Once upon a time, deep in the woods, all the different species of animals were having trouble making rules and regulations among themselves. So, they came together and decided to elect one animal, from each species, to become their representative. It was decided that each month the elected animals would gather together to discuss the happenings and problems that seemed to be facing all the community animals.
This seemed to work for a while; the meetings were held and the elected animals worked together to help make peace and unity among all the wooded friends. But, soon some decisions were made that the other wild critters did not agree upon. Many of them wished they could attend the elected council’s meetings to hear what exactly was being said, what was being voted on and who was voting on which issue. But, it was not possible to attend all the meetings; for some squirrels had to work during the day gathering nuts for the winter, some beavers had to work during meeting times gathering sticks for their dam and some mother birds were busy collecting worms for their babies or teaching them how to fly.
So, once again, all the animals came together for a special meeting. How could they still carry on their busy lives but also know what was happening at the slated meetings? After much discussion and brain-storming it was decided that Mr. Owl would attend every meeting and come back and tell all the wildlife population what had been said and decided at each meeting.
And so it was. Mr. Owl began attending each and every monthly meeting of the elected wildlife animals. He diligently took careful notes and made sure he was accurate in all of his writings. The day after each meeting, the other wildlife creatures would gather around Mr. Owl to hear his report. He would precisely explain everything that occurred during the meeting, being careful not to leave out any details, for he felt it was important that all the other animals knew everything that had happened.
Soon, however, another problem seemed to arise. Some (not all, but some) of the elected/appointed animals began to complain about Mr. Owl’s news report. Some began saying he was not reporting accurately and was not reporting what they said exactly. Mr. Owl was even accused of changing their words and adding words that they did not say!
Mr. Owl, knowing that he would never make words up or change them, also knew he needed to come up with a wise decision. So, he asked Miss Parrot to join him at the meeting.
The next month’s meeting arrived and Mr. Owl and Miss Parrot went to the council meeting together. Mr. Owl took his precise notes, as usual, and Miss Parrot listened to every word that was spoken.
The very next day, all the community animals gathered around Mr. Owl and Miss Parrot to hear the results of the previous meeting. Mr. Owl gave his very detailed news report, as always. But, this month when he was accused of making things up (by those select few council animals), Miss Parrot was there to mimic back every word that had been spoken, thus proving that Mr. Owl was only doing his job and reporting what had been said, and nothing more.
As the months went on, some of the animals of the forest really began voicing their desires of wishing they could be at each meeting; but time just did not permit them to do it! So, Miss Parrot began to think and ponder on what could be a good solution for her wooded friends. She then gathered all her other parrot friends together and told them all of the wonderful idea she had.
When the next month’s meeting rolled around, Mr. Owl, Miss Parrot and all Miss Parrot’s friends flew to the meeting place. Mr. Owl and Miss Parrot perched on the same tree limb, as usual. However, Miss Parrot’s friends began spacing themselves out, on different tree limbs, that stretched from the meeting point all throughout the woods. Everywhere you looked you could see a parrot perched on a tree limb… waiting.
The meeting convened. Mr. Owl, once again, began taking his precise notes. However, Miss Parrot mimicked the precise words to the parrot in the nearby tree as the words were being spoken. That parrot, in turn, mimicked the exact words to the next parrot, who mimicked to the next parrot who mimicked to the next parrot. Soon every animal in the forest could hear what was happening, during the meeting, as it was happening. The animals loved being able to hear the meeting “live” and asked the parrots to please continue to do it each month.
This seemed to be a “win/win” for everyone involved, for Mr. Owl had even more validation for his news reports and it didn’t deter his news story the next day, at all. Not all animals were within hearing distance of the parrots. Some animals were working far off or were too busy to stop to listen, so they were still glad Mr. Owl gave his report the next day.
The Moral Of the Story …
1) We don’t make the news; we just report it
2) We have audio recordings of all meetings and are posting them on this website
3) We will begin going live on Facebook for all meetings
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