Valley Volunteers 2013

Volunteers Valley

A supplement to the Jackson Hole News&Guide

April 24, 2013

Helping hands of all ages Read profiles of volunteers from 14 to 77. page 3

Thank your guerilla

cyclists

Mediators seek out conflict page 9

page 7

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE

Volunteer Mataya Foster, 14, cares for cats and dogs like Marty at the Animal Adopton Center.

2 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

From the

editor

A Chapter of Disabled Sports/USA

P

Teton Adaptive Sports would like to thank

those who commit their time, energy, and support in the effort to provide year round outdoor sports and recreation opportunities for people of all abilities.

Volunteers Rock! tetonadaptive@aol.com • 307-699-3554 253261

Thank you Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers of the Senior Center.

Everything you do, large or small, all have meaning to our seniors, their families & to us. You make all the difference!

Volunteers Needed:

Meal Delivery (Town & Wilson) Garage Sale in May 307-733-7300

SENIOR CENTER OF JACKSON HOLE

Celebrating 30 years of serving seniors

icking up trash isn’t fun.

Smelly is a word that comes to mind.

But, come May 11, I’ll join hundreds of other people for three hours to help scour a roadside for cans, bottles, cigarette butts, dirty diapers and other detritus.

I hope to be able to separate recyclable items from the true trash as well, adding to my feel-good buzz.

Participating in the town’s annual Spring Clean-Up as a member of the Kiwanis Club is one of the ways I’ll volunteer my time this year. Since I joined Kiwanis this spring, I’ve been looking forward to other things I can do as part of the service club to help make the valley the best place on earth.

Finding time to volunteer can be a challenge. Many of us already have our lives filled with work, family, household obligations and fitness. Add hobbies, and free time is hard to find.

Still, the valley is chock full of people who offer their time regularly, if not weekly.

Being asked to help out with a child’s dance production 20 years ago put Robyn Lunsford on the roster of helpers for every Dancers’ Workshop performance (page 11).

Danicia Quezada is pushing the Wheeling for Healing cart through the halls of St. John’s Medical Center

as she considers a career as a doctor (page 5). Similarly, Phoebe Stoner is using her biology training as a volunteer with the National Elk Refuge (page 4).

Each spring, Lynn Grimes helps low-income families decipher their tax forms (page 16).

Teton County Library Friends are getting inexpensive books into the hands of readers through their work staffing the new Book Nook (page 8).

If you’re looking for a way to give back, think about the things you enjoy and your schedule. A new website, VolunteerJacksonHole. org (page 18) can help you find a good match.

Consider what gifts you have — mathematical acumen, Spanish fluency, expert skiing ability — and how you might be able to share them with the community.

And if those other pieces of life get in the way, see if there’s a way to merge them. I may ride my bicycle to the Spring Clean-Up to burn a few extra calories, and if my husband has to work, I’ll haul my daughter and some pint-sized work gloves along.

She might not contribute too much trash to my bags, but at least she’ll learn that we all need to pitch in to make Jackson Hole paradise. ­— Johanna Love

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Special supplement written, produced and printed by the Jackson Hole News&Guide

Please remember us

Publisher: Kevin Olson Editor: Angus M. Thuermer Jr. Special Sections Editor: Rebecca Walsh Volunteer Section Editor: Johanna Love Layout and Design: Kathryn Holloway Photo Editors: Bradly J. Boner, Price Chambers Copy Editors: Richard Anderson, Jennifer Dorsey, Mark Huffman, Molly Absolon Features: Miller N. Resor, Mike Koshmrl, Kevin Huelsmann, Benjamin Graham, Emma Breysse, Brielle Schaeffer, Lindsay Wood, Jennifer Dorsey, Richard Anderson Director of Advertising: Adam Meyer Advertising Sales: Amy Golightly, Karen Brennan, Chad Repinski, Tom Hall, Matt Cardis Advertising Coordinator: Heather Best Advertising Design: Caryn Wooldridge, Jenny Francis, Kara Hanson, Lydia Wanner Pre-press: Jeff Young Press Foreman: Greg Grutzmacher Pressmen: Dale Fjeldsted, Johnathan Leyva, Mike Taylor Office Manager: Kathleen Godines Customer Service Managers: Lucia Perez, Ben Medina Circulation: Kyra Griffin, Pat Brodnik, Hank Smith, Jeff Young

when making your

Old Bill’s donations

Copyright 2013 Jackson Hole News&Guide P.O. Box 7445, 1225 Maple Way Jackson, WY 83002 , 307-733-2047 Fax: 307-733-2138, www.jhnewsandguide.com

Drama queen?

To put on its two to three shows per year, Jackson Community Theater needs more than just actors. People are needed to gather props and costumes, direct, run lights, sounds and special effects, among other things. Almost 40 years ago the group began as Actor’s Co-op.

When: Rehearsal periods are typically four to six weeks Web: Facebook.com/JacksonCommunityTheater Get involved: Call Kathleen Godines, 690-3739.

www.dougcoombsfoundation.com 253634

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 3

Helping hands of all ages Community members of every generation volunteer around the valley. The News&Guide spoke to residents ages 14 to 77 who share a common goal: helping others.

Called to serve Septuagenarian cares for church, aids the hungry.

By Richard Anderson

F

or Shirley Craighead, 77, volunteering is less a choice and more a matter of faith.

“As a Catholic, that’s what I’m called to do,” she said, “to serve other people.”

