The judges have decided and I’m pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2013 Cottage Life Environment Grant is the Wollaston Lake Home and Cottage Association. The association will be using the $5,000 grant to launch the Wollaston Young Stewards Environment Camp in summer 2013, an accessible program to educate local youth on environmental issues. The judges liked the level of organization and commitment that this group demonstrated in their proposal, and that this new initiative will celebrate the natural world and engage young people in an area where there are no other programs available. Congratulations!
The judges had a hard time making their decision, because there were many worthy applications this year. I had the pleasure of working with the judges and the judging coordinator, Leslie Garrett, CL contributor and author of The Virtuous Consumer. This year’s judges were: Bev Clark, a scientist who focusses on lake health and aquatic biology; Dirk Janas, an ecologist with expertise in the more terrestrial side of life at the cottage; and Terry Rees, the executive director of the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations. Thanks to all of them for their hard work.