Friends of Casco Bay held its annual Volunteer Appreciation Event and Members Meeting on January 27th at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport. Nine Citizen Stewards reached milestones in volunteering of 20 years, 10 years, and 5 years. These citizen scientists were recognized for their contributions to monitoring the health of the waters of Casco Bay. Many of the 170 guests at the event have volunteered for the marine stewardship organization in various capacities.
Darren McLellan has volunteered for Friends of Casco Bay for 20 years. He feels a deep connection to his water quality sampling site at Peabbles Cove in Cape Elizabeth. “My grandmother was a Peabbles, and my family has been here for a couple of hundred years.”
Will Everitt, Friends of Casco Bay’s Development Director, has volunteered as a back-up water quality monitor since he joined the staff in 2006.
Mac Passano and his wife Beth Howe moved to Chebeague Island after retiring from teaching at the University of Wisconsin in 1991. They have been water quality volunteers at two sites on Chebeague for 10 years and 5 years respectively.
Don Gower retired after 40 years at B&M Baked Beans, where he rose from plant worker to plant manager. He has been sampling at Pinkham Point in Harpswell for 5 years.
Stephen Brezinski and his wife Roberta Brezinski sample water quality at Yankee Marina on the Royal River in Yarmouth. Steve was recognized for 5 years of monitoring, but he has been assisting Roberta unofficially for 17 years.
Lauren Leclerc and David Brenneman, both professional wetland scientists, have been testing the water at Gun Point in Harpswell for 5 years. More recently, they have been joined by their infant daughter Elyse as an “honorary” monitor.
Michael Heskanen also was honored for 5 years of service to Friends of Casco Bay’s Citizen Stewards Program. Michael travels by boat from his house in Brunswick to his water quality monitoring station at Indian Rest in Harpswell.
