Tex Cathey's involvement with FODR goes back to the inception of the Organization. He didn't know anything about the Dragon until he got a call from Jimmy Morgan telling him about his plans to form a group with the mission of preserving the uniqueness of this waterway. Jimmy piqued Tex's interest and he was on board.

With other founding members we explored Big Island, laboriously made our way up to the Big Bald Cypress, and participated in the continuing discussion about whether beavers and their engineering projects are, or are not, a natural part of the habitat. One of the most memorable events of those early days was an outing spent tagging 500 baby bald cypress. We had visions of replacing the population with our efforts, but I have yet to see one of our tagged trees survive.

Tex comes by an interest in outdoor conservation naturally. He grew up in Richmond, VA. and Greensboro, NC spending as much time as possible outdoors. He added canoeing to his list of interests when he lived in northern Minnesota on a Chippewa Indian reservation in the early 70's, and despite Teta Kain's kayak enthusiasm and best selling efforts, he's still a canoe purist.

Tex and his wife, Judy, live in Gloucester and he has been a dentist in Newport News for almost 30 years. They have three grown children who share their interest in the natural environment.

Although Tex's involvement with FODR goes back to its founding, his family's involvement goes back to a generation before that. Judy's mother grew up in Middlesex County and as a child she and her siblings were terrified of the Dragon. It was a dank, dark, forbidding swamp with snakes and strange looking trees and other unseen dangers; and the children were told it was haunted by the ghosts of runaway slaves. When we told her that the Dragon was a waterway with a unique ecology of flora and fauna and that there was an effort to preserve it, she was astounded, pleased, and interested. One of our best adventures on the Dragon

was taking her at the age of 77, and her sister, on an exploratory canoe trip. It was two weeks after the high water of Hurricane Fran and although the water level had dropped, there was lots of debris stuck at the high water mark. I'll never forget my 74-year-old Aunt Mary finding blackened, dried cypress needles and declaring that they were dragon fur!

Tex has been on the Board since 1997 and has found his niche spearheading special projects. He created the memorial stone for Jimmy Morgan on Big Island. Finding the stone was a task, but he eventually found the perfect piece of granite at the bottom of the Watauga River in western North Carolina, brought it home, and had it carved. Engineering and implementing a strategy to get a 450- pound rock over the Dragon and into place on the island was another challenge. His most recent endeavor was the passage of the bill dedicating the twin bridges on Highway 17 over the Dragon to Jimmy Morgan, and his efforts culminated in an unveiling ceremony September 7 this year.

Being a part of FODR has been a rich part of Tex's life. It has provided an opportunity to get to know an energetic, impassioned community of conservationists, learn about and enjoy a unique Virginia waterway, and put his efforts, energies, and ideas into helping preserve it. Judy Cathey

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