Craighead — who devotes her time to her church and to the Jackson Cupboard — was trained as a school teacher. She also served as a missionary in Chile for 10 years and wrote a children’s book, “Sleeping Grizzlies and Bugling Elk,” based on the final book by her late husband, Frank Craighead, who died in 2001.

“I typed his last book,” she said, “so I guess that’s a big help, too.”

The Massachusetts native has lived in Jackson Hole for 27 years, residing in a house in Moose that during winter requires her to ski in and out about a third of a mile.

“I’d probably be nice and cozy at home” through the winter if it wasn’t for volunteer work, she said. “It gets me moving.”

Craighead does a lot for her church. She takes care of the office, helps with its recycling program and, most important, tends to the Chapel of the Sacred Heart in Grand Teton National Park.

“The chapel is my baby,” she said.

“I take care of that building … go up early to set up for Mass, make sure all the things needed for services are up there. … It takes a lot of time.”

At the Jackson Cupboard, the valley’s food bank housed in the basement of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Craighead works a Monday shift

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Shirley Craighead, 77, folds the altar cloth after Mass at the Chapel of the Sacred Heart in Grand Teton National Park. Sacristan is just one of her roles at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church. She also gives time weekly to the Jackson Cupboard, where people in need get food.

helping people who come in need of the groceries offered, and she is the main buyer of dried goods.

“I check what we need, go to the grocery story and come back with my Sherpas,” she said, referring to some other volunteers who help her lug the often heavy loads from her car to the church basement. “It takes about three days, a good part of each morning.”

The Jackson Cupboard depends on donations. Old Bill’s Fun Run for Charities is the organization’s largest fundraising activity, and Scouting for Food, the Boy Scouts annual drive around Thanksgiving, brings in the largest single influx of food. But individuals and families make dona-

tions year-round, “because people are kind,” she said.

“I’m here to make sure the basics are taken care of,” she said. “People bring olives, asparagus, fancy things.

We don’t usually buy them. We do buy mustard, ketchup, staples and sometimes hot sauces.”

The food bank is always in need of fresh fruit and other produce, she said, and it can never get enough of popular items like canned tuna and canned milk.

The Cupboard is set up like a tiny but well-stocked grocery store, offering everything from dried goods and canned fruits and vegetables to diapers and other personal items. A row of freezers and refrigerators is gener-

ally well-stocked with meat and dairy items, much of it donated or sold at deep discount by the valley’s grocers.

“People depend on this place,” she said. At this time of year, perhaps 30 or more visit each week: about half families, half singles, she said, half Mexican, half Anglos.

Summers are less busy than winters, though summers bring more drop-ins, people who may be passing through. Spring and fall are busiest, she said, as that’s when a lot more people are out of work.

“People are always grateful, friendly. I try to make people feel at home. Picture yourself coming and having to stand in line. … It’s bad See CALLED TO SERVE on 6

4-legged therapy Teen loves hanging with furry friends at the shelter.

By Brielle Schaeffer

M

ataya Foster has put in four years and hundreds of hours of volunteer work at the Animal Adoption Center. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

The 14-year-old Jackson Hole Middle School student loves animals and the environment at the shelter. For the past two years, she volunteered for 180 hours each summer through an internship at the shelter.

“It’s so fun here you don’t want the day off,” Mataya said.

And volunteering allows her time to hang out with the dogs, a pet she doesn’t have room for at home.

“We don’t have a big yard,” she said. “It’s not the best environment to have a dog, but this is the next best thing.”

But animal-lover Mataya does have three cats (Priscilla, Jet and Shadow), two guinea pigs (Squirt and Chubs) and a parakeet (Jack).

She started coming to the center with her best friend, Sam, during the summers and just never stopped. Mataya is one of the center’s many volunteers, but she is also one of the most involved younger ones.

“She is fantastic,” said Kara Pollard, the center’s executive director. “She’s super-enthusiastic and really smart.”

Mataya helps with everything, from watering plants and writing animal descriptions for kennel cards to cleaning litter boxes and helping to administer vaccines and medications, like squirting dewormer medicine into felines’ mouths.

“It’s a lot harder than it sounds to keep them still and to make sure they swallow it and don’t spit it out,” she said. “They’re very squirmy.”

“Sometimes you’ll get a little bit attached to the dogs, but you know that they’ll find a good home.”

– Mataya Foster, 14 Animal adoption center volunteer

Through her summer internships, she even began learning how to draw up the vaccines by mixing the different substances, she said.

Vaccinations are one of her favorite things to do.

She also enjoys washing the dogs, even though most them don’t necessarily enjoy the cold-water hose, she said.

“After it’s done the dogs are so happy, they’ll just sit in the courtyard and lick you and jump on you,” Mataya said. “They’re just so happy and so clean they smell a lot better. ... You want them to look their best.”

That’s one of the bittersweet parts about volunteering at the shelter. Eventually, the pets will be adopted.

“Sometimes you’ll get a little bit attached to the dogs, but you know that they’ll find a good home.

We do a background check, we do a mini-interview with them.”

But Jimmy the Italian greyhound mix is still at the shelter, looking for a forever home. During the winter, the shorthaired dog had no protection from the elements, so when Mataya was volunteering she dressed him in a furry panda costume.

“He gets cold super easily,” she said.

Pets are “great companions and great listeners,” she said. “Adopting an animal doesn’t only help the animal, it helps the person, too.”

For a language arts class project, Mataya studied the benefits of pet therapy and wrote an article.

