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Become an X Kid
By Chris Williams
Teaching kids the benefits of insects in the natural world
Courtesy Lay it out Events
By Jim Anderson 31
Salmon run returns for its 32nd year!
Salmon Run 2022
Young Janelle Orsillo makes friends with a Lorguin’s Admiral, as shown below. Courtesy Wikipedia
Sue Anderson
talented staff of Xerces, you will meet many, many other invertebrates to rub elbows with, and become familiar with what they do to make your life so much fun. The activity was put together by the Xerces Ambassadors as well as LandPaths, which provides special guidance and Spanish translation. There are nine different activities, some of which will take about five minutes to do, while others could take from 30 minutes to an hour. Anyone can be an X Kid. The activity was designed for kids 8 to 11, but I’m 93 and really looking forward to it. And it can be fun for individuals or a part
of a classroom or homeschool activity. Can’t beat that with a stick. So, don’t let this wonderful look into the world of nature go by without taking advantage of it, and, if you want to, please feel free to contact me at my email address: jimnaturalist@gmail. com, and we can chinwag about X Kids or any other part of the natural world around us. In closing, if you want to enjoy the world of nature from a butterfly’s perspective, pick up a copy of Jo Brewer’s wonderful book, “Wings in the Meadow.” That will introduce you to what Xerces is all about.
This week, the Salmon Run returns for its 32nd year. The Salmon Run, and many other races, have been challenged during pandemic times. In 2020 the event switched to an online only format, while last year the race moved to Pronghorn Resort due to COVID. Similar to the salmon that make their annual journey, the race has overcome obstacles to return again this year to the Athletic Club of Bend. An on-line option is available as well. Hailed as one of the earliest half marathons in the Northwest, the Salmon Run, put on by Lay It Out Events, is an opportunity to bust out the running legs and gauge those fitness levels. If a half marathon feels a little too soon, there are 5k and 10k options available. The course flows through the Old Mill and up the infamous river trail before finishing at the Athletic Club of Bend. The 5k and 10k races will be relatively flat, while the half marathon picks up some elevation as racers climb out of the river trail and up toward the end of the 7th Mountain and Century Drive. There will be rewards for the top three male and female racers of each category, and plenty of beer at the finish line. If there are junior racers in the family there is the Little Fry hatch run for children ages 3-10. This is a non-competitive race that emphasizes fun and exercise. Participants can register up until race day, but it will be cheaper to do so beforehand. Race times are staggered by distance. The half marathon begins at 9am, 10k at 9:15am and the 5k at 9:30am. The Little Fry event will be the finale of the day beginning at noon. Stretch your legs and run into spring!
Salmon Run
Sat., April 23 9am-noon Athletic Club of Bend 61615 Athletic Club Dr., Bend $40-$60/Salmon Run $7 Little Fry
VOLUME 26 ISSUE 15 / APRIL 14, 2022 / THE SOURCE WEEKLY
Sue Anderson
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any years ago, like back before WWII, there was a butterfly called the Xerces blue, scientific name, Glaucopsyche xerces. It lived in sand dunes on the edge of San Francisco in California and — like the Monarch butterfly that must have milkweed for its babies to feed on — the Xerces blue caterpillars depended on specific plants growing there to eat. Unfortunately, over the years, their habitat got smaller as the city got bigger and eventually the butterflies no longer had the food and shelter they needed to survive. The Xerces blue butterfly was last seen alive in the early 1940s. Knowing that sad story and witnessing the extinction of Great Britain’s Large Blue butterfly while studying there, Robert Michael Pyle hatched the idea of forming an organization that would introduce people to saving the lives of butterflies and other arthropods. And thus, the Xerces Society came into being. And what better than to name it after the ancient Greek word that means “Ruler over Heroes” as well as an American butterfly that also went extinct. Rachel Carson, one of my most treasured heroes of documenting the threats to our natural world and author of “Silent Spring,” said this about our arthropod companions: “These insects, so essential to our agriculture and indeed to our landscape as we know it, deserve something better from us than the senseless destruction of their habitat.” Currently, science writer and British journalist Oliver Milman chronicles the striking decline in insect populations around the world in his new book, “The Insect Crisis: The Fall Of The Tiny Empires That Run The World.” where he describes evidence of insectageddon, as some call it, and what trouble this could spell for us humans. So we need to get the next generation up to speed on what’s happening! Right now, today, you have the privilege of getting involved with Pyle’s magnificent organization and have a lot of fun doing so. Xerces (pronounced “Zerksees”) is offering an online program entitled “X Kids” that you and/or your kids can take part in. All you have to do is go to the website or contact them at xkids@xerces.org, download the X Kids activity, and you’re in. You will go on a nature adventure with Blue the Butterfly in a beautiful color booklet to meet other invertebrate and learn about their superpowers. In that free booklet, thanks to the
