A Celebration of Volunteerism In Support of Coho Salmon

One Sunday, April 1st 2007 we joined together at the Inverness Yacht Club to celebrate a successful 10 years of environmental activism, restoration, and education and to honor the dedication of commitment of key volunteers over the past year. SPAWN is truly an organization that would only accomplish a miniscule portion of what we actually do if it were not for the volunteers that power all of our programs, from restoration, to biological monitoring, to education and advocacy.

More than 60 people showed up on a beautiful day to enjoy Tomales Bay, an incredible sunset, a full-moon rising, and each others company and to honor the activists who are critical to completing SPAWN's mission of protecting and restoring the population of magnificent coho that share our watershed.

It is with the deepest of gratitude that the staff and members of SPAWN thank our generous sponsors for making this lovely event such as success, these include the Inverness Yacht Club (our wonderful hosts), Point Reyes Bookstore, Tomales Bay Oyster Company, and the Lagunitas Brewery. Please offer them a HUGE "thank you" next time you stop by.

Among the volunteers honored this year were SPAWN's longest-standing volunteers, David Ford, Megan Isadore, Al Pisciotta, and Julie Litwin and Noahlani Litwin Sella for their significant contributions across multiple programs (fish rescue, biomonitoring, naturalist tours, restoration, and advocacy) over the past decade.

Mia Monroe, Barbara Deutsch, and Susan Scott.

Candace Hale received the "Keystone Species Award" for outstanding outreach as a Creek Naturalist during the winter of 2006/07.

Tom Yarish.

Tom Yarish received the "Watershed Senator of the Year Award" for his work on behalf of SPAWN and coho salmon on the Tomales Bay Watershed Council.

Megan Isadore, Candace Hale, Noahlani Litwin Sella, and Julie Noahlani

Tara Bushore was awarded the "Flowering Currant Award" for Community Outreach and Events Organizing Prowess. Tara was instrumental in the "Living on the Edge" Exhibit that was featured at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show in March.

Laura Honda and her Manor School Class were awarded the "Best Coho Year-Class" award for their salmon-friendly classroom and their handmade, organic, delicious chocolate Steelhead Bars they make and sell each year in support of SPAWN's programs.

Katiana Giacono, Dan McLeod, and Matt McLeod.

Dan McLeod was awarded "Restoration Volunteer of the Year" for his over three-hundred of hours of service in support of riparian reforestation and the native plant nursery programs.

The "Regrowing Salmon Habitat" award went to a stellar team that included Steve Meyers, Wencil Storek, Mel Wright, Steve Waldron, and Ariel Zucker for their contributions towards creating the native plant nursery and growing thousands of native plants for restoration efforts in the Lagunitas Watershed.

Julie Vogt and Mitch Todd received the "Valley Oak Award" for their outstanding program support and contributions to community, education and restoration.

Richard Sloan and Denise Lussier received the "Watershed Award" for their vision, and technical and artistic support for the rainwater harvesting project at the Lagunitas School,.

Susan Scott, Mike Colosimo, Kim Laur, Megan Isadore, Katherine Jones, Sharon Barnett and David Ford received the "Mighty Steelhead" award their long-term dedication to the Creek Naturalist Program.

Susan Farrar was awarded the "Silver Salmon Award" for her outstanding salmon photography and naturalism, and for hosting the SPAWN Salmon Newswire.

Gary Alt, one of our newest volunteers, received the "Lucky Catch" award, for his photographic support and his excellent presentation on Bears at SPAWN's winter seminar series.

Richard Ferris was honored, along with Mike Colosimo for leading the most creek tours during the 2006/07 spawning season.

It is with great hope and joy that we look forward to another year of hard work in the Lagunitas Watershed. We welcome everyone to join in the effort to protect and restore the ecological integrity of our precious communities and the most important wild population of coho salmon in California. There are many ways to bring your skills to bear in support of wildlands and endangered species.