Valley Volunteers 2021

Volunteers VALLEY

A supplement to the

April 21, 2021

Arms race Volunteers staff vaccination clinics start to finish. Page 10.

KAYLA RENIE / NEWS&GUIDE

2 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

COLLEEN AND KENYON WALKER, OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS who pack up 40 bags of groceries each week for needy children and their families. We couldn't do it without them!

Welcome to Valley Volunteers T

his special section of the paper could be the size of a book. Nearly everyone in Jackson Hole donates time or money to a cause they support. It’s part of what makes a local a local.

This year’s volunteers are no different, except perhaps in the volume of giving. The pandemic brought out the best in Jackson, with people from Augusta Friendsmith of Team Rubicon organizing vaccination events to

Joe Albright working up to six days a week in contract tracing.

The community rallied to support One22 as people’s jobs dried up. Teton County is heralded again and again as one of the most generous places in the country.

This section is but a small tribute to those who share what they can. We appreciate you. Hope you enjoy the read.

— Whitney Royster

Special supplement written and produced by the Jackson Hole News&Guide Publisher: Kevin Olson Associate Publisher: Adam Meyer Editor: Johanna Love Managing Editor: Rebecca Huntington Valley Volunteers Editor: Whitney Royster Layout and Design: Andy Edwards, Samantha Nock Photographers: Bradly J. Boner, Ryan Dorgan Copy Editors: Jennifer Dorsey, Mark Huffman

285 W PEARL AVE, DOWNTOWN JACKSON, WYOMING

Writers: Billy Arnold, Chance Q. Cook, Jennifer Dorsey, Mike Koshmrl, Emily Mieure, Tom Hallberg

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Advertising Sales: Karen Brennan, Katie Brierly, Tom Hall, Megan LaTorre Advertising Coordinator: Tatum Biciolis Creative Director: Sarah Wilson Advertising Design: Lydia Redzich, Luis F. Ortiz, Chelsea Robinson, Heather Haseltine Production Manager: Chuck Pate Pre-press Supervisor: Jeff Young

Thank you to the hundreds of people who volunteer their time to serve the Chamber and our community!

Press Supervisor: Dale Fjeldsted Pressmen: Steve Livingston, Lewis Haddock, Nick Hoskins Customer Service Managers: Lucia Perez, Rudy Perez Circulation Manager: Jeff Young Circulation: Jayann Carlisle ©2021 Teton Media Works Jackson Hole News&Guide P.O. Box 7445, 1225 Maple Way. Jackson, WY 83002 Phone: 307-733-2047; Fax: 307-733-2138, Web: JHNewsAndGuide.com

Jackson Hole Elks Lodge 1713 Thank the following for helping us to have a successful food tent at the Hill Climb:

With the help of many volunteers, the Chamber is able to successfully fulfill our mission: to champion the interest of local businesses, enhance business prosperity, and strengthen the economic climate of Teton County.

www.jacksonholechamber.com

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(307) 733 -3316

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260 W Broadway

Great Northern Coffee First Interstate Bank Mtn. Valley Glass Jackson Hole Distributing Ned Hurley Jackson Snow Devils High Country Linens and our Volunteers

Elks Lodge 270 West Broadway Elks Care Elks Share 390986

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 3

Translator gets the word out about COVID Lina Collado Garcia has been sharing translating duties for News&Guide health articles.

By Jennifer Dorsey

W

hen it comes to communication, Lina Collado Garcia is all about inclusivity. In her writing, her photography, her work at the Teton Literacy Center and her volunteer translation efforts she wants no one to feel overlooked.

That mission took on a new urgency last spring and continued into this year.

At a time when access to information could be a matter of life or death, Collado Garcia dove in to make sure Jackson Hole’s Spanish-speaking residents had the opportunity to read important COVID-19 news in their language.

With Teton County Library’s Pati Rocha she has been translating News&Guide health articles relating to the pandemic into Spanish for print in the Jackson Hole Daily and online in the News&Guide, informing Latino residents about mask wearing, social distancing, coronavirus variants, vaccines, case numbers and more.

“I thought it was really important to get that message out so that everyone in the community who speaks English and Spanish can know what to do to protect themselves,” Collado Garcia said by phone from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she grew up and was visiting this spring.

For her efforts, Collado Garcia is the News&Guide’s Super Volunteer of the Year.

“Lina is always trying to do things to help our community,” said Becca Williams, a Teton Literacy Center co-worker who nominated her. “She is always seeking out opportunities to make sure things are accessible to everyone in the community. I think that’s amazing.”

Another fan is Erin Lusins, director of finance and operations for the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, who has gotten to know Collado Garcia in two ways.

One is as a Spanish tutor to her sons, ages 9 and 6. With activities like drawing, writing and playing games, Collado Garcia has helped the boys become more comfortable with the language.

“I’ve seen the difference,” Lusins said. “It’s been wonderful.”

Lusins also observed as Collado Garcia pitched a Teton Literacy Program early literacy language development plan to teens in the Community Foundation’s youth philanthropy program, through which students review grant requests from nonprofits.

“When I saw her in that capacity it brought it to a whole new level,” Lusins said. “She really cares.”

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Collado Garcia spoke Spanish with her family at home and started learning English in kindergarten. She finished high school in New York City, and though she was bilingual she spoke English with a thick accent and had to tweak how she pronounce her last name so it was easier for native English speakers.

“I felt I always had to change things for someone to understand me,” she said.

Now 39 and a Jackson Hole resident since 2013, she still appreciates how comfortable it feels to be communicated with in your native language and to not be expected to give it up, even if you are proficient in another tongue.

“You want to be able to understand things in your language, in your culture, in the main language you’ve been brought up in,” she said.

She carries that philosophy into her job as family literacy manager for Teton Literacy, where her responsibilities include teaching the adult ESL classes. Though the students are learning English, Collado Garcia explains the grammatical concepts in

RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE

Lina Collado Garcia, with her 6-month-old puppy Albóndigas, was named the News&Guide’s Super Volunteer of the Year for her efforts to keep Jackson’s Spanish speakers informed through the COVID-19 pandemic.

their native Spanish.

“I’m using their home language as a way to understand the material,” she said.

She recently curated, and was a contributing artist to, Wyoming’s first fully bilingual art exhibit. The multimedia effort — “Somos de Aqui: The Enduring Wildlife of Puerto Rico” — appeared at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Aside from spotlighting iconic species, the show was her way of making the town more equitable and inclusive and offering Jackson’s native Spanish speakers a window on another Spanishspeaking community in the U.S. “There are many people in the Latino community that love to visit museums and learn about art and wildlife and nature,” she said.

Collado Garcia brought her photojournalist skills to an article, “Caribbean Cowboys/Vaqueros del Caribe,” in Jackson Hole Magazine, a sister publication of the News&Guide. Through photos and text — Spanish and English — she told the stories of some of the val-

ley’s Puerto Rican residents.

“It’s a story that obviously I felt very connected to,” she said.

Then came the pandemic, and Collado Garcia knew she had to do something. There being no Spanish newspaper in town, she reached out to Kevin Olson, owner of Teton Media Works, parent of the News&Guide, the Daily and other publications, about how to bridge the gap in information for Spanish speakers about the unfolding public health crisis.

“When COVID hit what I noticed most was the Latino community of Jackson didn’t know what was going on or what to do or how to stay safe,” she said.

According to News&Guide Managing Editor Rebecca Huntington, other Latino community members were also reaching out to the News&Guide newsroom about a critical lack of accurate and timely information regarding COVID-19 in Spanish.

The newspaper’s team worked with Teton County Library to secure transla-

tion support from Pati Rocha. Collado Garcia remained committed to the project, advising on what would work best and volunteering to translate alongside Rocha. One year later their efforts continue.

“Collado Garcia has been a strong advocate of getting the articles in the printed edition to overcome possible barriers to access due to technology,” Huntington said. “Through her work at the Teton Literacy Center she is a trusted leader in our community. Articles that carry her name as the translator are recognized by local Latino readers as coming from someone who they know and trust.”

And, Huntington said, “Collado Garcia is a ball of energy and pleasure to work with.”

Meanwhile, in San Juan, Collado Garcia welcomed the news about Super Volunteer.

“It’s very exciting,” she said.

Contact Jennifer Dorsey at jennifer@jhnewsandguide.com or 732-5908.

4 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Teton Pass ambassadors pick up Jay Pistono’s mantle

Program expands presence on the pass, offers skiers more help.

By Tom Hallberg

A

riel Kazunas knew she couldn’t stop the train.

The volunteer Teton Pass ambassador saw a group of more than 20 leaving the summit of the pass, headed south toward Telemark Bowl and Chiver’s Ridge. Some had backpacks; some didn’t. Some had beacons; some didn’t. One told her he had one but left it on the kitchen table.

“I checked in with a handful of them and was like, ‘Hey, how’s it going today?’ ” she said “Half of them were like, ‘Well, we have a couple of friends that are locals, and they say that this is pretty safe terrain.’ ” Without directly refuting that claim, Kazunas explained that the open slopes they seemed determined to ski were, in fact, avalanche terrain, and that other groups of skiers could be on them as well. She told them it wasn’t controlled, like a ski resort.

In the moment, it didn’t make a difference. The group stuck to its plan, but Kazunas said a couple of the skiers seemed “trepidatious” after their chat, which she hoped meant she got through to them.

“So for next time, maybe that seed has been planted that this is, you know, different than the resort and that they need to plan differently,” she said.

Kazunas was part of the Teton Backcountry Alliance’s first-ever crop of volunteer ambassadors, a rotating crew designed to help Teton Pass Ambassador Jay Pistono create order out of chaos at the top of the pass.

