WSA Staff Comfort & Joys of the Season

In the spirit of the holiday season, our staff is sharing what brings them joy in the winter. Check out our tried and true recipes, favorite traditions, and more!

Noelle: My family loves making latkes to celebrate Hanukkah. Traditional potato ones are great, but we also have fun experimenting with new flavors. Carrot + parsnip, sweet potato + apple, and leek + kale + potato are great combinations. (I highly recommend any recipe by Martha Rose Shulman.)

Trish: My husband grew up enjoying his mom’s “pull-a-part” every Christmas morning. About 10 years ago, she gave me the recipe and I now make it for my family on Christmas. My entire family loves it, every year my sister calls me a week before the holiday asking for the recipe. For a present last year, I gave Ryan a cutting board etched in his mom’s handwriting the pull-a-part” recipe.

Josh: I have been trying to perfect my mulled cider recipe for the last few years and it has quickly become a staple of the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. I’ve experimented with spices, juices, and cooking methods and am getting close to the recipe we will use every year!

Grae: Every New Years Eve for the past five years, my partner and I have made a feast of appetizers. The centerpiece is ALWAYS baked brie wrapped in puff pastry with a layer of raspberry jam.

Suzanne: I love to give homemade food gifts at Christmas and one of my favorite recipes is sweet and savory pecans.  Each year I order a large bag of fresh pecans from a place near and dear to my heart and it makes the gift all the more meaningful.  After college I lived on a farm on south Georgia called Koinonia. It was founded in the 1940s as an intentional community to protest racial segregation and environmental degradation caused by traditional farming practices. In the 1970s it was the birthplace of Habitat for Humanity. In the 1990s the community was dissolved and the resulting non-profit returned to the local community. I learned so much as the permaculture intern, and studying social justice. That year really shaped who I am today and I am always so happy to support their efforts.

Katie: This year, I started a tradition with my toddler- creating upcycled wrapping paper! We gave paper bags a festive makeover using finger paints. Most of the paint ended up on the paper, which was a true holiday miracle. I hope the wrapping brings just as much joy as the gift when the recipient finds it under the tree!

Francesca: I love holiday lights and decorations! There’s something so magical about seeing everything come to life in the middle of a cold, dark winter. I love how it brings so much light and warmth and makes everything more beautiful. I always blare holiday music and put on my most festive outfit when we decorate our home. 

Trish: A new holiday activity in our house is packing up and going skiing/snowboarding over the break. We love waking up to the bright snow and warming ourselves in the evenings with a big bonfire.

Suzanne: Each year my sisters and cousins get together for an all day cookie bake. Each of us has our signature recipe and we are sure to carry on some family traditions. My favorite for many years was given to me by Lara Mulvaney - Chocolate Pistachio Sable from Bon Appetit. This year since we can’t get together, we are having a cookie dough exchange. Each person rolls out or cuts their dough and freezes it on a tray, then packages up 6 or 8 pieces for each person. This way we can bake a few cookies at a time all season long.

Josh: This time of year is all about knitting for me. As the days get shorter and I’m inside for a bigger part of the day, knitting allows me to feel productive. It keeps my finger joints loose as the temperatures drop and family and friends get the fruits of my labor as holiday gifts.

Grae: I love all things snow! Anytime we actually get snow in MD around the Holidays is my favorite. Sledding, making igloos, throwing snowballs, just going for walks in the silence of the snowy winter wonderland (especially at night when the lights twinkle off of the snow crystals).

Josh: My favorite Christmas song is God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman by the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan. This version’s bass is great and the beat always makes me feel festive.

Trish: Every year my family watches A Christmas Story. We love little Ralphie's desperate desire for the Red Ryder BB gun and his mom telling him over and over again “you’ll shoot your eye out”. Our favorite scene in the movie: when the leg lamp shows up and seeing the family's reactions.

Suzanne: My favorite sustainable gift is shampoo and conditioner bars. These little bars have no plastic packaging and made from sustainable ingredients. They last an incredibly long time and make my hair feel great, and I love not having big plastic  shampoo bottles. I like to order from Naples Soap Company because they are a woman owned business and do not use any palm oil. 

Francesca: My favorite holiday album is Christmas with the Rat Pack...I can’t wait for it to be “A Marshmallow World” this winter!

Noelle: Our favorite Christmas movie to watch as a family is Home Alone! I love listening to my son’s non-stop giggles during the final scene when the bandits get caught by all of Kevin’s traps. Classic!

Katie: My favorite holiday album is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Nothing puts me in the holiday spirit like hearing it spin on the record player!

What’s bringing you comfort and joy this season? Let us know in the comments below!

We Stand Together

When someone in the family is hurting, everyone is hurting. This week, our country, our state, our county and our communities are in pain as we have witnessed, once again, the horrific crimes against the Black community. We stand with those whose voices are not heard. Those who, everyday, face racial injustices that do not make the news and for those who are affected by the crimes that, yet again, have made the headlines. We stand in solidarity, in shared sadness, but also with steadfast assurance that we will dig in to the tough work ahead.  The tough work starts with each of us as individuals and builds to changes in our communities, our county, our state and our country.  What we do in our own hearts, homes and communities must ripple out to affect real change. 

We are committed to taking action for justice and combating systemic racism. We are committed to having hard conversations, listening to the unheard and amplifying the voices of the Black community. This is not a short term responsibility for our organization. On Monday night, the WSA board approved a new strategic plan, a plan that has, at its core, a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.  While these values have guided many of our programmatic shifts and budgetary choices in the past, we recognize a need to do more, and do it urgently.

