Executive Director's Corner

Dedicated Volunteers

Our Come to the Bay conference is succeeding because of one thing: dedicated persons are working diligently behind the scenes. Long before the event begins, Phil Bailey, Wes Bray, Jeff Derr, Michael Moore, and Craig Zeigler devote hours, if not days, each month planning every detail of it.

Phil, Wes, and Craig are members of the VTC Board of Directors. Each year, they willingly add Come to the Bay responsibilities to their already full schedules. Jeff, a Virginia Tech Professor and Head of the Hampton Roads AREC (pronounced A–rec), is on our Board of Advisors. He constantly gives insights on ways to improve Come to the Bay. For instance, it was his inspiration to hold the 2024 event at the AREC.

Come to the Bay Service Projects and our connection with Virginia Beach City Public Schools happen because of Michael Moore. His city connections enabled our access to the Virginia Beach oceanfront to plant 6,000 dune stabilizing American Beachgrass plants in 2021, our first Service Project. Those same connections were critical for the next two Service Projects: (1) in 2022, we tripled the number of plants and stabilized the shoreline where the Chesapeake Bay and the Lynnhaven River meet and (2) in 2023 we rebuilt the bioswale in a highly visible environmentally sensitive spot at the Brock Environmental Center. (The local headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is in that building.) For the 2024 Service Project, Michael has us partnering with the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and a local architectural firm to restore native plants adjacent to a reconstructed pond.

Come to the Bay improves each year because persons devote time and expertise to its success.

Now we are looking to develop a similar event in northern Virginia and the DC metro area (for simplicity, I will adopt the commonly used “NOVA” designation). We have learned from Come to the Bay. A NOVA event will only succeed if a few dedicated volunteers are willing to make it happen. We already know the target audience (industry professionals), but we need to determine the event’s purpose, location, affiliated Service Project, time of year, and an appropriate name.

Are you willing to get in on the ground floor of the NOVA event? If so, you will be joining the legacy of important individuals who keep Come to the Bay successful. Contact me and I will give you more details (email: virginiaturf@gmail.com, phone: 757-464-1004)

Tom Tracy, Ph.D.

VTC Executive Director