2025 Veg-Out  Speakers 

11:30 am -12:00pm
Sandra Cecelski - Sandie's Beach Bees:
What can you do to help all pollinators in your backyard?

Sandie is a NC certified beekeeper and honey producer.
She and her bees live in beautiful Carolina Beach.

1. Plant a Bee Garden. ...foraging is important
2. Go Chemical-Free for Bees. ...
3. Provide Trees for Bees. ...
4. Create a simple bee bath in the shade..  A small solar fountain and inexpensive bird bath will attract birds, bees, butterflies and more.  Because the water is circulating, it will not become a breeding ground for mosquito larvae.
5. Protect native Ground Nesting Bees by leaving leaf litter around trees.
6. The diversity of pollinators in the US ranges from butterflies, flies, moths, bees, beetles, birds, mammals, and even reptiles.  95% of all flowering plants require the services of these important organisms to move pollen from the male to female flower parts.
7. Please consider not mowing from March to May in order to help all of these important members of our community.  What looks like weeds to us is all you can eat buffet for all of the important pollinators.

• Consider Joining the New Hanover County Beekeepers Association. 
  
• Consider signing up for Bee School.  Information is available on the New Hanover County Beekeepers Association website and FaceBook.
  

12:15pm -12:45pm
Roger Gins - Backyard Housing Group

Presented here is a program to enable, incentivize and support homeowners to build ADU’s as affordable rental units.
For the community this means leveraging private sector resources to create a scalable solution for additional affordable housing in welcoming, multi-generational and  diversified neighborhoods. 

1:00pm - 1:30 pm
Kayne Darrell - Save Sledge Forest
Save Sledge Forest: A community led effort to protect our last large expanse of Old Growth Forest in NHC.

My name is Kayne Darrell. I am a longtime resident of Castle Hayne, a retired Radiographer
and a seasoned environmental advocate and activist.
I am the Director and one of the co-founders of Save Sledge Forest – a community campaign to
protect Sledge Forest and our community from a proposed massive 4,000 home development slated for Castle Hayne. Sledge Forest is designated an area of National Significance and a unique local treasure that belongs in conservation. This development could double the population of rural Castle Hayne and put a further burden on our already strained infrastructure while threatening the community with numerous potential negative impacts.

1:45pm - 2:15pm
Robin Morgan - Biocentrism

Robin Morgan is a local zine printer and environmentalist. She will be presenting Biocentrism as a concept, and connecting its relevance to our city of Wilmington. An ethical viewpoint that states all living things, not just humans, possess intrinsic value and should be respected.