ACLT’s 2020 Annual Meeting

• Peter Daly. A Pastor and Catholic Priest, attorney, columnist, and author, Father Daly has been part of the Parkers Creek Community since 1994, when he was assigned to St. John Vianney Catholic Church. He retired in 2017, but still finds the time to serve as a volunteer attorney for Immigration Legal Services of Catholic Charities of Washington, DC and as a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. He is a current and Founding Board Member and Secretary Treasurer of Davantage, Inc., which provides housing for homeless men in Northwest Washington DC., administered by the Brothers of Charity, a Belgian order focused on mental illness and homelessness. Previously, he has served on the Board of Directors of Calvert Memorial Hospital (2005-2014), as a Founding Board Member of Birthright of Prince Frederick (1995-2005), as a Founding Board Member and President of Calvert Interfaith Council, Calvert, MD (2006 – 2011), and as a Founder and Treasurer of Safe Nights of Calvert County (2007-2014). He has also co-authored Strange Gods, A Novel about Faith, Murder, Sin and Redemption with John F. Myslinski). River Grove Press, Austin, TX, February 2016 and wrote “Last Rites” a one-act play published in 2012.
• Darlene Harrod is a native of Huntingtown. Two days after graduating from Calvert High School in 1969, she began her Federal career as a clerk-stenographer.  She was employed with the Navy Department, Interior Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.  During her career, she took classes that resulted in her assuming more challenging positions in public affairs and liaison work.  She retired in 2006 after 37 years of service. She is involved in many ways in the community. She has been a volunteer at Calvert Library for at least eight years.  Her favorite projects were helping to produce two books for the community – “Inspiring African American Women of Calvert County” in March 2017 and “Inspiring African American Men of Calvert County” in December 2018.  In July 2018, Darlene and her siblings, along with some nieces and nephews, established the George H. and Geneva Green Harrod Scholarship in memory of their parents as part of LEAP Forward, Inc. Darlene is an active member of Mt. Gethsemane Holiness Church in Huntingtown.  She holds life memberships in the NAACP and Blacks in Government.  Currently, she is a member of the Calvert County Democratic Women’s Club.  In her free time, Darlene enjoys family, friends, Scrabble, reading, and traveling.   
• Shirley Knight is a “transferred resident” of Calvert County after arriving in the DC Metro area 26+ years ago. In 1984, after serving two very tough years of her initial enlistment in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) –  completing a grueling stint through “boot camp” in Cape May, New Jersey and serving as the first black female crew member aboard the USCG Cape Gull – she received transfer orders to U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. Shirley retired in 2015 after 34 years of combined military and civilian services for the USCG, Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since retiring, Shirley worked closely with Darlene Harrod to assist her with the development and subsequent publications of the two books mentioned above. Shirley and her wife, Bonnie have been together over 32 years. Her hobbies are a variety of sports including exercising, bicycling, and she is an admitted golf “addict”. Shirley serves as a Calvert County Election Judge and recently completed her first position as a Chief Judge.
• Nathan (Nate) Novotny. Is a lifetime resident of Southern Maryland. He had a very successful 20+ year career in the beer distribution business at Bob Hall Inc in Upper Marlboro. He started out as a helper on the delivery trucks and in a short time obtained his commercial license and took on his own delivery route in Calvert County. A few years later he was asked to take over a sales territory. After about 4 years he took on the role of Regional Sales Manager and was responsible for numerous special events, including the Air Show, Calvert VFD fundraising events and ACLT’s Sip and Save. In 2018, he started his career as a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones Investments. This career gives him a unique opportunity to directly impact the lives of families in his community. His wife Jessica works for a government contractor in the security field, directly supporting work at PAX River NAS.  He has always loved the outdoors and in his free time he likes to hunt, fish and do just about anything else that gets him out on the water or in the woods. He tries to include his children as much as possible and teaches them about respecting our resources. He has also been involved with the Friends of Hunting Creek.
• Birgit Sharp. Birgit is passionate about protecting the environment and the climate by preserving, protecting and regenerating natural places. With her education in biology and social work she has been involved in both environmental and societal issues. As a Social Worker, she was Director of the Displaced Homemaker program at the YWCA of Trenton, NJ. The program helped women become job ready, or change career fields. She was also part of a multi-racial team that ran racial justice programs for non-profits, schools and corporations. When her children were young, she provided education and counseling for teen mothers, and counseled children in schools for emotionally disturbed students. As her children got older, she became a teacher. She taught General Sciences in a science lab, Mathematics, and Life Sciences. She coordinated with Rutgers University to teach her students science thinking skills, such as evidence evaluation, and scientific debate. After she retired, she became a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist. Currently she volunteers at the Double Oak Farm, where she planned, planted and maintains the Food Forest. She also conducts educational programs about regenerative gardening for adults and children. She is an environmentalist with Advocates for Herring Bay.
• Frederick L. Tutman. Fred Tutman is a grassroots community advocate for clean water in Maryland’s longest and deepest intrastate waterway and holds the title of Patuxent Riverkeeper, which is also the name of a non-profit organization that he founded in 2004. Some of the lessons learned on the Appalachian Trail have inspired Fred’s work on Water Trails as well. Prior to Riverkeeping, Fred spent over 25 years working as a media producer and consultant on telecommunications assignments on four continents, including a stint covering the Falkland War in Argentina for the BBC; managing a Ford Foundation funded project to help African traditional healers tell their stories to the world; and nine years of intensive media productions with Fire and Emergency Management organizations. Fred has won several awards for both radio and television production writing and production. In recent years, Fred has taught courses in Environmental Law and Policy at Historic St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. He splits his time between Maryland and North Carolina where he maintains busy Blacksmith forges in both places. He is the recipient of numerous regional and State awards for his various environmental works, is the longest serving Waterkeeper in the Chesapeake Bay region, and the only African-American Waterkeeper in the nation. He also lives and works on an active farm located near the Patuxent River that has been his family’s ancestral home for nearly a century.

A very special thank you to outgoing Board members! All have been integral to the success of the ACLT. Thank you all and we hope that you will stay involved in ACLT. We are losing a total of 95 years of combined experience! 

• Karen Edgecombe – 1998-2006, 2015-2021. Board President 2001-2005 and Executive Director 2006-2015.  Active in governance, budget and finance, administration, land acquisition and fundraising throughout her tenure.
• Steve Kullen – 2008-2021. Improved ACLT’s contacts and relationships with local communities. Key in the initiation of our annual Auction and Dinner and fundraising drives.
• John Little – 2003-2021.  Chair, Land Management Committee for most of his term on the Board. A key supporter of Double Oak Farm and many land stewardship projects.
• Gary Loew (Charter Member of the 1st Board of Directors) – 1986-1992, 2010-2021. Secretary since 2013. Active in budget, administration, fundraising and land acquisition during both board tenures.
• Peter Stathis – 2000-2021. Chairman of the Budget Committee the entire time.