Guardian Awards
2013 Annual Waterway Guardian Awards
Presented by the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper
The Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper seeks nominations for its Second Annual Waterway Guardian Awards. Recipients will be recognized at the Shorekeeper’s annual Clamboree on August, 10, 2013.
The intent of these awards is to recognize groups, agencies, and individuals who have made significant contributions toward clean water on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We felt it was time to shine a light on those whose local work and actions have been a positive force for helping preserve, protect, and restore our creeks, bays, and other precious natural resources.
There are three categories of awards: individuals and nongovernmental organizations; government agencies and/or elected or appointed government officials; and commercial enterprises. All nominees/recipients must live in or work on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and there may be multiple award recipients in each category.
The Shorekeeper organization invites anyone to make a nomination, which must be done using our nominating form.
The deadline for submitting a nomination is July 1, 2013.
Nominations for the awards are sought from the public, and recipients are selected by the VES Board of Directors.
Honorees receive a specially commissioned sculpture of a black skimmer by artist David Turner (see photo below). Through special agreement, this skimmer is also being produced commercially by Turner Sculpture and sold at retail by them, with $100 of the proceeds being donated to the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper organization. See a local news article about this program. We’re grateful to David Turner and Turner Sculpture for his generosity and willingness to work with us in this fashion and for his support of our efforts to have clean waterways along the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Presented to Vic Schmidt and Sally Richardson
The Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper presented its 1st Annual Shorekeeper Waterway Guardian Awards at the group’s annual Clamboree on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, to Vic Schmidt of Cheriton and Sally Richardson of Capeville. Both received a specially commissioned David Turner sculpture of a skimmer, which is the symbol of the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper.
Schmidt, who was the Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before his retirement and move to Cherrystone Creek, was instrumental in founding Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore, was a guiding force for that organization’s emphasis on land use management and conservation, and was a founder of the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper. He has worked directly and indirectly on the Shore in many important conservation and water quality issues.
Biology teacher Sally Richardson recently retired after thirty years at Northampton High School. During that time she lead over 1,100 children on Chesapeake Bay field trips; taught her students to raise oysters; helped establish Envirothon teams in Virginia; took her own team to regional, state, and national level competitions; developed a marine biology course; influenced many students to study environmental science after high school; and helped educate thousands of young people about the value of protecting our natural resources.
