Virginia Master Naturalists Headwaters Chapter

Chapter happenings

  • The Value of Making a Difference

    So, What Did I Get? And What Am I Getting?

    RoxAnna Theiss

     

    RoxAnna at 3in1.croppedjpgIn the fall of 2011 I took my Master Naturalist Training.  There were 22 ish in the class and we spent nine weeks learning whatever could be crammed into nine weeks about the natural world and the conservation and preservation of Virginia’s natural resources.  I went through the coursework and came away from the class knowing much more about the natural world but very little about my classmates.  I did not engage.  I barely interacted.

    Then for some totally unknown reason (although, now that I think about it – that take home assessment and my decision to focus on the Geology question which cost me several sleepless nights had something to do with it), when our Chapter Advisor sent out an e-mail asking for volunteers for positions in Chapter development, I felt the need to respond positively.  I honestly thought the Chair-ship of the Training Committee would be a cake-walk of sorts.  I mean, how hard could it be?  Talk about simpleminded!  It all seemed so very doable!

    When it happened, I do not know.  But in the process of creating and implementing the curriculum, analyzing my training experience and how I thought we could go beyond that experience, pouring over the policy manual, forming the Training Committee and getting to know the other six souls who also raised their hands to make the Headwaters Chapter a real live entity, I went from disengaged to totally immersed.  And I mean totally!

    Now, it’s almost three years later and what did I get?

    I got a community.   Headwaters is fast becoming a community of like-minded people who care about and are willing to work toward the betterment of our region of the Shenandoah Valley.  We are becoming teams.  Our chapter is becoming a unit.  We are known and respected not only as a by-product of our association with the Virginia Master Naturalist Program but because we are making ourselves useful and exceeding the minimum at every turn.  And for me that means our community reaches beyond, well beyond any of the minimums set in policy.  When I learned that most chapters experience a 40% drop off after the training program was completed – I promised myself: not this chapter!  It has come to my attention that we are coming to be regarded as “promising” . . . a community that can make a difference.  With this understanding, I get a strong sense of pride to be associated with Headwaters.

    I got a big self-respect boost.  It happened gradually.  I might make a “cold call” trying to recruit a speaker or a field trip leader and these people I called responded so positively and so immediately for the most part that I could not help but associate it with the VMN Program and its mission.  I was calling people who believed in the same work and mission.  It bolstered my determination and drive.

    I got to know some awesome people.  My classmates, for instance, turned out to be real movers and shakers in the environmental and natural resource management world locally.  And now that they knew me, that original disengagement fell away.  The real magic occurred with the first Basic Training class I coordinated.  Talk about a special group of people!   They showed me what a difference a group can make when they team up to work together to “make something happen”.  That’s when I understood the key to avoiding the dreaded 40% rule: the development of a cohesive unit of people who care about the same thing can overcome obstacles and make their own destiny.

    I got to learn more than I ever expected.  I get free Advanced Training.  I get to meet and converse with our speakers and field trip leaders.  I get to provide others the same opportunity and see all their light bulbs going off and the joy of learning and giving back in their faces as they make connections and increase their understanding beyond their expectations.  I get to see the trainees turn into movers and shakers in the chapter and loving the work.  I get to help.  I got to grow.  I get to make a difference.

    But all this did not come free.  Because you get back only what you are willing to invest, I came to understand that for Headwaters to be the best it could be we would need more resources than the training fee and more than volunteer time for approved projects.  We would need more than tangible resource investment; we would need both an instrumental and intrinsic value philosophy.  We would need to understand that although the main purpose of the VMN Program and its Chapters is to be instrumental in the preservation and conservation of Virginia’s Natural Resources there is also an intrinsic value to be discovered.  The experience of Headwaters is more than a means to an end.  It has value in and of itself.

    Even though all the feedback I get tells me the trainees and the chapter gets a big bang for their training fee buck and Virginia gets an extraordinary corps of volunteers for her natural resources – I understand that to move forward and to build a strong and lasting foundation allowing us to multiply our effect many fold – we need more than the minimum of both time on natural resource management and more than money from the training fee or any other source.  Attitude can be as valuable a resource as either of these more tangible constructs.  The resources of time and money from people who care spread evenly and fairly across the whole membership, help us build a chapter that can be far more than the sum of its parts.  The resource of attitude broadens the value of making a difference and helps make us immune to the deadly 40% rule.

    So what have I gotten, and what do I continue to get?   As if all the above were not enough, I have gotten and continue to get a better me, a better Shenandoah Valley, a better Virginia, a better America and a better world.  Pretty good deal, to my way of thinking!

    piggy_bankd4517aThanks to RoxAnna for this contribution to our chapter discussion about the need for membership dues! More about this here.

