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Downtime... Made brighter! 

Just prior to the dress-rehearsal migration in 2000 when our team first led a small flock of Sandhill cranes from Wisconsin to Florida, I had packed a "boredom box" for the crew. In the case of long days spent standing down, the box contained all kinds of goodies that would help wile away the time. 

Since then a few supporters and craniacs have been using their imaginative skills and have provided boredom boxes for us! This year we were lucky enough to receive two such surprise boxes, and it never ceases to amaze us just how creative adults and children alike are when planning out the contents of these much appreciated gifts....

Mark (seated) gets his hands dirty with modeling clay, while Jeff brushes up on the latest digital camera information.

Top-cover pilot, Paula Lounsbury delved into her favourite magazine!

The 7th Gr. students at Horace Mann Middle School and Shattuck Middle School in Neenah, WI., along with teachers Christine Congdon, Chris Jones, and Jeff Martis had some great fun putting together a goodie box for the team, which arrived late last week.  You should have heard the laughter going on when we realized what they had done! 

"Whooper Poopers" anyone?

Too funny - you fledgling craniacs! Without a doubt the most fun was had when we discovered a bag containing an assortment of PEZ candy dispensers. The bag held a cast of characters, and on the reverse side of each was a small piece of construction paper, which was folded and sealed. Our task was to guess, which team member was represented by each PEZ character, based on appearance, and things that the students had learned about each of us. We had a riot trying to figure all of these out! Here's who the kids thought best represented each of us:

Sara Zimorski - Tweety Bird
Heather Ray - Lisa Simpson
Paula Lounsbury - Odie
Joe Duff - Charlie Brown
Deke Clark - Garfield
Don Lounsbury - Gonzo
Richard van Heuvelen - Eyore
Mark Nipper - Speedy Gonzales
Dan Sprague - Tasmanian Devil
Charlie Schaffer - Daffy Duck

The kids even sent three bags of "cran(e)berries" for the birds; some music CD's; card games, and some great messages and drawing from all the kids. Thanks to each and everyone one of you for your thoughtfulness, as well as the laughter you provided us.

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