The Essex County Field Naturalists’ are greatly saddened by the recent passing of Jim McAllister. Jim was an admired and respected member of the Club, and our community.
Below is an excerpt from Jeremy Hatt’s “A Selected History of the ECFNC” from the March 2016 Egret issue:
Jim McAllister served as President for two years. He led ECFNC from an organizational meeting of nine people all the way to a group of about 200 members by the time he decided to pass the presidential torch. Jim shepherded the Club with steadfast determination through its infancy, through several important decisions that set its course, through a lengthy legal process, and through rapid growth following the first public meeting. Like many other naturalists, birding was one of the inspirations for Jim becoming more actively involved in pursuits like helping form ECFNC. A teacher at the time, he was curious to see what some of his colleagues were so excited about while talking about birding at Point Pelee. He decided to check it out for himself. “One of the first birds I saw was an orange variant of a Scarlet Tanager. It was beautiful. So I told my wife about it and my wife said, ‘well, let’s take a trip to Point Pelee and we can bird all day and have a picnic in the afternoon’. We saw a lot of rare birds. Then we started to take trips. It got me across Canada to the west coast, got me to Alaska, got me to Inuvik. Inuvik was a 10,000km round trip.” This passion for nature is reflected in Jim’s leadership of the Club. Yes, it was a Club for socializing, sharing knowledge, and bringing a community together, but he also knew it would become an organization that provoked attitudinal change around conservation and protect properties from development and the wildlife that uses them. This foresight is alluded to in his last President’s report published in Vol. 2, No. 4 of The Egret: “As naturalists we must continue to educate and speak out on those matters which concern us all, while recognizing that the environment will always be under attack and we must be ever vigilant and tenacious.” In the same President’s report, Jim started by writing, “At the end of December a new board and a new president will take over and this I think, will signify an evolution of the club from shaky toddler to self confident youth.” With Jim’s leadership, a dedicated Board of Directors, and participation from enthusiastic members, ECFNC spent little time on shaky legs. Rather, it began its life already bounding across the field.
In honour of Jim, and his impact on ECFNC, the Club will be planting a tree in his memory.
Please click here if you wish to read Jim’s obituary.
You must be logged in to post a comment.