A letter from our President, Summer 2011:
Greetings all. Another dry spring and summer, so far, and I hope you all are doing well. The Coastal Bend Bays Foundation has been active on several fronts, and I have some updates on activities that were reported on in my last “Message from the President”. I plan on writing a Presidents Report every month, and if I am remiss, please feel free to remind me to catch up.
We have had some changes in the makeup of the Board of Trustees since the last report. Our Treasurer, Brian Burke, has moved back to California, and therefore, we have no Treasurer at this time. Brian left us with a badly needed update of the books, and we all thank him for that. Anyone who would like to be considered for the Treasures position, please let me know.
Susan Neimi, our Volunteer Coordinator, has had several meetings focused on bringing the volunteers together. We have started the Volunteer Core Group, most of the participants are not members of CBBF, rather, they are members of various other groups who stand ready to pitch in to help us with projects as they are needed. Please get with Susan if you know of people who would be interested in being a part of the Volunteer Core Group. Susan has also stepped in to help with the bookkeeping and fincancials in lieu of a Treasurer. Kathy Winter also has been contributing to that effort.
The Environmental Projects Committee, chaired by Lauren Hutchinson, has had several meetings this spring. Lauren has been out of town, following here graduation from TAMU-CC this spring, but will be returning soon to pick back up where she left off. And will she ever have a load of projects to work on! The Nueces Bay Causeway marsh planting we did in the winter was partly a success. Although some of the plants we transplanted did not survive the dry spring, we did make some valuable connections with the eager volunteers, including the airboat operators (2 of which drove from San Antonio & Victoria). We will go back in the fall to replant some of the areas, and we have seen some natural colonization of the terraces, which is a very good sign that the habitats created will be valuable. Other projects in the works include PolyWog Pond and Suter Park Shoreline Stabilization. You can find out more information on these and all of the projects we are working on by visiting the CBBF Website under the “PROJECTS” tab.
EarthDay/BayDay (EDBD) 2011 was a success. This year we changed the venue to the campus of TAMU-CC, and we had an estimated 4,000-5,000 people attending. Daniel Lucio, the EDBD Chair, did an outstanding job of organizing the event, and we look forward to EDBD 2012 under his leadership.
This year, we have extended the monthly Coastal Issues Forums (CIF) to include the summer. Traditionally we have not had the Forums year round, but the two we have had in June & July were well attended. The August Forum will be on the Navy/City Land Use Plan, and may turn out to be added to our projects list. More information about the CIF’s can be found on the CBBf webpage. We are making every effort to link the presentations given on the website. We hope to have video of the CIF’s, along with the Power Point presentation in the future, all linked on the website. We are also asking each of you to help us find sponsors for the refreshments & snacks for the CIF’s. We can save needed funds for other necessities if we can find sponsorship for each Coastal Issues Forum.
We are in need of some new Trustees, as several have decided to step aside. If you, or someone you know, are interested in becoming a Trustee, please let me know, and I can fill you in on how to proceed to get the names to the Nominations Committee for consideration.
We also are working on automating the CBBF dues collection, where renewal of dues can be done on the website. Automatic renewal is easy and safe, so I hope everyone will sign up for that. We really need to increase our membership, both at the individual and corporate levels. Please ask your friends and neighbors to join, and be sure that your dues are current. We do not receive any outside funding, so prompt remission of your dues really helps to keep the doors open. We only have 1 full time, and 3 part time staff. All the rest is done by you, the member volunteers.
I thank you all for letting me serve as President.
John S. Adams
[email protected]
361.549.3186