It had to be a topic that related to her life, so of course she chose something to do with the Animal Adoption Center.

Pet therapy is a proven treatment that is used at hospitals, Mataya said.

See 4-LEGGED THERAPY on 6

4 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Helping hands of all ages

Finding a path National Elk Refuge volunteer Stoner assists with research projects, counts grouse and helps with necropsies.

By Mike Koshmrl

F

or some folks, volunteering in the community is something to do to fill up the day. Retirees know all about it.

For others, it tickles an internal ethical obligation. It’s feel-good medicine.

Then there are those who volunteer because they’re just straight-up passionate about what it gives them access to and allows them to do.

Jackson Hole resident Phoebe Stoner, 22, falls pretty neatly into that last category.

A couple days a week, Stoner can be found wandering the grassy bottoms and hillsides of the National Elk Refuge with wildlife managers and other volunteers. She spends most of her hours on an elk-density research project headed by refuge biologist Eric Cole.

The work entails taking high-resolution digital photographs and then counting elk — one by one — on computers.

Eventually, it will help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service better understand what factors make elk densely congregate and what makes them disperse across the landscape.

“I would go crazy if I didn’t have something cerebral going on in my life,” Stoner said. “It’s kind of like my weekend — I work full time, and this is what I do with my free time.”

This past winter, Stoner, along with fellow volunteer Tim Pratt and others, headed to the ridges of the refuge with a high-powered scope, cameras and their eyes peeled for elk.

“We scan for bison, hunters, wolves,”

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Phoebe Stoner helps wildlife biologists perform necropsies on elk on the National Elk Refuge.

Her volunteer work is helping her decide how she would like to use her biology degree.

Stoner said, “anything that might influence the numbers.

“The really cool thing about the project is the photo aspect,” she said. “The field count gives us an idea of what our error is in general. Our field counts are always lower. Quite a bit lower.”

Stoner, an Ohio native, ventured to Jackson Hole immediately after she graduated with a degree in biology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. An AmeriCorps gig at Teton Science Schools, where she was a field educator for elementary-age kids, brought her to

St John’s

Volunteer Services

town almost a year ago. She turned that position, which was unpaid, into a fulltime teaching job at the science schools that begins this summer.

In the meantime, she works as a server at the Silver Dollar and the Granary to pay the bills. She works mostly nights, which frees her up to get involved in an array of other projects on the refuge.

Stoner has good company as a refuge volunteer.

In 2012, at least 12,548 volunteerhours were logged at the National Elk

Refuge, according to its annual public use report. Volunteers helped with everything from facility maintenance (2,284 hours) to antler gathering (1,886 hours) to wildlife observation (484 hours).

Their contribution is imperative to keeping the wheels turning on the 25,000-acre refuge, manager Steve Kallin said.

“Especially in light of funding cuts, we could not complete our core mission without volunteers,” Kallin said.

Aside from the photo project, Stoner has helped pull wildlife-unfriendly fences, gather antlers and tally sage grouse at a lek on the elk refuge.

On three or four occasions, she’s also lent a hand with elk necropsies. The work involved cutting into dozens of elk that, because of how sick they were, were put down. Getting bloody, inhaling rank smells, handling sharp instruments and taking sample after sample were all part of the game. But none of it seemed to bother Stoner in the slightest.

“It was a lot more hands-on than I thought it would be,” Stoner said of the necropsies. “It was really interesting to see the anatomy and see the disease — lungworm, foot rot, stomach ulcers.”

In the long term, Stoner’s volunteer work on the refuge could end up helping her find a career direction.

“Right now, I just feel that I’m at a point that I know that I love biology, but I don’t really know what route to take with it,” Stoner said. “In a way, volunteering’s really clarifying in terms of my own quest to find what path I want to take.”

Thanks for all you share, and for taking the time to care.

St. John’s Medical Center Volunteers 10 - 20 Years of Service: Carol-Carr Colglazier Donna Clark Dori Cote Missy Crosby Elizabeth Drapela Chris Englund Vickie Giles Sue Hall Rosemary Jones Jean Jorgensen Marlene Lang Lea Roney Carol Schwender Craig Schwender Mary Carol Staiger Anne Wray

Over 20 Years of Service: Bette Caesar Maralyn Larson Chuck Webber

pHotoS tAkEn fRoM VoLuntEER AppRECiAtion EVEnt 252176

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 5

Helping hands of all ages

d cat purrsers n a s e s is k te Dog loving volun

e and love m ti r u o y g n for shari e Shelter! th t a ls a THANK YOoU im meless an with the h nimal

to ALL our a

Front Row-left to right: Janelle Holden, employee & volunteer co-ordinator, w/dog Cassie D Emma Watkins D Corie Rybak, Shelter Manager w/dog Nyela D Jayme Feary, volunteer dog trainer D Jennifer Adams D Back Row-left to right: Alli Noland D Paul Maddex D Bonnie Maddex, longevity volunteer (around 12 years!) D Jamie Storrs D Maddie McQueeney D Gary Weissman, volunteer of the year 2011 D Candy Howe D Rick Howe D Deborah Lundy D Dawn Rehill, volunteer of the year 2012 D

Join Us! Call 733-2139 252614

JULY 19 - JULY 28, 2013

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE

Danicia Quezada, 16, volunteers at St. John’s Medical Center taking juice and magazines to patients like DonAnna Harper. The high school sophomore is bilingual and says she wants to become a pediatrician. “I like giving back to other people,” she said.

