to the Atchafalaya Basin-Henderson Swamp west of Baton Rouge.

2) The other event occurred a few years ago when Lorraine and I were vacationing up near the N.C-Tennesssee border. We were driving along a large reservoir one afternoon when we sighted a black, round object with ears moving slowly across the large reservoir towards the bank. We stopped the car and watched the object for several minutes before we decided it must be a black BEAR. We BEARS are excellent swimmers.

Speaking of Lorraine, when I showed her your letter and my BRBB membership card, she gave me a strange look. I asked her if she would like for me to see about getting her on the board. She allowed that one Board member per family would be enough and besides, she would not want to get in the way of any accolades that might come my way.

I am not at all surprised to learn of several sightings in Adair County because these BEARS have a large range and will travel a long way in their search for food, especially in the years of low corn yield.

You can bet that I will take the Bear Board seriously, and the next time I'm in Adair I intend to go on at least one BEAR sighting outing. Also, at this time I would like to request the following area as my area of responsibility: Beginning at the Jct. of Cumberland Pky and KY 55 and thence eastward to a certain building in Jamestown, KY, known as the Off-Track Betting Facility. I realize that part of this area would be in Russell County and if the BRBB would want to cut the area off at the county line, that would be fine.

The next time I see XXXX (name smudged with Tabasco & boudin; unreadable), I will try to get him to work on his reputation some, so that maybe he can get on the Bear Board, too.

Thanks for the back issues of Columbia! I enjoyed them and looking forward to further developments and news. I will keep the Board posted on any news in this area.

Your friend,

Kenny Davis

BRBB Board Member,

Pro Bono