Thursday, November 8, 2012

Commander Ben enlightens us

Commander Ben and our chapter president, Fredi.
Yesterday, Commander Ben the Invasive Hunter both enlightened AND entertained our Highland Lakes chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists. Ben, who's 14 and passionate about fighting invasive species in our state, talked with us for nearly an hour at our November meeting in Marble Falls. Check out his website and see what he's doing in the way of videos, interviews and other science-related work

At first, he jokingly told us that he'd injured his hand while fighting invasives. Then he said, no, he'd actually broken it during a Taekwondo sparring match. As soon as his hand heals, he plans to get back to sparring!
As a token of our appreciation, Linda, our vice president, presented a Master Naturalist hat to Ben. He loved it!
Commander Ben and his mother, Mary.
After his presentation, Ben handed out business cards to Dan and other members.
He also shared his popular "I'm an Invasive Hunter!" stickers. As you can see, Celia was thrilled to get hers.
This young man has a great future ahead of him, and I'm so glad to know him. (That's me and Ben.) Thank you, Ben and Mary!
* * * 
Yesterday, I filmed a short video (not great quality, sorry) of Ben giving his presentation to give a flavor of his style and energy. He's amazing! 



PSSSSTT! Watch for my upcoming article on Commander Ben in the March 2013 issue of Texas Co-op Power magazine.

2 comments:

Ben said...

Hi Miss Sheryl,

WOW! What a great post!

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak at your Texas Master Naturalist Group...and for lunch too! My mom and I had such a nice time with your group - - - you and all the other people in the group are so nice.

Thanks again for all your support. You are the best!

Your friend,
Ben

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers said...

Thank YOU, Ben! We loved having you! And thank you for all the work you're doing to fight invasives in Texas. Keep it up!

Warmly, sheryl

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