Conversation and comfort Bilingual teen helps out at hospital on journey to become a pediatrician.

By Brielle Schaeffer

O

n Saturday mornings, Danicia Quezada can be found in the halls of St. John’s Medical Center offering conversation and juice to patients there.

The 16-year-old sophomore at Jackson Hole High School volunteers with the hospital’s Wheeling for Healing cart every week.

“I want to be a pediatrician and I thought it would be a good way to start interacting with doctors and talking to patients,” she said. “I really like the medical field. I just love experiencing new stuff and learning different things.”

On a recent weekend morning, she knocked on a patient’s door to check if a new mother in the OB department wanted cranberry, orange, grape or apple juice. She ended up helping the new baby’s big sister pick out a stuffed animal Beanie Baby, speaking to her in Spanish.

“I try to help them out by speaking with them in the language they’re most comfortable with so they don’t struggle,” she said.

The cart is stocked with toys, magazines, toiletries and other things to make patients more comfortable.

Around the hospital Danicia is know for her wide grin, which earned her her nickname: Smiley Face.

“They don’t even call me ‘Danicia’ anymore,” she said.

Her sweet disposition is perfect for the Wheeling for Healing Cart.

“I feel like I’m really good with talking to people,” she said. “Sometimes all they want is to have a conversation with you, and I love that.”

One day she stayed at her volunteer shift more than an hour late to chat with a patient.

“It was funny,” she said, “because one of her daughters called her and I thought she was going to tell me, ‘You can come back later so I can talk to my daughter really fast,’ but instead she told her daughter to call her back later so I could stay there with her and talk with her, which I thought was really cute.”

When Danicia is not making hospital visitors’ stays brighter, she skis on the Jackson Hole High School alpine ski team, runs track and can be found helping out at the Teton County Library. She volunteers there Saturday afternoons after she is done at the hospital, reshelving books, doing computer work or helping kids with homework, she said.

Danicia is just one of several “volun-teens” at the hospital, St. John’s Medical Center Volunteer Services Coordinator Terri Hayden said. Others help out with bingo and activities at St. John’s Living Center, restocking patient care bags and taking shifts on the Wheeling for Healing cart.

Wheeling for Healing cart volunteers — formerly known as “candy stripers” because of their red-andwhite striped pinafores of yore — really help out, she said.

“The nurses are so busy so often,” Hayden said. “It’s nice to have them come in.”

While Hayden is always looking for volunteers of all ages, she also needs donations for the Wheeling for Healing cart. Fresh magazines, new toys and DVDs are all things the hospital could use, she said.

For information or to volunteer, contact Hayden by phone at 739-7541 or by email at thayden@tetonhospital. org, or visit the medical center online at TetonHospital.org.

Wanna hit something?

Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area needs volunteers to help build homes for low-income families.

When: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Where: Jobsite in Teton Village Web: TetonHabitat.org Get involved: Call Veronica Mulhall, 734-0828.

Thank you to the many volunteers that continue to contribute their time and effort to the Teton County Fair.

Your hard work is truly appreciated.

If you are interested in volunteering at Fair this year, please contact the Fair Office at 733-5289.

252193

A StAnding OvAtiOn fOr

our Volunteers

AnD BoArD oF DIreCtors!

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Don Opatrny - President Peg Gilday - Vice President Pamela Gibson - Secretary Stephen Adamson - Treasurer Patricia Lummis

Jim Moses Gary Silberberg Keith Stoltz Nona Yehia

2012-2013 VOLUNTEERS Suza Bedient Susie Blasko Kathy Byron Cate Cabot Jill Callaway Maryann Castellano Susan Chambers Cindy Chia Robin Christiansen Lori Clark-Erikson Carol Colglazier Dennis Conley Laura Davenport Fran Dotson Betty Duncombe Diane Ercanbrack Brook Erenstone Shane Ewert Dick & Jean Ferguson Forest Franzen Laurie Fukawa Claudia Gillette

253596

Kathleen Godines Matt Goewert Susan Gunberg Marianne Hammersley Diana Joy Mary Lou Klene Marlene Lang Cristy Liaw Juniper Lopez Robin Lunsford Liz Machalek Farley Marlowe Pat Martin Georgia Mayer Patty McDonald Therese Metherell Liza Millet Annie Mostkoff Dorothy Neckles Kelli & Joe Petrick Cynthia Riedel Larry Rieser

Becky Roberts Judith Schmitt Claudia & Michael Schrotz Carol & Craig Schwender Ronna Simon Scott Stachel Robin Steinmann Deborah Supowit Karla Swiggum Laurie Thal Beth Thebaud Shirley Thomas Molly Thorn Jackie VanZanten Carolyn Warziniack Ashley Watson Nancy Wilbrecht Jeff Wilcox Katie Wilson Jeannie Yurgalewicz

www.jhcenterforthearts.org

6 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Volunteer for the

45th Annual Community

y g a n D i r p S th 1 1 y a P M U Clean Saturday, May 11, 2013

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE

When Mataya Foster, 14, finishes her work around the Animal Adoption Center, she often gets to play with the cats and dogs housed there while they await forever homes.

4-legged therapy Continued from 3

Meeting time is 9:00am Coffee, doughnuts, muffins, pastries provided.

The meeting places are: Town Square • Old Wilson School • Hoback Market Free BBQ picnic lunch at Town Square Park from 11:30-12:30pm provided for all volunteers!

“When you pet a dog or a cat it makes you happy,” she said.

