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Faith Communities and Clean Water Conservation: Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake · Clean Water Conversations

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Clean Water Conversations is sponsored by Chesapeake Conservancy, working to conserve and restore the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the enjoyment and inspiration of this and future generations.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Chesapeake Conservancy, and now on to our show.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: Hello everyone, and welcome to Clean Water Conversations, the podcast where we have casual discussions about creating clean and clear water right here in Lancaster County.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Ken.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Alison.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Allison, we are in the throes of spring.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: It is, yeah.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Beautiful time of year.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: So much going on.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and my my one of my favorite things about spring, fishing.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's coming.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: And there's fish stocking going on too, which is always cool.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody loves Officer Schmidt, so you gotta have some fun.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's cool.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's awesome stuff.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, how about that?
• 1:07
  unknown: Huh?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: What's on your list of awesomeness?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's all kinds of stuff, but I'm excited to announce the invitation to all to be part of our full partners meeting, April 29th from 8 to 10 a.m.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: We will be at the old village mill in the Peckway watershed, and we would love to have you there.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: So join us for some breakfast treats, some time as a network.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the other piece on my list of awesomeness is that we are revising our common agenda.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: So at that session, we're going to spend some time doing that as a network.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: So the common agenda is this tool that we all use and guides us in this collective work.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really important that it reflects everybody's voices.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the other piece of awesomeness is that there's been so many people involved in that process so far over the last couple of months.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: My awesomeness is you all.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I am full of gratitude for the many people that participated online or in listening sessions.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So this will be a time on April 29th at the full partners meeting that you can register online for to be part of that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: How about you, Ken?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: The top of mine is that we are once again, we're doing a follow-up to the public public opinion survey that was first done in 21.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: A couple years ago, yeah.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: And we want to see how people's views of our water, our local water, have have changed, evolved, uh where we stand right now.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: So we are starting that in the next couple weeks.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: Big deal.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, we're that's that's some really good, powerful information to have uh for moving forward.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: And uh speaking of good powerful information, the Cap Coordinator video is is in its final uh stages of of uh getting approval and and whatnot.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: So that is something to look forward to, I'm sure.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_03: We will promote that on our social media.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: It will definitely be hosted on both our website and our YouTube.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, that is awesome stuff.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I will say, because you mentioned fishing, the other piece of awesome is that there are so many good places to go fishing, but there's also so many amazing companies and partner organizations that are committed to fishing.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So a shout out to them of thanks, but also an invitation to them to be engaged with our partner organizations.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you want to become a partner organization.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe if you're a fishing company, you want to sponsor the podcast.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Hey.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, let's um let's all find some new friends in the fishing world.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, speaking of friends, today we are talking with Natalie Johnson and Mike Hudson, both from the Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, Natalie is the director of development and communications.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: Mike is the outreach coordinator for Pennsylvania, and they are working with local congregations to help make our water waterways cleaner.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Doing some awesome work.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Let's hit it.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's just actually warm and comfortable in here.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like like I as long as I don't fall asleep.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, that's yeah.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: I might.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I make no guarantees.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh geez.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be your throwing things again.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently we have to keep them awake now.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: So this is getting me involved in a way that I wasn't expecting.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Allison, you take over now.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's never happened.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't see that being today.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: So did you grow up in Baltimore proper?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Born and raised in Baltimore.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Baltimore County as opposed to Baltimore City.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: So Yeah.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: So like suburbs?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_03: Is that what that Okay?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Very cool.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: The suburbs.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Born and raised there, never left, went to college in Baltimore County, grad school in Baltimore County.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just that's been home base.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: How are you, Mike?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm from Baltimore also, but I am from the city.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up in downtown.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: My dad's pastored a very small urban church.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: There's a very small urban pocket park near where I grew up, and beyond that it was skyscrapers in downtown Baltimore.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I yeah, very, very different than Natalie.