Please join us in extending congratulations to Bob Cope, our 2020 Lyme Land Trust Volunteer of the Year, announced at the Annual Meeting! The Annual Meeting on June 26, 2020 was a virtual event on Zoom. The membership voted to approve the renewal of three-year terms for board directors Brantley Buerger, Jonathan Butler, Nancy Newcomb, and Ann Rich. A change in the by-laws was presented and approved by the membership. Mal Karwoski, Chairman of the Stewardship Committee, presented the Volunteer of the year award to Bob Cope with the following remarks: Whether you steward trails or monitor easements or spend all morning working at a rest stop during the Tour de Lyme, we really value all volunteer efforts to keep the place going. And we use today’s occasion to name a volunteer of the year. When you mention this person’s name, everyone says the same things – dependable, hard-working, first one to the site, last one to leave, does a thorough job, willing to take on anything, resourceful and eager to learn how to do new or challenging things and dives in with determination.

• There’s an entry kiosk in Jewett whose posts have rotted and it’s fallen to the ground. Call Bob
• Multiple trees down across the trail at Plimpton? Call Bob
• Hartman Park kiosks need repainting? Call Bob. oh and he comes to the job with a perfect color match
• Thach Preserve needs mowing? Call Bob. Oh wait, don’t need to call him. He’s done the mowing already. And on a Sunday morning no less.
• Need anything that pops up during the Tour de Lyme? You don’t need to call Bob here either. He’s been around since sun-up and won’t leave until everything, and I mean everything, is done.
• Clearing trails, hacking through invasives on a rainy day to re-route a trail, designing and building benches for our preserves and countless other jobs large and small are all in play for Bob.

The Bob I’m referring to of course, is our Bob, Bob Cope. It’s his nature to be helpful, and he shares this not just with the Lyme Land Trust; Bob is invested in our community in many other ways and is passionate about giving back. He’s active with the Friends of Whalebone Cove; Lyme Parks and Rec; Town of Lyme Open Space Commission; Hadlyme Public Hall; Lyme Youth Services Bureau and the Center For The Blind in New London. He’s had a wide array of experiences over the course of his life in trade jobs which makes Bob super valuable as a volunteer, but more so he’s using these skills and deep local connections to establish his own business, called Honey Hill Land Management Services. Just ask him about it. You know Bob, he LOVES to talk! Bob and I have been together on a lot of Land Trust work adventures and I’m very happy to see his name on this award. And now I’ll call Bob, one more time, front and center, to accept this year’s Volunteer of the Year award from our Environmental Director, Sue Cope. Thank you, Bob!