Pistono, who started as a volunteer back in the day, has for years been the chief proselytizer of an accountability culture on the pass.

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Ariel Kazunas chats with backcountry skiers atop Teton Pass in February. She is part of a rotating crop of Teton Backcountry Alliance volunteers.

He has (constructively) harangued skiers to corral their dogs, avoid avalancheprone slopes that affect the road and treat parking like a surf lineup — pack it in and mind the order. But even Pistono can be excused for not wanting to do that all day, every day.

“I’m 64 years old, man,” he said. “I got to start shopping around to see who wants to take over.”

Beyond that, creating culture isn’t the job of a single person. Building a set of norms and the social contract to enforce them is a collective effort, a continual progression in which the mantle of personal responsibility passes from individual to individual.

Though change will happen given enough time, it’s a bit of a race against the clock. Backcountry skiing See AMBASSADORS on 5

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Kazunas uses the avalanche beacon check station at the trailhead on the south side of Teton Pass.

Volunteers are the key to literacy at TLC. We are grateful for your time and dedication.

THANK YOU!

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William Aepli Noah Barnhart William Best Erica Bowditch Anna Brown Maureen Brown Joseph Burke Andrew Carson Sarai Chapeton Lori Clark-Erickson Dick Collister Fernanda Costilla Kiersten Davis Alex Dawson Lezly Diaz

Leela Dubois Joannie Epstein Hilary Flint Scott Fossel Kate Frederick Morgan Frederick Peter French Nancy Gardiner Morgan Graham Kevin Grange Kris Gridley Hannah Haag Janice Harris Mackenzie Heator Sue Hebberger

Jeff Heilbrum Vivian Herr Drew Higgins Cassie Hoffman Jessica Jaubert Jeffrey Johnston Laura Johnston Dean Jones Robin Keeler Sarah Kerr Jack Krouskup Avery Kyle Katherine Lucas Sawyer Lucas Diane Mahin

Kai McClennen Kimberly McMorrow Matthew Meiring Linda Melton Burton Mills Becca Moll MacKenzie Moore Nick Olmstead Shelley Olson Allison Orechwa Sophie Porter Kerri Ratcliffe Lisa (Elizabeth) Ridgway Lizzy Robinson Debbie Schlinger

Hannah Schuller Sarah Shea Rose Spaulding Kim Springer Amy Staehr Anne Stalker Lynn Straker Jim Thorburn Patrick Trucco Jana Turner Juliet Unfried Claudia Vanremoortere Yadhira Vazquez Robyn Vincent Kristin Vito

For volunteer opportunities, please contact carisa@tetonliteracy.org or call 307-733-9242

Lynn Wegner Christine Wehner Robert Wemple Dabney West Whiteley Wheeler Mike Wierda Ben Williamson Diane Winder Jill Wright

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 5

One 22 Resource Center + Jackson Cupboard

THANK YOU BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Ariel Kazunas digs out a hut adjacent to Telemark Bowl that houses an AED device for emergency use on Teton Pass.

AMBASSADORS

bright orange lines that denote the boundaries of where cars can park Continued from 4 in the turnout area; they dig out the has increased across the country; first aid and equipment tent to the The New York Times even included south of the road.

Teton Pass in its list of best places Then they start talking to people: to backcountry ski.

If parking is backed up, they give a Trail counters from Friends of nudge to how people should arrange Pathways show usage of the ter- themselves — pull in here, wait rain south of the pass, which re- your turn there, that kind of thing. quires touring gear, has remained Even though they help when needed relatively constant over the past with parking, they don’t see their five years. Howrole as being lot ever, on Mount attendants.

Glory, where “If you can equipment isn’t grab that first a limiting factor, group of folks both the average and kind of set daily usage and that tone for the peak number them, they get of skiers in a day out of their cars, were about 50% they start talkhigher in 2020ing to each oth21 than the pre— Daniel Nagy er, the next pervious winter. son that rolls in VOLUNTEER TETON PASS AMBASSADOR All those exgets approached tra people, comby one of them,” bined with some high-profile in- Kazunas said. “And then that just cidents in recent years in which kind of continues the cycle.” avalanches have stopped traffic or No one volunteers to hang out in buried cars, have increased the fear the cold on Teton Pass if they don’t that the Wyoming Department of love skiing, so the ambassadors also Transportation or another agency take the time on their shifts to hike with jurisdiction over the pass will the bootpack or ski out south. limit access. The volunteer pass amWith their official jackets on bassadors are one way to spread the (complete with an embroidered good word of collaboration before Teton Pass Ambassador logo), they that happens. interact with the public on their “A lot of what drives us here is tours. If someone looks super lost, making sure that everybody under- the volunteers give them the lay of stands that, you know, we have to the land or discuss snow conditions. be more efficient than we have been They generally don’t give direcwith the increased pressure,” am- tions or suggest ski routes. bassador Brian Siegfried said.

“I really try not to recommend too Logistically, the program is fairly much to people, but I do try to give loose. them as much information as I can,” A typical morning shift might said Daniel Nagy, another volunstart just as the parking mayhem teer who works as a ski patroller at builds. Volunteers spray paint the See AMBASSADORS on 18

“I really try not to recommend too much to people, but I do try to give them as much information as I can.”

Y VOLUNTEERS

to our many volunteers, who allowed the Jackson Cupboard to serve more community members than ever before in 2020!

Julian Almanza • Marilyn Andersen • Megan Beck • Lesley Beckworth • Anda Bejenar • Anna Bennett • Anne Bell • Stephanie Brennan • Molly Breslin • Herb Brooks • Willi Brooks • Lonnie Brown • Michelle Brown • Susan Kelly Burkitt • Daniel Butcher • David Carpenter • Justin Carr • Erin Case • Geneva Chong • Mike Cloherty • Allan Cole • Liz Collins • Janelle Conlin • Mike Conlin • Carlton Cook • Kathy Cook • Andy Cornish • Daniel Cortez • Shirley Craighead • Emy Digrappa • Steve Duerr • Laura Edelman • Andrea Evans • Anne Ferazzi • Ellie Finnegan • Gemma Ford • Cathy French • Sarah French • Lisa Friesecke • Aleimi Garcia Briones • Katrina Gioshes • Judy Greig • Richard Greig • Nancy Haaland • Matt Hall • Susan Hall • David Hardie • Leslye Hardie • Julien Hass • Bruce Hawtin • Susie Hermanson • Holly Hunter • Mel Jackson • Millie Jimenez • Ian Johnston • Les Jones • Anna Mae Kass • Robert Kass • Mike Keegan • Mark Kirkpatrick • Loretta Kirkpatrick • Sarah Kraemer • Jane Kusek • Jane LaJohn • Heidi Leeds • Liz Lockhart • Jennifer Love • Lisa Lowenfels • Trissta Lyman • Julie Mclaurin • Meredith Medlock • Evan Molyneaux • Alicia Montiel • Catherine Morahan • Megan Morris • Anne Motlow • Tracy Nelson • Jayne Ottman • Nini Pellet • Cathy Poindexter • Teresa Principa • Shelley Rae Balls • Andrea Ramos-Pyne • Reichert • Kate Rogers • Nate Ross • Anne Rutherford • Jim Ryan • Lisa Ryan • Jessica Rae Schermerhorn • Claudia Schrotz • Michael Schrotz • Brian Siegfried • Missy Smid • Rose Spaulding • Jane Sterlin • Rick Stuck • Liz Sunshine • Cathy Teig • Chris Tisi • Kathryn Turner • Joey Valtierra • Kate Vaughn • Paul Vogelheim • Nancy Watkins • Beth Whitworth • Ben Williamson • Cheri Witz • Mike Witz • Debra Wuersch • Miles Yazzolino

Thank you to the many organizations, clubs, schools, and individuals who have made monetary and in-kind donations to support Community Foundation of Jackson Hole and St. John’s Episcopal Church for their generous support of all we do.

Keep us Safe, Focused and Happy!

Thank You for Your Time and Talent!

The Jackson Cupboard is open for walk-up, curbside, and online ordering. Groceries are available to anyone; no ID, referral, or income verification required.

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www.horsewarriors.com

Monday 12 - 6 p.m.

Tuesday 12 - 6 p.m.

Wednesday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Thursday 12 - 6 p.m.

Friday 12 - 6 p.m.

Saturday 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

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245 North Glenwood • 307.201.9795 jacksoncupboard@one22jh.org

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6 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

KAYLA RENIE / NEWS&GUIDE

Friends and family rush to take pictures as Jackson senior Val Stevenson leads the Moose U19 girls hockey team in a victory lap to celebrate their 5-3 win over Park County during the championship game in Pinedale. Being a hockey parent entails a lot of volunteer effort.

Hockey parents do more than cheer

By Chance Q. Cook When players on the Jackson Hole Lady Moose high school girls hockey team finally got to shed their gloves and helmets to raise the state championship trophy in Pinedale in February, they weren’t alone in sporting wet eyes and celebratory fist pumps.

The parents, too, were likely just as invested in the celebration. If not because of the achievement, then because it signaled the end of a long winter when being a hockey parent is more akin to at least a part-time job.

“I would say anything apart from Pinedale, you’re looking at a weekend dedicated to hockey,” Jay Batchen, father of standout Gabby Batchen, said of the schedule’s road games.

All levels of hockey in the Jackson Hole Youth Hockey program are faced with strenuous schedules during the winter, but it gets especially busy for

the high schoolers. The league will look to build the schedule to accommodate the long traveling, Batchen said. For instance, the girls team might have a two-game series scheduled at Cheyenne for a Friday night and Saturday morning and then make a stop at Laramie for a two-game series Saturday night and Sunday morning.

That’s because Jackson hockey is a club sport, so there’s no team bus taking kids to away contests on the weekends.

