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Sherri McNary, a native of Sabetha had a reputation for taking in unwanted pets and in 2009, a man dropped off a sick baby raccoon. He had been keeping it as a pet, but it was sick and he couldn't find help. She quickly learned why. Call after call yielded the same response: "It's illegal to possess a raccoon. Put it back. Nature will take its course." Unwilling to accept this answer, she eventually connected with Dennis Dinwiddie, Director of Northeast Kansas Wildlife Rescue (NEKSWR) in Topeka. He instructed her to bring the raccoon to him. Upon arrival he repeated the same message: "It's illegal to possess wildlife..." Upset, Sherri answered "then what are people in rural Kansas supposed to do?" His response was an invitation to join the NEKSWR team.
Sherri became a certified wildlife rehabilitator (CWR) with NEKSWR later that summer. In 2015, Dennis Dinwidee, Director of Education at the Topeka Zoo invited her to join the Topeka Zoo as an education docent with the Gary Clark Education Center. There, she helped with animal education programs at the Gary Clark Education Center. Then, in 2016, she suffered a broken neck. As they took her to surgery she made a promise to God that if she could walk again, she would care for every sparrow of the field. She returned to her docent position at the zoo after a short recovery and looked for ways to keep her word. Unfortunately, there were not many options for rural Kansas communities. Distance, stress on animals and cost associated seemed insurmountable issue. Then, Pat Silvosky, Director of Milford Nature Center suggested Sherri should start a program in Sabetha, Kansas.
So she did - but not without the help of an amazing network of experts in the field. Throughout 2016, she continued to volunteer at the zoo and was mentored by Dennis Dinwiddie, Director of Education at the Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center, Rachel Rost, former Educator and National Geographic Certified Educator at the Topeka Zoo, Pat Silvosky, Director of Milford Nature Center and birding expert Vanessa Avara, also from the Milford Nature Center in Junction City.
In the summer of 2016, she met Wendell Ganstrom of Robinson after he called the hotline requesting wildlife help. She quickly recruited him to the NEKSWR team as a transporter and told him about her "wild" idea. Wendell immediately offered his talents as an educator to ARC Wild and became a CWR the following year. Her longtime friend, Julie Krebs also joined the ARC Wild team in 2017 as Treasurer and event volunteer. Rich and Kathy Bure of Topeka (education docents at the Topeka Zoo) traveled to Sabetha to help.
In the spring of 2017, Sherri traveled to Tennessee to pick up the organization's first animal ambassador and ARC Wild held its first community education program at the Klinefelter Farm in Hiawatha, Kansas. It was an immediate success and in the first two years, ARC Wild reached more than 10,000 youth through live wildlife education and hands on activities.
As demand for ARC Wild programs continued to grow, Sherri began to look for more help wildlife rescue. Volunteers Amber and Kinsley Bletcher joined after attending a community program and continue to work as Animal Caretakers. Brianna Gruber of Sabetha and Ashley Stalder of Humboldt, NE joined the education team. In 2020, Sherri met Connie King of Wetmore after an owl fell from its nest in her backyard. Connie joined NEKSWR as an animal transporter. That same year, Daniela Rippe of Sabetha joined the ARC as an educator after attending a community program. In October, ARC Wild hosted its first Back to Nature family campout in Robinson at Upper Wolf Farm.
In December 2019, a new disease began spreading in Asia. In 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health emergency. With a wary eye on the developing crisis, ARC Wild continued to provide programs until May 2021, when the governor issued a stay-at-home order. ARC Wild education department was suspended but like Noah’s ark, we were built to weather the storm. ARC Wild's team never stopped providing a place of rehabilitation for wildlife in need despite the risks involved. That fall, Connie King and Daniela Rippe became certified wildlife rehabilitators with NEKSWR. Sherri became a certified National Geographic educator.
ARC Wild resumed programing in 2022. That fall, Dennis Dinwiddie of NEKSWR suggested that Sherri expand ARC Wild's services to officially include wildlife rehabilitation so that she could manage rehabilitators in the northernmost regions of the state. ARC Wild was put into torpor and Dr. Jessica Stallbaumer and Clint Tegtmeier joined the ARC Wild team (Dr. Stallbaumer has since received her own license).
Like many of the animal ambassadors in our care, we used the cold winter months to improve facilities, construct an outdoor education area for Rangers and recruit new volunteers. Then, on December 7, 2022, an oil pipeline in Washington, Kansas spilled more than 650,000 gallons of oil into the creek. ARC Wild offered its assistance, working behind the scenes with the wildlife response team. In October 2023, ARC Wild was invited to put together a First Responder team in the event of future oil spills in Kansas. We proudly accepted as it is an extension of our mission to prepare our northeastern counties for emergencies and protect native wildlife. In 2024, we will officially welcome Cheyenne Colborn of White Cloud as transporter and ARC Wild educator, will expand the Ranger program to include youth in 4th and 5th grades and offer internships to older students interested in careers in wildlife conservation or biology.
"I am so very thankful for the many volunteers who helped build the ARC and are excited for what lies ahead. ARC Wild's team is proud to be inspiring the next generation of explorers, conservationists, and change makers. We aren’t just providing entertaining programs about animals; we are empowering our communities to be informed decision makers that are ready to solve challenges in their communities and beyond. Won’t you join us? It’s sure to be a wild adventure!" - Sherri McNary, Director
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