Henrico officials honor 2021 'Land Lover' award recipients

Henrico residents from each of the county’s five districts received the Keep Henrico Beautiful Committee’s 2021 Land Lover Awards at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday evening.

The Henrico residents who received awards are:

• Brookland District: Matt Hughes – Hughes frames his home with flowering trees and shrubbery that attract pollinators. He invited birds into his backyard with a self-sustaining water feature that relies on rainwater. Hughes also reduced his fertilizer and chemical use.

• Fairfield District: Jose Napky – Napky keeps a neat yard that has expanded on a regular basis, with the most recent addition being a mulch bed for plants that he propagates at home and tends to with homemade fertilizer. The structure provided by this bed is important for his neighborhood, which is uphill from Horse Creek.

• Three Chopt District: The Dunn family – The Dunn family, with assistance from Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District, installed native plants in their backyard to filter stormwater runoff from their property. Approximately 1,790 square feet of planting helps reduce the flow of pollutants into the Chickahominy River.

• Tuckahoe District: Nick and Susan Kappel – The Kappels keep a colorful pollinator garden filled with native plants in their yard, which also features a pathway of permeable pavement that is used as a stormwater management practice to decrease runoff. The Kappels also use rain barrels to capture water from their roof.

• Varina District: Ashleigh Gerber and Shannon Davis – Gerber and Davis partitioned their yard with six raised garden beds that are filled with flowers and vegetables. Another section of the yard  features a swing frame with a conservation landscaping area and mulch bed, with native plants visible by a large tree.

The Keep Henrico Beautiful Committee also honored the Whole Foods Market located at 11173 W. Broad St. with the county-wide Clean Business Award. The store was recognized for employing a variety of sustainable practices, including the sale of local plants and produce, in-store recycling services and rebates for using reusable bags.

“These individuals and businesses exemplify pride in their properties as well as a commitment to recycling,” said Kendall Tyree, a member of the Keep Henrico Beautiful Committee from the Tuckahoe District. “They employ best management practices for soil and water conservation and habitat protection. They're an asset to our community and these properties truly keep Henrico beautiful.”

More congratulations could be heard following the awards presentation as supervisors approved a handful of local board member appointments Tuesday evening.

The appointments are as follows:

• Jeanette Hall of the Fairfield District was appointed to the Board of Social Services for a four-year term ending June 30, 2025.

• Pat O'Bannon, the Tuckahoe District supervisor, was appointed to the Greater Richmond Partnership Board of Directors for a one-year term ending June 30, 2022.

• Valerie James Abbott was appointed as a family consumer representative for the Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services Board for a six-month term ending Dec. 31, 2021.

• Carolyn B. Pitts, James N. Doring, Nancy L. McMahon and Joshua M. Parsley were appointed to the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen Foundation Board of Directors for three-year terms ending June 30 2024.

• Tyrone Nelson, Varina District supervisor, and Frank Thornton, Fairfield District supervisor, were appointed to the Virginia Transit Association Board of Directors for one-year terms ending June 30, 20