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Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Museum’s signature
fundraiser goes virtual
The High Desert Museum9s
signature fundraiser, High
Desert Rendezvous, returns
on Saturday, August 29, at
6:30 p.m. The lively evening
this year will take place in the
virtual world. This marks the
31st year of the High Desert
Rendezvous, making it one of
the longest-running fundrais-
ers in Central Oregon.
The online event will
include special programming,
auction items and a raffle, and
it will be free to all to attend.
<The High Desert
Rendezvous is one of the
Museum9s most celebra-
tory events of the year,= said
Museum Executive Director
Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D. <We9re
excited for people from far
and wide to join us from the
comfort of their homes to
hear about the mission of the
Museum.=
Bidding on auction
items and raffle ticket sales
will be open to all. It will
begin online on Wednesday,
August 26 at www.highdesert
museum.org/hdr. In addi-
tion, the Rendezvous raffle
this year features a fine wine
array specially selected by the
High Desert Museum Board
of Trustees.
This year, the Museum9s
invitational, juried art exhibi-
tion and silent auction, Art in
the West4which tradition-
ally culminated at the High
Desert Rendezvous4will be
on display at the Museum and
online from Saturday, August
1 through Saturday, October
3. The works of nearly 50 art-
ists, ranging from paintings to
sculpture to photography, will
be available for the first time
for silent bidding virtually at
www.highdesertmuseum.org/
art-in-the-west.
<A virtual Rendezvous gala
and Art in the West bidding
makes these wonderful expe-
riences available to a wide
audience,= said Whitelaw.
<The fundraisers also take on
a special importance this year,
as we missed three months of
welcoming the public through
our doors.=
Registration for the vir-
tual Rendezvous is free and
preregistration is encour-
aged. Sponsorship opportu-
nities are also available. A
$3,000 Buckaroo sponsorship
includes recognition with a
logo or name prominently
displayed in all promotional
material for both the High
Desert Rendezvous and Art in
the West, and a $2,000 Lucky
Horseshoe sponsorship will
also include logo and name
recognition associated with
the High Desert Rendezvous.
For registration and sponsor-
ship information, visit www.
highdesertmuseum.org/hdr.
The 2020 Rendezvous
Honorees are Bill and Gail
McCormick, longtime sup-
porters of the High Desert
Museum. Bill, a former
Museum trustee, was once
the U.S. ambassador to New
Zealand and Samoa and is
a prominent restaurateur4
owning Bend9s downtown
landmark, The Pine Tavern,
and is the founder of the pop-
ular McCormick & Schmick9s
Seafood Restaurants.
The High Desert
Rendezvous and Art in
the West help support the
Museum9s educational pro-
grams, bringing science, art
and history education to life-
long learners throughout the
region.
The 31st annual High
Desert Rendezvous, as well as
Art in the West, are presented
by First Interstate Bank.
Gray fox newest animal ambassador
Visitors returning to the
High Desert Museum after
its three-month closure will
meet a new mammal in
the Museum9s care 4 an
approximately 12-month-
old, female gray fox.
The as-of-yet unnamed
fox arrived at the Museum
shortly before the facility9s
closure to the public. She
was found severely mal-
nourished and with a seri-
ously injured hip as a pup in
southwestern Oregon. She
was brought to Bend after
surgery to remove part of her
femur.
The fox also was wear-
ing a collar around her neck
when found. Professional
wildlife rehabilitators deter-
mined she is habituated
to humans, meaning she
doesn9t have adequate fear of
humans to be able to survive
in the wild.
The Museum9s reopen-
ing day on June 17 marked
the first time the general
public has gotten to see the
fox. She is one of the first
new mammals to come into
the Museum9s care in several
years.
<This gray fox is inquisi-
tive and very active,= says
Museum Executive Director
Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D.
<We9re sure visitors will
be delighted with her. And
more importantly, the fox
serves as an ambassador for
her species. We know visi-
tors will take away an appre-
ciation for the important role
foxes play in the High Desert
ecosystem.=
The fox is in an out-
door habitat that9s specially
designed for her needs. The
exhibit includes a hollow
log, an above-ground shel-
ter, a ground-level shelter
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A year-old female gray fox is the latest addition to the animal
community at High Desert Museum.
and a below ground-level
den, as well as two climbing
structures, a resting shelf and
a variety of rocks and other
logs.
<This fox is very play-
ful,= Museum Curator of
Wildlife Jon Nelson says.
<She loves to climb and is
extremely agile despite her
hip surgery. Gray foxes are
both cursorial and arbo-
real4meaning they both
run and climb. The exhibit
space we have constructed
affords her ample oppor-
tunity to do both, and she
makes full use of the space to
play.=
Gray foxes range
throughout much of North
and Central America.
They9re omnivores that typi-
cally grow to weigh between
eight and 15 pounds, eating
small mammals, birds and
insects as well as fruit and
vegetation. They readily
climb trees with their strong,
hooked claws.
At the Museum, the fox
enjoys a diet of rats, mice
and birds as well as a range
of vegetables, seeds, nuts
and some fruit. The fox is
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being crate and target trained
to facilitate her care. She
receives a wide variety of
enrichment4Nelson says
catching live crickets and
playing with a Kong toy are
among her favorites.
The naming of the fox
will be an auction item at
this year9s Virtual High
Desert Rendezvous, which
takes place on Saturday,
August 29. Learn more about
Rendezvous at www.high
desertmuseum.org/hdr.
In the wild, gray foxes
are believed to live roughly
six years. Animals often
live longer when in the care
of zoos and other similar
facilities.