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: But also, unlike Natalie, I went a little bit further for college.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: I went over to the Eastern Shore, went to Washington College, and was in a more rural area for that part of my schooling.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Mike, I have so many more questions now.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know these things now.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Yeah, I went to Washington College.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: My mom's drive.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know that your dad was a pastor.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I have so many more questions.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's convenient, though.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say there's some things right there.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: Already know how to talk to pastors.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: So we know we all right.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: So we know how you kind of got into relating to pastors and working with pastors.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: What got you into conservation?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: So for me, I really got into conservation originally by my grandparents.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: I, you know, like I said, grew up in the city near the harbor.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it was built up, but the water was there.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: And my grandfather worked at a steel mill outside of the city and really loved being on the water, loved being out in that that part of the county where the mill was.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just spent a lot of time with him at North Point State Park and learning how to fish and identify the birds.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: And it just kind of became part of being a kid and for me in that part of the world.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: We will get back to that, by the way.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Agreed.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Natalie?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So what I forgot to mention before is so I actually went to Lutheran school for middle school and high school in Baltimore County.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of like my, you know, religion background tie-in.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then growing up, my grandparents actually had a house on a river off of the Chesapeake Bay down in Pasadena.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would spend my summers going down there, helping my grandfather work on his boat, you know, going out on the water, fishing and all of that.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I feel like that seed was planted in me at an early age.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then it just kind of grew from there throughout school and all of that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing how these pieces come together of conservation and faith communities.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And now you get to do all of that at Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, also known as IPC.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So now we can all use it.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: You're running out of the way, right?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: I was gonna do that in the intro, but you you covered it here.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: That works perfectly.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: So let's get to know you just a little bit better with our icebreaker.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: You have any fictional character as your imaginary friend.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: Who do you choose and why?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if you know this about me, Ken, but I am a huge reader.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's like my most favorite thing to do outside of work.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I I love thinking about fictional characters.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I would have to choose Violet Sorengale from the Fourth Wing Fantasy series.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you know, you know she is fierce and loyal and just really strategic.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And plus, she's got dragons, 100%.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: That helps it's fantasy.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So she would make everything better.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, hey, hey, that's the cool factor on anything.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, she would just push me to be braver, unbreakable.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's a term that's used in in the books, and just stand up for myself.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd probably go on a ton of adrenaline-fueled adventures, but um, I know that I would never be be bored.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: So Yeah.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: How about you, Mike?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: I put down Sam Gribley, who, if any of you guys know the Gene Craighead George books, My Side of the Mountain, The Far Side of the Mountain, and Frightful's Mountain.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: That was the main character that was the protagonist in those books.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: I read those when I was pretty small.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: I was also a really big reader, and I started reading really young.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: And those were some of the first books that I sort of read with myself.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I just was thought the story was great.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: The kid's not happy with his life, and so he runs and lives in the mountains, and his best friend becomes a falcon that he rescues.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: And some, you know, the the kind of for a little kid growing up in the city where that was really foreign.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of that was really foreign.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: That just felt like the coolest thing, and like that must be the funnest person to talk to, someone who who lived in a tree with a bird.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's a cool person there.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: I love those books.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: I still love those books.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Totally makes sense for you, Mike.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: I know when you when I say it, it's like, oh, of course, of course.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about what each of you do at IPC.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I serve as IPC's director of development and communication.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I just do so many things as so many nonprofit workers wear a million hats to, you know, do all the things that need to get done.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I basically tell everybody that with my development side and communication side that I go out and help make the money and then I talk about how we spend the money.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so rewarding to share the stories that really come out of that too.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's that's mainly what I Mike.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm our outreach person in Lancaster.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: So when I was hired, it was specifically Lancaster County.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: We kind of refer it to as PA now as we're starting to think about expanding a little bit.