I have high hopes for 2021. We could use some big wins after this year. I am truly excited for January 2021, to join Boxerwood as the interim Managing Director. I know for so many, the outdoors in general, and Boxerwood specifically, has been a welcome respite to the insides of our houses. The world seemed to shrink a bit, but the experience of walking the trails in the Garden has helped to keep our world a little brighter.
Here is a little bit about myself. Not everyone has a favorite tree. I'll bet everyone on staff at Boxerwood does, though. Besides the giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevadas (which I was fortunate enough to visit in 2019), my favorite local tree is Betula lenta, or black birch. This tree is generally uncommon in our Appalachian forests, so it is a treat to come across. A broken twig reveals a spicy wintergreen scent and it has uses for humans and wildlife alike. Maybe telling you my favorite tree first off reveals something about me. I have had a long-standing love of forests since I played behind my house as a child in the Piedmont region of Virginia. Hiking and camping trips to the mountains were annual family occurrences. I took my love of the outdoors away to Virginia Tech to study Forestry and Natural Resources.
I have a nearly 20 year career history working first as a watershed forester and then a county forester for the Virginia Department of Forestry. Boxerwood was often a partner for education opportunities during that time. Those interactions with the staff and gardens were always a highlight, and I gained much respect for the dedicated staff and their exciting work "in the weeds" teaching children and adults about nature and its interactions with us. My own two boys, now in middle school, have had many happy interactions in the gardens and at school with Boxerwood programs through the years.
My appreciation for the Boxerwood mission led me to recently serve on the Board of Directors for three years. I invite anyone who loves Boxerwood and wants to see it succeed to look into ways to volunteer. We need diverse people and skills on our Board! Or our new Ambassador program. I had never been part of a Board before, and the rewards have been numerous.
Rockbridge County has been my home for the last eighteen years. My husband, Tom Stanley, is the local Agricultural Extension agent. We have two amazing boys, 11 and 13, who are able to roam our little farmette where we have for many years entertained pre-school groups with our spring lambs, bottle calves, and farm dogs. Just like Boxerwood, it is a joy to share and teach young people and their parents about different aspects of our natural world, from trees and land to animals.
Nature and this planet sustains us. We have no other home. My hope is that one of the lessons 2020 has taught us is to slow down and allow ourselves to be nurtured by fresh air, birdsong, a beautiful sky or a peaceful forest. Boxerwood supplies that, in spades, so come and check it out sometime.
