WOLF'S CROSSROADS - Environmentally-conscious residents were honored Thursday evening for their excellence in conservation work in Northumberland County during the 59th annual awards picnic of the Northumberland County Conservation District (NCCD) held at the Kenneth L. Bingaman Memorial Picnic Pavilion.
Also applauded for their efforts were Boy Scouts Raiden Wiest, David Savidge, Christopher Deppen and Christian Noel Stump, members of Troop 311, Rebuck, who earned a conservation district patch, summer interns Ryan Beaver, of Locust Gap; Michael Kimble, of Danville; Michael Schlauch, of Zion Grove; and Aaron Yoder, of Paxinos, and NCCCD board members.
Awards
The Environmental Educator of the Year award was presented to Kendra Day, a kindergarten teacher at Grace S. Beck Elementary School in Sunbury. Day regularly teaches civic responsibility by engaging students in discussions, activities, experiments and projects about preserving and protecting the environment.
The Swank Outstanding Conservation Organization Award was given to the Susquehanna River Cleanup Project. David and Judy Swank sponsor the award in honor of their granddaughter, Shelby Palmer.
The organization was started in 2012 by a group of friends who were concerned about the status of the river. Their mission is to clean debris and litter from the river banks. The group collected 960 pounds of scrap metal, 1,500 pounds of recyclable material, 30 tires and 2,200 pounds of waste material during their latest clean up.
The Don Cotner Sr. Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Courtney Anchor, a 2013 graduate of Milton Area Senior High School. Don Cotner Jr. sponsors the scholarship in memory of his father.
Anchor has been accepted to Penn State University, Altoona campus, where she will major in plant science. Her career plans are to use her degree to become involved in research. She is a daughter of Charles III and Evelyn Anchor.
Budget
Judy Becker, district manager, thanked Reps. Kurt Masser and Lynda Schlegel Culver, who were in attendance, for passing the state budget, which will fund conservation districts throughout the state. The NCCD was formed in 1943 under the Conservation District Law. It is a subdivision of state government and one of 66 conservation districts.