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: Which is not an acronym per se.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Not true.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a data.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get a little.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: So in in Pennsylvania.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm sort of our outreach person up here.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I help to get the stories that Natalie likes to tell.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: I work with the congregations on the ground, do education and outreach.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then when they would like to take actions on their property, I help congregations figure out what that looks like.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_03: Well, let's take one step back.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: What does IPC do?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: IPC works with these congregations to be good caretakers of our shared watershed.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And we like to say that we do this in two ways.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: So by raising the awareness that people of faith have to restore clean water.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then we also offer hands-on assistance by helping congregations not only plan, but also pay for.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we help them to get grant funding to then install what we call healing practices on their grounds that then will, you know, trickle out into their communities.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: So that can be anything from rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, tree plantings, native planting, you name it.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: And congregations that don't have physical space, we all we like to still support them in ways that they can still contribute.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we have lots of congregations who may not be able to put in those physical caring practices, physical practices, but who might host movie nights, might host event nights, might, you know, attend trainings and do other things that that kind of helps the mission.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Ross Powell That really helps them kind of connect with the community at large as well.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: So Yeah, it does.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of those, and you know, both end, you know, we we one thing that we say a lot about the practices that our congregations put in, you know, they they have a rain garden and you're a lot of the times, you know, your church is right on a main road and there's a big parking lot.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so a rain garden's gonna be easy to see.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: People can can observe it.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: And the same thing with if you're hosting uh just a get together, a green day.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's a congregation is a very community-friendly place, and so it's somewhere that a community can can get together and learn.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: What are some of the most unusual or creative things that you have seen some of your congregations come up with that maybe have nothing to do with their physical property?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking of I remember uh someone telling us about a book series during Lent or like something that is tied to whatever the faith's calendar is, but a conservation element of that.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: So some of our, well, it's not really congregation.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So IPC works with a group called Interfaith Power and Light, also known as IPL.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's your acronym for that.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there are multiple IPLs everywhere.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we work with IPL as well as some Green Muslims, and I think some other groups.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we work with them to create, and we have a Lenten care calendar.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, you know, the 40 days of Lent, what can you do every single day to care for creation, you know, during that season?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then same with a Ramadan calendar for Green Muslims for that month of Ramadan.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: So there's also times where, like a uh one of our monthly learning labs, which are these events we have in the evening where we bring in a speaker to talk to the you know IPC network.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: And there are times when, you know, if that falls within or near a particular holiday or particular event, we'll try and match up the speaker and have that be themed so that it's you're you're getting some of your faith connection as you're here at this educational thing, learning about your stormwater, learning about your environment too.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: So wherever there's places for overlap, we'll we'll try to put that together.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: One thing we also work with are communities that may not necessarily be formal congregations, but which have connections to religious or spiritual traditions.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of the time they're really great partners in the kind of thing that you're talking about because they all take some of that and and use it within their own communities.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Another thing too, so IPC actually created a vacation Bible school program called God's Water Heroes.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so congregations can take that to have a very, you know, clean water focused vacation Bible school for I think it's was it K through twelve, maybe younger for the summer.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another really great one.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: We have had congregations all over use.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, I sent that to a congregation here in Lancaster for their use last year for their vacation Bible school.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's a that's a still popular resource that we have.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned Lancaster.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious why a group called Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, why is working in Lancaster especially important?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: So this is Natalie and I were talking about this on the way over, actually a little bit, because we think about being from Baltimore, like we were saying.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: We grew up on the Bay proper, the way you think about the Chesapeake Bay.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: But as probably a lot of folks listening, but maybe not everyone knows, the the Chesapeake Bay watershed is huge.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: It stretches all the way up to New York.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's an enormous area.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so for all communities, it's not necessarily going to look like a bay.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: It might up here be your relationship to your rivers, your streams.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Part of it is just a it's the it's it's what's there, right?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's all the water that's still coming into the bay.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Even if it's falling elsewhere, it's still contributing.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so looping those communities and making sure they have an understanding of how they're connected, what their faith tradition says about the water and and how that can inform their relationship to their environment.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: We want to make sure that that's not just something that the the the communities on the bay are are exposed to.
