Apr. 26, 2024 at 4:01 am

Shepherdstown celebrates designation as Bee City USA, raises funds for bee-friendly initiatives | News, Sports, Jobs

Community members bid on auction items at the Bee City USA fundraiser in Alma Bea on Sunday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — As evening approached late Sunday afternoon, Alma Bea was filled with community members eager to celebrate the news that the Corporation of Shepherdstown had been named a Bee City USA by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

For Mayor Jim Auxer, the designation was unquestionably appropriate, considering the nature-focused mindset of many of Shepherdstown’s residents.

“We’re a Tree City USA, so why wouldn’t we be a Bee City USA? It’s just a different kind of green focus,” Auxer said. “How important it is to protect our pollinators! Our food supply would be greatly diminished without bees. And, for Shepherdstown specifically, bees hold a strong place in our hearts — we have quite a few people who are interested in bees, in town.”

One of those people was Town Recorder Lori Robertson, who kept a number of beehives in her garden on Princess Street for a number of years.

“We were already on board with becoming a Bee City USA, before we even heard Linda Layne the presentation for it this winter,” Robertson said.

Community members look at the art being sold in the auction for Bee City USA at Alma Bea on Sunday. Tabitha Johnston

Layne, who is a Master Gardener and beekeeper, may have given the initial push for Shepherdstown becoming a Bee City USA affiliate, but she has since been joined in a Shepherdstown Bee City USA committee by a number of other local residents concerned with protecting pollinators and creating habitats for them.

“We hope to spread the word, through presentations and events like this, on the importance of pollinators,” Layne said. “Tonight, we’re also announcing the location of our first pollinator garden, which will be around the Shepherdstown sign by O’Hurley’s General Store. Jay Hurley envisioned a pollinator garden around the sign, but he passed before he had the chance to plant it. So obviously, that has to be our first one! We have picked out two other possible locations in town, including one here at Alma Bea.”

According to Layne, planting a pollinator garden at Alma Bea will be a way to thank the restaurant’s owners for their kindness in donating their restaurant for use as Sunday’s venue. While the restaurant was still making money throughout the evening from food and drinks purchases, its designation as a special event space for the evening allowed the Shepherdstown Bee City USA committee to bring the building to life, with the addition of a band playing live music and tables displaying gifts and services that would be auctioned off later that night.

“This is our first event — this is our kickoff fundraiser, the very first thing that we are doing,” said Shepherdstown Bee City USA committee member Rebecca Thompson. “With the money we raise from this event, we’ll be educating people on the need for native plants and pollinator-focused gardens. We’ll also be maintaining the public pollinator gardens we plant and teaching other people how to do care for the pollinator gardens near them.”

Thompson, who is a Master Naturalist and Master Gardener, noted that, although the name of Bee City USA might hint at an organizational focus on only one type of pollinator, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

A band performs a number of recent hit songs for the crowd in Alma Bea on Sunday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“Bee City USA promotes all pollinators, not just bees,” Thompson said. “There’s a lot of native bees who are pollinators, but also butterflies, moths, bats, hummingbirds, certain types of beetles and certain types of non-aggressive parasitic wasps. Some of these wasps don’t even sting, but they’re awesome at pollinating!”