The new, later school schedule this year makes it hard for Mataya to get into the shelter after class to get her pet therapy, but she frequently volunteers on Saturdays and throughout the summer.

When Mataya isn’t volunteering she figure skates and plays volleyball and lacrosse.

Volunteering is another form of therapy for her.

“It really makes you feel good about yourself, and you get to give back to the community,” she said.

CALLED TO SERVE Continued from 3

Volunteers should dress appropriately for weather that morning, bring gloves and sun screen. Bags and orange vests will be provided.

253587

Thanks! to the

Volunteers who collected 611 signatures so Town residents could vote on the new Comp Plan.

These volunteers care about our community, wanted to keep it a great place to live, and spent their free time collecting signatures for the Referendum on the 2012 Comp Plan. Democracy in action is a great thing. Too bad Town Officials didn’t

want the people to vote and chose a court battle instead.

Community participation is a big part of what makes our Valley great. We honor all those that work to preserve the uniqueness of Jackson Hole.

enough to be hungry,” she said.

Finding yourself in need of a service like the Cupboard to feed your family could be humiliating for some if it weren’t for the warm and open environment Craighead and the nonprofit’s 40 or so other volunteers strive for.

“It’s very well run,” she said, giving much of the credit for that to Amy Brooks and Jett Thompson, two board members who are quite involved in running the operation, scheduling shifts and ensuring shelves are stocked.

Craighead doesn’t believe any particular generation has a monopoly on volunteering.

“It’s hard for me to judge, because

The Animal Adoption Center is happy to have her, said Krista Struhsacker, the center’s operations manager.

“She’s so dedicated to the animals,” she said. “She just radiates this positive energy.”

And Mataya is mature.

“She’s 14 going on 30,” Struhsacker said. “She’s great to have around here.”

The center is always looking for volunteers of all ages, from foster parents to dog walkers to cat cuddlers. Children younger than 18 can volunteer, but they must be accompanied by an adult, Struhsacker said.

For information, go online to AnimalAdoptionCenter.org.

I don’t work with” a lot of young people, she said. But she knows of a lot of younger people who give two or three years of their lives for mission work through her church as well as through St. John’s and the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole.

“It doesn’t have to just be people who are particularly religious, either,” she said, “though it is a motivation for a lot of young people.

“We have a lot of services in this town,” Craighead said. “It’s a wonderful town for trying to take care of everyone, people with psychological problems, drinking, homelessness, hunger. … That might have built up because, if you don’t get it here, it’s a long way to Salt Lake City or Denver to get help. I think the reason we have all these things is because we’re on our own.”

Bookworm?

Teton Literacy Center needs tutors to spend one or two hours a week helping children improve their reading and writing.

When: After school, 2:30-5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday Where: Unit No. 260 in Flat Creek Business Center on High School Road

Web: TetonLiteracy.org

Get involved: Call Kristin Livingstone,

733-9242, or email kristin@tetonliteracy.org.

Join Jackson’s #1 Women’s Service Organization Soroptimist International “The Best for Women”

• Help organize fundraising events • Network with other women in business • Meet new friends • Volunteer your time helping women & children in Jackson Hole!

THANK YOU TO OUR MEMBERS FOR ALL YOU DO!

Paid for by SHJH.org 253200

Contact Karen Brennan for more info 307-413-6772 251982

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 7

COURTESY PHOTO

Volunteers work on a mountain bike trail during a Teton Freedom Riders’ Dig Day in October 2012.

Rebels to philanthropists Teton Freedom Riders look to sustain valley trails with Trails Consortium.

Pathway

By Miller N. Resor

390 Arrow Trail

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Phillips Trailhead

Emily's Pond Levee Trail

Teton Pass elev: 8,431’

22 Trail

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Trail Creek Trailhead elev: 6,480'

Put

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Snow King elev: 7,780’

BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL FOREST

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Mt. Elly elev: 9,279’

22 History

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jackson hole community pathways / courtesy map

Teton Freedom Riders’ volunteers have contributed more than 2,000 hours to building and maintaining Jackson Hole’s extensive mountain bike trail network. The trails they’ve worked on include all the downhill bike trails on Teton Pass, as well as multiuse trails like the Arrow Trail, Phillips Ridge Trail, Munger Mountain and Snow King. The group sponsors five work days a year to repair, extend and enhance trails that provide recreation for visitors and residents alike.

What initially was an underground rebellion pitting outlaw bikers against the U.S. government has transformed into a model for how partnership, cooperation and volunteerism can push a sport forward and benefit an entire community.

Kevin Kavanagh, the president of the Teton Freedom Riders, credits Linda Merigliano, recreation manager for the Bridger-Teton, with realizing the best way to deal with the new user group was to work together.

Since 2003, the Teton Freedom Riders have worked with the Forest

2013 Teton Freedom Riders Calendar April 26

May 11 June 1 June 15 July 13 Aug. 24 Sept. 21 Oct. 5 October TBD

NATIONAL ELK REFUGE

on

ps

Wilson C anyo n

ast fall, as the Horse Thief Canyon fire’s last embers smouldered, a collection of valley groups came together to start rebuilding a popular trail system above Snow King that was destroyed during the blaze.

The Teton Freedom Riders, BridgerTeton Forest and Friends of Pathways — who have become a familiar united front in the fight for trails — were aided in their effort by Snow King Ski Resort, which ran the summit chair to carry volunteers to the top of the mountain, and by the restaurant E Leaven, which fed them.

