Please welcome our new board members

The Friends of Hominy Creek would like to welcome our new trustees: Alex Blue and Christopher Arbor. We would also like to express our gratitude to the service of two outgoing board members, Renee Fortner and Nancy Watford.

Nancy Watford is a founding board member of the FOHCG and played a leading role in securing a $25,000 grant from Buncombe County that funded invasive plant removal and the construction of kiosks, information signs, and our work shed. In addition, Nancy has helped bring the vision of the organization into function. Thank you for your service Nancy.

Among her many contributions to the Hominy Creek Greenway, Renee Fortner took charge of our volunteer program and led countless volunteer work days on the greenway. Among the volunteer projects she coordinated was improving the landscape surrounding the work shed by planting native species and removing invasive plants. Renee has also played a crucial role in keeping the vision of the organization alive. Thank you for your service Renee.

Alex Blue joined the board of trustees in November, 2019 and is from Eastern North Carolina. She came to Asheville to attend UNC Asheville and graduated in 2017 with a degree in environmental science. While attending school she completed a fellowship with the local environmental nonprofit, RiverLink. She later returned to Riverlink to complete a year service as the organization’s AmeriCorp Volunteer Coordinator. Alex currently works for the horticulture department at the Biltmore Estate where she removes non-native invasive plants and preserves native & natural landscapes. Alex also has the cutest hound dog in Asheville named Ruby. On a sunny spring day you can find Ruby and Alex floating down the French Broad River.

Christopher Arbor joined the board of trustees in November 2019.  He was born in the North Carolina Piedmont but knew from a young age that the mountains would always be his home. He attended summer camp outside of Brevard, enrolled at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, then transferred to UNC Asheville.  After graduating, he enrolled in AmeriCorps, and while he could travel anywhere in the United States; he opted to stay in Asheville. Since then he’s taught English at The Outdoor Academy and World Studies at the Asheville School. During breaks from work, you can find him fighting non-native invasive plant species, planting trees, and running through the woods.