Doer Profile

BRANDON KOVNAT

City: West Bloomfield
Kudos: Improving The Environment

Brandon Kovnat of West Bloomfield is
not afraid to get his hands dirty, espe-
cially for a cause he truly believes in
— improving the environmental
health and beauty of his local nature
preserve.
A recent graduate of West Bloom-
field High School, Brandon, 17, has
been an active member of Boy Scout
Troop 1000 for the past seven years.
To fulfill the requirements for his
Eagle Scout Award, Brandon organ-
ized a service project to remove inva-
sive plant species from the West
Bloomfield Nature Preserve.
Brandon is the son of Diana and
Alex Kovnat of West Bloomfield, and
the brother of Michael, who attends
the University of Michigan. He is a
member of the Greenberg ffnai Brith
AZA Chapter, an avid saxophone
player, and a fan of outdoor adventure
trips that include canoeing in Cana-
da's Georgian Bay and backpacking in
the Porcupine Mountains of Michi-

nature preserve would
enjoy it more, and that
was a good feeling."

gan's Upper Peninsula.

Tell is about your musical career.
"I'm a saxophone player. In high
school, I was in the marching band
for three years and the school sym-
phony band for one year. I've been a
member of Cantor [Stephen]
Dubov's Kidz Klez Band of
Michigan for the last five years. The
highlight was when we got to play at
Carnegie Hall [in New York City]
two summers ago, which was really a
thrill."

Describe the project at the nature
preserve.
"I contacted the West Bloomfield
Parks and Recreation Department
and they said they were having a
problem with two invasive plants,
buckthorn and honeysuckle. We
used clippers to remove all the
plants covering about a square mile
of the nature preserve. We also

worked on the trails, cutting off the
overhanging branches and clearing
debris out of the way."

How did you feel afterward?
"It gave me a lot of satisfaction
when it was done. The trails were
wider, and they looked so much bet-
ter. I knew other people who use the

What are some of your
future plans?
"This summer, I'm
going to the annual
National Scout Jamboree
in Virginia, and then
some of the other boys
from my troop and I are
taking an adventure trip;
we're going white water
rafting and cave exploring
in West Virginia. In the
fall, I'll be a freshman at Michigan
State University. I plan to study
environmental science; I want to do
something that involves working to
improve the environment." El

— Ronelle Grier
special writer

REPORT A DOER...:Know a Doer — someone of any age doing interesting, meaningful things in their life outside of their job? Share suggestions with Keri Guten Cohen, story develop-
e-mail: kcohen@thejewishnews.com

ment editor, at (248) 351-5144 or

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6/23

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