On February 5, 202, CAGA held its Annual Awards Celebration virtually. COVID prevented us from holding our traditional awards dinner. 2020 was one challenging year for all but thanks to
many wonderful volunteers and partners, Greenbelt improvements continued. Many new visitors discovered the Greenbelt for the first time. Thanks to Susquehanna Township and the East Harrisburg Cemetery the troublesome roadway through the cemetery was paved. After years of planning, Dauphin County Commissioners and supporters officially opened the Fort Hunter Connector – now users can safely walk and ride from Wildwood Park to Fort Hunter. Over 30
state and private funders supported the Greenbelt this past year. Our 2020 Virtual Tour de Belt – We Ride Apart Together raised a record $34,000. Despite the most difficult of times, we have much to be thankful for especially the support received from all of our Greenbelt contributors. The following five dedicated volunteers stood out in 2020 and were recognized:
Tom Connolly – Tom served on CAGA’s Board from 2017-2019 and
Township’s Board of Commissioners has supported the Greenbelt in
He has organized trail clean-ups, arranged for the Township to
and worked with the Township’s police to help keep motorized vehicles off the trail.
Jan Hastings – Jan is Centric Bank’s VP of Marketing and joined the
two years, she has transformed CAGA’s marketing and educational
creative talents to redesign and update our membership brochure and
posters, rack cards, and stickers. She also serves as editor of the Greenbelt Gazette.
Greg Hoek – Greg is a new multi-talented volunteer who assisted with
Five Senses Gardens. He helped ‘thief proof’ the shed, thinned
canopy and miraculously restored our sprinkler system by devising
amusing puns kept us smiling. There seemed to be nothing he could not or would not do to help.
Jenn Shingara – Jenn is owner of PhotoJENNic Imagery and joined
Her first CAGA volunteer role was taking 400+ TdB photos. She’s
who sends out fun and creative emails to supporters. She developed
TdB – We Ride Apart Together – with many award categories and helped raised over $34,000.
Julie Young – Julie is a trained Dauphin County Master Gardener
decades of gardening experience to the Five Senses Gardens. She is
brainstorm plant and tree selections, garden improvements, design,
anything else the Gardens require. She teaches and leads others in the caring for the Gardens.
We also recognized Carl Dickson, CAGA’s outstanding president
remembered two dedicated volunteers. Carl Lorence – a 30+ year away on December 18, 2020 at the age of 90 and Judd Pettis memorial trees near PennDOT for many years.
CAGA is looking forward to holding our traditional awards dinner and honoring our wonderful volunteers in the coming years!