In a normal year large groups carpooling might be an option, but not so in a COVID-19 season. Add in practices a couple of times a week, and that’s a pretty huge time commitment for the parents themselves.

“I don’t think [the athletes] realize it until we explain it to them or until they see a friend on a different sport getting on a bus,” Batchen said.

Dusty Sventy is the club’s U12 peewee coach, and his typical Monday during hockey season goes like this: Work until 6 p.m., grab something resembling dinner, leave for the rink at 7, get home at 10 or 10:30.

“It’s a lot of time, but my parents did it for me, and I’m happy to do it for my kids,” he said. “I just think it’s impor-

tant that kids are involved in outside activities other than school work. For me I learned a lot of personal responsibility playing sports.”

In a normal year the work his players’ parents would have to put in would be a lot, but then there was also the COVID protocols put in place to ensure each team’s season could reach the finish line.

“There’s a lot of parent involvement that goes on at games,” Sventy said.

“When we have home games we have two parents at the front door checking temperatures; we have a score clock keeper who has to input statistics during the game; and there’s a parent or two making sure kids are taking social protocols while they’re getting dressed or putting skates on.

“At any one game, other than coaches we probably had five or six parents or more volunteering their time to make it all work.”

And that doesn’t even count the work of the parents who serve as team managers. During all those long road trips, hotels need to be booked, the away rink’s COVID protocols need to be learned, and postgame meals need to be coordinated. That’s all the parents.

“With the team managers, it’s amazing how much work they do, and largely it goes unnoticed,” Sventy said.

For some parents the end of winter gives a reprieve from the time-consuming gig of hockey mom or dad. For Batchen and others the slog continues.

Gabby Batchen plays for Jackson Hole Lacrosse, another club program with long road trips to games across the state and beyond.

“Going from hockey season to lacrosse season is overwhelming almost,” he said. “Because you’re doing the same distances, and hammering out these games.”

But really, there’s a strong silver lining to the packed weekends and miles racked up on the family car.

One that probably makes it all worth it, maybe even more than the games themselves.

“I rationalize it as, you get to have these one-on-one conversations with them on the drive,” Batchen said. “I’m not so sure they think it’s a great thing all the time, but I do, because I know it isn’t going to last forever.”

Contact Chance Q. Cook at 732-7065, sports@jhnewsandguide.com.

Thank you volunteers for opening the door to a brighter future.

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Long road trips and jobs at games give moms and dads a stacked schedule all winter.

www.tetonhabitat.org @tetonhabitat

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 7

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8 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

KAYLA RENIE / NEWS&GUIDE

Bill Klyn and Tammy Mitchell pass out meals to community members during the weekly dinner drive-thru at the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole. Klyn, a deacon at the church, has been involved in the meal distribution since it began in 2020, where the dinners took place in person prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s a blessing to see the families that keep coming back and getting to know their names and form that connection,” Klyn said.

Feeding families: Volunteers at churches do their part to nourish community At Jackson’s Catholic and Presbyterian churches people give time to serve free drive-thru meals.

By Timothy J. Woods ”There’s lots of volunteers in this town. We couldn’t exist without all of the volunteers here.”

— Yvonne Henze, Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole volunteer

W

hen the COVID-19 pandemic struck just over a year ago, jobs were lost, and alreadybusy parents were suddenly tasked with overseeing their kids’ educations, some having to quit their jobs

or at least put work aside. Even the pristine, and wealthy, Jackson Hole felt the pain of one of the pandemic’s many byproducts: food insecurity.

Organizations of all types stepped up their efforts to help those in need, including local churches eager to find a way to keep their neighbors’ stomachs sated. Two such Jackson churches, Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church and Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole, had to get creative to continue serving meals to the community. And with the help of teams of committed volunteers, they have thus far succeeded.

Move over, McDonald’s and Wendy’s, these churches are feeding drive-thru gourmet meals to people in droves, not asking for a dime in return. Our Lady of the Mountains

Catholic Church serves boxed lunches Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m., and the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole serves boxed meals to community members on Wednesdays from 5 to 6 p.m.

It may not be feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, but the Catholic church regularly serves 20 people each day of the workweek, while the Presbyterian church frequently feeds in excess of 300 meals in one hour on Wednesday evenings to people whose line of cars circle the parking lot.

While both churches have paid chefs to prepare the food, the operations that run like clockwork could not go on without the many committed volunteers who happily give of their time to package the meals and

quickly deliver them to the hungry and often stressed community members they serve.

“It’s almost an entirely volunteerdriven program,” said Alicia Whissel, director of ministries and community engagement at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, noting that there are at least five church members who regularly volunteer with the lunch service, while another 55 or so volunteer throughout the community. “Which, when we started, I think that was the intention of the folks who started the [lunch] program, is that even some of our clients ... were helping in the kitchen and cleaning or preparing or things like that. And it’s been supplemented by people from the See CHURCHES on 9

love! u o y t a h w g in t for suppor s r e e t n lu o v u o Thank y Our amazing volunteers keep the Book Nook open 7 days a week-thank you!

To get involved, contact Maria: 307-733-2164 x3255 mhayashida@tclib.org

FRIENDS & FOUNDATION 390010

thank you

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 9

CHURCHES Continued from 8

community and our church.”

A few miles to the west, Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole Associate Pastor Tammy Mitchell said the meal program there also relies on the 11 or so faithful volunteers who show up each week to box and serve food to those in line, as well as deliver boxed meals to people who are unable to get to the church for whatever reason. But she said the pool of volunteers for the program is as many as 30.

And while handing out so many delicious meals — the churches’ fare would make even the most sophisticated gourmand drool — in just an hour, the volunteers at both churches have it down to a science and work together like a finely tuned machine.

“We’re rocking it,” Mitchell said.

“But seriously, we have so much fun.”

Said volunteer Lori Dodd, “We have such a good time together. We laugh, we play music — we had Irish music playing [on St. Patrick’s Day] — we have a close group.”

Dodd and fellow volunteer Yvonne Henze both commented on how good it feels to help people who might be in need or even just don’t feel like making dinner that night — both churches are happy to feed all comers, regardless of their circumstances — but Henze noted that “there’s a selfish reason, too.”

“I got so lonely, because I live alone, that I came to see people and visit with my friends,” Henze said.

“But the best part is what Lori said, is that you’re helping someone.”

The churches’ volunteers have forged bonds and friendships with their patrons, even those who may have been strangers before the pandemic’s onset.

Bill Klyn, a deacon at the Presbyterian church and another of its faithful volunteers who are on hand

weekly to hand out meals to the seemingly endless line of people, approached a car full of familiar friendly faces at the March 24 meal service, a week before the church put the program on a two-week hiatus for spring break.

“Thanks for coming to see us! You doing well?” Klyn inquired. “We’re going to miss you the next two weeks because we’re going to be gone.”

A preteen in the passenger seat, smiling from ear to ear, replied genuinely, “I’m going to miss you, too.”

“When you watch over the past year, how people out of work are really depending on you for food, and then they’re coming back week after week talking about their job and they’re going back to work; they become like family,” Klyn said. “Like these folks. The kids are the best part. The kids and their parents, they all just love coming by. ... That’s what’s so great about being part of the church: It just does so many great things for the community.”

And the recipients could not be more grateful, said Mitchell, the Presbyterian church’s associate pastor.

“When it got really tough there, I think it was the second wave [of COVID-19 spikes], and people were really worried that we weren’t going to do it anymore, and when we assured them that we would still be doing it we had people in tears, we had people [saying], ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ ” she said. “It’s just really, everybody is just so appreciative.”

That appreciation doesn’t go unnoticed by the volunteers, either.

“Watching how people are progressing through COVID, and how they’re finally able to go back to work and the fact that the church is a big part of their lives and helping them get through these difficult times, that’s been huge for me,” Klyn said.

Contact Tim Woods at 732-5911 or town@jhnewsandguide.com.

From the Solid Waste and Recycling Staff

to the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Board for your research, assistance, advice, cheerleading, and time.

Don Baker Tanya Anderson Elizabeth Ferguson Wes Gardner Lindsey Ehinger Paul Cherry Nikki Kaufman Erik Kimball Rani Carr 391083

Teton County Health Department Teton County Health Department would like to thank all the volunteers Teton County Health Department would like& to thank allpartners the volunteers community who have would like to thank all the volunteers & community partners whoresponse. have helped in the COVID-19 & community partners who have helped helped in the in COVID-19 response. the COVID-19 response.

We couldn’t have We We couldn’t have couldn’t have done this without done this done this without your help & without support. help & support youryour help & support ..

JH

stay informed at JH shredthespreadjh.com stay informed at JH shredthespreadjh.com

stay informed at shredthespreadjh.com 390861

10 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

KAYLA RENIE / NEWS&GUIDE

Team Rubicon volunteer Cindy Peterson hands a patient a consent form to fill out before they receive the vaccine for COVID-19 at the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole. Peterson has been volunteering with Team Rubicon for the past few months and sees it as a way to give back to the community.

It takes a village to get shots in arms Volunteers more or less staff vaccination clinics start to finish.

By Billy Arnold

I

t was a gloomy Saturday, but the volunteers checking people into a weekend vaccination clinic at the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole were chipper, bordering on festive, as a steady stream of masked people made their way through the doors to get poked.

“We don’t have any live music,” David Yoder said. “That’s the only thing.”

Yoder is the owner of the Mangy Moose, the eponymous Teton Village apres ski joint. But rather than watching over a bustling bar room, he was wearing a thick winter jacket and seated by the church’s front door, clacking away at a laptop and chatting with people as they entered to get their shots.

