2021 Volunteer of the Year Award:
Linda Prieskorn
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While 2021 was a challenging year in many ways, the WCCD staff and many volunteers stepped up to make the plant sale events a success. One individual stood out with consistency, dedication, humor, and native plant knowledge to nearly every event in 2021: Linda Prieskorn!
So, we decided to honor our first ever WCCD Volunteer of the Year. Linda is a retired middle school teacher living in Ann Arbor, and many of us know her as an avid native plant enthusiast! She keeps tending and improving her massive native plant garden in her front and back yards, and has been involved with the WCWRC Master Rain Gardener program for over 8 years. As legend has it, she was asked to help take some photos for the rain gardens, and, in her words: “I’ll do it until I get bored, and that was 8 years ago!” Through the MRG program she has grown as a volunteer by photographing events, coordinating school rain garden events, and supporting the staff for various events, including the Ann Arbor Huron River days. She has taken classes on landscape design. Linda also received her certification from the MSU Conservation Stewards Program in 2019, with mentorship from Catie of MRG and Megan of WCCD. Additionally, she's been active since 2018 with the Wildflower Association of Michigan, and was elected onto the board in 2021. In 2021, Linda was involved with just about every volunteer opportunity with the WCCD:
When asked if she'd recommend volunteering with the WCCD events, she said "These events are a good chance to meet people & be active & learn seedlings... I’ve learned as much about plants [at these events] as I have from books”. And we've all learned a great deal from Linda and fully appreciated her knowledge, humor, enthusiasm, and style that she brings to the work. On behalf of the Washtenaw County Conservation District, THANK YOU, LINDA! - Doug Reith, WCCD Resource Coordinator |
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