A Milestone Moment: 50 Years of Citizen Action!

From our Partners at WV Citizen Action Group (WV CAG)

This is WV Citizen Action Group’s 50th year, and they’re going stronger than ever.

That’s five decades of grassroots power, bold advocacy, and real change — all made possible by people like YOU!

The year’s first arctic blast thwarted their original plan to celebrate their 50th Anniversary Celebration in January. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the rescheduled date: May 17. 

With Spring here and the legislative session behind us, we are looking forward to gathering with WV CAG members and supporters to celebrate our shared work, look ahead to what’s next, and connect with friends—old and new. 

Join them for a happy hour reception and an anniversary concert featuring amazing local musicians like Kindred Valley, Corduroy Brown, and Steve Himes & Joey Lafferty.

Enjoy gourmet hors d’oeuvres from Rowan’s Catering paired with wine or local craft brews from Fife Street Brewing. Purchase your tickets here!

Interestingly, both Saturday Night Live and WV Citizen Action are celebrating 50 years. While these are very different operations, they lean in the same direction. Gotta have some fun and a sense of humor when speaking truth to power!

As we look ahead, one thing is clear: our work is more important than ever. With your continued support, we’re confident we will meet whatever challenges come our way. We all deserve a brighter future and will continue working toward it together!

Norm Steenstra Spirit Award

A highlight of WV CAG’s 50th Anniversary Celebration program will be the presentation of the first Norm Steenstra Spirit Award by the Dunn Foundation, a family foundation based in Parkersburg. This award will come with a $5,000 stipend for the deserving recipient to support their work for a sustainable environment for our communities, our state & nation, and the world! 

The Dunn Foundation, a long-time supporter of state and local environmental nonprofits, has decided to grant this award annually to a deserving person in the WV conservation and environmental movement who embodies the spirit and dedication Norm brought to his work at WV Citizen Action. Wayne Dunn will be on stage with Beverly Brooks Steenstra to present this new recognition of excellence in grassroots organizing and fighting for a sustainable future. We can’t wait to find out who the awardee will be!

For those who didn’t know Norm, he was one of the first environmental organizers in the state and a key figure in the formation and early success of the WV Environmental Council. Under his leadership (and with WV CAG founder, Dave Grubb, in the State Senate), we won the ‘Garbage Wars’ with the passage of the WV Comprehensive Solid Waste Act.

The Act made it too expensive to have empty coal trains coming back full of out-of-state garbage from East Coast cities to fill up our hills and hollows with trash, thwarting plans to build a dozen massive landfills here — each one capable of accepting more garbage than our state generated each year! 

Norm was also a leader in the successful fight against the Apple Grove Pulp Mill, a taxpayer-subsidized boondoggle on the Ohio River that would have clear-cut our forests to make toilet paper! This new award recognizes the power of community organizing to help keep our state clean and green. We’re grateful to the Dunn Foundation for honoring Norm’s legacy in such a fitting way.

So please plan to join WV CAG to celebrate this incredible milestone: 50 years of WV Citizen Action! Tickets are available here.