November 20, 2025

 

Dear Friends,

 

This month we’re honoring Earth Stewards, and there’s a lot of gratitude to go around. In the space of just a few weeks, we joined others in recognizing Boxerwood founders for their lifetime achievements, toasted interim Executive Director Laurie Macrae as Rockbridge Citizen-of-the-Year, and welcomed Ben Eland as our new Executive Director. And that’s just the beginning. Read on for more stories about all kinds of folks helping to care for the natural world, our ever-giving home.

 

Yours for a thriving Earth,

The Boxerwood Team

This month, we welcomed Ben Eland as our new Executive Director. A longtime Boxerwoodian, Ben assumed his part-time leadership role on November 3rd, and he immediately set to work sharing his vision of what makes Boxerwood a place of connection, joy, and meaning. His letter invites us to keep growing the good that Boxerwood brings forth. Even (and especially!) in complicated times, let’s step up for the world we want. Invest in Boxerwood!

Congratulations to Hunter Mohring and Karen (KB) Bailey for public recognition of their exemplary role as community Earth Stewards. Last month, the couple was honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards, the highest level of recognition annually bestowed by Rockbridge Conservation (RC). In addition to founding the Boxerwood Education Association, leading various non-profits, creating beautiful landscapes, caring for our watershed, and befriending kids, dogs, and people from all walks of life, our cherished friends also founded and led The Meadow, a natural burial ground they recently donated to Boxerwood. Hunter and KB: thank you for all you have grown in our community.

Photo: Hunter and KB at the October RC Annual Meeting with Bob Biersack, RC President.

This month, 170 12-year-olds demonstrated the power of working together – and their impact was measured in crocus bulbs: 3,062 to be exact! The November 5th beautification project at Jordan’s Point was part of a morning of outdoor learning initiated by Maury River Middle School and facilitated by Boxerwood. Having read a novel about the importance of clean water, students toured the Water Treatment facility and then travelled to Jordans’ Point to investigate stream health. While there, groups of youth took turns planting the crocus bulbs in front of the park’s Gold Star Memorial. Boxerwood volunteers, garden club members, and educators all pitched in to support the kids in their civics-related project. While not native, crocuses bring February cheer and then disappear before the mowing season – ideal for this park, and for our young Earth Stewards.

What wonderful news that our own Laurie Macrae, Boxerwood’s Development Coordinator, has been recognized with the Citizen of the Year Award by the Lexington-Rockbridge Area Chamber of Commerce. As the Chamber notes, “Laurie embodies the absolute best of civic engagement, generosity, and community spirit. For years, she has worked tirelessly to bring people together and strengthen connections across Rockbridge County. From the Freedom Food Festival and Boxerwood Gardens to the Rockbridge County School Board and local nonprofits, her leadership and kindness shine in every corner of the community.” Congratulations, Laurie!

Photo: Laurie (right) with BEA Board Member Tasha Walsh.

Guided by a garden stewardship plan, Boxerwood is always looking for ways to slow the flow of our stormwater. “As any visitor to Boxerwood realizes, we’re built on a hill,” explained Operations Director Hannah West. “Big rain events degrade our creekbeds, sending sediment into Woods Creek and beyond.” Over the years, Boxerwood has implemented various practices to help slow the flow, including installing multiple rain gardens and berm and swale systems. This fall, we boosted our efforts again by adding two heavy-duty rain barrels that will capture and divert 28,000 gallons of rainwater rolling off our barn roof every year. “This new collection system not only helps us manage stormwater – it’s also a wonderful new source for caring for our garden plants,” said Hannah.

Photo: Boxerwood gardener Jenna Hill (right) installs a rain barrel with part-time contractor Shanti Leasure.

Thanks to those reindeer, Santa and his sleigh propel across our holiday skies completely carbon-neutral. We aren’t listing any eco-sleighs in our carbon-offset marketplace just now, but COREworks can help you balance out your holiday travels with carbon offset projects right here in Rockbridge. Tree-planting, composting, solar – take your pick! Procure a verified offset from an existing project and 100% of the proceeds help underwrite the next. Plus, we’ll send you or your loved one a handsome certificate for that stocking.

 

‘Tis the season … to gather and give away trees! In a fruitful partnership, Boxerwood is again teaming up with the City of Lexington to distribute up to 50 native seedlings on Saturday, December 6th for City residents. The event comes fast on the heels of our November 15th tree give-away for citizens of Buena Vista, which distributed 85 trees as part of the BV Cool Trees Project. The 1- to 2-year-old seedlings for both give-aways were first put in pots and tended by 4th graders participating in Boxerwood’s annual “Growing Native” school program.

 

Time to gather friends and family – and plenty of vines, cones, suet, and seed – for our holiday Gifts of Nature program. “December is a time we especially turn our thoughts to loved ones,” said Boxerwood Early Education Coordinator Jess Sullivan, program host. “And of course that also includes caring for our feathered friends!” In this hands-on program, participants of all ages will enjoy each other’s company while crafting decorations that feed winter birds and spruce up our own homes, both inside and out.

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

 

As a Waddell 4th grader, Olivia Saacke vividly remembers working with Boxerwood educators to catch macroinvertebrates in Woods Creek: “We’d go rub rocks and find what species were in the nets,” she said. “There’s mayflies and stoneflies and water pennies and these indicate healthy water quality.” Many years later, as a member of the trail crew at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, she continues using these skills. “We spend a lot of time on the rivers here fly fishing, and I still gotta turn over a rock and see what’s underneath it. All the time, I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s a water penny on this, did you know that means it’s a healthy stream?’ I always nerd out about that, still.It just stuck in my brain forever.”

In an exciting development, Boxerwood recently won a competitive $30,000 technical capacity building grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT), a major conservation funder. These grants further the impact of small yet high-functioning nonprofits like Boxerwood. Specifically, the award will help Boxerwood strengthen its financial health for the long term, the area we’ve identified as greatest organizational need. 

 

“We already have a skilled staff, plenty of local impact, and broad community support,” said Ben Eland, Boxerwood’s new Executive Director, “yet every year we expend considerable resources just finding the money to keep operating.” The CBT award resets that dynamic by enabling Boxerwood to secure the services of a professional consultant for a major fundraising initiative in 2026. Significantly, the consultant will not only guide Boxerwood through its first major gifts campaign – she will also coach key staff and board members as they develop new fundraising skills. In sum, this is a transformative gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, Chesapeake Bay Trust!

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

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