As many of us have struggled to see what lies ahead, it's an important time to remember that we never really knew. All businesses, large and small, are seeing the need to take "detours" from whatever strategic plans they had before. We at OWW are not immune from this. I never imagined only a month into my new position we'd be facing such difficult circumstances. This week's newsletter takes a look back to thank some important team members for their roles in establishing sound footing from which we shall jump forward. Angela Danovi, our Arkansas Projects Director, and Ronna Haxby, our Missouri Projects Director, will be leaving our organization at the end of April. As you can imagine, many of our projects were negatively impacted by stay at home orders and overall concern for our volunteers' health. Plus others were just coming to an end with their funding ending. Please enjoy a quick retrospective glance at the important work these two professionals have invested in our natural environment! And stay tuned: we'll keep you updated on where we turn our energies moving forward. It's a wide open road in front of us--hopefully soon a straighter road with fewer detours! Enjoy our stories sharing the successes of Ronna and Angela below! Stay well!
Ronna has worked with Ozarks Water Watch for 9 years and Angela for 8 years. They both brought their many skills to their job position but their most important attributes were their love for the environment, their passion when working with volunteers, and the joy they found teaching our youth about the wonders of nature.
RONNA AND ANGELA
Pictured above (left to right) are Missouri Projects Director Ronna Haxby, Arkansas Projects Director Angela Danovi and President David Casaletto at an Ozarks Water Watch board of directors meeting at the chapel at Dogwood Canyon.
Pictured above (on the left) Ronna directed the volunteer stream monitoring effort in Missouri in partnership with Missouri Stream Teams, collecting data on 20 sites.
Her claim to fame was the Septic Remediation Grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources utilizing state revolving funds. Through this $2 million project, Ronna was able to help many low income homeowners afford to repair their failing septic systems and keep pollution from reaching our waters.
Pictured above: Ronna with her award from the Missouri Stream team.
She also led the shoreline cleanups of Table Rock Lake, Lake Taneycomo and Bull Shoals, collated the Status of the Watershed Report, administered the Clean Marina and septic pumpout programs along with other various grants and projects.
Pictured above is Ronna greeting attendees while staffing our education booth
While much of Angela's time was spent overseeing the lake and stream volunteering efforts in Arkansas that covered over 25 stream sites and 10 lake monitoring sites with over 100 volunteers, her passion was working with the children. And Angela has a special place in her heart for the girl scouts, undoubtedly from her time spent as a girl scout in her younger days.
