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St. Mary's County Recreation and Parks honors Sierra Club volunteers, scouts and museum volunteer
Summary
At a December 2020 Board of Recreation and Parks meeting, staff presented certificates to Sierra Club members, Boy Scout volunteers and museum volunteer Katie Davis for recent conservation, trail and museum work.
Leonardtown — The St. Mary's County Board of Recreation and Parks recognized volunteers from the Southern Maryland Sierra Club, Boy Scout Troop 561 and museum volunteers during its December 2020 meeting.
The awards program included certificates and photographs. Parks staff identified seven Sierra Club volunteers, two Boy Scouts and several individual community volunteers; staff singled out Bonnie Kellenberger, Brandon Smith, Liz Ward, an unnamed Sierra Club chair (Benjamin, last name not provided), Eagle Scout Joey Masseri, Troop 561 leader Jesse Burks and museum volunteer Katie Davis.
The recognitions reflected recent volunteer projects. The Sierra Club volunteers led tree plantings in county parks each October, which parks staff said expand tree canopy and habitat. At the meeting, the Sierra Club representative said, “The backbone of our work, though, is conservation work. It's service work....every tree planted helps mitigate the damage caused by climate change.” That speaker was identified in the meeting as Benjamin, chair of the Southern Maryland Sierra Club (no last name provided).
Eagle Scout Joey Masseri described his project at Myrtle Point Park: “I created 6 new map structures for Myrtle Point Park.” Parks staff praised the signs as durable and attractive and said Joey “kept his word on every part of the project” and delivered on schedule.
Jesse Burks and Boy Scout Troop 561 were recognized for repeated cleanups at Lexington Manor Passive Park and for making a trail more family friendly by adding benches and trash receptacles. Parks staff said the cleanup work increased daytime presence on the trail and reduced vandalism and other misuse, and noted that residents used the restored trail recently to walk to a community event.
Katie Davis was recognized for ongoing volunteer work at the Old Jail Museum. Parks staff said she donates about two days each week and created a poster exhibit on Benjamin Hance; Davis told the board, “It's been very rewarding to be able to share our county's history, especially stories that maybe we don't know as well, including the story of Benjamin Hance, who was unfortunately the only undocumented lynching in Saint Mary's County who was held at the jail.”
Parks staff photographed the volunteers after the presentations and thanked them for their contributions to parks maintenance, restoration and historical interpretation.
The board did not take formal votes related to the recognitions beyond presenting the certificates; the presentations were part of routine business at the meeting.
