Volume 26 Issue 4, Fall 2021

by Kim Strader, Volunteer Coordinator

This year we welcomed many new people as volunteers in all the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy programs. It is wonderful to see so many new faces help further our mission to inspire, educate, and motivate people to protect, preserve, and restore wildlife habitat. We would be remiss if we did not take a moment to acknowledge our veteran volunteers who have been with us for 10 years or more. It is thanks to these people that new volunteers are welcomed and made to feel a part of this community of like-minded folks who work to create a place where people and wildlife thrive.

Janet Locklear stands out among the crowd of our veteran volunteers this quarter for the roles she has filled and all the volunteers she has worked with in her 10-year tenure with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

Janet is the trail leader on a Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring Trail and was the Bluebird Program Coordinator for five years. She is an Audubon at Home Ambassador, and her property has been a certified sanctuary for years. Janet was a Wild Shop volunteer, a previous Board member and vice president. She has reared Monarch caterpillars and helped with the Milkweed Sale. Recently Janet has helped survey native plants at JK Black Oak Sanctuary and marked plants in the east meadow area for relocation.

Janet’s current role with Loudoun Wildlife is Native Plant Sale coordinator. She began training for this role in the fall of 2019 with plans for her to be fully in place for the Spring 2020 Sale. Midway through planning the Spring Sale, we had to cancel it due to COVID, which also ended up canceling the Fall 2020 Sale. With vaccinations and the hopes of returning to a “normal” life, the time came to start planning the Spring 2021 Sale. It quickly became apparent that we would have to make changes to ensure the sale would not become a “COVID super spreader event.”

Planning for the Spring 2021 Sale was challenging. With many new procedures to implement and with COVID tensions running high, Janet did a wonderful job of communicating with our nurseries to make sure all their questions and concerns were addressed. With the help of Sheila Ferguson, the new sale layout was mapped to include a defined entrance, space for the nurseries to spread out so that customers could maintain six-foot distancing, along with multiple COVID stations and signs throughout the area with precaution reminders and supplies (face masks and hand sanitizer). Many thanks to Janet for leading this unprecedented effort to make the Spring 2021 Native Plant a success. Thankfully, the Fall 2021 Sale was easier to plan, but it still would not have been possible without Janet’s leadership.

From Bluebird Program coordinator to Plant Sale coordinator, Janet Locklear has done it all and worked with many volunteers in the process. As a volunteer leader, role model, and mentor, Janet exemplifies the Loudoun Wildlife vision of creating a place where people and wildlife thrive.