The Harris Center recognized several extraordinary partners at its 51st Annual Meeting on Friday, Oct. 15. This was the nonprofit’s second online Annual Meeting, with Board members, staff, supporters, and friends smiling at each other from Zoom boxes.
Robin Fairfield, kindergarten teacher at Marlborough Elementary School, was honored with the Educator of the Year Award. Harris Center teacher-naturalist Karen Rent presented the award, saying, “What makes Robin stand out to me is her commitment to providing opportunities every day for her kindergarten students to get outside to explore, investigate, and play. Thank you, Robin, for helping to nurture the next generation of nature lovers.”
The 2021 Laurie Bryan Partnership Award — honoring former Harris Center Executive Director Laurie Bryan’s achievements in working with community partners — was presented to the Hancock Town Library, under the leadership of library director Amy Markus. In presenting the award, Harris Center Community Programs Director Susie Spikol said, “No matter how we collaborate or what we partner on, the Harris Center can count on Amy Markus and the staff at the Hancock Town Library to bring passion and energy to each of our shared projects. Tonight’s award is a reminder of how when we put our minds together, share mutual creativity, and work to make opportunities of all types available to people of all ages, we are always more successful than if we’d worked alone.”
Volunteer Extraordinaire Awards were presented to two outstanding Harris Center volunteers— Hancock wood carver Jack McWhorter and Tom Delaney of Peterborough. At the beginning of the pandemic last year, Jack took up an ambitious and artful project that has been delighting hikers ever since: carving creatures out of downed trees along the Harris Center’s Harriskat Trail. Tom has been a familiar face at the Pack Monadnock Raptor Observatory in Peterborough since 2007. He and his wife, Janet, have long been core volunteers and are sustaining donors of this Harris Center project — now in its 17th season. In presenting that award, Hawk Watch Coordinator Phil Brown said, “Tom provides great company and conversation, a warm smile, and great bird-finding abilities. When he isn’t busily finding and identifying distant specks over North Pack in his scope, he is warmly greeting visitors, making each visitor to the Hawk Watch feel welcome – something that helps Pack stand out as a welcoming community space.”
Harris Center Executive Director Jeremy Wilson also recognized Stephen Froling for 17 years of valued service to the Harris Center, both as a past Board member and as the organization’s volunteer corporate counsel for land protection projects. Stephen’s considerable land conservation legacy spans thousands of acres.
In addition to these awards, outgoing trustees David Sobel, Carol Young, and Timothy Jordan were thanked for their service, and Steve Lamonde and Ethan Harper-Lentricchia were welcomed as new trustees. The meeting closed with “Nightsongs,” an Emmy-winning video short by the SALT Project, featuring Harris Center staff member Eric Masterson.