Newton Conservators honored four at its Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony, held May 24 under a tent at the Mt. Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton — the first in-person meeting since COVID.
Bill Hagar summarized the accomplishments of the Newton Conservators over the past year, and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller gave an appreciation of the Conservators work, noting the contributions of this years’ four awardees.
The Environmentalist of the Year Award, for the greatest contribution to the protection of Newton’s environment, went to Marcia Cooper, President of Green Newton, for her enthusiasm and devotion to a sustainable world for future generations, for thoughtfully inspiring Newton students to join and lead local environmental actions, and for building Green Newton into a widely trusted guide to green the home and fight the climate crisis.
Three Directors’ Awards, for significant contributions to the preservation of open space in Newton, went to:
- Luis Perez Demorizi, Director of Parks and Open Space, City of Newton, for improvements to Newton’s parks and open spaces, for skilled management of multiple projects from design through construction, for helping the Conservators to monitor conservation restrictions, and for helping the community reimagine how open space can function better for the public.
- State Representative Ruth Balser, for her continuing advocacy for open space in the Commonwealth and support of the mission of Newton Conservators for her persistent co-sponsorship over two decades leading to the Massachusetts Public Lands Preservation Act (PLPA) becoming law last November, to ensure no net loss of publicly owned parklands without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
- Philip Saunders, Jr., organizer and enthusiastic and tireless advocate for the Public Lands Protection Act for more than twenty-five years, working with Representative Balser, educating and organizing open-space activists, and sharing his knowledge of the PLPA. This award was made posthumously. Phil did not live to see the PLPA enacted into law, but he was active in promoting it until the final months of his life. Phil’s daughter Elizabeth, his wife Lucy, and daughter Cathy were present to accept the award.
After the business meeting and awards, Norman Smith, Raptor Specialist from Mass Audubon, presented a slideshow of the work he has done over the years observing, capturing, banding, and relocating Snowy Owls at Logan International Airport. He described how his work with children who think “out of the box” shattered some longstanding beliefs about the lives of owls and informed practices around the world for protecting them. He ended the evening surprising the audience with a live appearance of an orphaned 7-week-old Great Horned owlet that was to be reintroduced to the wild shortly thereafter.
The Newton Conservators is Newton’s non-profit land trust organization, connecting people with open space since 1961, hosting over 50 free events just this spring, and offering a free e-bulletin newsletter.
