By: Katie Moses
As a year ends, it’s customary to look back on all the accomplishments, adventures, and adversity that the previous twelve months have brought. From these reflections, we can celebrate and grow as we prepare ourselves to ring in the new year.
In 2022 the Prairie Oaks Chapter had much to reflect on! We welcomed 14 trainees to our Spring Training Class, our members participated in a variety of outreach and educational activities, and we hosted our 4th annual Nature Fest. Over the past year we’ve pulled weeds, led nature walks, counted birds, met an astronaut, learned, taught, and continued to overcome the lasting effects that the pandemic has had on our organization. Through it all, our members have remained dedicated in their service, and we celebrated some exciting milestones in 2022.
In addition to the many members who have reached the 250-hour and 500-hour milestones, we were delighted to applaud Gail Bradshaw, Chris Inbody, Barbara Lever-Salter, and Jimmy Ship as they logged their 1,000th hour, Edd Johnson for achieving the 2,500-hour milestone and Dayna Inbody as she received the Presidential Service Award for volunteering 4,000 hours over the life of her membership!
In 2022, our chapter reached an important milestone as well, and on December 8th we gathered with friends and family to celebrate Prairie Oaks’ 5th Anniversary. At our event we shared a delicious meal, welcomed back some familiar faces, and got a chance to recognize and thank the dreamers and doers who made our chapter possible. A slideshow was presented that celebrated how our chapter blossomed from an idea into a group that has trained a total of 116 community members and Tarleton students, logged over 2,800 advanced training hours, and dedicated over 12,700 hours of volunteer service!!
We are truly grateful to those who served on the Local Leadership Committee in 2016 and 2017 and worked diligently to get our chapter established and to the many others who have made our chapter what it is today. Thank you to those who have taught one of our initial training sessions or presented a program for our monthly meetings. Thank you to the organizations that have partnered with us over the years to offer programs to the public. Thank you to the friends and family who have supported our chapter. And thank you to the members and trainees who have devoted time and energy to carrying out our mission to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas in the counties of Palo Pinto, Erath, Hamilton, and Comanche. We don’t know exactly what 2023 will bring but I am confident that our chapter will continue to work together to serve our communities and we will celebrate many more milestones to come!
If you are interested in becoming a part of the Prairie Oaks Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program, please visit our website txmn.org/prairieoaks/ to learn more about our initial training class or the programs that we offer.
Click here to view our 5th Anniversary Celebration Slideshow.
Katie Moses
2021 President of the Prairie Oaks Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program
Photos from the 5th Anniversary event