In a single day, 60-plus volunteers repaired more than a mile of trail, using a formula that the Teton Freedom Riders follow throughout the summer to build and maintain mountain biking trails around the valley.

The Teton Freedom Riders formed as a nonprofit organization in 2003 after a guerrilla effort to create downhill mountain biking trails on Teton Pass was beaten back by the U.S. Forest Service.

When downhill mountain bikers first appeared on Jackson trails in the early 2000s, conflicts between user groups erupted immediately. Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers going uphill were suddenly sharing the trails with people barreling downhill wearing face masks and body armor.

To avoid the crowds and find terrain for their growing sport, bikers began building their own trails illegally. At the height of the conflict, the U.S. Forest Service would fell trees on the new trails to prevent their use, and bikers would sneak up under the cover of night with chain saws and remove the trees so they could ride the next day.

Fundraiser and “Where the Trail Ends” movie premiere 8 p.m. at Pink Garter Theatre First Dig Day National Trails Day Dig Day with Friends of Pathways Second Dig Day Third Dig Day Teton Passkicker fundraiser Fourth Dig Day Fifth Dig Day Rocktoberfest fundraiser

Service to develop the first singleuse trail network in a national forest designed specifically for downhill mountain bikers.

“The single-use trail network,” Kavanagh said, “has stopped user conflicts and solved many safety issues.”

The Teton Pass trail network, which was built almost entirely by the Teton Freedom riders, includes 9.5 miles of gravity-driven trails.

The Teton Freedom Riders also make contributions every year to multiuse trails like the Arrow Trail and the Phillips Ridge Trail on Teton Pass and the Snow King and Munger Mountain trail systems. They also helped build the Victor (Idaho) Bike Park.

All of the work the Teton Freedom Riders do is made possible by the physical labor of volunteers and money raised at fundraisers, through federal and private grants and most recently through the Teton Trails Consortium.

Harlan Hottenstein, who designs and builds mountain bike trails professionally, serves as the field director on the Teton Freedom Riders board. His position is unpaid, as is Kavanagh’s and other board members.

Every summer Hottenstein orga-

nizes six Dig Days that generate more than 2,000 hours of volunteer work.

Local businesses support the Dig Days by providing breakfast, lunch and prizes for raffles.

On Friday, the organization will host its first fundraiser of 2013, the Jackson premiere of the freeride mountain biking film “Where the Trail Ends” at 8 p.m. at the Rose. Admission costs $10.

Teton Freedom Riders also raise money through the Teton Passkicker, Old Bill’s Fun Run and an end-of-theyear blowout called Rocktoberfest.

Grants and donations round out their funding.

However, because the trail system in Jackson is no longer in the fledgling stages of development and there is less grant money available from the U.S. government, the Teton Freedom Riders have had to look elsewhere.

The Jackson Hole Trails Economic Impact Study found that in 2010 trails generated more than $18 million in commerce and $3.2 million in salaries for Teton County.

Kavanagh looked at this data and came to the conclusion that it was time for the Jackson business community to support the trails.

The Dig Day’s are opportunities for Jackson’s mountain bikers to take ownership of the trails they use, he said. Now, the Jackson Hole Trails Consortium gives businesses a way to contribute to this public good as well.

“It is a powerful thing,” he said.

“Businesses are looking at this as an investment, not a donation. Not too many places in the world have what we have. Trails improve the quality of life in Jackson and bring in tourists as well as people looking to buy real estate.”

The way Kavanagh sees it, the Teton Freedom Riders’ work has built a vibrant and safe mountain bike scene, improved the overall quality of life in Jackson and encouraged people to visit and move here, thereby helping the town’s economy.

“As the density of Jackson continues to grow,” Kavanagh said, “there will be a need for more trails. And with more trails there will be a need for more maintenance. I think the Jackson Hole Trail Consortium is the future.”

Gravnetic and KGB Productions documented the story of Teton Pass’ downhill mountain biking trails in their 2011 video “Freedom Riders.”

8 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE

Workers like Larry Hamilton, Rosie Askin Cully, Susan Wemple, Ron Stevens, Jeannine Brown, Ellen Starcevic, Lokey Lytjen and John Held — all volunteers except Lytjen — are the backbone of the Book Nook, the small used-book store inside Teton County Library. The store is becoming a social hub for bibliophiles young and old.

A labor of literary love

Teton County Library Friends staff new Book Nook in remodeled building.

By Emma Breysse

T

he difference between Jackson’s new Book Nook and any other used bookstore? If you don’t find what you’re looking for, they may have it next door for you to borrow.

The Book Nook, one of the star “extras” of the newly remodeled Teton County Library, is an extension of the semiannual Teton County Library Friends book sale run in miniature on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It’s volunteer-run and donation-stocked, with new books coming out at least once a week in a space adjacent to the adult wing of the library.

“We have a magnificent library, but there’s something about owning a book,” volunteer Ron Stevens said, “being able to hold it in your hand and say, ‘That’s mine.’ Especially the young children.”

Stevens, a Jackson resident, is one of the group of regular Friends volunteers who sign up to work at the Book Nook each week.

Most regulars man the cash register, answer questions and keep the wheels running. In essence, they work at a bookstore for free.

Others help sort donations and shelve books.

If the Book Nook is an orderly book store, the donation sorting room is its absentminded twin. The room — home to 36 shelves, 28 boxes and 15 uneven stacks of every conceivable sort of book — holds donations. Once they’re sorted and ready, they make their way out to the Book Nook.