Yoder’s job that morning was to make sure people coming for their vaccine actually had an appointment, one of the many jobs hundreds of people from all walks of life in Teton County have signed up to do — for free. Everyone from teachers to restaurant owners to environmental consultants to retired nurses and doctors has signed up to volunteer with the Teton County Health Department and help get locally coveted vaccines into (mostly) eager recipients’ arms.

But injecting the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots is only part of the picture.

Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that mobilized volunteers to respond to disasters like hurricanes before the COVID-19 pandemic, stepped up to recruit, train and get people working outside the clinic.

KAYLA RENIE / NEWS&GUIDE

Team Rubicon volunteer Mike Randall directs traffic at the former Kmart/future Target during a vaccine clinic.

Clad in orange vests, the Team Rubicon volunteers direct incoming cars, make sure the soon-to-bejabbed have an appointment, double check their masks, and walk them through a symptom check, hoping to keep anyone with an active case of COVID-19 from entering the clinic.

Once inside, the Health Department takes over — and a similar progression starts.

Another check-in, the walk to the vaccination booth, the jab, the postshot wait, and then, for people re-

turning for a second shot, checkout and scheduling. The fully vaccinated walk free.

It’s a long, surprisingly complicated process to get shots in arms.

But that process has been running smoothly per public health staff, volunteers, and people getting their shots. Each link in the procedural chain has an accompanying person to make sure it goes off without a hitch and, with a few exceptions, almost all of those people are volunteers.

“We absolutely could not do this ef-

fort on the scale we’re doing it without volunteers,” Teton County Director of Health Jodie Pond told the News&Guide. “I can’t hire enough people to do the work that volunteers are doing, and so it’s very much appreciated.”

People who have signed up to help are participating in a health-driven race against time.

Health officials say getting shots in arms quickly is key to preventing See VACCINE on 11

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 11

VACCINE

Continued from 10

a serious, variant-fueled surge in cases. And volunteers have slowly helped Teton County increase the number of people it can vaccinate in a day from tens to hundreds to roughly 1,000 on the busiest days at the new clinic at the old Kmart/future Target.

The volunteers haven’t lost sight of that.

“This is a volunteer job we want to work our way out of,” Bob Kopp said.

Kopp, that March Saturday’s shift team lead for Team Rubicon, was working outside when he spoke with the News&Guide. So was Nancy Brumsted, 64, a retired teacher.

Brumsted now gives private music lessons, and squeezes volunteering at the clinic in between teaching.

Having lived in the community for 30-some years, she’s seen a lot of people she knows come through, including her daughter, who’s now a teacher at Munger Mountain Elementary School.

“It’s really fun to see them and know that they’re doing a good thing for their health and for the health of the community,” Brumsted said.

The goal, in her mind, is to be able to “open everything back up again, get rolling the way we like to Jackson.”

Inside, the volunteer nurses and doctors giving vaccines felt similarly.

And because so many of the vaccinators are longtime Jackson Hole caregivers, the space has a community feel.

“I get to see all the retired nurses that I used to work with,” said Gretchen Schmid, the Chief Flight Nurse for Mountain Air Medical.

The air ambulance outfit is volunteering its staff members’ time in case somebody faints or has an adverse reaction to the shot. Schmid had worked as a public health nurse and at St. John’s Health before moving into air medicine.

“It’s really a community,” she said of the volunteer vaccinators. “A family.”

Some of the nurses and doctors giving vaccines came out of retirement, as Schmid said, to jab.

But Susie Dietrich, a 55-year-old charge nurse at St. John’s, helps with the vaccination drive on top of her already busy weeks. They usually consist of three 12-hour shifts administering in the operating room.

Dietrich said she’s tired after those days of paid work. But she wanted to volunteer nonetheless.

“I just wanted to make a difference,” she told the News&Guide. “I wanted to have an impact, to talk with people, and to be helping out with trying to eradicate this.”

For Jayne Ottman, a former director of the county Health Department, volunteering to vaccinate people is a way to reengage with a department she helped build — and a job she loves. Plus, she’s been in the community for nearly 50 years and recognizes a lot of friendly faces from helping others as they’ve had babies, watched those kids leave, and, in some cases, parents pass away.

“I’ve been through a whole cycle of life, so being here is hugely fulfilling for me on a personal level,” Ottman told the News&Guide before she started giving jabs that Saturday.

Ottman volunteers elsewhere in the community but said working with the Health Department to boost people’s immunity against a virus that’s killed hundreds of thousands of people nationwide and changed life in Teton County has been “one of the most meaningful” things she’s done.

“This one really is my baby,” she said.

People who got their shots said it was quick and easy. Ken Blount, 49, said that his wife is immunocompromised and that it had been over a year since seeing either of their parents.

KAYLA RENIE / NEWS&GUIDE

Augusta Friendsmith is the Wyoming membership leader for Team Rubicon. She is responsible for recruitment and engagement of members across the state but with a focus on Jackson. “This project has been my baby,” Friendsmith said, to “watch the program grow from from 120 shots a day to now at times 1,000, I’m so proud. It’s a huge team effort.”

“It’s just a huge relief, knowing that this step is taken care of for us,” Blount said after receiving his second dose of the vaccine in March.

“I’ve just been waiting for this day for a long time.”

The volunteers inside the church and out said people like Blount make their job easy.

The positivity after a long, difficult year makes standing in the snow on powder days to park cars easier. Ditto sitting for hours at a time to check people in or vaccinate them.

And what might be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel doesn’t hurt either.

“Not many people get dragged in here,” former pediatrician Tom Pocket said. “People come in here with hope. They feel like maybe life is going to get better, and then maybe we’ll get back to normal soon.”

Contact Billy Arnold at 732-7063 or barnold@jhnewsandguide.com.

How to get involved Teton County Nurse Manager Janet Garland said that vaccine supply is no longer the limiting factor in getting shots into people’s arms.

“It’s having enough staff,” she said, “which really means volunteers.”

People who want to get involved should fill out the volunteer interest form, which you can find at TinyURL.com/vaxvolunteerjh. Once you’ve filled out that form, a county volunteer coordinator will reach out with more information about signing up for specific shifts.

If you want to have a hand on the Team Rubicon side of the equation — working on the front end of the process, largely outside parking cars and checking people in — email Augusta Friendsmith at augusta.friendsmith@teamrubiconusa.org.

Friendsmith said she’ll get “interested volunteers rolling.”

12 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Helping inmates put thoughts to paper Jackson author Tina Welling’s weekly journaling workshops at Teton County Jail foster conversations, change lives.

By Emily Mieure The act of expressing your thoughts, whether it’s saying them out loud or writing them down, is helpful for many.

For some it can be life changing.

“She gives us hope and something to fight for,” Teton County resident Zach Ladnier said in a March 18 interview with the News&Guide from the Teton County Jail. “She has touched a lot of lives in here.”

Tina Welling is modest about the effects her journaling workshop has had on Teton County inmates.

For nearly a decade she’s been volunteering her time to host the weekly sessions inside the jail in downtown Jackson.

They’re for any incarcerated individuals who want to talk, write or listen.

“I bring in notebooks and little yellow golf pencils, the short ones,” she said. “I would come in with about five questions on a subject. It might be selfawareness, anger, gratitude or boundaries. It was amazing how open they were to talking.”

In 2011 she started meeting with inmates every Tuesday at 8 p.m.

“They would come because it was outside the routine and it got them out of their cells,” she said.

“It took courage on their part.”

Welling’s journaling workshop has been on hold for about a year now, because of the pandemic. Worship and other jail services have also been on hold.

“I just miss that interaction,” Welling said. “I was learning as much as I was trying to offer.”

Welling will restart her weekly workshop as soon as county health officials say it’s safe.

Teton County Jail officials have worked hard trying to keep COVID-19 out of the detention center, and hope to welcome Welling back this summer.

“It’s pretty amazing we have folks in our community like Tina who take the time and effort,” Sheriff Matt Carr said. “It’s a well-received program and

RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE

RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE

For nearly a decade, author Tina Welling has held weekly journaling session inside the Teton County Jail.

Zach Ladnier never kept a diary before taking Welling’s workshops. “I cried with her and she cried with me,” he said.

we look forward to getting back to it after the pandemic.”

For inmates like Ladnier, Welling’s workshop offered an opportunity for self-reflection. He found himself counting down the days until the next session.

“It was really helpful for me because it gave me something to look forward to,” he said. “I could talk to her about anything. She would bring in these cards and read them, and it would remind me that things would be OK and that it was going to work out no matter what. She was the person who could explain that it would be hard but that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and she allowed me

to see that.”

Ladnier never kept a diary before, but he has kept a journal ever since being introduced to Welling and her workshop two years ago.

Even being incarcerated with Welling’s workshop on hold, he tries to express his thoughts on paper and often returns to the pages he wrote when he was actively taking Welling’s class.

“I have journaled ever since,” he said. “It’s what got me through a year in prison. It let me open up to people too, because I have always been a closed-off person. It opened me up and let me be able to talk to people about my feelings.”

See JOURNALING on 19

THANK YOU TO OUR 2020-2021 VOLUNTEERS! Victoria Atwater Laurie Bay Sally Berman Heather Black Susan Brooks Judith Buttala Liz Collins Patricia Dempsey Bill Finerty

Lucretia Finlay Lisa Claudy Fleischman Raymond Force Joyce Frye Joan Goldfarb Natalie Goss Gigi Halloran Diane Hanson Barb Huhn

Ann Keller Diane Key Charlotte Kidd Carla Kussner Anne Lippold Kip Macmillan Jane Malashock Suzanne Martindale Dan Matzke

WWW.WILDLIFEART.ORG

Julie Matzke Nancy McCarthy Linda Melton Lori Moffett Maggie Moore Ann Nelson Cynthia Quast Karen Rockey Ellen Sanford

Regina Schultz Caroline Taylor Bobbi Thomasma Martha Van Genderen Lynne Whalen Vivien Zepf

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 13

THANK YOU!

