2025 Annual Meeting Recap

Fog, Bird Walk, Sign-in, Merchandise Sales, Meet and Greet

Intimidatingly heavy fog greeted all of us as we made our way to the Refuge for Friends' Annual Meeting on Saturday February 8. It hung with us through the 8:00 Bird Walk led by Deputy Refuge Manager John Stark. It hovered over us as almost 100 signed in and shopped for new Friends' merchandise. We bought almost $750 worth of items, with the new butterfly shirts and visors being the most popular items and some of our legacy paddling maps still calling to new Refuge kayak enthusiasts.

Board Elected, Membership Numbers

Ron, Tara, Pete, Ethan being elected to the board

Members approved the slate of directors and officers, including the six new-to-the-board folks, highlighted below:
President --Ron Kamzelski
President-elect -- Tara Barney
Immediate Past President -- Denise Feiber
Treasurer -- Ethan Bittner
Secretary -- Pete Tirrell
Directors -- Lukas Desjardins, Robin Gallup, Ken Gray, Clair Keating, Ginessa Mahar, Debbie Meeks, Bob Piscura, John Thalacker, Scott Wright

Friends' finances and membership continue to be strong.

Presentations: Outgoing President, Incoming President, Refuge Manager, National Wildlife Refuge Association President

Denise and Ron provided updates on outcomes of Friends' 2024 actions and expectations for 2025. Andrew presented a Refuge update.

For many of us, a highlight of the event was Andrew's heartfelt words about the commitment that he and his fellow federal employees have to their work and how it enables them to make the world a better place for all of us. The staff members applauded in agreement and it touched us all, especially at a time when our federal workers and what they do for us are being so undervalued.

This year's featured speaker, Desirée Sorenson-Groves, is president and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association.  Her dynamic presentation gave us information about the history, present, and future of the refuges nationwide,

Featured Speaker, Desirée Sorenson-Groves

Desirée Sorenson-Groves chatting with a Friends' member after the presentations.

Lunch was catered by Treasure Camp. It was delightful.

Refuge Manager Andrew Gude serving at the lunch table

Board members Jeri Treat and Ginessa Mahar serving other Friends' members at the lunch table

Early Afternoon Nature Walk

John Thalacker led a group of 13 on a nature walk on the Cypress Wetland  trail near the hurricane-destroyed River Trail.  They discussed the history of the property that makes up the current Refuge, key characteristics of some of the plants (including a little taste of the tender tips of the "green briar" and  how "sweet gum" got its name), and that there is a standing invitation for more plants to be identified and marked.

And with that, another wonderful Annual Meeting at our Refuge is in the books.