Books range from Jack London short stories to mountain bike maintenance guides, political biographies to romance novels. Most books cost between $1 and $2. A smattering of books on tape, music CDs and DVDs round out the selection.

Children’s and teens’ books ranging from classics like “A Wrinkle in Time” and newer favorites like “Harry Potter” have a set of shelves all their own in the middle of the Nook.

The Book Nook is only a few months old, and already it’s rare for it to be quiet.

“People are coming in and they’re

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE FILE PHOTO

The future of the Friends of the Teton County Library’s semiannual book sale is uncertain with the introduction of the new Book Nook.

What about the book sale?

The Book Nook, a year-round volunteer shop at Teton County Library, deals in the same donated books as the semiannual Friends of the Teton County Library book sales.

Whether the Friends book sale tradition will continue is still up in the air.

There are a few options, and the decision will depend on both community input and donation supply, Community Programs Coordinator Lokey Lytjen said.

It’s possible the Book Nook will completely replace the book sale if finding books and they’re talking,” said volunteer Ellen Starcevic. “I like the talking, the sense of community.”

Most of the volunteers give time to the Book Nook for the same reason its customers come to shop there: a love of books and a desire to share that love.

During a 40-minute conversation, any question of money — or the fact that the proceeds from book sales go to benefit the library and its programs — came up a grand total of once. It was all about

there is a large enough dent put in the inventory of donations.

It is also possible the sales, which traditionally are held in the spring and fall, will become a once-a-year summer affair.

However it is not as likely that the sales will continue unchanged, partly because of the large amount of organization and effort it takes to do them.

Whether the community wants and will attend a book sale also will factor into the decision. the fun of the Nook.

When Stevens, a tall man who also is active in the library’s senior book group, explained his drive to show children the world of reading, there was an energy in his voice that would not have been out of place at a political rally.

A three-year veteran volunteer with the Friends, Stevens said he signed on to man the Book Nook because he recognized the importance of connecting the community

with reasonably priced books.

Other volunteers are relative newcomers.

Wilsonite Susan Wemple stumbled into Book Nook work almost by accident, she said.

When she called the library to offer her volunteer labor, Community Programs Coordinator Lokey Lytjen told her about the Nook, and she agreed to give it a try.

She hasn’t regretted that decision yet, Wemple said.

“I love books and I’ve always loved the library,” she said. “With the new library I just wanted to help out. I didn’t know the Book Nook, but I like it a lot.”

Wemple’s fellow newcomer, Victoria Hess, of Jackson, said she started volunteering specifically to work at the Book Nook.

“It’s just great,” she said. “The books are fabulous.”

Along with selling books, there is a social atmosphere around the Nook. A new seating area and tables are right outside, and unlimited coffee is available for all willing to donate $1. Added to that, the Book Nook is just too small to completely ignore a fellow browser.

“I had a woman come in once about a half hour into my shift and she spent the rest of the hour and a half of it there,” Hess said. “We’d never met, but we started talking and we discovered a lot of things we had in common.

She ended up leaving with four or five books, but the thing that was cool was all the talking.”

Kids in particular seem to take to the Book Nook, volunteers said.

The Nook is across from the children’s and teen’s wing of the library, and it often attracts kids who come for activities like storytime.

Wemple remembers one little girl who is especially drawn to a plastic basket of smaller kid books that also contains CDs. “She would take every CD out, one at a time, and hand them to me,” Wemple said. “All she wanted in there were the books. Watching the kids come in and be so excited about reading, that’s probably my favorite thing about this.”

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 9

Turning conflict into resolution Mediators put themselves in middle of disagreements to find common ground.

By Jennifer Dorsey

C

harlie Thomas enjoys helping people understand others’ points of view. Grace Robertson is a problem-solver by nature. Mike Hammer believes there are better ways to settle disputes than the win-lose battles he saw in courtrooms when he was a lawyer many years ago.

All three are mediators with Jackson’s Center for Resolution.

They apply skills acquired through training to coach people embroiled in conflict toward legally binding solutions each side can live with or, as Hammer puts it, agreements “they’re both happy with or at least neither one is 100 percent unhappy with.”

Mediation offers “a flexible way for people to find terms they can agree to if they want to,” said Barbara Hauge, director of the Center for Resolution.

With a neutral party — the mediator — to help, people at odds can interact in a way “that can’t happen in court,” she said. “For the parties, it’s economical, effective and more flexible than a legal order.”

Perhaps a tenant and landlord haggling over a security deposit will, with a mediator’s assistance, find a middle ground between what the renter sees as normal wear and tear on the apartment and what the owner says is damage.

Maybe through mediation a man owed money will agree to allow the

Ashley Wilkerson / NEWS&GUIDE

Center for Resolution volunteers Charlie Thomas and Mike Hammer serve as mediators, helping people resolve disputes outside the courtroom.

other person to pay in installments or to swap out services like lawnmowing and painting in lieu of cash.

Or maybe a divorcing husband and wife can, with a mediator helping them navigate emotional mines, figure out how and when their children will spend time with each parent.

When you’re in a battle, Hauge said, you can take your case to a

judge, but there’s no guarantee he’ll rule in your favor. Even if he does, that may not be the end. A judgment that someone must give you money doesn’t put the cash in your bank account. When both parties are involved in crafting a resolution, it’s more likely to stick, volunteer mediators say.

“It’s such a better way of solving problems than having a judge decide

the case,” Thomas said. When people settle a dispute through mediation, “they feel better about the outcome.”

