Friday, January 30, 2009

The following is from Barbara & Rob Billand
I have some bit of news to share with ya. On Jan. 25th, 2009, Dr. Marilyn Dunlap, Mr. DB Dunlap, Robert and I had to attend a very special banquet at the Honolulu Country Club. Seems we were nominated for an award of some kind. A doctor John Kaya, President of the Honolulu Veterinary Society, called me to say we are the recipients of an award. It's being presented at the Banquet which they want us all to attend. Well, all four of us attended the Dinner Banquet and we got a nice Trophy called the Gentle Doctor, for all the work we have done with Monk Seals. Dinner was ono. All the veternarians of Oahu attended this dinner too. Took some photos so, here you are. Mrs Dunlap gave an excellent slide show and talk on monk seals and the vets were quite interested. Dr. Greg Levine gave a talk on the success of KP2. Talked about the volunteers that kept watch on KP2 all those months and how he was successfully released in the wild in an undisclosed area. Ok, thats all folks! BB

I just want to extend my congratualtions to DB, Marilyn, Barbara and Robert.... I know there are many many volunteers that put in lots of time and effort... But I honestly couldn't imagine any other folks who deserve the recognition and kudos as this group.... Beyond my love for u Hawaiian Monk Seals, I am both privileged and honored to call these people my friends. !!!
Much Aloha to all of you... you so deserve this and more!!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations you guys! I'm so happy for your outstanding accomplishments! I'm honored to have volunteered with you, and to call you my friends. Job well done!!! Marie DeStefanis

Laura said...

Kudos to five (yes, Donna, too) truly remarkable people!!

Dana Jones said...

Barbara, Robert, DB, & Marilyn,
It's wonderful to see you honored for all you do. I cannot think of anyone as perserving and deserving as you four. There are many other volunteers that do so very much, but no one can ever match your commitment and love for these wonderful animals. You make it easier for the rest of us to take up the slack and do the fill ins, so you help everyone. I love and learn from you all the time.
Dana

Donna said...

HA! okay no one else has said so I will... How many of you enlarged the photo so you could take a closer look at that adorable bald man.... Very rare to see him without his hat! Love ya DB!

Barbara said...

I want to say, Rob and I were nervously waiting for the banquet to begin. We hadn't seen our sensei, DB. And then,the Whisperer and Mrs. Whisperer entered the doors. I can not tell you how relieved we were to see those two intelligent humans that we have come to love and respect. DB, we both thought you looked so handsome, those eyes of yours sparkled, and Marilyn, you looked so pretty all dolled up. Its funny how one can look so different with nice clothes. And as we entered that room, Rob and I felt secure and proud to be in a room of so many smart Vets, who were there to honor us. People we never met, except for Dr. Greg. I might add he also looked awesome, and he sat with us at our table. We felt happy. THis one Vet sat with us and told us a story of a falcon that was saved out at Kahe Power Plant with a broken beak.
We all represented what all Volunteers do for the Hawaiian Monk Seal. For myself, I never ever got an award in my life, so recieving this, was an absolute joy and I felt humbled. We all know the Dunlaps have been in this program the longest and DB is THE MOST HONORABLE MAN, who is DESERVING of this awesome award. And we were so relieved Marilyn did the presentation of the slide show as that program showed how hard a life of a Monk Seal Has. I was sad to hear there are only 1,000 seals left on earth. We must all continue to work even harder to help our State Mammal, all of us volunteers, together we can make a difference!!!
We want to thank the Honolulu Veterinary Soceity for such an honorable award and a great banquet. Once again, our award also includes every VOLUNTEER who gives of their time and efforts all for the Awesome, Incredible Mammal...The GREAT HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL!!!! BAH!!!!!!!!!!!

KarenB said...

Congratulations guys!! FINALLY, WELL-DESERVED recognition!! I am so proud to call you my friends. (Didn't recognize DB without the hat 'til I enlarged the photo!!) Thank you for what you all do everyday. Knowing you guys are out there everyday eases my worries about these incredible endangered animals...wish I could be with you everyday instead of sitting in a classroom or doing homework! Keep up the great work! Love you all!