The Taste: Celebrate the Chesapeake

Celebrate the Chesapeake With Us at The Taste!

The Alliance’s annual Taste celebration is once again taking place across the watershed. The Taste will take place in-person at three different venues across the Chesapeake Bay watershed – we hope you can join us!

Tickets go on sale on June 21st!

About The Taste – Celebrate with Us!

Over 100,000 streams and rivers flow through 64,000 square miles of forests, fields, cities, suburbs, and communities on their way to the Chesapeake Bay. Our watershed is a patchwork of communities that rely on its forests, streams, and rivers. It’s a sustainable source of fish, crabs, and other shellfish. It’s where we recreate and connect with nature. It’s our source of clean drinking water. It’s ours to protect.

The Taste is a celebration of our Chesapeake Bay watershed, offering live music, locally-inspired eats, awards, silent auctions, and comradery. As our largest annual fundraiser, the Taste aims to bring together like-minded corporations and conservationists within three distinct Chesapeake Bay watershed communities.

As a regional event offering a small, intimate atmosphere, the Taste presents a unique opportunity for you to support our critical work and enjoy an evening with other individuals who genuinely want to make a difference in our watershed.

So we are excited to once again bring our largest annual fundraiser upstream to the communities who partner with us to restore the Bay for a second year in a row. That’s right! The Taste is coming back to your neighborhood!

This August and September, Taste attendees have their choice of three exciting and unique venues in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland/DC Region.

Tickets go on sale on June 21st!

 

 

8.31.2023

6 PM to 8 PM

Pennsylvania

Rivers Edge at Long Level

9.7.2023

6 PM to 8 PM

Virginia

Blue Atlas Restuarant and Market

9.21.2023

6 PM to 8 PM

Maryland

The Annapolis Maritime Museum

“As an industry partner with an inherent passion for helping to rid the Bay of harmful pollutants, Luck Ecosystems has teamed with the Alliance on a number of projects that enhance communities and create environmental solutions throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Working together, we have installed rain gardens, protected streams, and utilized our RainScape biofiltration products for more effective stormwater management. Luck Ecosystems and Luck Stone are proud to support the Alliance’s mission to bring together communities, companies, and conservationists on far-reaching initiatives to keep our lands and waters healthy for generations to come.” – Jimmy Rodgers, Regional Sales Manager for Luck Ecosystems

Collaborate for clean water with us. Become a Taste sponsor today.

Explore Sponsorship Opportunities

Meet our 2023 Award Winners!

Every year the Alliance recognizes local leaders and champions from around the watershed. This year, we’re excited to for you to meet our 6 award recipients that we will be recognizing at the Taste for their leadership and dedication to cleaner rivers and streams. The following awardees have thoughtfully considered how to push the boundaries between science, the environment, and art, and are leaders to be recognized for their exemplary stewardship and profound impacts on the Bay.

Longtime Mason District Supervisor, and 27-year Board of Supervisors veteran, Penny Gross, has been awarded the Fran Flanigan Award this year. First elected in 1995 to represent the Mason District, she’s been a long-time advocate of expanding public transportation, affordable housing, and diversity in the county.

When she announced her decision not to run for reelection in 2022, Board Chair Jeff McKay praised Gross for being a “leader” and leaving a lasting legacy. The board is so grateful for the legacy Gross built for others and the leadership attributes and respect she brought to the table.

“I’m proud and grateful to have played a role in ensuring these opportunities for our diverse community, and I look forward to the continuing success of Fairfax County and the region.” – Penny Gross

Gross also writes a weekly column in the Falls Church News Press, hosts the monthly television show, Mason Matters, and is a founding member of Friends of Mason District Park. Her work has been incredibly impactful in the District, and beyond, and the Alliance is proud to honor Gross with the Fran Flanigan Award.


Jodi Rose, Executive Director of Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Biochemistry and worked in the environmental consulting field for 15 years, managing soil and groundwater remediation projects and later running her own consulting firm. As a volunteer in her Catholic parish, she spearheaded several environmental and social justice programs that engaged fellow parishioners to live out their faith in action.

It was during this time that Jodi decided to shift into nonprofits to work at the intersection of faith and the environment. She became the Executive Director of IPC in 2013, and since then, has grown the team from a staff of one to ten employees, increased its revenues 10-fold, and the organization’s network now encompasses hundreds of congregations.


