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Kirk Swaidner

ACRES member and volunteer Kirk Swaidner agreed to sit down with Office Manager Natasha Manor for a video interview. Kirk shared his stories of how he came to ACRES, how he developed his land ethic and how a big change in his life led to a new role with the organization. Kirk first heard about ...

  • 11/17/2020
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Jim Haddock

Interview by Jason Kissel ACRES Member Jim Haddock agreed to sit down with Executive Director Jason Kissel for a video interview. Jim shared stories of his experience with the organization and motivation behind his continued support. When Jim paid his first membership dues of $2 in 1975, ACRES Land Trust owned and protected 332 acres ...

  • 08/19/2020
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Angie O’Neill

Interview by Jason Kissel Angie reluctantly agreed to be interviewed on video to describe her 50-year relationship with ACRES. Reluctant, because she didn’t want the attention on her, and she was nervous. But she agreed because it would help ACRES. That’s Angie—her desire to help greater than any obstacle that tries to get in the ...

  • 05/19/2020
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Thomas Sprunger

“I’ve always liked natural places. In 1964, when I was a kid, my mom and dad and grandparents went out west on a month-long trip. We stayed in a rustic cabin in Yellowstone National Park. Times were different then, bears would come in for food. I remember kids chasing a baby bear until it hid under the ...

  • 07/29/2019
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Janet Canino and Family

”‘If not now, when? If not us, who?’” encapsulates why ACRES’ mission “to protect land—forever” is of utmost importance to my family. When it is estimated that at least 85 percent of our native Hoosier wetlands have already been destroyed, how can we afford to wait any longer?” Janet Canino enjoys many ACRES preserves with ...

  • 07/29/2019
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Joe and Nancy Conrad

Although Mother Nature feigns sleep at this time of year, undercover she is alive with activity. She beckons into her wondrous, quiet world those of us open to adventure. Fortified with a down jacket, warm gloves, sturdy hiking boots, and a strong walking stick, you are ready to enter a tranquil world of sight, sound, ...

  • 12/08/2017
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Velma Caprarotta

“I love the land and wanted to keep the Caprarotta family name on it, and I feel great about protecting it with ACRES members.” Velma Caprarotta has a long history with and a deep-seated love of the Elkhart County land she recently donated to ACRES Land Trust. Born in 1924, she grew up in the ...

  • 12/08/2017
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Josie Fox

“ACRES caught my eye during trips to Indiana over 20 years ago, and this has evolved into a mentorship. ACRES’ programs are outstanding! Their pipeline of information to members is always high-quality. As a result of my ongoing interaction with ACRES staff, I feel confident asking how to carry out tasks on local, regional and ...

  • 12/08/2017
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Sam Ropchan

“[In the] Great Northern Plains of Alberta, pioneers were surrounded by nothing but scrub, small stands of white or black poplar, and sloughs [swamps]. The land was all virgin prairie. Anyone who might be called a neighbor lived one to five miles away. Like the other Ukrainian, Romanian, Polish and German immigrants who settled on ...

  • 12/06/2017
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Brett Bloom and Bonnie Fortune

“We hold the need to be in these places deep in our DNA. The search is for the connections that emanate from this place, that inspire love of place, give transcendental awe at the complexities of life,” said Brett. In 2015, Brett Bloom and his wife, Bonnie Fortune, began posting Instagram photos of their family’s ...

  • 12/05/2017
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