Vars Among Environmental Award Winners

The life's work of late environmental activist Dr. Gordon Vars will be celebrated again in April, when Vars is honored posthumously by the Portage Park District Foundation.

The park foundation named Vars among its 2012 Portage County Environmental Conservation Award Winners. .

As founder of Friends of the , Vars will be honored with the 2012 Environmental Activism award at the park foundation's reception April 21 at the .

Vars was a steady proponent of the Kent Bog, formally known as the Tom S. Cooperrider State Nature Preserve, on Meloy Road on the city's southern border. He often proved an opponent for developers who sought to build on land near the preserve. State officials are considering

The other 2012 award winners include:

• Reverend William Graham—Stewardship
  (Director and Pastor, Asbury Camp and Retreat Center)
• Ron Etling—Environmental Education
  (Retired Science Teacher, Naturalist)
• Dr. Gordon F. Vars—Environmental Activism (posthumous)
  (Founder of Friends of Kent Bog)
• Community Action Council of Portage County, Inc.
  Green Building/Development
  (Energy Efficiency & Housing Services Program)
• Robinson Memorial Hospital—Green Building/Development
  (Green Strategies Committee and Initiatives)
• Sand Hill Stable—Green Business
  (Green Energy and Sustainable Land Management)
• Dr. Tom S. Cooperrider—Lifetime Achievement
  (Professor, Writer and Researcher of Botany)

The award reception will feature music by Mitch Reed, hors d’oeuvres featuring local foods, a buffet dinner and more. Fundraising proceeds will benefit the Portage Park District Foundation, whose mission is to support the Park District's critical work of conserving Portage County's natural and cultural heritage.

Call the Park District at 330-297-7728 for more information or visit www.portageparkdistrict.org to register online.