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Wednesday, April 27, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
A 25-year friendship with a macaw
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
Leslie Newbold — who
you will eventually meet if
you shop at Melvin’s — has
a fancy for parrots and started
collecting and learning about
them when she was in her
early 20s. She’s traveled to
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the
Yucatan and other tropical
climes searching for and get-
ting to know parrots, and she
actually saw a rare and mag-
nificent male resplendent
Quetzal in the Monte Verde
Rainforest.
She had an aviary once
that housed two sun con-
ners, two Indian ringneck
parakeets, an African and a
Timneh gray parrot, a laven-
der-headed Amazon, a double
yellow-headed-Amazon, a
Mulucaan cockatoo, a lesser
sulphur-crested cockatoo, a
Goffin’s cockatoo and a black
headed cirque, and has had —
for over 25 years — Gomez, a
blue and gold macaw.
I was convinced from the
onset that Gomez was a he
and thusly named it Gomez
Adams.
Macaws have large and
powerful beaks and are
brightly colored. They are
zygodactyl, which means that
they have two toes in front
as well as in back of each
claw. They are intelligent and
social birds who mate for life,
and that life expectancy in the
wild can be over sixty years
in the making.
This is the way Leslie
remembers her 25-year-long
friendship with her macaw: “I
first met Gomez in a Seattle,
Washington, pet shop called
Wings of the World. The
macaw was 12 weeks old and
Outlaws golfers play
at Mallard Creek
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
PHOTO BY LESLIE NEWBOLD
Gomez, a macaw of great beauty and a faithful friend.
I was five months pregnant
with my son Dallas.
“Even the multiple pin
feathers and wild look in the
macaw’s eyes couldn’t keep
me from wanting to bring
Gomez home. Well, $999 dol-
lars later, I walked out of the
store with it in an animal car-
rier braced for the long drive
back to Tumalo, through the
dark and the rain that was so
persistent on that drive, we
created a bond that has now
lasted 25 years.
“A bit of a twist to this
story; I was convinced from
the onset that Gomez was a he
and thusly named it Gomez
Adams. Eighteen years later
I was proven wrong on that
one, when she laid her first
of many eggs! Boy did I feel
silly.”
Gomez was not taken
from the wild, but hatched in
captivity.
“She has trusted me
through everything and has
always let me know when I
made her uncomfortable,”
Lelie said. “The gentle nudg-
ing and nips have been, for
the most part, innocent. She is
playful and animated at home
with us; new things to try all
the time. My goal is to try to
get her feeling safe on the
handlebars of my blue cruiser
bicycle. I think she would
love it out in the sun with the
wind ruffling her blue and
gold feathers.”
The boys golf team fin-
ished last out of 10 teams
at the tournament held at
Mallard Creek in Sweet
Home on Tuesday, April 19,
with a team score of 491.
Junction City took top
honors with a score of 365,
followed by Sutherlin, who
carded a 388. Cascade took
third (395), and Cottage
Grove took fourth with 398.
The course was full of
hazards, which the boys
seemed to find on a regular
basis. The lakes, streams, and
many natural areas wet with
high grass were tough to han-
dle. One player lost 14 balls
in the round and Coach Bill
Mitchell stated that another
lost even more.
Austin Lake carded a 52
on the front nine and lowered
his score by four strokes on
the back nine to finish with a
score of 100. Lake drove the
ball well, but struggled on the
greens.
Andrew Mayes was the
bright spot in the day for
the Outlaws and had another
good showing for his first
year in golf and finished with
a 59/54/113, and had two pars
in the round.
“Andrew (a freshman) is
playing better than anyone
on the team, and he’s never
played competitive golf until
this year,” said Mitchell.
“He’s hitting the ball more
consistently and putting bet-
ter. He’s usually the first one
to practice, and I’m liking his
effort.”
Kade Owen carded
a 66/64/130 and Patrick
Dingemen scored 79/69/148.
Wyatt Hernandez rounded out
the scores with an 88/66/154.
Mitchell said, “We’re hav-
ing a rough year. It’s hard to
find a silver lining with these
scores.”
The Outlaws were sched-
uled to play at Meadow Lakes
in Prineville on Monday,
April 25. They will finish out
their week with a tournament
at Broken Top on Friday.