New staff!

I'm excited to introduce you to our new Program Manager, Lisa Schauer. Lisa grew up on a farm in Berkeley Springs and recently returned to the area to "get back to my roots." She was 12 when she moved to West Virginia after her Dad decided to drop out of the business world in Washington DC (he was a chef and ran a wine and cheese store in Georgetown).

The Washington Post magazine wrote an article about the family moving to Berkeley Springs, with the headline, "Drop Out Farmer." He bought 350 acres and named it "Good Heart Farm." Lisa will tell you that, "If you put your fist in the soil, and it goes up to your wrist easily, they say your soil has a good heart. My Dad was really focused on improving the soil."

"Coming from DC, I just cried," Lisa remembers. "But my Dad said he would buy me a horse, and he ended up buying me four." Lisa learned at an early age about the power of community. Her family moved into the old farmhouse on the property and within a month the house burnt to the ground and they lost everything but the clothes on their backs. "The locals just kept coming, with boxes of clothes and food. They taught us how to survive," Lisa says with gratitude. Little did that 12-year old know that the adult Lisa would end up saying, "Growing up on the farm were the best times of my life. I loved it so much I got the nickname, Earth Cookie."

"Living the farm life, I understand how much work goes into it. Growing up in a rural area, gives me a passion for the work of the Cacapon and Lost Rivers Land Trust," Lisa says. "I understand why the work of the Trust is so important. We need to preserve this for future generations. When we are long gone, people will look back and be thankful there were others who had the foresight to protect this area. This is work that will actually last. I'm thrilled to be joining the team because this work matches up with what I really care about."

We're thrilled to have you on the team, Lisa!
Jennifer Jones
Executive Director

 

Correction! If you received the Summer print edition of our newsletter by mail, please note in "The River Was a Better Road," (page 2) the date in the first sentence should be 1966 , not 1996.

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