First Annual Aspetuck Land Trust Awards at Aspetuck Land Trust's 57th Annual Meeting

Last Thursday night we had a wonderful celebration at the 57th Annual Meeting at Pequot Library. Thanks to all who came! It was standing room only inside the library, followed by pizza and drinks outside by the fire along with live jazz by Melissa Newman and Tony Lombardozzi.  

We especially are excited about our first Annual Aspetuck Land Trust Awards. We are delighted to honor these dedicated individuals who made significant contributions in land conservation, land stewardship, and building bridges to nature.

Aspetuck Land Trust's 2023 Conservationist of the Year is Bill Kutik for saving a key property in the 705 acre Weston Wilton Forest Reserve from development, now called the Bill Kutik Honey Hill Preserve. A Westporter, Bill has been an Aspetuck Land Trust member since 1999. Formerly the first Editor of Backpacker Magazine, a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and technology impresario, he has written for the Boston Globe, New York Daily News, and New York Times. Bill is a hiker and Trail Steward and has donated hundreds of hours of editing and writing to Aspetuck Land Trust.

Michelle Fracasso is responsible for Aspetuck land Trust's Native Landscape of the Year where she has planted hundreds of pollinator friendly plants and shrubs attracting bees, butterflies, and birds and is 100% pesticide-free. A resident of Weston, Michelle and her husband have been members of Aspetuck Land Trust since 2019. She has long been a committed supporter of local farms in Fairfield County and their farm, Wells Hill Farm, is the last working family farm with livestock in Weston. She has been active with our farmland initiatives as well a volunteer and advisor for our homeowner engagement program and bi-annual native plant sales.

Educator and former attorney Ron Rapice is our Bridge Builder of the Year for his work connecting Bridgeport Public School students with nature. Ron is responsible for the pollinator gardens installed at 3 schools this spring and was instrumental in the micro forest project to heal the urban landscape, a grant Aspetuck Land Trust received from the CT Dept. of Ag and Forestry for 7 Bridgeport schools sites to begin this fall. After a 20-year career as a prosecutor and labor lawyer, Ron became certified to teach in the Bridgeport Public Schools and currently works as the coordinator for the city’s Talented and Gifted program. Ron is a dedicated native gardener along with his partner at their home in Bridgeport.

Bridgeport resident, Christine Cook is another Bridge Builder of the Year, for her work planning and installing three pollinator gardens in Bridgeport. A landscape designer with Mossaics Ecological Landscape Design, Christine worked with the students to design the gardens, learn about soil science, pollination strategy, the coevolution of plants and animals, and land use history. The kids are thrilled and appreciate and enjoy these school site pollinator gardens as backyards of their very own.

Bob Kreitler is Aspetuck Land Trust's Volunteer of the Year for forming an "accelerated invasive species control group" to eradicate all invasive species from Aspetuck Land Trust properties in 10 years. His volunteer team of 89 meets regularly for invasive species removal work sessions making noticeable progress on Trout Brook Valley trails previously overwhelmed by non-native species. Residents of Easton, Bob and his wife have been members of Aspetuck Land Trust since 1991. Formerly an expert on natural resource policy for the Office of Management and Budget, Bob is an investment professional and author, supports education reform, and is an avid beekeeper.

Congratulations to our
2023 Aspetuck Land Trust Award recipients!
Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place!