• 15:07
  unknown: Yeah.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like in addition to that, I've heard, you know, in my time coming up to Lancaster for for work at IPC that it seems like Lancaster's really paving the way for some of these things.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: That it it just to me, it it makes sense to to be here.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And additionally, there's a very active network of environmental organizations, including Lancaster Clean Water Partners that really align well with our mission.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we're able to, you know, partner with some of these organizations to really have a wider impact.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's a no-brainer to be here.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: And we can take some of those things, especially where it comes the environmental network up here in the other organizations we work with, we can take lessons that come from Lancaster where this network already exists and bring that elsewhere.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we we are currently talking about in other parts of the area we work in, standing up task forces and hubs, kind of like we have here in Lancaster and and bringing in technical partners the way we've done up here.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: So there's also an element of it that just because of where Lancaster and Pennsylvania is in terms of stormwater, it helps to inform our work other places.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of resources that we can bring to other parts of the watershed from here.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And just to give you too some context about where IPC's footprint currently is.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we're across or across many counties in Maryland.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Can't remember exactly how many, but we're slowly starting to also break into northern Virginia, very slowly.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like Mike has just been doing a really great job of expanding our footprint here and in Lancaster and expanding into Dauphin Counties, York counties, Loven County, just the ones that border us right around here.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: The other ones that make sense in sort of the South Susquehanna context.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Watersheds don't know political boundaries.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm sure we're working with places all over.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: So like Mike was saying, we're slowly starting to expand that and we're entertaining the idea of having more task forces in different regions where, you know, we don't have a footprint right now.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's like kind of a way to break in and and learn more about the area before we just, you know, come in and start working.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: So well, Mike, you were mentioning some task forces and kind of hubs that have been forming.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: I know in Lancaster you have uh is it called a chapter of the One Water Partnership?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: So we have so we have this.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'll I'll give us our abbreviation, our abbreviation.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: So the OWP, which is the One Water Partnership.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: And that is one of these flagship programs that we have at IPC.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: And and yes, you've heard me mention the hubs, task forces.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's one way that we think about sort of starting up our our presence in a locality, identify where there's already some interest, where there's some maybe local community leaders, where there's a congregation that's already thought about this a little bit, get them together, you know, introduce folks to each other.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then you can start to network out from there.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: You can, you know, Lancaster is a great example of this, but honestly, all over the watershed, there's examples of this where within the faith community, everyone kind of knows everyone.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so you'll go to a pastor and what Lutheran churches in this area?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: What you know synagogues do you know of that have X, Y, and Z?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you'll start to very quickly get people who know, who know folks here or there or have heard of X, Y, and Z.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: And and that kind of network is what gives us the One Water Partnership.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's where we end up with the OWP.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: And is One Water Partnership unique to IPC or is that a Yes.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: We actually have that term or phrase trademarked.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it is specifically for IPC.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that's kind of like our organizing model.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: We we organize or have these congregations come together within their hub regions so that they're connected to their communities and other congregations that are doing this work, because our hope is that by connecting everyone, that they're able to, you know, host interfaith events collaboratively together.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: And IPC can help facilitate those.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: But that's, I think, the big thing is we want to be a connector translator to be able to bring everyone together in that way.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you can think about those on like a really local level, like we were talking about them just now with you know, a county might have a task force and there might be a handful of congregations that are sort of spearheading work there.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: But then you can scale out.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: And at IPC, we bring in, you know, periodically we have these forums and other things where people from all over that we work with can come together.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so you can also have the task forces meet each other and people from totally disparate parts of the watershed sharing and and networking that way.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: And that's another really great um sort of practical use or sort of thing where the OWP comes in big and in our work.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: So let's talk about success stories here in Lancaster.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually a really well, so this is not in Lancaster, but but Mike just threw out the word forum there.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So next month, I can't believe it's next month.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be closer than that, but IPC is hosting, yeah, it's actually next week at the the time of this recording.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: So IPC is hosting a faith and waters restoration forum featuring world-renowned climate scientist, Dr.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine Hayho.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is happening in Howard County, Maryland, but this is definitely a huge win.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're expecting, you know, upwards of 300 people, maybe even a little bit more than that, to come and basically, you know, hear Dr.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine Haho speak, talk about living into our values, how values really are the foundation of our faith in this work that we do.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then they're going to break out into hub gatherings.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, the different one-mother partnership regions will have the chance to connect with one another in person, you know, talk about takeaways from that event, but then also just really talk about solutions that they need in their communities and how IPC can help.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we're bringing in technical partners to come be part of that conversation so that they can, you know, be there to provide, you know, resources.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: And in Lancaster recently, we've had some some actually similarly really big things.