     

  • Milkweeds for Monarchs!

    GailandTeresasettingup
    Gail Napora and her eye catching Monarch display at Harrisonburg’s Blacks Run CleanUp in April.

    Once a bright and sure sign of autumn, monarch butterflies are now in worrisome decline. Scientists have tracked their decreasing numbers for several years. A recent study showed the lowest ever population of migrating eastern monarchs.

    A number of factors have contributed to the decline of the monarch butterfly. Here in the United States, industrialized farming involving wide scale spraying of pesticide that kills all vegetation but the food crops modified to be immune to it is a major factor. We are losing high percentages of the native flora, especially milkweeds, which monarchs need to survive, in favor of homogenized landscapes. Farms growing only one crop and non-native green spaces such as lawns and pesticide-treated roadways, contribute to the problem.

    In Mexico, deforestation, especially illegal logging, contributes to the habitat loss of monarch butterflies and reduces their numbers.

    Additionally, severe weather such as extreme cold and drought has been identified as a factor leading to the loss of monarchs.

    Carefully prepared milkweed seeds ready for dissemination!
    Carefully prepared milkweed seeds ready for dissemination!

    We can help as individuals by using less pesticides and growing our own milkweed to welcome back the monarchs.

    To that end, the Headwaters Chapter has been spreading the word on the plight of the Monarch and passing out potted milkweeds seeds at area events this spring as a special outreach project. We hope to extend our efforts into a 2014/2015 Chapter Focus Project.

    The HMN Projects Committee under the guidance of committee chair Sandy Greene began planning this year’s special Monarch outreach last fall.

    • Betty Forrest hosted a fridge full of locally harvested common milkweed seeds all winter as a means of “vernalizing” them in preparation for spring planting.
    • RoxAnna Theiss developed an attractive and informative instructional mini-trifold to accompany each peat pot of planted milkweed seeds for distribution.
    • Chris Bowlen provided potting soil and expertise and hosted potting parties.
    • Gail Napora was solicited to design and produce the artful display boards with matching table designs and t-shirts (!) for use at the event tables. Find out more about Gail and her many talents in this feature article about her on page 3 of the October 2012 issue of JMU LLI’s newsletter The Explorer.
    • Sandy, RoxAnna, Gail, Teresa Townsend, Pat Martin and others spent their time, and social and naturalist skills at four area environmental events to share their work:

    Thanks to Stephanie Gardner for her contributions to this post!

    More about monarchs and milkweeds at www.monarchwatch.org

     

    Blacks Run CleanUp display table.
    Monarch hand painting by RoxAnna.
    Donations and outreach for chapter strength!
    Ann Murray at Staunton’s Earth Day with helpful little person wearing Monarch wings.
    Gail’s lovely informational board.
    Tom Long and Janet James manning the Monarch display at Kites & Critters Day

     

     

  • Chapter Outreach to Bridgewater Retirement Community

    by RoxAnna Theiss

    basictrainingss2mc.400
    Our beloved training room at BRC. © Malcolm Cameron

    Headwaters has been extremely fortunate to have space in the Houff Center at the Bridgewater Retirement Community for our Basic Training classes since the Fall of 2012.  It is a beautiful space and well equipped.  It comes with wireless Internet connection, a projector screen and a set up and break down crew who always see eagerly to our needs.  It is highly unlikely we could do better for convenience and location as it almost straddles the Augusta/Rockingham County line.

    The Headwaters Board and the Basic Training Committee have been struggling for over a year for a way to show our appreciation and to continue to cement the bond with BRC.  We tried offering scholarships with free tuition for two members of the Bridgewater Community who qualify but so far that hasn’t been something of interest to any BRC resident.  So we thought: they need to understand the program better; we’ll offer a presentation to their Residents Association to accomplish that.  Even that was proving more difficult than we expected and it wasn’t until a new Resident’s Association Board was elected the first of 2014 that we began to make headway toward being scheduled for one of their monthly meetings.

    Finally, at the April meeting of the Residents Association of the Bridgewater Retirement Community, we had our moment.  After being treated to a very fine lunch at the BRC Dining Room by the Binghams who are co-Vice Presidents of Programs for the BRC Resident’s Association, our Advisory Board President, Tom Long, Training Committee member Carl Droms and I joined our Chapter Advisor Paul Bugas and Membership Committee co-chairs Dwayne and Pat Martin for a 20 minute presentation followed by a Question and Answer session about the Virginia Master Naturalist Program and the Basic Training provided by Headwaters.

