Wilson helped the group grow from its first 20 or so members into a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation of as many as 500 members.
“With his drive and creative energy, Rick and his family have brought CREA from a fledgling nonprofit to the vibrant organization that it is today,” President Louisa Edgerton wrote in a letter to members. “He has devoted his passion for our community, education and the environment towards ‘connecting our community to nature,’ and he has been hugely successful.”
Cathance River Education Alliance was formed in 2000 in an agreement between Central Topsham Associates LLC and the citizens’ group Topsham’s Future to establish the 235-acre Cathance River Preserve. Immediately after the agreement, the two organizations formed CREA to encourage the use of the preserve for ecological education. CREA has evolved into a membership organization with a board, an executive director, officers and several committees, including education, trails, and finance.
The agreement was a compromise between developer John Wasileski — who, in 1999, had proposed building hundreds of houses and an 18-hole golf course along the Cathance River — and Topsham’s Future, which fought the project.
Wilson’s accomplishments include the recruitment of hundreds of CREA members, securing grants for the organization, building strong relationships and alliances with community partners and supporters, and helping recruit a dedicated staff and board of directors.
Wilson also helped establish the Cathance River Ecology Center and the 235-acre Cathance River Nature Preserve.
The board and staff are in the process of laying out a transition plan “to lead CREA into an exciting new chapter,” Edgerton’s letter to members concludes.
Wilson said Monday he was chairman of the Brunswick- Topsham Land Trust’s education committee back in 2000 when he was recruited by CREA co-founder John Rensenbrink and his wife, Carla Rensenbrink — both members of the Topsham’s Future group — and initially hired to provide program advice.
“I was there right from the very beginning,” Wilson said. “It’s been a family affair ever since.”
He said the ecology center on the preserve, where his wife, Cheryl Sleeper, has been in charge of site-based programs, has been a second home for their 14-year-old daughter, May, and 11-year-old son, Ben.
With his family so involved in CREA, Wilson said his resignation was a family decision.
“CREA has grown into a great full-time job,” Wilson said. “The problem is, I already have one.”
A teacher at Brunswick High School, Wilson said his future is with the school.
“Running a nonprofit is serious business in an economy like this that requires serious attention all the time,” Wilson said. “I have great respect for what executive directors have to juggle.”
He added, “You work like a dog to grow it and then you have to give it away. It’s what’s best for the organization, there’s no question about it, and me personally.”
Wilson said the organization is in good financial shape.
“I’m going to be very much a part of the transition team. I’m going to help in every way I can to make this a successful transition,” he said, adding he does not know if the executive director position will be part-time or fulltime.
“I think (CREA has) surpassed everyone’s expectations,” said Wilson, a Topsham native. “It’s been part of the wonderful growth that Topsham has gone through; I really feel that we’ve been a part of that. It’s been a wonderful group to be part of because of the conservation ethic I think that we’ve struck in the balance between development and the environment.”
Referring to Wasileski, Rensenbrink and Topsham’s Future, he said: “These folks met in the middle and magic happened.”
“Nobody would have thought that crazy idea of compromise would work and I just hope moving forward we are willing to remain different and I’m sure we will.”
Wilson says he will always be involved in CREA in some capacity and said, “I think CREA’s best days are still ahead and it will be interesting.”
For more information about the Cathance River Education Alliance, visit http://creamaine.org.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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