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Most recently, which some some of you all probably have heard about, Brightside Baptist Church recently had Doug Ptolemy down to speak about his presentation, Nature's Best Hope.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: We had a really great attendance, around 500 people showed up for that.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: It was Allison was there, it was phenomenal.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: We had a great time.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I should mention Brightside is one of our champion congregations.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: They do a lot of stuff at their site, and and so they're, you know, a really important partner of ours.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna keep on going right through the spring with similar events like that.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: We have um a green day at the end of April coming up at Ascension Lutheran Church, where they're gonna have some speakers.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think actually someone from like Lancaster Clean Water Partners, I think Alex may be coming to speak with me there.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: So that'll be a great event.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: And then we've had a number of congregations working on installing practices, sort of the other side of the successes and exciting things.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: And this evening, as at the time of this recording, we'll be heading after this, Natalie and I out to Hope Episcopal Church for a celebration of cleaning of the Sherers Creek watershed.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Some some various projects in that area we'll be celebrating.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Ascension Lutheran, we've mentioned, I think, has has recently done some pretty impressive work, and they actually Have had a long-term green plan still that they'll be doing additional installations.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: Number of congregations we have that are currently working on designs through a grant with Pennsylvania DEP.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a lot of stuff happening at IPC and specifically MPA.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: I got Department of Environmental Protection.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: I saw you going for it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: It was like, I got it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: I got it.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry about that.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: If it didn't happen at least once, people would be disappointed.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm sure they listened to it.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: Now you've gotten over that and you know we can we can move on with the rest of the rest of the talk.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing I just want to add that, you know, it's so funny.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Mike has been talking about this event at Hope Episcopal tonight and he keeps telling me the bishop is coming.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just it's I do.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: I keep saying that.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that just really shows the potential of this work and the attention that it is getting that there are diocesan, I guess that's episcopal.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, diocese, that diocesan leaders are coming to celebrate creation care efforts.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's just that's really exciting.
• 23:03
  unknown: Yeah.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and many of those that you mentioned, Mike, are in the stream delisting catchments.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so that concentrated outreach implementation, community-driven commitment, like you said, to conservation, it's really showing up.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's always been there.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I so appreciate how IPC helps facilitate that at the local level that brings in the resources that are needed, but also the communication between that congregation at Hope Episcopal and the neighbor, the amazing stream work, the amazing agriculture work, Penn State, so many other partners that have been part of that area.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's just so wonderful that the celebrations and the successes that you're celebrating are really for the entire community.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for what you've done.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: That so many people come to the things.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: Whenever we have stuff like that, and and you know, everyone says lovely things about IPC, I always just have to say that it's it's also partly the partners and the congregations that do it.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's it's a group effort, and it's always really great to see some of the cool stuff that can be put on when folks work together like that.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: True, very true.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: It is neat seeing that com that commitment.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: And are you seeing that because you mentioned you're going beyond just Lancaster County.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, are you seeing that commitment already fostering in other counties like Dolphin and Yeah.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: And and Natalie can probably speak to it just sort of in a broader level, but I know for one of the programs that we run are our Faithful Green Leader trainings, we call them our FGLT trainings, and geared towards folks in the Chesapeake watershed.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: But every time we host them, we have people from outside outside the region, outside the country um come and sign up for these sessions.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: We've had folks from New York, New Jersey.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think this most recent round, we may have had some people from York County register.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it there's real interest out there.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's like faith communities' congregations are really, really, really interested in this.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: And and we're glad that that they are that they're finding us.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: So just to elaborate on that a little bit more, so IPC also has a partner congregation pledge.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: So congregations that decide to solidify their commitment to being advocates and or fierce advocates, I think.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Stewards of, yes.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, stewards of the earth.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: We we even have a partner congregation in Zimbabwe that heard about the partner congregation pledge because one of our faith leaders went over to Zimbabwe on a mission trip, talked about IPC there, and they wanted to be part of this movement as well, even though they're not in the watershed.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and our our director of outreach, Bonnie Sorak, she's out in the community all of the time, and she hears from so many people that we need IPCs everywhere.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: It needs to be, you know, beyond the Chesapeake in every watershed.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: We need people doing this work and and collaborating around this.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we're we're we're worldwide.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: That word of mouth is just unbelievable.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: It really is.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: When when when we see the people from other states and especially other other outside the country, when we're just it's both a very warming and shocking feeling to see to both ends.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Natalie, a question for you as the director of development and communications.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate how you guys have been very specific in helping many of us who both know how to speak to congregations and houses of worship, but how to use the right words sometimes when we may trip over ourselves.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, what are some of your tips and lessons learned from working with faith communities that have helped you succeed?