    HMNPPsnip1The PowerPoint presentation was concluded with a slide show set to music that Tom created highlighting the field trips his class took from 2012 – 2013.  The whole presentation was well received by an audience of close to eighty residents.  We stayed afterward for a good half hour to talk and share with the people who had come to hear us speak.  The reports we got from Kay and Fletcher Bingham indicated the members of the Association appreciated our enthusiasm and dedication and enjoyed learning about the Program.  It does appear, however that scholarships will not be the answer to how we can show the Bridgewater Community how much we appreciate their generosity.

    Stay tuned to see how we come to a solution to our dilemma in a coming installment of Headwaters Highlights.

  • Wildlife Center Focus Forwards

    Jerry and Malcolm hang the Barred Owl Box made by Don Plants
    Jerry and Malcolm hang the Barred Owl Box made by Don Plants

    by Kate Guenther

    The third major workday for the Wildlife Center (Focus Project) was a lot of snowy fun and new faces turned out to help! On Saturday, March 8, volunteers really moved the project forward slushing through snow to hang six nest boxes, paint and reconstruct the sign infrastructure, test out the new rain barrels, and move more stone for the pond. HMN’s are intrepid, but it was too snowy to work on installing the pond further.

    A record 18 people showed up to help! By lunch it was warmer, and we stood around our work eating hot soups and stews. Welcome to Janet, Jerry, Pat, Dwayne, Malcolm, Ginny and Carl.

    From here forward, workdays will be announced as they get developed by each team leader. Planting the garden will occur in different stages starting in April. Pond work will resume on April 17 or 18th. Check with Kate or the team lead to see when they next expect to work, if you’d like to join us further!

    Please hold the morning of August 16th in your calendar to join the ribbon-cutting ceremony where food and ADV EDU and tours of the Wildlife Center of Virginia are planned to be offered. Families/neighbors/friends will be welcome- a great way to introduce people to the Master Naturalist program.

    Project Coordinator:  Kate  540-350-2824   goatherderkate[at]yahoo.com
    Pond Team Leader:  Frank  540-885-9663   exsoop[at]gmail.com
    Sign Team Leader:  Sandy  540-234-9336   greenes104[at]aol.com
    Planting Team Leader:  Chris   540-289-6801   bowlenchris[at]comcast.net

    Find all of Kate’s photos documenting the Wildlife Center garden project on SmugMug here.

     

    Sue paints the sign.
    Ginny paints the sign.
    Frank talks with Urbie Nash.
    Janet
    Sandy leading a search for trailing arbutus
    Malcolm and Carl rebuilding a sign
    Demonstration nest boxes line the entry trail
    Debriefing with Kate

  • VA Wildflower of the Year

    VNPS.WOY2
    Click on this image to download the VNPS brochure on Coral honeysuckle

    by Stephanie Gardner

    Hurray for Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), recently succeeding Redbud as Virginia Wildflower of the Year (WOY)! Coral honeysuckle was voted WOY 2014 by the Virginia Native Plant Society Board of Directors after consideration of all wildflowers nominated this year by Virginia Native Plant Society members.

    Coral honeysuckle is one of three native honeysuckles growing in Virginia. It is a climbing, twining woody vine but lacks the aggressiveness of the infamous invasive honeysuckles. It produces two inch long tubular sessile flowers from April to October. According to the VNPS the low odor flowers are often red with yellow inside although they can also be totally red, orange or yellow. It has opposite leaves that differ in shape by growing season. It usually remains evergreen, retaining some leaves through the winter. Coral honeysuckle also produces a red or orange berry August through March.

    Snowberry moth
    Snowberry moth                Flickr CC

    Coral honeysuckle is well suited for use as an ornamental plant. It produces nectar and will attract butterflies, bees and birds, including hummingbirds. According to the Virginia Native Plant Society, it serves as a host for the larvae of spring azure butterflies. It also hosts the larvae of snowberry clearwing moths, sphinx moths that resemble bees!

    Coral honeysuckle leaves have traditional uses in Native American medicine. The berries are toxic to humans.

    Coral honeysuckle is more commonly found in Eastern and Piedmont Virginia than in the Virginia Mountains although a map provided by the Virginia Native Plant Society indicates its presence in Augusta, Rockingham and Page counties.

    Coral honeysuckle, our Wildflower of the Year 2014, is widely available in ornamental nurseries. VNPS offers a list of nurseries that propagate native plants and collect native seeds in a responsible manner. They do not advise gathering native plants from the wild for use in cultivation.

    Vining Coral Honeysuckle Flicker CC
    Coral honeysuckle
    Flickr CC from VA State Parks
    Coral Honeysuckle Flickr CC
    Coral honeysuckle
    Flickr CC