Estuary Friends Celebrate Another Year
Friends of the Pugwash Estuary (FOPE) gathered at the Northumberland Curling Club for their annual general meeting yesterday. FOPE is one of those good news stories that just keeps on giving to the community.
Environmentalists yes, but not as a cause to pound a drum. FOPE members are simply people who love what the Pugwash River has to offer and they want to promote it in such a way that future generations will understand.
The organization was founded in 2005, and its remarkable contribution to the community is a growing legacy.
FOPE is well managed, exclusively by volunteers, has a growing financial presence, a respect from government funding agencies, and a deep commitment to the community.
They work closely with Nature Conservancy Canada which holds about a thousand acres of prime wetlands and natural resources in the immediate Pugwash area.
FOPE holds title to a key property, Estuary House, on Crowley Road where the organization hosts numerous events and activities. The screened-in gazebo is home to school trips and educational events, while offering visitors, especially those who travel on the river, a stopping-off place for rest and respite from the world famous mosquitos.
Since its launch in 2005, FOPE has amassed a reputation and a financial capacity to work with governments at all levels.
The organization is administered entirely by volunteers, including a fifteen member Board of Directors. Fourteen were returned at yesterday’s meeting while one was elected to the board by acclamation.
Donna O’Connell will join the board which includes: Maureen Woodlock, Theresa Rushton, Sarah Witney, Diane Elliott, Betty Hodgson, Alice Power, Marilyn Kinnear, Bill Greaterox, John Caraberis, David Rickard, Werner van Thielen, Ralph Thompson, and Stephen Leahey.
In a pleasant surprise at yesterday’s meeting, the organization conferred a life membership honour to Maureen Woodlock for her many years and varied services to FOPE. Woodlock is shown in the photo, at left, accepting her life membership certificate from Alice Power.