Teton County Health Dept.

STAFF

Stuart Agnew Chris Attias Maria Gigi Baltes Jenny Barbera, RN Wendy Baylor Sophia Berrey, RN Kat Bratz Josh Braun Molly Broom Madeline Brown Kristy Bruner, RN Sara Budge Brian Bultema Cameron Campbell Chaz Cannon Madeline Carlman Ashley Cassat Cindy Castillo Ines Castro Kelly Cattanach Carol Chappelle Chris Clabuesch Michael Cohen Morgan Conway Clara Cousins McKinnley Cox Adrian Croke Marilyn Davis Anna Day Brenda DeBuhr Emma Detrick Tessa Enright, FNP-C Lesli Espejel Matt Fagan Josh Forman Jhala French, RN Augusta Friendsmith Nancy Frost Caden Garland Janet Garland, RN Sandra Goodson, RN Andi Gordon Sophie Graupner Mary Alice Grossman Sandra Guido Maurene Gustafson, RN Alicia Guzman Lin Heffner Matt Henry Marilu Hernandez Judy Hernandez Drew Higgins Christine Houlton, RN Kim Hysell Lori Iverson Marta Iwaseczko, RN Stacey Johnson Hannah Kennedy, RN Vicky Kent Hannah Kertesz, RN Samantha Kitchen, RN Kajsa Krieger Natasha Lavroushin Carolyn Lee Melinda Lee Taylor Lewis, RN Sarah Lustfield Kelly Mackenzie Mike Mauer Grace Mays Andrea Mazer, RN Abby McGurty, RN Lacey McNeff Regan Meyring Joni Moffett Elena “Anne” Motlow Macey Mott Lindsey Myers, RN Brad Nagel Kate O’Connell, RN Elaina Oliver Beatriz Paul, RN Chelsey Peters, RN Monique Petrov, RN Jodie Pond Carol Poole, RN Abigail Purcell, RN Odlais Ramirez

Caleb Raney Travis Riddell, MD Kate Roberts Vicki Rosenberg, RN Shelly Rubrecht Martin Sanders Patty Schengber Andrea Schoenlank, RN Andrea Schoenlank, RN Beverly Shore Ronna Simon Nicole Simone, RN Perri Stern Kay Storrud, RN Dondi Tondro-Smith Kristen Trivelli, RN Susan Twitchell, RN Deborah Valek, LVN Lucy Waite Brody Wallace Rachael Wheeler Claire Wiener Kassie Williams Shane Yu

VOLUNTEERS Sarah Adams Evelyne Aikman Joe Albright Miki Aristorenas Billy Arnold Rosemary Askin Cully Virginia Becker Anne Bell Heidi Bellorado Eileen Berner Thomas Berner John Berner, Jr. William Best D Biros Hank Bogg Nikki Bogopolskaya Veronica Bonnet Beverly Boynton Catherine Bradford Sean Brennan Jo Brocksmith Lynn Broos Chris Brown Lonnie Brown Nancy Brumsted Jennifer Bruno Rowan Bruno Tom Bruno Christian Burch Audrey Burleson Dan Butcher Julie Bynum Laura Callari Brian Campbell Betsy Carlin Reed Carlman Bob Caspar Susie Caspar Kelly Chadwick Stephanie Chafee Carrie Chernov Abby Clark Litt Clark Lori Clark-Erickson Bobbi Clauson Kat Clauson Marci Cohen Michael Cohen Ann Cohn Mackenzie Cole Lj Colemam Kathy Conroy Doug Cook Joanna Cooke Will Copeland Abigail Cornfoot Alicia Cox Genevieve Cozzens Heather Crawford Don Cushman Chris Daly Christina Damalas Shane Darnel

Laura Davenport Nicole Davis Jean Day Justin Day Sarah Delaney Sonia Diaz Anna DiSanto Beth Droppert Annette Eastman Cindy Edelson Dean Egerter Laura Egerter Mary Elaine Weber David Ellerstein Sadie Ellerstein Tara Ellerstein Esther Ellis Virginia Faulkner-Monks Nancy Fauntleroy Jared Felicetti Kate Ferguson Rona Ferguson Molly Fetters Lori Fields Robin Fields Alice Fischer-Colbrie Pamela Flores Vanessa Flory Sheryl Flug Dan Forman Matt Forman MJ Forman Jennifer Fox Lisa Franzen Jack Frappart Julie Frappart James Fraser John Frechette Cathy French Laura French Ed Fries Lisa Friesecke Hilary Fritsch Maggie Gabruk Michele Gammer Nancy Gardiner Barbara Gentry Mary Gerty Campell Gervais Susan Gervais Donna Glenn Julia Goldensohn Amy Golightly Jeff Golightly Matt Graden Carolyn Grant Mary Greenblatt Kathy Greger Kris Gridley Julie Guttormson Danielle Haigh Dawn Hale Gigi Halloran Mills Halpin Kristi Hamon Inger Hanson Ruth Harrington Chuck Harris Heidi Harrison Stew Harvey Becky Hawkins Tracey Heilbrun Kirsten Heinemann Gillian Heller Emery Hemmings Susie Hermanson Lyne Herrick Jarrod Hitt Ty Hoath Hattie Hobart Wendy Hobart Karen Hogan Bland Hoke Padgett Hoke Catherine Holland Shelley Holland Tom Holland Julia Hornstein Meredith Huggins Maggie Hunt

Bridget Ireland Jonathan J Markman Rose Jeske Mary Jo McLellan Michael Johnson Nancy Johnstone Heidi Jost Chris Kadue Judith Kaelber Ginny Kanengieter John Kangengieter Maurine Karabatsos Abigail Karp Robert Kass Sara Keller Pete Kendzior Sarah Kerr Liza Kimmel Karin King Inger Kirkegaard Lily Koffman Kate Kool Bob Kopp Deborah Kopp Candice Korinek Gabrielle Kouchacji Sarah Kraemer Ingrid Krasnow Patty Krause Kajsa Kreiger Anton Kudar Gina Kyle Michele Labounta Anne Ladd Mark LaJohn Brittany Laughlin Catherine Lavin Izzy Lazarus Heidi Leeds Casey Lewis Jean Lewis Rhea Lewis Tim Libassi Lisa Lindlau Smith Jim Little, Sr., MD Lindsay Long Peter Lopez Lisa Lord Price Michele Lovestad Will Lowder Lisa Lowenfels John Lummis Patty Lummis Sharel Lund Kathy Lynch Liz Machalek Jeannine Machon Anna Mae Kass Kathleen Mague Gabrielle Maguire Melissa Malm Elizabth Mansfield Jenna Martin Julie Martz Ani Mason Julie Matzke Kai McClennen Heather McDonald Amanda McGinley Hitt Brian McGrath Emily McGrath Caroline McIntyre Julie Mclaurin Katie Meagher Rachel Merrell John Millar Lorna Miller Nick Millham Ruby Milligan Janet Monahan Anna Mortillaro Aaron Moteberg Brianna Moteberg Macey Mott Laura Moyer Will Munford Alex Muromcew Elizabeth Murphy David Muskat Lynne Myers

Dale Naylor Dorothy Neckels Tom Neil Nat Nelson Loren Nelson Hai Ocean Tang Brent Offutt Adam Olson Shelley Olson Sean O’Malley Lois O’Neal Jamie O’Neill Annette Osnos Sandy Ostdiek Andrea Oxman Emily Paasche Ali Pasquill Will Pasquill Kase Paul Chris Peck Daryl Peightal Laura Perez Destin Peters Cindy Peterson David Peterson, MD Sarah Phocus Jaclyn Pierce Jeremy Plofker Shelley Post William Ramsay Shelby Read Randy Reedy Rebecca Reimers Annie Riddell Lisa Ridgway Susie Riesch Jacklyn Riley Roxanne Riley Carey Ritter Rebecca Ritter Addie Robertson Grace Robillard Sami Robinson Steve Robinson Ernie Rodriguez Catherine Rogers Michael Rosenberg Melanie Ross Lori Roux Bill Rudd Lorrain Rudd Yana Salomon Tim Sandlin Lindy Sayers Debbie Schlinger Tala Schlossberg John Schmitt Stephanie Schmitt Cathy Schreiber Ann Schroeder Claudia Schrotz Michael Schrotz Ryan Schuster Abby Schwamm Will Schwartz Merridy Scott Marc Segal Susan Segal Amy Seifer Danielle Shapiro Nancy Shea Bethany Shidner Adam Silberberg Edwin Smail, MD Christy Smirl Karen Smith Travers Smith Vonde Smith Laura Soltau Gregory Sorensen Priscilla Sorensen Tom Stallings Georgie Stanley Robin Steinmann Lida Steves Nanci Steveson Maeve Stewart Maggie Stewart Georgiana Still Nini Strawbridge

KO Strohbehn Carsten Stuhr Kerry Suddes Kristen Sullivan Lily Sullivan Mark Sullivan Liz Sunshine Clare Symmons Sarah Tams Brian Tanabe Hamish Tear Ann Thayer Margaret Thompson Julie Thomsen Jen Tillotson Nicolas Toye Ollie Tripp Juliet Unfried Wes Van Dusen Bill Van Gelder Tammie Van Holland Karen Van Norman Rilla Varley Magdalena Vial Jim Vito Kristin Vito Heather Voster Nancy Waldrop Celia Wallace LInore Wallace Mackenzie Walles Leslie Walter Larry Warren Alyssa Watkins Donna Watkins Nancy Watkins Becky Watson Christie Watts Kally Weber Keaton Welch Mike Welch Ali Wheeler Cathy Wickoff Rachel Wiggelsworthy Kate Wilmot Tom Wilson Nancy Woodward Jackie Woolley Adam Wright Kristen Wright Debora Wuersch Deb Wuesch Michael Yin David Yoder Theresa Zacharias Monika Ziehl Charlene Zuckerman

