Clarksville, TN – Recently, a few people gathered at the Wade Bourne Nature Center (WBNC) for a special check presentation. In the lobby, Becky Bourne, artist Larry Richardson, and WBNC Foundation’s Stephanie Travis stood beneath a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and talked about the continuing legacy of Wade Bourne.
Bourne was a full-time outdoor writer/broadcaster whose works have appeared regularly before national reading, listening, and viewing audiences over the past four decades. Among his accomplishments, Bourne hosted a nationally syndicated radio show, contributed to the nation’s leading outdoor magazines, and authored six books.
Bourne was inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame in 2003, and the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in 2005.
“When I came up with the idea of remembering Wade Bourne through the arts, I wanted to make sure we were tapping into different communities within our larger community,” Travis said. “All our folks who are nature enthusiasts and outdoorsmen, and lean more towards hunting, fishing, etc., already know Wade.
“But it’s important to me, as time passes and generations move on, to make sure that folks who you might not expect get connected with this place.”
Travis wants the artists in our community to see Wade not just as an outdoorsman, but as an artist. “He was an incredible and very successful writer,” Travis continued. “Most of his work was done before there were so many resources at his fingertips. A lot of his writing was instructional, mainly about hunting and fishing.”
Artist and long-time friend Larry Richardson said, “Wade, using words, would paint a picture for the reader, of all these places he would go. He had such a vocabulary and such a gift.”
Travis said when she first approached Becky Bourne with the idea, she loved it. “I said to her, I want to make sure too that we reach the children in the community. Maybe they aren’t in to hunting and fishing, but they love to draw, and paint, and write.
“I want to include everyone in this place. Outdoorsmen and artists overlap in their love of nature.”
When the WBNC was built, a board was established to oversee it. The facility was gifted to and run by the county, but the foundation oversees Wade’s legacy.
“The Board doesn’t meddle in the day to day of what the staff does here,” Travis said. “But as far as helping provide funding for the facility, and programming, things like that. That’s what we do. We want to help carry on the mission of the WBNC.
“What makes Larry Richardson really special is when I talked to Becky about my idea, because it’s really important that she buys into what we are trying to do here, she said, ‘I love it. I know which artist I want to reach out to.’ She reached out to Larry and he responded immediately. Our first ever donation came from Larry.
“He donated a piece, and then, it’s a timing thing, and as a Christian I would say – a God thing. Ironically, the same month that our fundraiser was scheduled to happen, Larry was putting up an exhibit at WBNC entitled the Legacy of Wade Bourne.”
Not only did Richardson donate a piece that was auctioned off the night of the foundation event, he agreed to make a donation to the foundation – a percentage of each of the sales he made from his show. He pledged 10% of all the sales, and he sold a lot of pieces.
“Larry then rounded up the donation, so I wanted to take the time to shine a spotlight on him,” Travis said. “He is a wonderful local artist and a really incredible friend to Wade. So today we’re doing a check presentation from Larry to the foundation. The money will go into the general fund and the board will determine how to disperse those funds.”
The latest fundraising focus of the Board is to get friends of the WBNC to create an annual children’s art contest. The goal is to make sure there is a way for people of all walks to find a way to connect with the center – hunting, fishing, hiking, gardening, painting, drawing, writing. Travis says there are so many ways that folks can plug in.
“So with each fundraiser we want to try to connect with a different group within our community,” Travis continued. “When we put our minds together we can reach everyone. Larry has been an incredible friend to Wade and Becky, and now to WBNC.
Richardson says he met Becky in the 1970’s when she was working at Land Between the Lakes. His wife Roberta actually attended high school with Wade.
Becky is not on the board, but describes herself as a very interested community participant.
“The center has been here for three years, and of course, my heart is in this community, because it’s named after Wade,” Becky said. “His desire was for there to be some kind of community education center that could begin to encourage children at an early age to appreciate and love the outdoors, and to learn for themselves how to conserve it.
“Years ago, there was a book called Last Child in the Woods, and the point was, ‘when all the children are gone, no longer playing in the woods, what happens to our world?“Wade’s desire was to make sure that children could understand and appreciate everything, even if it’s just insects, that there is a world there to take care of. After all, God gave us creation, and we’re supposed to be good stewards.
“The WBNC Foundation is providing funding for programming that should be continued through this generation and future generations, to make sure we love, conserve and use our outdoors.”
