By Kim McDarison
Kaitlin Myren-Celkis is this year’s recipient of the City of Fort Atkinson Annual Green Recognition award in the category of resident/individual.
Two other categories, those of local business and community organization, did not receive nominations this year, City Clerk Michelle Ebbert said Tuesday during the Fort Atkinson City Council meeting.
Attending the meeting virtually, Myren-Celkis thanked council for the award.
Myren-Celkis was nominated by Fort Atkinson resident Kris England. She described Myren-Celkus in a written statement as a deserving recipient due to her hard work towards sustainability, evidenced in her efforts to create rain barrels for use in her family’s yard and gardens. Myren-Celkis, England wrote, also worked to make “gardens more sustainable by using organic methods and edible plants that are native,” and she offered a local “Little Free Library.”
“Overall,” England wrote of Myren-Celkis, “she is very resourceful and deserving of this honor.”
In a telephone interview, Myren-Celkis said she was taken by surprise when she learned she was this year’s award recipient.
England was her second-grade teacher at Lake Mills Elementary School and is today an educator within the Fort Atkinson School District, Myren-Celkis said. Over the years, the two have kept in touch. England, Myren-Celkis added, has often found intrigue with creative methods of sustainability used by Myren-Celkis in her yard.
A stay-at-home mother of two children, ages 5 and 14, over the last four years, Myren-Celkis said, she has found she has more time to devote to her gardening. She is often aided by her husband, David.
Her love of sustainability began as a hobby — stemming from her father’s involvement with horticulture — and grew with her love of butterflies and birds, and getting back to nature, she said.
Sustainability has remained a theme in her life. In 2019, she was the manager of the Fort Farmers Market and last year, she was one of three winners of the Friends of Rose Lake’s 2020 Backyard Wildlife Contest. Contestants worked to make their yards more attractive to wildlife, she said.
“I have a lot of edibles in my garden,” she added.
New in her yard is a “tea garden,” where she cultivates plants from which she can make tea, she said.
The Annual Green Recognition award was created in 2007 by recommendation of the Climate Protection Ad Hoc Committee. The award is meant to showcase the environmental efforts of area businesses, community groups, and individual citizens, Ebbert wrote in a memo to council.
“The award recognizes that a healthy economy and a healthy environment are mutually supportive,” Ebbert added.
A plaque was prepared and will be presented to Myren-Celkis, Ebbert said.
Council President Mason Becker apologized for not being able to present the plaque in-person during the council meeting, and noted that arrangements would be made to provide Myren-Celkis with the plaque at a future date.
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