VOLUNTEER VACCINATORS / OBSERVERS Katherine Ayers, RN Eve Barnett, RN Jan Bauer, RN Lori Bowdler, FNP-C Lawrence Chapman, MD Lisa Craighead, RN Karen, Cummings, MD Anne Delahaye, RN Susie Detrick, RN Becky Eidemiller, RN Mary Fausone, MD Kate Field, RN Kate Finnegan, RN Sarah Flannery, RN Catherine Folsom, RN Mary Girling, MD Kristi Hamon, RN Chuck Harris, PA Carol Harvey, RN Liz Hottenstein, RN Julie Hugel, RN-CRNA John Janes, MD Nadia Kimmel, RN Christina Kitchen, FNP-C Candice Korinek, RN Denise Krewson, RN Jim Little, Jr., MD

Maura Lofaro, MD Maura Longden, AEMT Kim Mellick, FNP-C Bridget Mullen, RN Kathryn Noyes, MD Jayne Ottman, RN Jill Pampe, RN Addie Pascal, RN Elizabeth Peltz, RN Lorna Peterson, RN Maddie Pitts, RN Tom Pockat, MD Bonnie Pockat, RN Anne Rutherford, APRN Gretchen Schmid, RN JoAnne Scott, RN Adria Stines, RN Linda Taylor, MD Amy Taylor, RN Michael Teonfsky, MD Cindy Trott, CRNA Jill Veber, MD Greg Warney, RN Rebecca White, FNP

TOWN EMPLOYEES Melanie Adams Barry Alexander Rob Andazola Jacob Anderson Timothy Anderson Jason Anglesey Nicole Anglesey Paul Anthony Joseph Ash Jonathan Ayling Tori Barnhart Jamison Bauer Lance Bauer Brian Bilyeu Sandy Birdyshaw Theodore Birdyshaw Kelly Bowlin Darren Brugmann Pat Chilen Jessica Chitwood Dustin Christensen Lea Colasuonno Luis Cruz Jeffrey Deal Jack Delay John Dover Roger Drissel Andrew Esposito Bradford Fahring Robert Fennern Jason Figueroa Kyle Foster Roger Freed Winslow Furber Michael Gable Tim Gallagher Gregorio Garcia Robert Garrett Edward Gerlach Daniel Gilles Bill Guheen Tom Guheen Woodrow Gwaltney Jessika Hard Robert Heiner Ronald Herold Eric Hiltbrunner Michael Hinnenkamp Ron Hurst Nolan Jaenicke Samuel Jewison Kevin Jones Garrett Kellams Miriam Kellams Brian Ladd Justin Lancaster Annette Langley Brad LaTorre Nancy Lee Lynsey Lenamond Brian Lenz Craig Lewis Marc Loebe

Luis Lucha Roy Mann Tom Mason Tony Matthews Elijah Mattson Donald McBath Christopher McDonough Kevin Meagher Karl Meyer Jeremy Minor Judith Mitchell Mary Mittler Scott Mohror Shellie Morillon Arellano Jacob Normand Stephen O’Donnell Melissa Owens Katelyn Page Michael Palazzolo Larry Pardee David Parrott Jeremiah Peery Carl Pelletier Tim Peterschmidt Dorothy Phillips James Phillips Floren Poliseo Sylvie Polonsky Thomas Prelle Logan Probst Clayton Proctor Thomas Raab David Rees Amy Renova Steve Rhoads Janice Roberts Roxanne Robinson Robert Rogers Lisa Ruschill Russell Ruschill Hans Russell John Ryan Christopher Saari Caleb Sauer Susan Scarlata Heidi Schmidl Brian Schmidt Pauline Scholes Terri Schupman Courtney Schwartz Dave Sciarini Derrick Shreve Jeff Silliman Tyler Sinclair John Singh Kelly Sluder Christian Smith Greg Smith Mark Smith Phillip Smith Jahton Stephens Samuel Stephens Shawn Stephens Arlen Stickney Josh Storrud Wyatt Swicegood Cory Teuscher Kelly Thompson Laura Toupal Jeromie Traphagan Tracey Trefren Angel Uhl Anthony Uhl Brandon Valentine Jack Van Zile Amy Vieira Ellare Votruba John Ware Tom Waterhouse Michelle Weber Rob Weed Caleb Wells Jerad Weston Amanda White Clayton Wilson Josh Wilson Brian Woods Jason Wright Johnny Ziem Al Zuckerman

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14 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Hansen plans county’s biggest party Realtor spends 20 hours a month or more preparing for the Teton County Fair.

By Whitney Royster Marybeth Hansen is busy. Not crazy busy where she doesn’t have time to stop and chat — in fact much of her busyness comes from her unending desire to stop and chat. And that’s not because most of her on-the-street conversations start with some sort of well-meaning jab: “Hey, MB! Get back to work. This isn’t a country club!”

She likes being busy but doesn’t like being rushed. Being rushed takes the joy and connection out of it for her. It’s that fusion between connection and giddyup that led to her being honored this year as Teton County’s Volunteer of the Year.

A tireless volunteer for the Teton County Fair Board, Hansen leads with her heart. You will know where she stands on something about a nanosecond after it comes up.

Horses? Yes. Dogs? Yes. Keeping her trailer clean? No. Making people take their shoes off in her house? That’s a no.

She just wants you to come inside.

Why does she volunteer for the Fair Board, serving as its president in 2020?

“Are you kidding me? We get to put on Teton County’s biggest party of the year,” she said. “Everyone comes out to the fair.”

With that, she thinks about everyone in the community and what might draw them. Rides, food (giant potato chip, anyone?), bake-offs, quilting exhibits, 4-H livestock auctions and horse shows.

The fair, every summer at the end of July, is a huge undertaking. For Hansen it primarily starts at the horse arena — categories of jumping, equitation and Western dressage and many others. Last year equestrian events had double the normal number of entries because rid-

ing was one of the only COVID-friendly activities.

Hansen is a horse girl herself. With her horse Zip Wyatt she rides four to five days a week out at the Flying W, often with her daughter Ellie Max, 11, and her horse Susie Q. (Ellie Max is also part of the Wilson Hoofbeats 4-H club.)

“The horse shows are my favorite part of the fair,” she said. “I just love seeing these kids come out to ride in the arena. They don’t know if they’re going to get a ribbon.

They don’t know if they’re going to have the perfect ride. But man, they give it all they’ve got. They’ve got a connection to these animals they want to show off. Seeing that is the best thing for me.”

Most people know the fair from the carnival rides taking over the fair grounds parking lot.

Hansen has the inside scoop for the summer of 2021. Will the rides be back?

Yes. All of them? No. The Zipper and the Freak Out and the fun houses? Yes. Petting zoo? No. Grounds with food and items for sale? Yes. Hansen estimates she spends some 20 hours a month with the Fair Board, more in the summer when the fair is nearing.

She credits many people with developing her love for the Fair Board, especially people from the old Demo Derby days.

A real estate agent for her day job, Hansen has also received the Best Realtor” award in the Best of Jackson Hole vote two years in a row, 2020 and 2021.

“Keepin’ real estate real,” is her motto.

The accolade of Volunteer of the Year — bestowed by the Teton County Board of County Commissioners — means a lot to Hansen.

“There are a ton of people who volunteer here, who give the gift of their time,” she said. “To be honored among them, I’m pretty humbled.”

Contact Whitney Royster via wroyster@ jhnewsandguide.com.

RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE

Marybeth Hansen, seen here with Zip Wyatt at Flying W Stables in Wilson, helps coordinate the Teton County Fair.

We miss our volunteers!

Thank you for your continued support. We are eager to welcome you back to St. John’s Health.

TCSAR VOLUNTEERS PREPARED, PRACTICED, PRESENT 24/7/365 www.TetonCountySAR.org

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer when we reopen, please reach out! volunteer@stjohns.health.

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 15

Thank you Jackson Hole Fire/EMS

MEMBERSHIP who do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.

These names represent the men and women who give up time with family and friends to volunteer for our community: Station 1

Station 2

Moyer, Mike Carr, Brian Dunn, Tyler Hazlett, Mike Levinson, Nate Long, Daniel Bonich, James Borgeson, Eric Bruni, Jason George, Alton Goewert, Matt Hagood, Nathaniel Horvath, Emmett Knippel, Tim Lara, Cody Prevot, Nicolas Sanchez, Leo Sessions, Austin Spence, Kevin Stein, Sam Temple, James Tobey, John Wheeler, Meaghan Wight, Tyler Wilson, Zach Zuckerman, Sam

Coffill, Zachary Davis, Katie Field, Connor Fuller, Claire Harland, Tim Jarvie, Dean Kuszak, Heath Mommsen, Chris

TOWN OF JACKSON

WILSON

Station 3 HOBACK

Tucker, James Trumbower, Mike Betsinger, Chris Sieber, Bernhard Abel, Chance Byron, Andrew Cernicek, David Glissmeyer, Jacob Hutcheson, Jack Luskey, Randy Schneider, Eric

Station 4 MORAN

Coe, Brian McFarland, Mack

Lamoureux, Phillip Preuss, Camden Bennett, Joshua Graden, Matthew McDaniel, Brian Nelson, Zachary Pimm, Mary Strauss, Samantha

Station 6

MOOSE-WILSON ROAD Redwine, Matt Cadwalader, Henry Stiehl, Chris Watson, Lizzie Levy, Remy Courser, Scott Cranston, Ian Hartz, Tyler Lunde, Kris McInnes, Cody Mintz, Nathan Peyton, Ryan Resor, Miller Stirn, Kelly Thurston, Ben Voorhees, Erika Wurm, Steve

Personal Sacrifice for the Good of the Whole

Station 7

ADAMS CANYON Clay, Kathy Dearing, Rob Sullivan, Lily Little, James Blair, Wendy Brence, Ray Courser, Scott Foster, Hillary Grange, Kevin McCullough, Chris McCune, Niel Perryman, Brenner Rauch-Lynch, Kevin Somers, Matthew Stewart, Maggie Sullivan, Mike Weber, Brendon Wilson, Pete

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16 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Retiree cleans cannons, protects bears Former mental health professional Muir is Teton park’s longest-serving wildlife brigadier.

