NORTHEAST ARC USERS GROUP
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2001 Peter S. Thacher Award Recipient: ​Glenn Hazelton

The 2001 Peter S. Thacher award was presented to Glenn Hazelton, of Ipswich Massachusetts at the 16th annual Northeast Arc Users Group Conference in Worcester, MA on September 16, 2001.

Background
In the spring of 2000, the Town of Ipswich’s Annual Town Meeting passed a $10 million Open Space Bond for the acquisition of interests in real estate for the purposes of open space protection, water supply protection, and recreation. Ipswich is known both locally and regionally for its outstanding natural resources which include Crane’s Beach and Plum Island Sound, part of the Great Marsh Ecosystem, one of the largest barrier beach complexes on the eastern seaboard. The Town’s Open Space Committee, made up of local volunteer residents, successfully advocated for the passage of this Bond. Glenn Hazelton, as Chair of this Committee, played a major leadership role in coordination of the efforts behind the passage of the Bond, and brought his GIS expertise to the process to help identify which parcels should be targeted for acquisition/protection. Glenn’s technical expertise and his willingness to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of his own time sharing that expertise and helping to develop maps and GIS systems for the Town resulted in a clear and cohesive series of tools that guide the Open Space Bond Program staff and volunteers.

Nomination
While Glenn works in the GIS field professionally as a GIS Manager for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, he has spent countless volunteer hours creating maps, processes and tools using GIS technology to assist the Town with its Open Space Bond Program. Most recently, Glenn set up the Program staff with desktop GIS capability, which will significantly improve the staff’s ability to evaluate potential projects and communicate with local decision-makers and residents who, as taxpayers, ultimately fund the overall Program. Glenn has also made himself available on-call to troubleshoot and assist Program staff with ongoing projects. Glenn’s willingness to spend his personal time creating maps and developing GIS capability for the Town has been an invaluable component of these successful projects.

Acceptance Speech Text
I have to pinch my self sometimes.
Here I am living in New England the most intense part of the country.
Here I am talking to people who work at the center of GIS data for these states.
Here I am one of these people.
Here we all are people/ professionals who can make a difference because we can see a big picture and we have tools at our disposal. But mostly we can make a difference because we want to contribute. I know that is what motivates me to participate. I live in a small town of 12,000 people on the northshore of Mass. - Ipswich. When I moved in the openspace plan was being redone and Massgis was just starting the statewide openspace mapping project. I have been mapping and updating the data ever since.
Ipswich has lots of openspace, some of it public like state parks and forests 
Some of it owned by non profits like TTOR 
Some of it has CRs held by the town or ECGA 
Some of it is in ACECs, or chapter 61 or owned by a church
And some of it is private and has been in the same family since colonial days. 
What I have found is that people in town talk about properties by name (Wendell, Scott, Don Bosco) . There is a sense of familiarity and community knowledge that is not on any map. Yet there is also a lack of understanding of the relationship of parcels and trails and wildlife corridors and endangered species.
What I have attempted to do is provide a bridge between the professionals I know who have resource data and the people in Ipswich who know the character of the land.
In my heart I know I want and need community 
But I also know that I am not good at promoting it personally. 
Maybe many of us are better at communicating with our skills that we are with our hearts..--. I know I communicate more easily in writing than face to face. My ear gets hot on the phone. In the convention hall I can only talk to someone for so long before I break away.
This award touches me deeply as it tells me that I AM part of this NE GIS community and I my drive to contribute professionally and locally and personally have been appreciated. It lets me know that I can communicate in a meaningful way. It emboldens me to put more of my heart into everything I do.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself.

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      • 2022 Spring Conference Schedule
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  • Community
    • Upcoming Events
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    • NEARC Slack
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  • About Us
    • General Information
    • Board Members
    • Peter S. Thacher Award
    • Partners
    • By-Laws (PDF)
  • Listserv
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