I’m Melissa Leasia, and I’ll be our chapter president for the next two years – a huge honor and a rather daunting task!

Todd and I moved to Evergreen in October 2011 and one of the first things we did, after shoveling out from under the 11 inches of snow that arrived the same day, was to order a wreath from Marilyn Rhodes. The following spring we dropped into the Evergreen Nature Center on opening weekend and met Kathy Madison.  Marilyn and Kathy’s enthusiasm for all things Evergreen Audubon and Evergreen Nature Center drew me in. We joined.  As new members, we received a call from a board member who invited us to attend chapter meetings.  Thanks for the call, Ed Furlong!

The following spring, I “trained” to be a visitor assistant at the nature center.  We broke into small groups for an exercise in exhibit interpretation and I was teamed up with Lisa and Dave Wald.  In 2014, I met the Dodson’s who were selling ducks at the Dam Duck Derby. At the 2015 Bash and Benefit, Todd and I sat with JoAnn and Bill Hackos.  That night, Brad Andres casually wandered up to us to chat and next thing I knew, I had agreed to join the board…and here we are.

This is going to be a great year!  The NEW nature center will be open for the whole year. We have a full schedule of adult, child, and family programs.  We have fun events planned including field trips, Dawn Chorus (May 5), the Bash and Benefit (June 7) , the picnic (keep an eye out for the July date!).  We are participating in several community events and building on our partnerships with other area nonprofits – Outdoor Lab School, MALT, Wild Aware, EPRD, and Evergreen Library – to name just a few.  The monthly chapter meetings, NOW ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH AT 6 PM, bring us together in person and virtually for socializing and for excellent presentations. Please join us if you can.

And WOW! We’ve been nominated as Nonprofit of the year in a contest held annually by the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce.

OF COURSE, WE COULDN’T DO ALL THIS without our enthusiastic members and volunteers and an especially dedicated board. AND WE COULDN’T DO ALL THIS without your financial support and hundreds of volunteer hours. THANK YOU! 

And if we haven’t met yet, please introduce yourself to me soon, in person or via email.  I’m looking forward to it.

Melissa
President@EvergreenAudubon.org