Session 3 - Environment Day

Leadership session number three kicked off at the Arboretum off of Oleander drive in Wilmington! Our facilitator Alexis Hunter jumpstarted our day with coffee, small bites and a quick overview of the day. We split into two separate groups to tour the Arboretum. Our guide was Sherrell, her enthusiasm for the 7-acre grounds was noticed right off the bat. The Arboretum offers a great place to stroll while appreciating nature, is a great environment to introduce the youth into the horticulture world and also an excellent resource to trouble shoot your not so green thumb. Following our master gardens tour, we received a crash course into composting from Matt Collogan. Who is an area natural resource agent based out of Brunswick County. After which we got immersed into the world of beekeeping, led by Chip Rajca. Chip, very quickly, demystified the art of Beekeeping and shared ways in which we could get involved. Seemingly, supporting local beekeepers can be as hands-on or off as one would like to be! Closing out our time was Bryan Hall, who briefed us on the local shore protection and beach nourishment that goes on specifically to Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. For that to be my introduction into that realm, I was impressed with how much we learned in such a short amount of time. Bryan closed out our time at the Arboretum, our next stop of the day was the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant, which is located downtown off of 5th avenue. Following up a delicious meal from City Barbeque, we heard from Jennifer Adams, an environmental leader at the Corning plant in town and a representative from CFPUA. We got an overview of water and waste management, as well as environment protection policies. After a riveting game of Jeopardy (very close score between the three teams) we got to peek behind CFPUAs curtain and tour the plant! Our guides were very knowledgeable and I left with a better appreciation of having access to clean water. We rounded out the day with a leisurely Cape Fear River tour courtesy of Captain Doug Springer, who proved to be a wealth of information in regards to our area's Cape Fear River. I left the hour tour feeling a better sense of appreciation for those who advocate for our region's native wildlife. The celebrations committee helped us wrap up the day at Blue Post. Where we shared  our take-aways of the day over food provided by the ‘Healing place,’ and toasted beverages over games of pool!