By Mike Koshmrl Larry Muir lives a two-part life, and where and what he’s doing all boils down to the season.

Winters are spent outside Savannah, Georgia, where he refurbishes and cleans up 19th century cannons and Civil War-era muskets at Fort Pulaski National Monument. The balance of the year his RV is parked at the Gros Ventre Campground, inside the national park where Muir helps control crowds that amass when a bear, moose or another critter comes into view.

While they’re definitely disparate duties, there’s a common thread. Both gigs are volunteer work for the National Park Service. And there’s one more similarity: The six-month split in life has grown into a (free) labor of love.

“I really like it,” Muir said from his winter home in Georgia. “It’s so different. I’m always anxious to be through here and get back to Wyoming and the Grand Tetons. But I’m always anxious to leave the Grand Tetons and get here.”

Since his retirement from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, Muir has embraced the life of a fulltime National Park Service volunteer.

His tenure with the federal agency traces back to 2002. He came into the life by acting on his bucket-list desire to see Civil War battlefield sites, and so he sought volunteer opportunities to help staff them.

“But I started out just the opposite of that,” Muir said. “I was looking through a camper booklet and found an opening in Alaska.”

That first post was idyllic. Operating out of interior Alaska, he helped with wolf research and assisted with interpretation programs at the foot of North America’s highest peak, Denali. Although he did some volunteer work for the National Park Service up north, there was also a paid position that was ending because of grant money drying up.

Looking to find another seasonal post, he landed volunteer opportunities with Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston, South Carolina, and with the Natchez Trace Parkway, where he was stationed in Mississippi along the 440-mile scenic byway. The Fort Pulaski gig was also there from the get-go.

Grand Teton National Park had a job for Muir a decade ago. The offer came a year after Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Great Smoky national parks all shot him down. The next year, 2011, he applied to the same parks and got the call from Moose.

“Long story short, I committed to the Grand Tetons,” Muir said. “And the next day, both Yellowstone and the Smokies wanted me.”

He told them it was too late — a decision he hasn’t regretted.

Life in Jackson Hole typically starts about 5:30 a.m., and by 7 he’s on duty and headed out on patrol. The boss, bear biologist Kate Wilmot, helps him determine where to go, and much of the time it’s to some kind of “wildlife jam.”

“Most days we’re dealing with some form of wildlife — moose, quite often,” Muir said. “Bears, almost all the time.

And the bear interactions we have, most often it is crowd control, traffic control and maintaining safe distances between people and the bears.”

Dealing with Grand Teton’s celebrity bears, like Grizzly 399, has become a big part of the job. A high percentage of the people he converses with at a bear jam

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / COURTESY

Larry Muir spends summers refereeing tourists and bears.

are there explicitly to see the famous animal at the scene.

“I’m not necessarily talking about people from the Lower 48,” Muir said.

“I’m talking about people from all over the world. They know her and want to see her and are disappointed when

they don’t.”

The worst part of the job is when the conflict turns untenable. People are sometimes rude and entitled, and when that happens Muir walks away and calls in a deputized ranger. The other See MUIR on 17

To our food rescue heroes, thank you for striving to make a difference! You are the backbone of Hole Food Rescue and we are so very grateful for each and everyone of you.

Mya Akins Alicia Alfaro Lily Ames Julia Andracki Hanna Austin Chris Bates Melissa Bigelow Beth Burrough Lorie Cahn Betsy Carlin Justin Carr Rani Carr Ines Castro Abby Clark Pat Collins Teddy Collins Cody Cottier Teale Cresswell Katey Crystal Andree Dean Sydney Doolittle

Thank You! We are grateful for the time, energy, and leadership provided by the members of the St. John's Health Foundation Board!

Val Beck Bill Best Karen Brennan Tom Bruno Jane Carey Michael Coles Sue Critzer Tom Fay Chuck Fleischman Jeff Flug Bob Grady Robert Halper, MD

Connie Hansen May Herr Cynthia Hogan Rachel Kay Keller Richard King Jim Little, Jr., MD Elizabeth Masek Hillary Munro Katy Niner Doug Ober Leslie Petersen Shirley Piper

Bob Pisano Pat Robertson Gary Roubin, MD Ted Staryk Sue Sullivan Charlie Thomson Marty Trott, MD Patrick Trucco Paul Vogelheim Will Wagnon

Mika Dubbe Kelly Duerr Rob & Amanda Edmondson Carlyann Edwards Mary Ellen Fausone Rona Ferguson Lori Fields Jason Fike Kathy Garvey Barbara Gentry Hailey Gilmore Jack Glasbrenner Andi Gordon Carolina Grave Flo Hamilton Cecilia Herbert Brynne Hobart Hattie Hobart Wendy Hobart Susanne Jackson

Tristan Jackson Emmie Johnson Nikki Kaufman Pete Kendzior Caitlin King Carrie Kruse Emily Lacoste Hannah Lane Michele Lassel Joana Lau Joelle Lazzareschi Garrett LeRoy Jennifer Love Robyn Lunsford Jenna Mahaffie Amelia Mayer Austin Mayer Chelsea McEnroe Erin McGibbon Sara McIntosh Tracey Millham

Jeremy Minor Liz Moran Miriam Morillon Nate Murphy Rose Novak Andrii Onysko Rosey Oppenheim Carol Peck Elizabeth Peltz Andrew Reynolds Carolyn Ripps Lisa Robertson Francoise Roux Lori Roux Samantha Rubin Blanca SartilloMejia Jeff Schlyer Amy Seifer Ali Shafranek Chloe Showell

Evan Simpson Joe Smith Terri Smith Hannah Sorenson Alyson Spery Betsy Stevenson Meredith Stiehl Heather Stuart Jeb Stuart Clare Stumpf Sarah Swirbul Stio Team Shift Juniper Troxel Crista Valentino Jami Voge Nancy Waldrop Andrea Weenig Andy Weenig Kelsey Wellington Joy Winters Kathryn Ziesig

Thank you volunteers for making

this all possible!

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www.holefoodrescue.org

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 17

Help Us Get Back in the Saddle!

Volunteers Needed!

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / COURTESY PHOTO

Muir works on Civil War cannons in Fort Pulaski National Monument outside Savannah, Georgia. Muir splits his time volunteering between the Tetons and Georgia.

Continued from 16

ugly side of conflict is when the animals involved lose out. It’s happened many times, Muir said, with habituated, foodconditioned black bears that the wildlife brigade tries to keep away from people in the String and Jenny lake areas.

“My God, it hurts so much when we have to euthanize one,” Muir said. “It just kills me, particularly because without a doubt we have worked with that bear time after time after time, trying to keep from having to do that.”

A day’s work in Teton park can be exhausting and high-pressure. Days off are sometimes spent doing “as little as possible.”

“I take a nap,” Muir said, “that’s for sure.”

The Fort Pulaski volunteer job is a nice, slower-paced contrast to the hustle and bustle of being on patrol in

the Tetons. Muir, who’s 80, is essentially a one-man cannon cleaning crew.

There’s 36 of the antique weapons, and altogether they provide plenty of work because of the saltwater breeze off the Georgia coast, which rusts everything.

“It’s sort of a continuous process to prevent that from occurring,” Muir said. “We’re cleaning off the rust and we put rust-protectors onto the tubes and parameters onto the carriages. By the time you finish one, it’s about time to get to the next.”

Even after a decade of the Fort Pulaski-Grand Teton life split, Muir hasn’t tired of it.

“I plan to keep going for a little while yet,” he said. “When I feel like I’m no longer really safe on the highway pulling a 40-foot RV behind me, it’ll be time to start looking for something else.”

Contact Mike Koshmrl at 732-7067 or env@jhnewsandguide.com.

Jackson Hole Therapeutic Riding is eager to welcome back volunteers for the 2021 season and we need YOUR help to ensure a successful season for our participants!

Grab life by the reins and make a difference in someone’s life by joining the JHTR family of volunteers today!

• Rewarding • Impactful • Flexible • Fun! YOUR SAFETY IS OUR PRIORITY!

• COVID screening station • Strict cleaning/sanitizing protocols • Mandatory mask usage

No horse experience necessary. Training provided. 14+ 390395

MUIR

For more information about volunteering at JHTR please visit www.jhtr.org or email volunteer@jhtr.org

2020 was a difficult year for many of us. Along with the pandemic came medical and financial stressors and an increase in mental health struggles. During the pandemic, our agency was able to pivot to turn to remote and virtual care almost immediately so that our staff and clients were kept safe and none were left without care. Since then, we have also seen a drastic increase in the need for more scholarships for care.

Using Cares Act dollars, various grants, and incredible community support, we were able to offer multiple programs to anyone in the community that needed support as well as covering fees for our clients for October through December of last year.

Additionally, we were able to assist with financial stress by covering all outstanding balances from the start of the pandemic so that individuals could continue with needed care.

Many thanks to those that provided the resources to our organization to weather the many challenges of 2020.

