25th Anniversary Annual Meeting Breakfast
April 3, 2025
| The 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting Breakfast was held on Saturday, March 15th. With 115 attendees filling the room, the energy and the commitment to local land conservation was inspiring. |  |
| It was wonderful catching up with old friends and meeting new folks from the community. And breakfast, thanks to Chef Laura Rogers and the talented students of Pathfinder High School, was delicious as always. A special thank you to the students for making 25th Anniversary cookies for the occasion. |  |
| In addition to visiting with you all, we were honored to receive a citation from Representative Todd Smola, recognizing our 25th anniversary, dedication to conservation, open space preservation, and environmental stewardship. Representative Smola is a longtime supporter of local conservation, and we appreciate him taking time out of his busy day (we were the 2nd of 4 engagements he had that day!) and stopping by to present the award and to address our supporters. |  |
| It was Opacum Land Trust’s honor to present this year’s Friend of Conservation Award to Al Smith, founding member and dedicated Opacum Land Trust board member. Al’s unwavering commitment to our mission and to the environment has been instrumental to our success over these 25 years. Thank you, Al! |  |
| Finally, a huge thank you to Nancy Whittemore for presenting about the history of the recently conserved Robert F and Jeanne R Para Family Preserve in Southbridge and for sharing her family’s experience with and motivations for conserving this beautiful and ecologically valuable property. We are grateful that she, her parents, and her brothers had the foresight to protect the forests, ponds, and wetlands of the Para Family Preserve for wildlife and for current and future generations to enjoy. In addition, this property serves as a buffer protecting the town of Southbridge water supply. It is a win, win, win! |  |
| Thank you to everyone who joined us for this milestone celebration. The Annual Meeting Breakfast is an event that we look forward to every year. Thank you for 25 years of support – and forever to go! |
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