Thank You for 25 Years of Community Service!  Pat Marida joined the Sierra Club in 1981. At that time and for the next 9 years she was a volunteer staff person and board member of the Ohio Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign.  In 1993, activists Teresa Mills and Joan Seeman enlisted Pat in community efforts to shut down Columbus’ trash-burning power plant on the south side. The Guinness Book of World Records listed the facility as the world’s largest source of dioxin. Explosions during operation had led to plant shut-downs and expensive repairs. The plant was closed in 1994.

Pat started her first elected term on the Sierra Club Central Ohio Group (COG) Executive Committee in 1997, and served as Group Chair for 9 years from 1998 through 2006. During that time COG worked with other organizations and citizens to stop a Columbus housing development near Pickerington Ponds in southeastern Franklin County. Their successful signature petition led to the addition of the land in the proposed development to Pickerington Ponds Metro Park. 

The Group’s biggest effort during Pat’s tenure was a campaign against the City of Columbus’ sewage overflows.  The City’s system had been neglected for many years, with ratepayer dollars used to build new sewers at the edge of the City.  Enforcement of overflows had been lax.  The Sierra Club’s legal efforts contributed to Columbus entering into two sewage overflow control enforcement agreements with Ohio EPA. The City has a big task to follow through on meaningful reductions in its wastewater pollution. The Ohio Sierra Club helped finance the Campaign, including the hiring of Cyane Gresham to work on water quality issues in Central Ohio.

Although Pat is no longer on the COG Executive Committee as of the beginning of 2007, she will continue to volunteer for the Sierra Club—gathering information for the newsletter and planning monthly programs. You may see Pat at the Sierra Club booth at one of the many summer community festivals.

Commitment to Social Justice  Pat has been active in other Central Ohio organizations, working to advance women’s rights, pitch in with restoration of local watersheds, advocate for housing and homelessness resources, and support Native American issues.  In one instance, she testified at Columbus City Council asking them to decline the offer of a 300 foot statue of Christopher Columbus for downtown Columbus.  The proposed statue would have been more than half again as tall as the LeVeque Tower. A local alternative paper, lampooning the suggestion, proposed an alternative statue of Woody Hayes towering above the skyline. Neither were built!

Devotion to Family  Pat grew up on a farm in Williams County in northwest Ohio.  She raised rabbits, fed steers, mowed hay, and cut weeds.  She recalls a lot of hard work.  The farm supported the family – at 250 acres it was about the biggest farm in the county. Crops included corn, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, and barley. The farm had no telephone and social outlets were limited. She was good at science and attended Ohio State with pharmacy as a major. Pat has practiced pharmacy at hospitals and independent pharmacies, retiring in 2006. She has 2 sons and 3 grandchildren. She stays close to family in northwestern Ohio and just helped organize her mother’s 90th birthday celebration.

Favorite Things About the Sierra Club  Anyone who has seen Pat at ComFest or read her articles in the newsletter for ten years will not be surprised to hear that Pat likes being out in the community, meeting people, and networking. She likes to write and solicit articles, put together community events and is grateful for layout assistance from Madeline Shaw. She is good at meeting people and identifying their strengths.  She has recruited many members and leaders of the COG.  Pat says that one of the best things about the Sierra Club is “that you get to meet great people who care.”

Work Left to Do!  Pat praises the rivers and streams of Central Ohio as phenomenal resources:  “They are a fantastic asset for the community.  We need to educate people to appreciate and promote our rivers.”  She highlights that the Darby watershed will continue to need vigilant protection. “All our rivers need riparian protection corridors or greenways.  We could use more parks.  We need to keep working on water quality. Rivers and streams are our life-support system!” 

Pat also thinks transportation and growth-planning issues are vital to the future of our community, and that localizing our lives will be essential as energy becomes more expensive. It is a good bet that Pat Marida will continue to be involved!