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, just hearing what you were saying, the the first thing is to bring an IPC to help with those conversations because I think I mentioned it before we are that translator.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we're there to help you to connect with congregations, especially when, you know, technical partners might come to a congregation to do a site assessment.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the congregation doesn't necessarily know what all of these acronyms mean.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we can be there to help.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't either.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Do you bring a buzzer with you?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, we do not.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: I I can get you one.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, we we just help put it into terms that that they would understand.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, like you mentioned, language really does matter.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, and I feel like over the years that I've been at IPC, I've really helped to refine our voice.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: And but that's more on the side of like our communications.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: But there really is certain language around environmental work that resonates with faith communities and they recognize within their principles.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we have different buzzwords like creation care, creatures of creation.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of my favorites to use.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, stewardship and faithful stewards, especially when we're talking about the next generation of faithful stewards and wanting to leave, you know, our common home, our shared watershed better than how we left it for them.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Also, too, you hear we use the word congregation a lot.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than using house of worship, we've you know heard that in other places, but we don't use that term because it the term congregation acknowledges the people that make up the communities, right?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Not just the building.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: And with that too, I guess another communication tip with connecting with congregations is just knowing that faith is such a powerful mobilizer for them.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: So faith communities just have such incredible power and reach.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and at IPC, we like to say when a faith leader speaks, the people listen.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: The people in the pews are paying attention.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: When you know congregations commit to an issue and they bring people together, they can really inspire that action and then they can go forth and create lasting change.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And there are 19,000 congregations, or at least estimated 19,000 congregations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: So just imagine the potential for if everyone was able to come together for that common purpose of clean water that really transcends faith.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we all work together to restore clean water in our local waterways.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're gaming for.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: Now, what can we, because you guys are partners in the Clean Water Partners, and what can we as collaborative partners do to better promote the excellent work that these congregations are doing throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: I think one big thing is is still and and people are thinking of this more and more going forward, I think.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: But one thing is still just thinking about communities of faith and congregations as a place to go for this.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's still a lot of partners, a lot of organizations that do this work that that's just not front of mind for them when when you think of sort of the low-hanging fruit where you're going to go for this work, that might not be what pops up.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think part of it really is just helping to get that past that mindset and really recognize that this is somewhere you can do something.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think another thing is recognizing, and we've sort of alluded to this before, but recognizing that there may be other people that can help you if you are a partner coming in that you should find your IPC, I guess, is what I'm saying.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: Or your own trusted communicator.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: It might not be IPC, right?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: You but it might be that you know someone at the congregation or you have a family member who's a clergy or something, but find someone who can be you're in who can be that transit, who can be your person who helps you get in.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I think figuring that out, figuring out who your sort of allies in that community are gonna be, not being afraid to talk to those folks and just getting familiar with them.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a that's a big part of it still.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great point because we've done that with municipalities.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: So peer-to-peer, who's your fellow municipal leader?
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: We've done it with agriculture, who's the farmer-to-farmer that can sit at the kitchen table.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, within the faith community, who's your invite, that personal invite can be so powerful.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we've we sort of alluded to it earlier when we were talking about the priority stream delisting, actually, because you know, one of the ways that we've gotten congregations through that is basically that that kind of discussion is someone who just knew someone who could do an introduction or had heard of a a a landscape or knew someone that, you know, just those kinds of things are are really important.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you're thinking about that, it makes it that much easier to act on it.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and if you're used to not if within the faith community necessarily, but if you're used to working within like state agencies, you go to the top and you try to get the leadership on board.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then you start to work through some of the steps, and you don't always go to the bishop first.
