Perrysburg Pulse Magazine Perrysburg Pulse November | Page 8

Buddy
MEET
BUDDY
MEET
the Bird
BY ERICA VAN HOOSER
A
fter 25 years of marriage, Perrysburg residents Kevin and
Connie Kolanko still like to rock ’n’ roll all night, but they
never could have predicted they’d come home from a Kiss
concert with a new pet.
Kevin and Connie spent the morning after the concert in a
Wilder, Kentucky, hotel room. Kevin was outside smoking his morning
cigarette when he saw a little bird jumping in the bushes looking for food.
Kevin decided to reach down and greet the bird, and to his surprise, it
greeted him right back! The bird jumped on his finger and straight to his
shoulder. Kevin called Connie outside.
Connie recognized the bird as a domesticated parakeet. “He was very
people-friendly,” Connie notes. “I have never seen a very tame parakeet. I
have had many birds, and this was a first for me.”
She and Kevin carried the hungry bird into their hotel room and, at a loss
for anything resembling birdseed, fed it a banana.
They tried to locate the owner, to no avail.
The bird “would have died if we didn’t bring him home, and Connie wasn’t
going to let that happen,” Kevin remembers.
He and Connie worried the bird would feel restricted or panic during the
three-hour drive back home, but the bird did surprisingly well, sitting on
their shoulders for the entirety of the trip. They stopped at a local store and
purchased birdseed for their new pet, who they decided to name Buddy.
Today, the Kolankos can’t imagine life without Buddy.
“Buddy makes me happy, he loves singing, and the cats seem to like him
too!” Kevin shares.
Connie adds, “It makes me happy when I save an animal’s life. I have
always been that way. He makes me happy. And honestly, I know he’s
grateful that Kevin and I brought him home. He brings me so much joy."
Erica Van Hooser has lived in Perrysburg for 20 years.
Passionate, dedicated, and happy these are three words
to describe her. Erica is passionate about animals and the
environment, and has been vegan for two years. Dedicated,
she is currently getting her Master's degree in business. If
you ask anyone who knows Erica they would tell you she
brings the energy and positivity wherever she goes.
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