HNC Volunteers of the Year 2002: Hazel Broker & Lois Evans

Hazel Broker

Hazel Broker has been an active Club member since 1950.Her first experience with the HNC was on an outing to Long Point in March of 1950 to see the Whistling (Tundra) Swans. Shortly thereafter, then-President Bob Elstone wrote letters to all the Hamilton teachers and librarians telling them about the Club and inviting them to join, and Hazel took him up on his offer. She began attending monthly meetings, and soon found herself taking on Club duties, due to Bob Elstone's belief in getting all new members involved. Her first volunteer job for the Club was addressing, by hand, the 100 envelopes needed each month to send the Wood Duck out to members, schools and libraries.

During the 1960s, Hazel collated the Wood Duck (run off as individual pages on a Gestetner) with the help of her parents and fellow Club member Blossom Patton. During the 1970s, Hazel became a member of the Board of Directors, serving first as Field Events Director from 1970-74, and then Editor of the Wood Duck from 1974-77.

When she retired from teaching in 1977, Hazel resigned from the HNC Board to embark on a five month trip to Australia and New Zealand, but in the fall of 1978 was asked to come back on the Board as Vice-President. In that capacity, she planned the Club's 60th anniversary celebration in 1979, which was unexpectedly snowed out — on April the 9th!

The HNC's sanctuary properties always meant a lot to Hazel, and she has been hiking both since they were purchased by the Club. After buying her first car in 1951, she became a regular on Club outings, and was introduced to "the wonderful world of birdwatching" by George North and others. On July 28, 1961, the HNC purchased the Spooky Hollow Sanctuary, sparking an interest in wildflowers. Hazel enjoyed honing her botany skills over the years, with help of Marion Shivas, Dr. Bert McLaren and Edith Kammermans, among others. An official member of the Sanctuary Committee since 1986, Hazel has always been involved in the work parties that go out each year to clear trails, build bridges and undertake other maintenance work.

She has come out to almost every sanctuary event over the years, including clean-ups, plant inventories and other volunteer outings. Since she has been involved in sanctuary inventories since the properties were first purchased, Hazel provides an invaluable historical context when decisions need to be taken today.

Hazel served as President of the HNC from 1980-82. In 1985 Hazel Broker was made an Honourary Life Member, joining only a handful of others during the Club's long history who have been so distinguished for their contributions.

After serving as Past President, Hazel retired from the Board in 1984. Since then she has continued to lead hikes for the Club and contribute as a member of the Sanctuary Committee; she is also a member of the Wood Duck mailing committee. During the FON conference in Hamilton, she headed up the photography contest, which was one of the most demanding jobs and involved lining up judges, arranging prizes and coordinating a multitude of slide entries, among other things. Hazel is always positive and encouraging, and has always been very professional in whatever volunteer job she has undertaken. She has gone out of her way to get to know new members over the years, as well as providing transportation to both junior and senior members to allow them to participate in Club activities.

In addition to the fellowship she shares with fellow HNC members who are interested in the out of doors, Hazel enjoys learning about natural history through Club activities. Indeed, this has inspired her to continue volunteering for so many years: Hazel believes in "doing what we can to preserve habitats so that future generations may have the same enjoyment and learning experiences that we've had over the years." She has seen many of the natural areas she knew well as a child being paved over, and has committed herself to ensuring that special places remain a part of our heritage. She is an inspiration to us all.

Lois Evans

Lois Evans was brought up with a love and fascination for nature. Her first introduction the Club were the Audubon screen tours, co-sponsored by the HNC and the Royal Botanical Gardens where some of the great American nature photographers like Roger Tory Peterson would put on local one-night showings of their 16 millimetre films.

Lois Evans.When she got her first job in 1956, Lois joined the HNC and has been a member ever since. In the early 1960s, she joined the Board of Directors and took on the role of Secretary, a position she held for several years. Lois enjoys going on outings, and over the years she has led many Wednesday Evening Walks, as well as other field events. For a period of time, she was the HNC representative to the Federation of Ontario Naturalists.

In 1987 Past President Bruce Duncan initiated the Bird Study Group, which he led for the next 10 years. Lois attended the meetings right from the start, and helped Bruce out for a couple of years before taking over leadership of the Group in 1997, a position she has held until recently.

Lois' talent for inspiring learning was also evident during her recent three-year tenure as the Wood Duck's resident "Bookworm". "It was incredible", notes former Wood Duck Editor, Don McLean, "she produced a book review every month for 3 years."

Lois has also taken on various other tasks for the Club. A couple of years ago she housecleaned all the Club files for archival purposes, a huge task and not one that most people would take on voluntarily.

In 1995, she compiled for the Biological Inventory of the Red Hill Valley, all the bird records for the Valley area published in the Wood Duck from 1947 to 1994. Her compilation has been extremely useful in showing the potential of the Valley. For example, while the field work that year found 177 bird species, the historical information included records for 250 species in the same study area.

In a previous Wood Duck article, Lois is quoted as saying, "It's concern for the environment that motivates me. I think we all have a contribution to make. Sometimes it seems we're fighting a losing battle, but we can't give up." A decade ago, awareness and concern for the environment were at an all-time high, and though she feels we've lost ground since then, Lois notes that it's the "everyday things to which we must pay attention".

Lois encouraged all HNC members to become mentors to young people and get them involved; as a former teacher, she always tries to get children interested and participating. "Take some young people under your wing", she suggests, and "foster an appreciation for the environment in them". After all, they will be the next generation of decision-makers.

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