Thank you!

Carmel Tice Anne Schuler Hadyn Peery Kristen Fox Avi Kantor Emmy Hill Pier Trudell Susan Durfee Shannon Hasenack Amy Allen Andrew Hardenbrook Laurie Huff Deidre Ashley O’Ann Fredstrom Julia Goldensohn Jamie Bennett

Stephen Brown Adam Williamson April Brigham Elizabeth Ewing Jodie Siegfried Suzy Kneeland Steve Deutsch Katie Davis Mark Hauser Shannon Gutwein Krissy Bender Sarah Kline Barclay Dexter Barb Goody Pati Rocha Ivy Assenberg Kris Poole Matt Stech

Megan O’Brien Ally Barnett Jude Mooney Rosa Terry Courtney Marvin Carrie Mowrey Heather Geranen Stephanie Gagnon Community Foundation Becky Minion Liz Masek Wyss Foundation Lynn and Foster Friess Hughes Charitable Foundation Guys Who Give

24-Hour Crisis Services | 733-2046 | 640 East Broadway | www.jhccc.org 391009

18 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

AMBASSADORS Continued from 5

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Grand Targhee Resort.

Ambassadors sign up for shifts that fit their schedules, and there’s no strict requirement for how long they stay at the summit.

“I spend 10 to 30 minutes at whatever parking area I have been at the beginning of my tour, and then I do the same at the end of my tour,” Nagy said.

If you’ve lived here long enough, you probably have your own horror stories from the pass, whether that’s an aggressive encounter or the oddly helpless experience of watching someone make a dangerous decision. For the most part, the ambassadors say that’s not been the story of their winter.

Tourists and newcomers have been eager to glean as much information as they can, while longtime pass skiers appreciate the work of building a sense of responsibility among recreators. Pistono, who has been in the role for a long time, has an idea why they have been successful.

“I’ve been doing that job for so long, and some folks just got jaded about me being the messenger,” he said.

The crew of volunteers is happy to pick up the baton. Most have been skiing the pass for years (Siegfried for three decades), and they want to create something positive in a place that has worldwide renown for its combination of terrain and accessibility.

For some, that’s in response to the worry that access could be limited if skiers don’t shape up, a message Pistono has pushed for years.

Kazunas discovered skiing late in life and learned the backcountry on the pass, so keeping it accessible is important to her.

“It has gotten me through my worst years, my best years, s----y days and great days, and the idea of it getting taken away would crush me,” she said. “It feels like a very simple, easy way to do a tiny bit to maybe prevent that reality.”

When Kazunas, Siegfried and Coordinator Anna Gibson met with the News&Guide at the beginning of March, the weather had just started to feel like spring. The sun was out, the snow crunchy.

Parking wasn’t the zoo it is on a powder day, but by midmorning, the softening snow beckoned skiers and the spaces filled. Most people seemed like they knew what they were doing, and they strapped skis to their packs to ascend Mount Glory with little need to check in with the ambassadors.

Just when it seemed like their services wouldn’t be needed, a large truck pulled over. A tall man exited the driver’s seat and gazed at the pair of bootpacks, one going up Telemark Bowl, the other to the left of Twin Slides.

He seemed mystified by the expanding view down the pass into Wilson, the groups of skiers shouldering their gear, the people drinking coffee as they sidled into their morning.

On cue, Siegfried jumped into action.

“Can I help you with something?” he said, turning toward the idling pickup.

“Yeah,” the man replied, his Texas drawl thick, his hand gesturing up the ski runs. “I was just wondering if you could tell me how y’all do it.”

“Of course,” Siegfried said, walking over to give the stranger a tour, happy to be of service in a place that he loves.

Contact Tom Hallberg at 732-7079 or thallberg@jhnewsandguide.com.

WE LOVE OUR

VOLUNTEERS! THANK YOU! 240 S. GLENWOOD ST., JACKSON, WY 83001 390192

JHCENTERFORTHEARTS.ORG

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 19

JOURNALING Continued from 12

Welling, an author of several published books and a longtime Teton County resident, said she was inspired to start the workshop for a few reasons.

“It was the summer of 2011 and I was reading a lot Joseph Campbell, ‘The Hero’s Journey,’” she said. “And he talked about the belly of the whale, and I was also going through a hard time in my life and journaling a lot.

“I just put those two together, and suddenly it seemed to me that being incarcerated was the epitome of being in the belly of the whale. It’s something we all experience in different ways. Sometimes it’s illness or new roles in life or new locations. But incarceration, everything is taken away from you that you identify yourself with — clothes, jewelry — and you’re put into a room by yourself or with a total stranger.”

Welling made a few calls and said she had to jump through minimal hoops to get the workshop started.

“Nobody else was doing anything,” she said. “They just had me fill out some paperwork.”

Welling is a self-taught writer, who overcame many rejection letters before her first book was published.

“I put in 15 years of getting rejections before my first novel was published by Penguin,” she said. “I learned to let go of the outcome.”

Welling doesn’t pretend to be a therapist for the inmates and doesn’t push any agendas, religion or ideals on them.

She finds that no matter what the subject or the assignment, they all are more than willing to express themselves, whether it’s through talking, writing or drawing.

“They were able to express themselves freely,” she said. “No one was listening to us and no one was reading their journals.”

If someone wasn’t in a writing or talking mood, Welling might suggest they draw a picture of their dream house, a simple suggestion that could provide a feeling of accomplishment.

Welling said she was nervous for her very first workshop in August 2011 but was immediately put at ease when she realized how much the inmates liked having someone to talk to.

“We had wonderful conversations,” she said. “Sometimes I would encourage them to be gentle with themselves and look at the hard things in their lives.”

Tough and emotional conversations weren’t off limits.

“If someone would cry another person would pat them on the back,” she said. “And we would also laugh really hard.”

Though his journey to recovery and living a crime-free life hasn’t been perfect, Ladnier credits Welling for his success at staying on the right path.

“I haven’t used drugs in two years now,” he said, “and no drinking. A lot of that was because of talking to her.

She was the first one I opened up to about it. And I felt comfortable. I cried with her and she cried with me. She showed her emotions and that she cared, and that was that I needed.”

Welling looks forward to getting back to the workshops, and welcomes anyone with ideas for discussions or teachings to reach out to her if they’re interested in volunteering.

“The jail is just a couple blocks from the Town Square, but before I started the workshops I never paid any attention to that,” she said. “And I think that’s the situation with most of us. But they are part of our community. They are citizens, and we want to help them become even better citizens when they are released.”

You can reach Welling at TinaWelling.com.

Contact Emily Mieure at 732-7066 or courts@jhnewsandguide.com.

CONGRATULATIONS

VOLUNTEER

AWARD WINNERS! sponsored by

Heartfelt

THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS! Teton County 4-H Volunteers are inspiring the next generation!

Thank you for all you do for our community!

We would like to thank our outstanding volunteer leaders: Erin Abel Kayla Bonilla Dave Brackett Diana Brown Michelle Brown Jay Buchner Cola Budge Jane Budge Joey Budge Joe Burke MJ Forman Trudy Funk Rebecca Genzer Keith Gingery Shelley Gregory Becca Griber Gwen Hansen

Blake Hare Melissa Hare Shannon Hasenack LaRee Hibbert Megan Hibbert Bobby Holik Jared Kuhns Carlton Loewer SaraLee Lanier Mary Martin Rebecca Mitchell Deirdre Morris Joni Moyer Molly Moyer Shannon Owens Glenn Owings Laura Petix

Patricia Pistono Pam Romsa Susan Rowe Travis Shanafelt Thomas Smits Hope Siek Adria Stines Devon Viehman Alyssa Watkins Amy Wilson Andrew Wilson Brandi Wilson Buskin Wilson Dana Wilson Meredith Wilson

Interested in becoming a volunteer?

Contact the Teton County 4-H Office at 733-3087 390942

Community Hero Award

Genevieve Cozzens

In addition to having a full-time job and two young kids, Genevieve has made time to consistently donate her time to our community over the past decade+. In the past several months alone, Genevieve completed the necessary training to become a volunteer election poll worker in addition to aiding in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccination. She is a celebrated volunteer for the Community Safety Network and a Mentor. In addition to volunteering at her children’s school, Genevieve also supports post-partum mothers with food, a lending hand, and all-around comfort.

And finally (for now!), Genevieve continues to support the Honduran orphanage and medical clinic she has travelled to and volunteered for in the past.

Next Generation Award

Lily Wade THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR AMAZING VOLUNTEERS IN THE VALLEY!

Cathy Nutter Culver, Augusta Friendsmith, Daily Barbour, Colleen and Kendall Walker, Frances Clark, Dr. Michelle Heaton, Jason Mitchell, Joe Albright, Jill Callaway, Kelly Neubauer, Julie Vaneenenaam, Lori Clark-Erickson, Lina Collado, Melinda Lee, Lynn Straker, Morgan Graham, Michael Schrotz, Patti Mull, Natalie Yates, Sophia Schwartz, Paul Hansen, Pend Black, Teton Backcountry Alliance Pass Ambassadors, Stew Harvey, Vaccine Call Center Volunteers

Lily Wade has gone above and beyond for the Animal Adoption Center (AAC) and animal welfare community as a whole. Lily has dedicated almost every Saturday to volunteering at the AAC, has joined several spay/neuter clinics and is always up for a challenge. Lily is attending college next year with hopes of becoming a vet!

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20 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

VOLUNTEER

Give Back Volunteer JH is an online platform where Teton County nonprofits can post their volunteer needs and community members can learn about volunteer opportunities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still safe and healthy ways to give back to your community.

Please visit the Community Foundation’s Volunteer JH for more details.

volunteerjh.org

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