Year in Review for CCC 2023

By Stacey Wildberger

All of us on the board of Cape Conservation Corps extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, donors and cheerleaders that helped us have a very successful 2023.  We continued with many our favorite programs and activities and added a few new ones.  We appreciate all the support the community has shown us.

Weed Warriors (not only on Wednesdays any more) continues to grow and attract new volunteers every week as well as maintain a staple of regulars.  Special shout out to Marcia D, Jeanne K, Bill R, David S, Brad K, Katherine W, Ginny K.  At least 5000 square feet of invasive plants were removed.   In those restored areas, 150 trees and shrubs plants and 500+ native perennials were planted. 

Three Leopold benches were installed along the path at Little Magothy Beach park for nature lovers to sit, relax, reflect and enjoy the sights and sounds.  Thanks to Bill Lynch and his students at Sollers Point Technical High School for building these beautiful and functional benches.

Native Shrub Swap was successful for the third year in a row.  People dug out their invasive butterfly bushes and we gifted them a beautiful native shrub in return.

Several speaker events with local area experts talking to us about Trees, Native Plants and Oysters.

Habitat Hero tour in June was an opportunity to visit the yards of 2022 winners Rob Wood and Larry and Margarette Jennings.  Great chance to see what made them winners and be inspired to make changes on your property. New winners for 2023, including Carol Collison will be on next year’s tour. 

We participated in 2 of the Cape Vibes events – free concerts at the Main Beach organized by Broadneck Bluegrass.  Special thank you to Jess Corliss for including us and directing donations to CCC.  We had many generous donations of prizes, including a beautiful acoustic guitar that we raffled off.

In September we hosted our very successful, highly anticipated Native Plant Fest and Sale.  Despite the tropical storm remnants people came out in droves!  We sold 90% of the plants that day and the rest within a week of the sale. The prices were so low, and the quality of plants was amazing.

One of the new events was an En Plein Air event at Little Magothy Beach.  Local artists donated their time and artwork to CCC, to be auctioned at our November Speaker event. We had framed photos, watercolors, sketches, oil paintings and acrylic paintings that raised generous amounts in donations.  We donated $700 of funds raised towards the “O” in the NOAH’s Reef, an oyster reef in the Magothy in memory of Noah Anderson.

We ended the year by having wood chips delivered to Little Magothy Beach and Serene Ravine so we could mulch the paths, creating an off shoot of the main path at LMB through a newly cleared section, thanks to those hard-working weed warriors. Thanks to Richards Tree Care for coming through once again!

We will have one more invasive removal push to save the trees of Deep Creek.  Please join us December 9^th @ 9:45 am to noon at the Deep Creek Marina.  We have teamed up with an ivy removal group called SAVE OUR TREES and will have demonstrations on how to properly remove ivy.  You can practice on the trees at the event and then take your knowledge home and start saving the trees in your own backyard (or front!)

One of the biggest new projects for 2023, we launched an educational program to increase awareness of Cape residents of the amazing tree canopy in the community and the many benefits it provides.  It is called Cape Loves Trees.  Articles and media address major tree species like poplar and oak, how to care for trees, the hazards of English ivy, planting new trees, and unique watershed, habitat, and other benefits.  CCC’s Cape Loves Trees campaign also created a registry of “Champion Trees” in the Cape.  Over 30 trees were measured, and champion points were assigned.  A list of the biggest trees in the Cape for over 12 species were used to create a driving tour which was published in the Caper.  CCC will publish a list of all the Champion Trees in December. 

We also started a Corporate Sponsorship program that has been very successful.  Many local businesses have made generous donations to support the work we are doing and programs we have started in return for links to their business on our website and shout out at our events.  We sincerely thank these sponsors.  Please find them on our website, and support these wonderful businesses.

If you are a local business and want to find out more about becoming a sponsor email me at

president@capeconservationcorps.org

Please visit our website to read more about us, become a member or volunteer!