Tribute to an Original Michigan Birdbrain; Mattt Clew;
With much love and thankfulness for sharing many adventures 

On a cold Saturday in January, 2012 a group of five students met in my living room. We had been birding by ear off and on since 2009, and had come to identify many of Michigan's birds by sound. I asked them if they were ready to take this group to another level with regular meetings and activities leading us to a deeper knowledge of the natural world and especially gaining a greater understanding of all birds that we had come to enjoy. The group included; Jeff Crouch, Steven Crouch, Nina Armstrong, Cheryl Stahl, and Matt Clew.

The first order of business was naming ourselves. I don't remember for sure if it was Matt's idea, but he enthusiastically pushed for the new name, "The Michigan Birdbrains". Since that snowy day in Dearborn we have met on a monthly basis usually, at the University of Michigan Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center. Some other activities that Matt loved were; attending the Lake Erie Hawk Fest, playing Birdbrain Jeopardy at weekend birding programs, traveling to Nature Discovery in Williamston, participating in week long birding camps including one to Michigan's beautiful upper peninsula where he ended up in the hospital with his health concerns. He never hesitated joining a group for an adventure including walking across the Makinac Bridge on Labor Day  upon more than one occasion.  Matt was the designated comedian for our group and kept us laughing all the way down the road and traveling the trails through the woods and even once off the end of a dock into Lake Michigan.
It is with deep sadness that I wish to report that on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 Matt Clew passed from this life. It is also with joy that I acknowledge having had the privlege of sharing adventures with Matthew Richard Clew, born on October 17, 1990. This mixture of sadness and joy is being felt among the many blind as well as sighted friends that shared adventures with Matt. Be assured that somewhere the Michigan songbirds are raising their voices to honor their friend knowing that somewhere above the clouds his spirit is now soaring, truly as free as a bird.