Julie Patton Lawson is a talented connector and communicator, coalition builder, entrepreneurial advocate, marketing professional, and project manager. She is a respected leader in engaging diverse communities in the restoration of the Bay. Julie has developed multiple local, state, and national coalitions to pass cutting-edge legislation and programs to protect neighborhoods and waterways, from the Anacostia River to the oceans. Her work crosses sectors of environmental and social justice, education, public health, and economic development.

Julie currently serves as the coordinator for education and workforce development strategy for the DC Department of Energy and Environment, with a special focus on supporting environmental education and opportunities at Anacostia High School and the University of the District of Columbia. Previously Julie served on the cabinet of Mayor Muriel Bowser, as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of the Clean City. She was also the Founding Executive Director of Trash Free Maryland, a nonprofit organization working to reduce trash pollution through policy and behavior change.

She also serves as Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to the Chesapeake Bay Program, contributing on behalf of public stakeholders. Serving on several boards and committees informing education policy, Julie is passionate about restoring the Anacostia River so that it can be a full recreational, economic, and natural resource for all Washingtonians to enjoy.


Jodi Sulpizio is a Natural Resources Educator for Penn State Extension in York County, and coordinates the Master Watershed Steward Program and the Spongy Moth Program in York. Jodi teaches residents about stormwater, drinking water safety, and watershed management. As the Master Watershed Steward Coordinator, she supervises over 80 volunteers who are actively educating York County citizens about water resources and are implementing best management projects. Formerly, she was a Naturalist for the York County Parks and Manheim Township Parks.

Jodi is passionate about empowering both citizens and volunteers to protect our natural resources. She is now training the eighth class of Master Watershed Stewards in York County. Since 2016, Master Watershed Stewards in York have volunteered over 20,000 hours and have educated over 34,000 people. Together, they have planned and completed numerous, successful watershed projects throughout the county. Jodi particularly enjoys planting riparian buffers and rain gardens, coordinating the Street 2 Creek storm drain art project, and educating youth. She looks forward to continued endeavors to help make streams and rivers cleaner for both our communities and the Chesapeake Bay.


With experience in Finance, Found Object Kinetic Sculpture, Multimedia Installations, Public Art, and Graphic Design, Tim Harper has a keen interest in multidisciplinary projects that occupy the space between science and art. His work has been shown throughout the mid-atlantic, and he has taught kinetic sculpture to children and adults.

A recipient of the 2012 Theresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Arts, Matt Lively is a painter, sculptor, film producer, and muralist who has work in collections throughout the world. Matt has taught at VCU, The University of Richmond, The Visual Art Center in Richmond, and The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School.

Matt Lively and Tim Harper began collaborating in early 2013 and quickly found that their strengths as artists were complimentary. Their combined installation work includes a rainwater harvesting system sculpture at Binford Middle School, designed with middle school students and the Alliance; pylon murals at Scott’s View and 3200 W. Broad residential communities; an illuminated dimensional mural highlighting Dominion Energy’s renewable energy assets; a forthcoming Greening Greater Fulton sculpture designed with the Alliance and community partners; and a forthcoming installation with Bon Secours celebrating the historical significance of their Westhampton property in Richmond.

Two people posing for a picture outdoors

Tim Harper (left) and Matt Lively (right


Share a Message With Our Award Winners

Join in on the Taste celebrations and share a congratulatory message with our award winners! Using the form below, you can submit a short text and/or photo message for one of our 2021 award winners.

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Newsletter

Jodi Sulpizio - PA Watershed Champion

Hi, Jodi!

I was so happy to receive the email today announcing that you have received the Watershed Champion of the Year award! Congratulations! I was last year's recipient, so I have some idea of what an honor (and a shock) it was when you received the notification. Thank you for all the work you do with the Master Watershed Steward Program in York County. I live in Cumberland County, just up the road from you. I hope we'll have the opportunity to meet some day.

Congratulations again for the well-deserved recognition of the work you do for Central Pennsylvania, the Bay, and the planet.

With my best wishes,

Wendy Smith

Wendy Smith
Wendy Smith, Volunteer with Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Jodi Rose - MD Watershed Champion

Jodi – thank you for all you've done, and continue to do, for the Chesapeake and her communities. We can't wait to celebrate YOU!

Kate Fritz
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Thank You to Our 2022 Taste Sponsors!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie Conklin

 

 

 

Don and Gail Kohn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John & Barbara Wakeman

 

 

Kate Fritz and Stefan Kunz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOCEDU Solutions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shannon McGowan Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stein Family Charitable Foundation