• 31:31
  unknown: Right.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: So you gotta find, like you're saying, find that community-driven piece of it.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then ultimately, in the Hope Episcopal example, it's wonderful and important to have that leadership there to celebrate.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, yeah.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: And if you and I think oftentimes if you can find your, you know, the the sort of the people at the grassroots level, the the congregants, the other community members, seeing that is is part of what can bring a lot of leadership in.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: I know you know one of the reasons that the bishop is coming to Hope Episcopal and that folks are gonna be there this evening is is that the pastors made it a big thing.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: Is that it's it's it's something he's proud of and he talks about a lot and the community's engaged in.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so it all kind of ends up rolling into the next.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, one thing sort of supports the the rest.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just reinforces that when the pastor speaks.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, right.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right point.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think too, on a c obviously a communication side is just like what we're doing here today, sharing their stories through whatever media possible and you know, just through word of mouth, just letting people know that congregations are really a force for change.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that there are neighbors, you know, in in your community that are congregations that probably do may care about this stuff.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that's something that we should all be a little cognizant of as we're going around our neighborhoods and dealing with each other and thinking about the communities that we, you know, we share and interact with.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and congregations are huge landowners.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and so there's that practical.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you actually do you know who see here's my I guess my little trivia, pre-trivia question for you all is do you know who the largest landowner in the world is?
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: Catholic Church, yes.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Roman Catholic Church.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: So just yeah, imagine if you got so many of them that's wanted.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: In one group.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: So we always, and we started off the this podcast when in our intro, talk about our list of awesomeness.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_03: So what's what's awesome in your world these days?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'll start by saying some of the things you've already mentioned, like some of these great events that we've had recently.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: We are thrilled when 500 people show up to an event that we're at all involved with.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: That is awesome.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we we're we're looking forward to another really great one coming up.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: So one thing is just having had opportunities recently to see the community engage with us at so many of these big events.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is definitely an awesome thing, and then also something that that makes this year really big.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: So in September of 2024, IPC hired a new executive director.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's very exciting.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Her name is Minal Harn Kedkar.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: And she really just has this great vision for this next phase of IPC's work, especially as this year we're undertaking a strategic planning process to map out our direction for the next, well, 2026 through 2029.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're just we're really excited about that, thinking about our path forward and you know, taking some of her knowledge that she has and bringing that in and continuing to finesse what we are currently doing and expand and reach new regions or break into new areas.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we're we're gonna go through that process to figure all that out.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds wonderful.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, lots of awesomeness plus 2025.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: So you guys really do work day wide.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: How is the year 2025 important for you and 2025 and beyond?
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: I I forgot to mention that 2025 is actually IPC's 15th anniversary.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: No way.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Happy birthday.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't there like a confetti button or something?
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so well, yeah, this year is IPC's 15th anniversary, according to our articles of incorporation.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: So um, we are doing some things to celebrate that.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: Mainly we launched an endowment.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's just you know a way where people can invest in the future of creation care.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we're also teasing out the idea of having a 15th anniversary celebration later this year.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: So stay tuned for that.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, 2025 is is definitely a big year for us, and we're we're very excited about all of the work that we're gonna do here in in Lancaster and beyond.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let us know when the party is.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's right here, right now.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_03: Bring the party.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: That leads perfectly into my favorite time of the of the show, and that is trivia.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_03: Now, Mike, as we just mentioned, you like birds.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_03: You're knowledgeable about birds.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: I love birds.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I wasn't really into birds until you led a walking tour for Water Week last year and pointed out some cool stuff about birds and their songs about birds.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: And now my wife teases me because I have a sudden fascination with birds.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: Birds are awesome.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: They're great.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: They are, they are, that's true.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: And Natalie, you're a fan of the water and the beach.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_03: And and well, also the frozen water on the on the mountain, but it's too, it's it's too spring for that.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll we'll leave that up, but we will stick with the beach.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so this is a round that I call for the birds for the beach.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_03: Now, normally I would ask each of you the your individual things.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like Mike, I would ask you the bird questions, Nellie, I would ask you the beach questions, but we're gonna try something different and just whoever gets it first.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: Sound good?
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_03: So we will start off with birds.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_03: And the in a famous Tchaikovsky ballet, every morning, Odette, a beautiful young woman, transforms into what majestic white bird?
