Elaine Reinelt gathered a small group of people in her house on December 5, 1955. Agreement was quickly made to form the Santa Cruz Bird Club.
Elaine Reinelt organized the first meeting of the Santa Cruz Bird Club on January 13, 1956. It was held at the Santa Cruz library. Eighty-nine people attended the first meeting and eighty-two joined and paid dues.
Elaine Reinelt was interested in birds from the time she was a child and gradually she came in contact with other people who shared her interest. Nonetheless, she was quite surprised by the turnout for the Bird Club’s first meeting.
She was one of the first leaders of field trips, but was never President of the Club. The first President was Otto Van Buren. Elaine organized a library of bird books for Club members and the library was located in her own home. She also wrote pieces for The Albatross.
By 1973 Elaine had moved away from the Santa Cruz area, but she continued to stay in touch with friends in Santa Cruz. In June of that year she was made a Lifetime Honorary Member of the SCBC. We learn a great deal about her from her letter in response to that award:
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609 Por la Mar Circle, Apt. 314-B
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
June 13, 1973
Dear Friends,
Your kindness and honor came as a delightful surprise and was greatly appreciated. While Mr. Reinelt and I will never again be able to live in Santa Cruz or in Northern California, certainly my heart will always be there with deep love for the many wonderful people I have known. It is a distinct satisfaction to know that the Santa Cruz Bird Club is so successful and has gone far beyond my expectations,
Birds, wildlife, and natural things have been the keynote of my life since the age of five, when I discovered that I could approach burrowing owls, western meadowlarks and yellow-billed magpies. at close range while on horseback. The birds of course being used to horses, and perhaps to riders as well, were not alerted to danger as they would have been otherwise had I been walking. My grandfather often rode with me and had the same experience. We left our cattle ranch and moved to San Francisco when I was thirteen and how I did miss the wonders of nature that had become part of my life.
Capitola had 1500 people when Mr. Reinelt brought me there as a bride. Every evening we walked the beaches, and again I was with my friends. Upon inquiry I learned o Mr. Clark Streator and Mr. Danby, both of whom had spent a lifetime enjoying and studying the natural wonders of this earth. It was a strange three-cornered friendship and one that lasted until they graduated, Shorebirds at that time were a great thrill to me. I had never.seen a Dowltcher until Mr. Streator pointed some.out on the Katie Scarroni ranch and on the same day Ruddy Turnstones,on Wilder Is beach. A lone Surfbird sent.me into eastacy. Neither Mr..Streator nor Mr. Danby were able to drive a car at this time so I was chauffeur and they the teachers. We covered Santa Cruz.County for two years, usually with a lunch, until my first child was born. Soon-there were four of,us’bird watching, one of whom was not too interested! However, both of our children, as they grew up, learned about birds, plants, and the marvelous web of life which is our existence.
My gratitude to these two gentlemen is boundless. Later, I met John Strohbein, who was kind enough to allow my children to enjoy his collections. We kept birding even after our friends were gone, more than ever with determination to eventually get a group of kindred souls who could go on regular outings together.
When Harry Smith retired in Santa Cruz with his lovely wife, I noted that he had a past history of Audubon membership. I took the bull by the horns and called on these delightful people. We became fast friends over the years, and Harry, who no longer wanted to do anything further than band., was coerced into appearing at oar home for a little meeting with some of our other nature friends. One of the ladies brought a magnificent specimen of a red-tailed hawk that had met an untimely end that day. As she unwrapped the newspaper holding the specimen, a sort of magic ran through the assembled group. What a loss! We knew we had to try and stop this sort of thing, and from then on it was an easy matter to organize,
Finding a meeting place proved no problem. The Santa Cruz Public Library was more than happy to provide us with a room and a projectionist to show the film that we had arranged for the first meeting. Even Harry Smith, after much prodding, made a small speech, and to my utter amazement about 100 people appeared at that first meeting. Committees were appointed and a dream became a reality.
A number of us were banders studying migration behavior and annotating lists of species. -We tried to provide knowledge in small doses, so as not to frighten people who were just slightly interested but whom we knew would become avid bird people. There were field trips, potlucks, and programs of various sorts, low-keyed in the beginning, but gradually advancing to a more scientific level. People like Professor McQuesten who had been on the U C. Davis faculty, the Derrick Lanes who shared their precious refuge, the Charles McLeans with their magnificent ranch-park, the Henry Washburns, the Hunts, the Haases, the VanBurens, The Hoopers friends from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at U.C. Berkeley, Dr. Richard Meywalt from San Jose State, and friends from the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, along with many others whose names I have forgotten, gave us programs and time and hard work.
Thank you again for honoring me and believe me that you will always be a dear part of my memories.
With best wishes and love,
Elaine
Mrs. Frank Reinelt