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Two outgoing board members were honored with the Great Blue Heron Award — Sound Rivers’ highest honor of service and volunteerism.

Staff and current board members met in Greenville on Sunday to thank Betsy Hester and Caty Gray Urquhart for their dedication to Sound Rivers and clean water.

Betsy, and her husband Joe, are Sound Rivers life members — their involvement dating back to the early 1990s when Joe served as board president. Betsy took up the Hester environmental mantel when she joined the board in 2020, lending her talents to the executive committee and as chair of the development committee.

“Betsy was instrumental in helping us partner with Nash County Schools for the Campus Stormwater Program and the initiative to assess 12 schools, and now with our Cummins grant, we’re working to implement those recommendations,” Sound Rivers Executive Director Heather Deck said. “She was key in making that happen, and expanding the Campus Stormwater Program to Nash County.”

Her volunteerism did not stop there: she and several other Sound Rivers’ members permanently adopted the first Jack’s Creek trash trap, wading into the water week after week to pull trash out of the Pamlico River tributary; Joe’s law firm has traditionally sponsored the annual Oyster Roast; both Betsy and Joe have dedicated many volunteer hours to making the Oyster Roast Sound Rivers’ signature event and biggest fundraiser of the year; along with numerous other contributions over the years.

Caty Gray came aboard in 2021, and in addition to doing a fantastic job taking on the role of Development Committee Chair and emceeing the premiere of Sound Rivers’ 40th anniversary documentary, “A Sound River,” she also introduced Sound Rivers to Tarboro Brewing Company, which created the “Bobby Bouchet” IPA with 5% proceeds donated to Sound Rivers and has donated craft beer for the Oyster Roast for several years running.

Sound Rivers gives a huge “Thank you!” to both Betsy and Caty Gray for their years of service, hours of pitching in for many different events and being wonderful clean-water ambassadors!

(Caty Gray was unable to attend Sunday’s event.)