March 17, 2026

 

Dear Friends,

 

As our part of the planet greens once again, may this month’s stories of homegrown goodness lift your spirits and inspire your next Earthcare steps with energy and zest. Even in challenging times, follow that Boxerwoodian rainbow and you’ll find it – the treasure that benefits us all.

 

Yours for a flourishing Earth,

The Boxerwood Team

This month, Boxerwood's Board of Directors adopted guiding priorities for BEA over the next three years. This map, our strategic plan, helps focus our energies and resources as we aim for that “pot of gold.” For Boxerwood, that “gold” is a vibrant organization ably advancing its Earthcare mission for the benefit of all of us who call Rockbridge home. This new plan outlines three major goals.

There’s a reason they call compost “black gold” — and for the 6th straight year of our Backyard Compost Challenge, the gold rush is on. This year, more than 150 non-composting households vied for one of 80 slots in our annual Backyard Compost Challenge. “We were amazed that there’s still so much demand,” said Boxerwood educator and Compost Challenge facilitator Catherine Epstein, who noted Boxerwood had to select households by lottery after giving priority to those with children. “You could really feel the excitement,” added Catherine, who greeted participants last weekend as they picked up their grant-funded composters. The 10-week coaching and data-sharing program runs through May, with successful participants keeping both their gear – and their garden gold.

Keen to bring more goodness into the world? Consider a donation to COREworks, Boxerwood’s innovative carbon offset marketplace. Whether you’d like to offset some travel or make an impact contribution, all proceeds help accelerate the rollout of local climate-friendly projects. These high-integrity projects create wildlife habitat, protect streams, generate good soil, reduce air pollution, and connect folks of all ages to can-do climate actions, all while also reducing carbon emissions. What’s better than that? Hop on the COREworks bandwagon!

This winter, in the Boxerwood-led “Recycled Art” Club, twelve young Buena Vista artists used their creativity to turn cloth scraps into dog pull toys, paper towel rolls into fantastic creatures, bottle caps and string into slithering snakes, egg cartons into mancala game boards, and a range of old objects into original sculptures. They became masters with a range of creative tools, including paint, feathers, googly eyes, and even hot glue guns.

Have you noticed the multicolored sea turtle at the corner of Main and Nelson in Lexington? That’s Sandy, the unofficial mascot of the annual Rockbridge Area Cleanup, taking place from March 21-29. While not all children have an opportunity with their family to directly participate, everyone has a role to play. That’s why each year, Boxerwood educators visit scores of local classrooms, helping our young friends understand how protecting local land also protects our waterways. Those are hundreds of handwritten anti-littering pledges from local students decorating Sandy and fluttering in the breeze.

 

Photo: Boxerwood WLU work study student Catarina Conteras affixed 491 children’s pledges to Sandy the turtle this week.

It seems that in Virginia, we always have a few false starts for spring. This year, we have had some impressive seasonal whiplash. The trees and flowers will likely have some setbacks from the most recent freezing cold snap. Tender tree buds that have started to emerge may not survive to grow vigorous shoots. Local magnolia blossoms are wilting. If you are lucky enough to have hellebores in your yard, though, these hearty early flowers should do just fine.

Despite it all, the rainbow of spring and summer wonders is on its way at our Woodland Garden: witch hazel, forsythia, and cherry blossoms, oh my! Daffodils, hyacinths, and hellebores, yes please. Come take a stroll as spring unfurls before your eyes. See what's blooming at Boxerwood, and maybe even catch a glimpse of a wee fairy or forest leprechaun – or are those some of our busy garden volunteers tidying up beds for the season?

Throughout our 25th year, we’re sharing stories of young people whose Boxerwood experiences shaped their passions and vocations. Have a young friend to recommend? Contact Catherine Epstein: catherine@boxerwood.org

 

When Chris Young was entering his sophomore year at Virginia Tech, he had no idea what major to pursue. “I’d just been taking a bunch of Gen Ed courses,” he remembers. He went to meet with his advisor, where an unexpected sign appeared. “They had an Environmental Science major flyer pinned up in front of me, and I was like ‘Oh yeah, I remember doing all that stuff outside, doing the Bay Trip’…So I just went with it.”

The aptly named Cornerstone Bank is a reliable, annual sponsor of Boxerwood’s PlayTrail. Maintaining this community treasure takes Boxerwood time, talent, and material. Cornerstone’s gift helps us sustain this work without charge to local families. Studies show that joyful, early connection with nature is itself a cornerstone for lifelong conservation values. We thank Cornerstone Bank for supporting the PlayTrail as a community treasure. Your gift is truly an investment that keeps on giving.

Boxerwood Education Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Federal Tax ID: 54-1937944

Sent by Boxerwood.

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