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_03: Swan.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_03: It is indeed a swan.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, we're starting off starting this one.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: So that was that was a little easy.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_03: I continue to learn more about you, Mike.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_03: So Beach, what country has the most coastline in the world?
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's probably not the one you're thinking of.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry about that.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: Canada.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're absolutely correct.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: That was actually what I was thinking of, and then I was like, oh no, that would be too hard.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: So back to birds.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_03: What bird is the fastest running animal on two legs, covering a hundred meters in just under seven seconds?
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_03: It is the ostrich.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_03: To the beach.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_03: If you looked over the ocean to the horizon on a cloudless day, how far can you see?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Mile.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's three miles.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Three miles.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: I did not know this until last night when I happened to look that look up.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: I can probably only see a mile when I'm not wearing my glasses.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I hear you there, yeah.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_03: Got about a hundred feet or so.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_03: It starts to get blurry.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: Uh birds.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_03: One of Queen Elizabeth's favorite hobbies was racing.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: What type of bird?
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_03: Racing, not raising.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_02: Racing.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: Runner ducks?
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_03: Pigeons.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: Pigeons.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: I did not know you could race pigeons, but apparently you can.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they run in a direction for you.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: What they usually do is they they have a pair and they're mated, and they they take one to a distant location and release one and they race, and whichever one gets to the location first.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: But they're flying.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're flying.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they're flying.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: So not on their little feet.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Not on their little feet.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: That would be really funny though.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'd like to watch it.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: When you say that's what I was thinking, that's what I was thinking.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: I was the magic.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_02: Pigeons and sneakers.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: There's probably a Disney movie.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_03: If there's not, there should be.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_03: So what is the name of the largest river that runs into the Chesapeake Bay?
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the Susquehanna.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: It is the Susquehanna.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: Maryland people always want it to be the Potomac.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry to disappoint it.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: Bigger than Maryland.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: Birds, despite going extinct in the 17th century, that's your big clue.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_03: What species of bird appears on the coat of arms of the island nation of Meridius?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_03: Dodo.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_03: It is the dodo bird, yeah.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_03: What Maryland Beach was officially patented Ladies Resort to the Ocean in 1867.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Ocean City, Maryland.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_03: You are absolutely correct.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_03: Very good, very good.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_03: Back to birds.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_03: A companion of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: What type of legendary bird was Fox?
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Phoenix.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_03: It was a Phoenix.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_02: I knew you'd get that one too.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_02: I could see.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: They did not even need you to finish.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_03: No, no.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: We were ready.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: We're the right age for that one, for sure.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_03: Back to beaches.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_03: Aceteak Island National Seashore is known for what type of wild inhabitant?
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: The I I'm probably going to get the term wrong.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: The the Chinkateague ownies.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_03: I would have accepted horses.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_03: That works too.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_03: So this this last question combines both beaches and birds.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_03: So what type of bird has a unique pair of salt glands above their eyes, allowing them to consume both salt and fresh water?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_03: Seagulls.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_03: That is correct.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: Nice job, guys.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's our trivia.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_03: That is our show.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_03: It was awesome having you guys here.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_03: You have such amazing things going on right now.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_03: Happy birthday to IBC.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you, Ken and Allison, for having us.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: You can find the events for IPC on our website, on our events page, which is interfaithchesapeake.org.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: Just navigate to our events page, and that's where we put up anything that's happening watershed wide.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: So our Pennsylvania stuff is there.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: If you are deeply driven and want to make the trek down to Maryland to see some other stuff, those events will be on there.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: And we hope some of you will make your way out to join us.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_03: And we will also have that link on the show notes for this particular episode.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_03: So that's it.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you very much.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_03: We will be back in just a couple of weeks.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_03: Until then, take care.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_03: This episode of Clean Water Conversations is sponsored by Chesapeake Conservancy.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_03: Conserve, restore, and empower with data.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: And produced by Lancaster Clean Water Partners, striving for clean and clear waterways by 2040.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_03: If you have comments or suggestions for show topics or are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact us at infotlancastercleanwaterpartners.com.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for listening.