The Program
Our speaker, Kindra Green, has a focus on nonprofit management. Early in her career, she served in the Virginia Service and Conservation Corps as a park interpreter and national resource ranger. She joined the Elizabeth River Trail (ERT) as executive director in 2021.
The ERT began in 1994 when West Ghent residents wanted to establish Plum Point Park on a former dump site and link it with their neighborhood. At the same time, the Norfolk Historical Society wanted to improve the accessibility to Fort Norfolk which was established in 1807 and defended Norfolk from the British during the War of 1812. Norfolk Southern joined the effort by donating 3,500 feet of its Atlantic City spur to the City of Norfolk for the trail. In 2003, the Elizabeth River Trail’s spur line connected Fort Norfolk and Chelsea. Over the years, the ERT has expanded to 10.5 miles stretching from the Norfolk International Terminals to Norfolk State University. Today, twenty-eight Norfolk neighborhoods are within a five-minute walk of the Trail.
Since the ERT Foundation was established in 2016, the focus has been on adding amenities such as signage, solar lighting, playgrounds, two kayak launches with a third planned for Larchmont Library trailhead. They recently added a hydration station. The most popular part of the trail, the Sentara Loop, was added in 2012 when work on the Midtown Tunnel temporarily shut down the Fort Norfolk section of the of the trail. ERT Foundation’s goal is to improve the quality of life and they hope to connect with the trail being planned in Virginia Beach at Newtown Road. Both walkers and bicyclists use the trail with 81% of those using the trail walking.
The Meeting
We welcomed four visitors to the club.
- Luca Hamel-Serenity, a student at UVA, was a guest of President Jeff.
- Molly Thompson, the chief strategic officer for the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, was a guest of Mark Shaw. She is a prospective member.
- KatieBeth Mitska, Assistant Rector at Christ & St. Luke’s Church, was introduced by Sigur Whitaker. She is a prospective member and is a Rotary Alumni having participated in a Rotary Foundation program in Taiwan.
- Ian Murphy was part of a Rotary Club in Taiwan. He is an expert in the Chinese language and is waiting for his assignment with the federal government. He is a prospective member.
We celebrated five members whose generosity to TRF has resulted in the next Paul Harris Fellow level. They are: Tom Ambler (PHF +4), Marilyn Gowen (PHF + 8), Mark Shaw (PHF +7), Kelly Stefanko (PHF +3) and Kay Stine (PHF +2).
Happy Bucks:
- Chris Bugg has returned from a business trip to Delhi, India. While there, he visited the Rotary Club of Gurgaon. It is very much like our club in terms of demographics but unlike our club, it is not a singing club. They start their meetings at 8 p.m. with drinks, continue with the meeting and then enjoy dinner together.
- Rob Sult enjoyed a week at OBX at Chick Robison’s cottage which Rob won in our golf tournament live auction.
- Pam Tubbs has returned from a wonderful trip to Spain, Provence, and Paris.
- Abby Van Voohees is retiring from EVMS.
- Ed Kellum gave for Chick Robison’s 50th anniversary. Chick also joined in and said they enjoyed a second honeymoon at the Tides Inn.
- Jeff Ryder gave happy bucks because his aunt was being released from the hospital after an unexpected cancer diagnosis.
- Jim Tucker’s daughter and son-in-law are celebrating their 17th anniversary and Jim is happy to watch the grandchildren.
- Ralph Peters has returned from a trip to North Carolina and South Carolina. His son is also celebrating his 17th birthday.
- Marcia Consten is a justifiably proud parent of her daughter, Mahari Conston Freeman, who has just been awarded her Doctorate in Musical Arts in musical performance at the University of South Carolina. Marcia had the joy of doctoral hooding her daughter. Mahari sang both the national anthem as well as “We Hail Thee Carolina,” USC’s alma mater song.
- Eleanor Schnoover enjoyed getting together with a group of former co-workers.
Ralph Peters, who has been a visiting Rotarian to our club for over a year and anticipates being in the area for an additional couple of years, has transferred his membership from his club in Germany.
Luke Reed was inducted into the club. He owns a land development company (Pretty Lake 5757) and is the operations manager of Planet Plumbing.
John Searing is collecting sneakers for his foundation. The Barrett-Searing National Cancer Foundation was established to support women and their families suffering from cancer with sends smile kits around the nation. The smile bags contain socks, blanket, handmade cards, and an adult coloring book. The shoes will be sold to people for $1 per pair. Any that are unusable will be responsibly recycled. Donations can be brought to a club meeting or contact John to make other arrangements.