If you would like to share your story, your insights or your ideas about how we can work together to use this moment as a catalyst for change, please reach out directly to me, Suzanne Etgen, WSA Executive Director at setgen@aacps.org. 

We Stand Together,

The WSA Staff

Suzanne, Josh, Noelle, Katie, Alyssa and Trish

An Update from our Executive Director

Hello out there, WSA family and friends,

It’s gonna be ok.  I have been struggling for a way to say this to you all week. This message is reaching many people with countless and varied circumstances. There is real pain and hardship out there. There is also tremendous reason for hope. Times like these require great leaders, and great leadership will be needed when it is time to restore our communities. So, I feel optimistic today, and I know that it’s gonna be ok because we have leaders in our communities.    

“The good we each do, seeps into the earth and replenishes our communal aquifers.”

Gravely stream restoration. Learn about this Arundel Rivers Federation project here. Photo credit: Lara Mulvaney

I was in a meeting earlier this week with the leaders of many of Anne Arundel County’s environmental groups. I was struck by two things.  First almost every organization was represented on that video call by a Master Watershed Steward --Amy Clements (Spa Creek Conservancy), Elvia Thompson (Annapolis Green) Betsy Love (Severn RiverKeeper), Anne Arms and Chuck Gallegos (St Luke’s Restoration of Nature), Bryan Gomes (Clearshark H2O), Nina Fisher (Scenic Rivers Land Trust). What a power house! Second, the phrases that have been popularized by great leaders in response to Covid-19, “We are all in this together” and “it takes all of us” have always been true of our environmental community and are true now more than ever, about the incredible task of restoring our local waterways. The good we each do, seeps into the earth and replenishes our communal aquifers. I am so grateful to know you are out there, and for the relationship I have with each of you and the relationships you have with each other, which, I hope, will help sustain us in this time of distance. 

Nina Brackman leading a yoga practice on Almshouse Creek. This photo is a memory from Summer 2019. These days Nina practices social distancing by staying centered in her own backyard.

I’ve enjoyed seeing how many of you are living out your stewardship even with limited mobility. Chris Gordon and his quarantine slogan “Gardening isn’t canceled”, Nina Brackman helping people stay centered with their yoga practice, Betsy Love sharing nature images from St Luke’s, Lara Mulvaney posting pictures of new trees in the Gravely stream restoration behind her house, Maggie Hughes teaming up with Elvia Thompson to bring Flowers and Trees into our living rooms through their Green Drinks Facebook watch party. So many examples of how Stewards are taking action remind us that our rivers and streams are still out there – still in need of our help.

I’ve heard from others who are taking a break from stewardship action, taking this time to focus on family, health and rest from community leadership. If this is you, rest, recharge, reflect, be present to this moment.  It is ok. It is more than ok – it is critical, because when this crisis lifts, we will need you. That time seems distant and unclear right now, but, as my mother always says to me, this too shall pass. And, when it does, we’ll be ready.  Because, it takes all of us to heal our waterways. 

What is the WSA Staff doing these days anyway?

As you may have assumed, our staff is working remotely for a few weeks as Anne Arundel County Public Schools, and by extension, our office at Arlington Echo, are closed.  We have canceled all public programs and moved meetings to remote platforms for as long as the schools are closed and the state of emergency, with social distancing requirements, is in effect. This situation is so fluid that we are not making any predictions or plans for the near future, as we wait to see how things will unfold. For the latest on upcoming programs, please visit our website aawsa.org. 

In spite of our office closures, our staff is working. As usual, the WSA “office” is a buzz with activity. Josh and Alyssa are working on the finer details of Replant Anne Arundel including the application process for communities to receive trees and educational content for Tree Troopers to use in their communities. They are also advancing several exciting community-based projects that are set to break ground in just a few weeks.

Noelle is busy planning online content for future classes, as well as keeping tabs on the 30 Stewards in Class 12 as they plan their capstone projects. Believe it or not, it is also time to start planning for next year’s Master Watershed Steward Certification Course!

Haley is wrapping up her last week of work for WSA before she transitions on to an exciting new job! She’s busy passing on her knowledge to Nan Henry who is stepping in to support Steward outreach and organize environmental literacy resources this Spring. She’s also digging into the WSA project database so the Monitoring Action Group can check on past projects later this Spring. Each year, the Stewards of the Monitoring Action Group visit WSA projects that are over three years old to assess their condition and provide maintenance or repair guidance to project owners.

Katie is writing grants, planning fundraising efforts, creating social media content and organizing our e-communications.

Trish is writing a human resources manual, updating our financial policies, cleaning our database and reconciling financial statements.

And me? I am excited to finalize our strategic plan. The WSA Board made some big decisions about new strategic directions last week, and next week the Strategic Planning Committee will finalize the draft plan. Between now and then, my job is to put together all of the pieces, draft progress indicators and metrics, and figure out how we are going to pay for all the exciting new work! I am so grateful for the excellent leadership of our consultant, Due East Partners. 

If you would like to connect with any WSA Staff, please don’t hesitate to send us an email:

Suzanne Etgen, Executive Director: setgen@aacps.org
Noelle Chao, Program Coordinator: nchao@aacps.org
Josh Clark, Restoration Coordinator: jyetterclark@aacps.org
Katie Foster, Development and Communications Coordinator: kefoster@aacps.org
Alyssa Brummitt, Restoration Technician: cont-abrummitt@aacps.org
Haley Denton, Outreach Coordinator: cont-hdenton@aacps.org
Trish Hennessy-Webb, Systems Administrator: thennessy-webb@aacps.org
Nan Henry, Interim Outreach Coordinator: nhenry@aacps.org

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Here’s a sneak peek into our home offices. Can you guess which office belongs to which staff member?

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