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To send a group email to all THA Officers, use:
officers "at" texashawking.org
(please use the @ sign where you see "at")
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Greg Pearson, Officer, Website an Designer
webmaster "at" texashawking.org

I worked with Tom at the Abilene Zoological Gardens for a number of years. Most of my duties revolved around rehabbing hawks, owls, eagles and the occasional falcon. I also worked with Tom on numerous captive breeding projects involving both Peregrines and Golden Eagles. During that period I was flying principally Red Tails and Harris' which were perfect for keeping the local rabbit population under control.

In 1981 while attending Texas A&M, I received an invitation to attend a meeting to discuss forming something called the Texas Hawking Association. I drove from College Station to a house out on Lake Travis on a chilly, wet, foggy February day. There weren't many of us there. I remember meeting and talking to John Karger and a few others. The overall response to setting up this new club was -how should I put this- guardedly optimistic. Being the skeptic I am, I remember driving back to College Station thinking, "This Texas Hawking club thing will never go anywhere!" Sometimes it's wonderful when you're wrong.

After college I threw myself into multiple careers. Professional obligations precluded spending the time necessary to correctly practice falconry, so with great reluctance and some sobbing, I gave up flying birds for many, many years.

In 2006, I started the process of getting back to my falconry roots, but I seemed to encounter barriers wherever I turned. The most frustrating obstacle had to do with my former General Level status not being recognized. I was relegated to Apprentice Falconer, part duex.

But with every cloud there really is a silver lining. Steve Oleson, whom I had only met once and very briefly years before, took me on sight unseen as his apprentice. Through his help, guidance and friendship I've discovered how much I had forgotten, and how much "new" stuff I had yet to learn. Digital scales! Grams instead of ounces! Pre-packaged rats! It's been a whole new world.

I'm thrilled to be able to serve THA and offer my limited skills as the THA Editor and Website designer. I can't think of a better organization to be a part of or a better group of people to work with. I hope, in time, to deliver a content-rich, engaging, in-depth web and print experience for our members and the visiting public. I also hope that you, as active THA members, will provide your input into making the THA web site a clearinghouse of information through participation in the new knowledgebase section. We have a lot of talent out there with years of experience in training, hunting, mew building and equipment making. Please feel free to contact me anytime with your comments, contributions and suggestions for the THA web site.