Spotlight Award
The Spotlight Award recognizes volunteers who have made a significant contribution to the chapter in a shorter time span than covered by other awards. The Spotlight Award may be given at any time of the year. Recipients are announced in the Blazing Star and at the next appropriate chapter meeting.
We invite you to submit candidates for a Spotlight Award at any time of the year. You may submit your nominations here. If you have questions or need help with the nomination process please contact the Leadership Development Committee Chair or Chapter President.
2023 Spotlight Award - Karen Cotter
When Nora Monette stepped down from the Scholarship Committee after many years of service, Karen Cotter enthusiastically stepped into the role in 2019 and worked closely with Paul Heiple to ensure a smooth transition and functioning of the committee. As Chair of the committee, Karen promoted scholarship outreach, reviewed applications, and participated in recipient selection. Karen also served as a Rare Plants Chair from 2020-2021, and participated in the chapter’s Rare Plant Committee prior to that, including teaming up with Don Mayall to conduct Rare Plant Treasure Hunts in Santa Clara County Parks. Karen moved to Sonoma County in 2021, but continued to lead the chapter’s Scholarship Committee until 2023. Her efforts benefited not only the students and their professors but also the chapter at large in highlighting current areas of research and how the chapter supports those efforts.
Read more about Karen in the November/December 2023 issue of the Blazing Star.
2022 Spotlight Award - Cynthia Gingerich
Cynthia took over publicity for the Growing Natives Garden Tour in 2019 and made a huge impact in her nearly three years on the committee. Even before joining, Cynthia was an active member of the CNPS Facebook Group. After joining the GNGT Steering Committee, Cynthia was a breath of fresh air and a guiding light who helped keep GNGT alive and well during the pandemic. Cynthia led the initiative to switch from in-person to virtual garden tours in 2020, personally reaching out to private and public gardens and encouraging them to create their own amateur video tours. Cynthia is stepping down after the tour this year, and she’s taken steps to ensure her role will be filled even after she leaves. Vivian Neou says, “She went to the extra effort to find a replacement who could shadow her this year so there wouldn’t be a gap in PR coverage.”
Read more about Cynthia in the May/June 2022 issue of the Blazing Star.
2022 Spotlight Award - CNPS Nursery Volunteers: Melanie Cross, Elaine Erikson, Pam Gage, Linda Hsi, Barbara Hunt, John Jenkins, Renate Kempf, Anderson Lee, Tara Lee, Penny Pollock, and Vivian Neou.
This team put in heroic work to keep our nursery running smoothly during the pandemic. Many returned as soon as health regulations allowed, putting in time at least once a week. A core group took on the work that was formerly handled by a much larger set of people. They set up a schedule so that necessary work could be covered with only one volunteer at the nursery at a time. The group had an extraordinary level of shared responsibility for the plants’ welfare and support for each other. Their commitment and effort helped raise the funds that support all other work done by the Chapter: scholarships, conservation work, science and garden talks, the garden tour, the wildflower show, and more. This amazing group has generously contributed many, many hours to support the Chapter over the last couple of years.
Read more about CNPS Nursery Volunteers in the January/February 2022 issue of the Blazing Star.
