December 16, 2024 – Volunteers like Kevin Williams make it a little easier to convince others to travel miles out to the wilderness to donate their time cleaning campsites, fixing fence and performing other hard, hands-on tasks. That’s because he guarantees that everyone will be rewarded at the end of the day with some of the best campfire food that can be cooked up.
Who can resist Dutch oven contest-winning King Lear Pork and Playa Mud Pie after a long day in the field? Kevin’s skill and creativity in the backcountry earned him Friend’s first ever Golden Spatula Award. Kevin has volunteered for over 10 years now, primarily up in the Black Rock National Conservation Area on Public Lands Day. We can’t wait to see and taste what he cooks up next!
Kevin and several other outstanding contributors were recognized over the weekend at the 2024 Friends of Nevada Wilderness Pat Bruce Wingding at Rancho San Rafale Park.
Joe De Angelis received the coveted Volunteer of the Year Award for his seemingly endless energy and the hard hours he spent stewarding wild Nevada in 2024. Joe has hiked up into some of the most remote places in Nevada to help on projects like harvesting whitebark pine seeds high in the Pahute Peak Wilderness, hauling hand tools far into the Jarbidge Wilderness to restore trails and packing old barbed wire fence out of the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge so wildlife can more freely roam. The value stewardship volunteers add to how people experience our public lands is priceless. We salute Joe for his extraordinary contributions.
Friends also relies on its partnerships with federal and state land management agencies to perform this important work. The stewardship and trails crews have contributed more than $3 million in on-the-ground volunteer labor over the years, relieving the burden on our under-staffed public agencies. Randy Kyes is one of those public servants who work quietly behind the scenes to provide the leadership needed to help fund and plan these projects. Randy, the Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness Staff Officer at the Reno U.S. Forest Service Office, received the 2024 Agency Partner of the Year Award for his unwavering support of Friends’ stewardship program.
“The Wingding is my absolute favorite day of the year because it’s all about our amazing volunteers, supporters, and our organizational and agency partners,” said Friends Executive Director Shaaron Netherton. “We simply couldn’t do what we do without them. It’s humbling to reflect on just how generous some people are with their time, energy, money and commitment to preserving our public lands. We cannot thank them enough.”
And what’s a Wingding without some amazing food to share with the 200 or so volunteers and supporters who attended to celebrate the power of stewarding public lands. The Master of Meals Award went to Craig Demetras and Shelly O’Neill who, for more than 10 years and with help from great friends, have fired up the smoker and prepared some of the finest meats and side dishes one could imagine. They donate many hours of time and pounds of food to make sure no one leaves hungry!
Finally, in a poignant moment, the annual Marge Sill Wilderness Legacy Award was bestowed posthumously on our dear, departed Pat Bruce, the guy who chanced upon Friends in a coffee shop and went on to build up the organization’s award-winning stewardship program. Pat made Friends of Nevada Wilderness more than an organization—he made it a community. Everyone knew how committed Pat was to wild Nevada and all the people who shared his love of stewardship. The Wilderness Wingding was his way to show his appreciation.
Friends staff and agency partners are already planning the 2025 stewardship field season. More information can be found at nevadawilderness.org/volunteer.
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2024 Friends of Nevada Wilderness Volunteer Awardees, L-R:
Kevin Williams, Golden Spatula Award: Joe De Angelis; Volunteer of the Year Award;
Craig Demetras, Master of Meals Award, Randy Keys, Agency Partner of the Year Award
