By Sandy Wright

The Friends of Old Woman Creek presented two Hero Awards at its annual meeting on February 27th. The Hero Award recognizes service that supports the mission of Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve and State Nature Preserve. Each nominee must have shown evidence of having made an exceptional contribution to sustain the mission of Old Woman Creek.

The first recipient was nominated by Jacob Cianci-Gaskill, who oversees the water quality lab at OWC. Dorothy Bush, of Lorain, is a volunteer in that lab. Dorothy has been a dedicated volunteer in the lab since spring of 2022. She works three to four hours weekly without fail and has improved the water quality program in many ways, Jacob said. The job is not fun or glamorous but is repetitive and tedious, but Dorothy continues to support the lab and steps up to work more hours when they are shorthanded, he said.

The second recipient was nominated by Holly Latteman, a former OWC intern who is the interim Director of science and conservation at Dawes Arboretum in Newark. Rosie Kovacs of Huron is vice president of the Friends of Old Woman Creek as well as a volunteer at the front desk, greeting and helping visitors. Rosie began volunteering in 2016 for the avian monitoring program, taking photos which have been used in countless publications for ODNR. When asked to join the board of trustees in 2016, she agreed and has served ever since. She took over management of the Nature Gift Shop at the visitor center and has done wonders. She encompasses the mission of Old Woman creek

The names of all the honorees are permanently inscribed on a plaque at the Reserve’s Visitor Center at 2514 Cleveland Road East in Huron. Old Woman Creek is part of a network of 30 coastal reserves across the United States which are administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are only two freshwater estuaries in this group, the other is in Lake Superior.

Article posted in the Sandusky Register: https://sanduskyregister.com/news/576717/2-women-win-hero-awards/