Last Tuesday, on Earth Day, I had the great Honor of introducing John and Kittie Wilson of New London, New Hampshire, at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Merit Awards Ceremony at Historic Fanueil Hall. John and Kittie received EPA’s Environmental Merit Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Presenters were asked to keep their remarks to 60 seconds, which was a real challenge for me because the Wilsons have done so much great work for conservation (detailed in a press release below).
I’ve been very fortunate throughout my life to meet and develop relationships with many inspirational people, and I am grateful that the Wilsons are among them. It was a special privilege to be able to share the day with these two good friends, and to cap it off with an event for loon conservation volunteers that they hosted at their home on New London’s Pleasant Lake.

At the conclusion of the event, scheduled long before the Wilsons learned of the award, Pleasant Lake’s loon pair–having just returned a day before–swam up to the shoreline and began yodeling. Perhaps they heard the good news and wanted to add their own thank you.