by Paul Servis

After serving as president of NNAS for a year I am amazed by the number of wonderful people that are in our membership. Whether it is cleaning up after Isabel or working out a budget, the Board of Directors, Committee Chairs, Committee Members and many other volunteer members are always willing to pitch in and get the job done. Because of these generous people, serving as President of NNAS has been a pleasure.

I thank all of you who helped NNAS continue to function well in the past year and ask for your support for this year. Some of our volunteers do much more than we should ask of them and I worry about that. My hope is to involve more of our members in committee work so that NNAS will continue to grow stronger. The health of our organization depends on an involved membership. Our founders and past leaders have built NNAS into a wonderful organization and we must insure that their quest is continued into the future. We must all work together to grow NNAS into a continuing force in the Northern Neck Of Virginia.

Three of our Board Members have completed their terms this year. BJ Norris finished out the last year for Joe Moeller after Joe’s election to Treasurer. BJ was a resource to me that that I needed desperately. As some of you know, I am a beginning birder and having BJ available was the best thing that I could ask for. Her knowledge of birds is amazing, and I thank BJ for sharing her expertise. I know that BJ will continue to be a valued resource for NNAS.

Evie Thorndike finished out her term and moved into the Vice Presidency of NNAS so I will have Evie to lean on for continued support this year. Evie was always ready to help wherever we needed her. Pinch-hitting as secretary or hosting the picnic Evie was ready to help.

Imy Weimerskirch has finished her term on the NNAS Board but she will still be wearing three hats as distribution chair of our newsletter, chief organizer of the NNAS picnic and showing the NNAS flag at the Heathsville Farmer’s Market. It seemed like every time I turned around I found out that Imy was doing another job for NNAS. Lucky for us Imy is only turning in one hat and that is her chairmanship of our programs committee. If a new President ever needed a good right arm, I had one in Imy.

Ann Messick finished out her term as Vice President. Ann is our wonderful plant encyclopedia. On one plant walk at Hickory Hollow I didn’t think that we would get out of the parking lot because Ann kept finding more wild flowers. My mind’s clock was telling me that we will take two days to get to Cabin Swamp if Ann doesn’t start skipping a few. But Ann led us on through a wonderful walk that we all enjoyed. Ann will continue to lead walks and serve NNAS in the future.

Tom Teeples is also due many thanks for his help to me and his constant promotion and support of NNAS. After serving many years and earning a well-deserved break Tom volunteered to serve as Past President of NNAS. We are extremely fortunate to have Tom’s expertise available as the Board of Directors make future decisions.

With our new officers and board members in place we will move into another year carrying out the objectives of NNAS. With your help we will continue to work toward responsible, environmental stewardship of the Northern Neck of Virginia.