This summer, our annual Volunteer Appreciation Day was hosted at The Rocks to celebrate and reflect on a year’s worth of hard work contributed by our many wonderful volunteers. The event was attended by staff, and volunteers from a variety of assignments including, but not limited to, our Volunteer Land Steward program, the Volunteer Trailhead Outreach Program at Mount Major, and volunteers that run programs and maintain facilities at our many properties across the state.
This year, our Volunteer Coordinator, Laurel Swope-Brush, introduced a new award: the Tree-mendous Volunteer Award, given to any volunteer who logged more than ninety-nine hours with the Forest Society in the last fiscal year. The awards were handmade by Swope- Brush: individual tree cookies cut from a beaver-felled ash log found on our Merrimack Floodplains property in Concord, NH, and wood burned with the Forest Society tree logo.
“They were really fun to make, and I hope I get to be challenged to make many more in the future as we get more volunteers logging lots of hours,” said Swope-Brush.
This year, five volunteers received the Tree-mendous Volunteer Award. Long-time volunteer, Dave Heuss, was one of them.
“Dave has served us in many ways and no matter what circumstances life threw at him, he always found ways to selflessly serve others and share his skillsets where they were needed most. He is a great land steward because he is always willing to get out and monitor, make observations and develop projects with staff. Currently, his time is shifting to put in a ton of hours helping with detailed woodworking projects, which is an area we need support in,” said Laurel Swope-Brush.
Most recently, Heuss completed all the finishing work on the new Paul O. Bofinger Room sign for the dedication of the Conservation Center’s Board Room.
“When you need detail work, and color finishing and design decisions, Dave is your guy,” said Swope-Brush.
The four other volunteers honored, who requested to remain anonymous, help the Forest Society in many different ways, including making weekly visits to properties to clear downed trees on trails, and attending almost every property workday, in addition to their regular visits to their stewarded properties.
“The beauty of volunteering is that no task is the same, and no skill set goes underappreciated or unneeded,” said Laurel Swope-Brush.
The Tree-mendous Volunteer Awards will continue to be handed out to all volunteers who exceed ninety-nine hours of work logged.
“We recognize all our volunteers and are thankful for everything that everybody does, but there are some folks that go above and beyond, and we want to recognize their extraordinary efforts. We want to recognize more volunteers for their hard-earned hours as this is an effort worth celebrating,” explained Swope-Brush.
If you volunteer with the forest society, be sure to report your hours so that next year, you too can receive this lovingly hand-crafted award. And if you are looking for ways to get involved with a great community, give back to the state and its forests, or simply get out in nature, take a look at the current volunteer opportunities listed on our website.