Evelyn's name will sound familiar to many of you that tuned in to Bay-Friendly Garden Month and joined us for our Pollinator Week spotlight at the Westwood Hills Park Pollinator Garden. She was a movie star this year in particular, but she's been involved in the conservation and native plant world of Napa County since 1983.
Evelyn was born in the East Bay, but our story starts in 1983. That's the year when she and husband Bob moved to Napa- after realizing it was the place that could offer them what they needed and wanted for their young family. Evelyn worked as a nurse in Oakland, but between the commute, work, and family, she decided she wanted to encourage birds in her yard. First she joined Audubon, then decided there had to be an easier way to encourage birds than to keep filling bird feeders!
In 1987 Evelyn took the leap and, after attending their plant sale, became a member of the California Native Plant Society. Since then, Evelyn has been a constant presence in the local native plant world and is often a source of advice for locals.
While her partner Bob was in school to become an environmental engineer, he was looking around for a hydrology-focused internship. Instead of an internship, Bob ended up being a volunteer and then a staff member of the Napa County Resource Conservation District! Bob is now an Associate Directors for the District. Through connections with Bob, Evelyn connected with staff and other volunteers at Napa RCD and eventually began participating in projects herself. Most notably, she joined Napa RCD on a healthy water sources project as part of her Master's in Public Health. From then on, her connection to Napa RCD has thrived!
When asked what keeps her coming back and working for our native plants, all Evelyn could say was, "Oh, I'm just an old hippie! I don't have any better explanation!"
And when asked for a parting thought, Evelyn shared this:
If we plant native plants, we create habitat. If we create habitat, we save species. And if we save species, we save the world.
