Thursday, October 2nd, marked the 5th year of Chippewa Watershed Conservancy’s annual Fall Fundraiser. It was a lovely evening of celebration amongst old and new friends, bringing in over $16,000 for the Conservancy!
For the first hour, attendees were able to socialize over appetizers and drinks, while trying their luck at the many raffle prizes available to win. There were over a dozen curated packages available, including various art prints, books, apples from a local orchard, a handmade afghan, and a basket of goods generously donated from local vendors from the Mt Pleasant Farmers’ Market. A photobooth added to the enjoyment, giving folks a chance to bring home a fun memento of the evening. The warm fall evening created the perfect opportunity to enjoy all the beauty that encompasses the Little Flower Barn.
One of the most anticipated highlights is always the announcement of the Bob Ball Award recipient. The Robert (Bob) Ball Award is given annually by the President of the CWC board to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the CWC mission of protecting and restoring Central Michigan’s land, water, and wildlife resources to improve the quality of life for all.
This year, we broke tradition slightly and presented the award to multiple individuals. Many people know the CWC for our public nature preserves, but the bulk of the land that we protect is in the form of conservation easements on private lands. Conservation easements are a permanent agreement between a landowner and a land conservancy that protects the conservation values of a property in perpetuity; even if ownership changes, the land remains protected by the easement. All of our easement landowners entered into these agreements voluntarily because they love the land and want to see it protected even after they are gone.
While we’ve had 38 individuals/families protect their property through conservation easements, it is a rare occasion when those landowners come back to us and want to add additional land to the easement. That’s why the 2025 Bob Ball Award was presented to John and Julie Arnold and to Linda Walterreit. John and Julie initially placed 149 acres of their Montcalm County property in an easement in 2013. In 2025, they added an additional 40-acre parcel that includes 1/4 mile frontage on the Pine River.
Linda placed an easement on 73 acres of her Isabella County property in 2016. In 2022, Linda purchased an adjoining 60-acre parcel and immediately sought to place it in the easement. This was completed in 2023.
