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Home Stretch for the Focus Project
 Saturday, August 16th marks the end of our first year-long Chapter Focus Project at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. We have planned a morning of events to celebrate our accomplishment, which has been widely viewed as a success by visitors and staff at the center. We hope you will join us!
Sandy and Jewel continue to work hard to create original art and text for the signs that will soon be installed, which will deliver the educational message about backyard habitat improvement.
 New lights have been installed along the path. These lights help preserve the “dark skies” by shining their light only downward. Thanks go to Elizabeth Brooks for that choice!
Angel has invited the color guard of a local Boy Scout troop to help with the ribbon-cutting ceremony. We will be flying a new flag— one that flew over the U.S. Capitol.
Jerry and Kate teamed up to tackle a small, persistently annoying leak in the tubing of the pond pump—plumber’s tape to the rescue.
So a lot is still going on…
If you have or have not yet been involved in this project and you want to join in on the fun, there still is time! We still need a couple folks to staff project stations on August 16 to help the attendees appreciate what they are looking at: 1) pond, 2) native plants, 3) nest boxes and “rabbitats.” Contact Kate at goatherderkate@yahoo.com, 540-350-2824. Or, to help by providing snacks at the event, contact Sandy Greene at greenes104@aol.com
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July photos ... from top, then left to right: Tom and Ann show their special finds during the forest campsites cleanup on July 14, RoxAnna and Chip at our Harrisonburg Farmers Market outreach table on July 19, Jerry in rain chains at the Wildlife Center of Virginia's new wildlife habitat gardens, Ann is among the aquatic macroinvertebrate sorters on July 20, Chris and Betty with Bea Woody looking for wavyleaf grass on the Appalachian Trail on July 28, Rob facilitating our training evaluation discussion at Oakdale Park on July 18.
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Upcoming ...
 VMN Continuing Education webinar: Collaborative Science: Using Adaptive Management and Modeling for Citizen Science, Wednesday, August 6, 6:00 - 7:00 PM, online here. The presenter is David Mellor, Virginia Master Naturalists Citizen Science Projects Coordinator.
 Wildlife Gardens Ribbon Cutting Party, Saturday, August 16, 9:00 - 11:00 AM. Wildlife Center of Virginia, 1800 S. Delphine Ave., Waynesboro. Come to celebrate the results of a year's work on the Headwaters Chapter 2013/2014 Focus Project. Contact Kate.
 Entomology Event: Night-time Bug Dance, Friday, August 22, tentatively 7:45 PM. S'mores at 7:00 PM. At the Wildwood Park shelter, Bridgewater. Come to find, identify and discuss our area night flying insects. With entomologist Edie Kretsch. Contact RoxAnna. Watch your email box for the definitive plans coming shortly.
 St. Mary's Trail to Falls Hike with the South Shenandoah Valley Chapter (SSVC) of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Sunday, August 24, 9:00 AM. Meet at the Stuarts Draft Food Lion. About 5 miles round trip. Easy, but with many stream crossings. Leaders Mike and Karen Waterman, 540-337-1273. More SSVC trips here.
 Maple Flats Ponds Hike, Saturday, September 7, 2 - 4:00 PM. The HMN Projects Committee would like to share this special place and its unique sinkhole pond ecology with area residents. Plans for this public walk are still underway. Please contact Sandy Greene if you can help.
 South River Cleanup with Paul Bugas, Saturday, Sept. 13, 9:00 AM. Meet at the Dominion Pavilion of Constitution Park in Waynesboro for this annual collaborative effort. "Bring a canoe and a partner. I will round up trash bags and gloves. I am working on breakfast, too!" - Paul Bugas.
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Chasing Butterflies ...
 Three members of the Headwaters Master Naturalists joined other Butterfly Counters on July 5 to enjoy the heat and humidity with the butterflies for the 15th annual Rockingham County - Island Ford area "July 4th Butterfly Count."
The following week, the Shenandoah National Park Butterfly Count on July 13 was equally well-represented by Headwaters volunteers.
More about this from Jerry Hopkins here.
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Forest Campsite Cleanup Success
 Headwaters' second cleanup in the George Washington National Forest was again a huge success. Seven Headwaters Master Naturalists spent the morning of July 14 sprucing up "dispersed campsites" located along the Forest Service road between Elkhorn Lake and the Camp Todd historical site.
Read more about this project from Tom Long here.
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Aquatic Sampling
 Members of the Headwaters Chapter are involved with three different water monitoring projects, each using different methods and organizational collaborations, but with the common goal of protecting our area water resources.
More about these efforts from Adrie here.
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Training Discussions at Oakdale Park
 With all three basic training cohorts represented, Rob Alexander facilitated a training evaluation session at Oakdale Park on Friday, July 18 in hopes of making the Headwaters training experience the most effective and relevant possible. RoxAnna's careful plans for the event included a communal meal. Read her recounting of it all here.
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 Board to Propose Bylaws Amendments
Over the past several months the Headwaters Board of Directors has been mulling over amendments to our chapter bylaws. After considerable discussion a number of amendments have been drafted. Some are simply corrections of errors and clarification of wording in the current bylaws. Among the more significant amendments being proposed are:
- changes in counting administrative hours for certification,
- a change in the fiscal year from the calendar year to July 1 through June 30 to correspond with the basic training class, and
- staggered terms for members of the board of directors beginning with our next election in 2016.
As required, the proposed amendments have been approved by Alycia Crall, the Virginia Master Naturalist Program Coordinator. About a month prior to our Annual Meeting in November, the proposed amendments will be emailed to the entire chapter membership. An important part of the business at the Annual Meeting is discussion and vote on bylaw amendments. It takes a 2/3s vote of members in good standing present at the meeting to adopt changes to our bylaws.
Reminder - Dues Notices Will Be Emailed By Early September
A quick reminder that several months ago the Board of Directors adopted dues of $12 per year. Kathy Romig, our chapter treasurer, will email dues notices by early September. Dues must be paid by the Annual Meeting to enjoy voting privileges during our business meeting.
 Dues pay for recurring chapter expenses such as the Post Office box and postage, rental on the annual meeting venue, printing, and other necessary costs of running our growing chapter. |
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Headwaters Chapter Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, August 21, Noon- 2 PM
 @ North River Library
118 Mt. Crawford Avenue
Bridgewater, on even months
All board members strongly urged to attend. All members welcome!
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