The Center for Resolution offers free mediation to people involved in small claims court matters.

When asked, the center also will help private parties resolve family problems, business disputes, workplace conflicts and other disagreeSee CONFLICT on 10

Thanks to all our VOLUNTEERS! A heartfelt THANK YOU to our 200+ library volunteers who donated 5,000 hours in the past year to a myriad of library activities:

VOLUNTEERS are

an essential library resource!

2013 Wyoming Free Tax Service • 275 tax returns prepared by 25 skilled and trained community volunteers

Volunteer tax preparer Dee Buckstaff sets up for Free Tax Prep night at the library

• Volunteers contributed more than 1000 hours in training, tax preparation, filing and Spanish translation • $210,000+ returned to taxpayers and the community as refunds • NO fees were charged to taxpayers, saving them $100+ on each return • Volunteers staffed satellite sites in Alpine and the Senior Center of JH Thanks to the Latino Resource Center, IRS,Teton County Library Foundation and Friends who have collaborated to bring this free service to the community for 10 years.

The Friends Book Nook

Volunteer Trixie Themadjaja keeps shelves stocked in the Friends Book Nook

About fifty volunteers keep the Book Nook running at the library, offering the community books in good condition for a great price.You’ll find frequently restocked, gently-used books in diverse genres including fiction, biographies, cookbooks, politics, sports, children’s books as well as Spanish titles.

You can also grab a hot cup of Joe or tea and find a good read from our Volunteer Picks shelf!

High school exchange student Zhiyue Lu assists little ones in the Dr. Seuss craft.

Friends Book Nook Wyoming Free Tax Service Adult, Teen and Children’s Programs Latino Programs Library Exhibits Summer Reading Program College Prep Test Mentoring Senior Book Club, Community Book Groups Foodie Book and Film Group Community Discussion Groups Library Special Book/Materials Delivery Interlibrary Loan Services

Shelf Reading, Shelving Community Event Booths Recycling Volunteers also serve on four Boards: Library, Friends, Foundation and Young Adult Boards.

Volunteer @ your library today!

Carol Connors volunteers with Interlibrary Loan

For Book Nook hours, volunteer opportunities and to find out how YOU can become a Library Friend, call or email Lokey Lytjen Community Program Coordinator: llytjen@tclib.org, 733-2164 ext. 255 or visit:

tclib.org/friends

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10 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 a volunteer.”

And the cases aren’t boring.

Get involved Continued from 9 Confidentiality requirements cloak If you’re interested in becoming “Our court program allows ments. Clients in those cases are the details of particular cases, but a mediator in small claims court in mediators to build their skills and charged on a sliding scale starting in general, Hauge said, mediators Jackson Hole, a workshop May 13-16 provides an important option for “peel the onion bit by bit to find out at $5 an hour, Hauge said. in Casper will train you in the basics, people whose conflict has reached The center has a core group of five what the issues are.” A tenant might and the Center for Resolution will the point that they turn to the court,” trained volunteers plus another five say she’s upset about not getting her help pay for it. said Barbara Hauge, the center’s or so who are available seasonally, security deposit back, but maybe Participants who complete the director.

Hauge said. Additional volunteers it’s the political views the landlord workshop will be certified to mediate For information about the May spouts in the newspaper that bother are welcome. through the Wyoming Agriculture training and a scholarship, call Hauge “We are always looking for people her. Maybe her dog barked at him and Nature Resources Mediation at 734-6620. interested in gaining life skills and one too many times. Or maybe they who want to provide a community used to date.

Program.

For questions about the training, “What makes it interesting are service in this way,” Hauge said.

The four-day training costs $274. contact Lucy Pauley of the state The Wyoming Agriculture and the stories that come out,” Thomas The Center for Resolution offers Agriculture and Natural Resource Natural Resources Mediation pro- said, “the behind-the-scenes kind of scholarship assistance to a member Mediation Program at 307-777-8788 gram offers training, with the next things. The point of contention often of the Jackson Hole community or lucy.pauley@wyo.gov. is not what the class scheduled who will commit to volunteer in the Registration and payment are real problem is.” to start May center’s small claims court program. requested by May 8.

One of 13 in Casper the skills he she said. (see sidebar). could nudge her toward seeing that acquired in the Additional trainMediation training helped her her interest is fixing the problem. training is what hone “reframing” skills, a verbal tool The question in that kind of situing is required he calls caucusif people want to steer conversations in a construc- ation is where do you want to put ing, or shuttle to get into mediyour resources, Hauge said. tive direction. diplomacy. ating family “You take a personalized, emo“Is it your goal to blame or get After each matters. tional problem and frame it in a your money?” she asked. “Do you party gives his It raises the side of the dis- logical, methodical kind of way,” want to put $2,500 toward an attorquestion: Since – Charlie Thomas pute, Thomas Robertson said. “You put the situa- ney or toward a solution with the conflict genercenter for resolution separates the tion into a ‘framework’ that can be landscaper?” ally is unpleasMediators say the process they two and works dealt with logically.” ant and hard if Hammer finds reframing a useful use in conflict resolution is particuwith them one at not impossible to tool in helping his clients hear and larly useful in situations where famavoid in our own lives, why the heck a time to look for solutions. ilies are splitting up.

“After they tell their story, they understand each other. would people willingly insert them“It’s the mediator’s job to help “Every divorce case should end up selves into other folks’ fractious often start to get their backs up and dig in their heels,” Thomas said. each party hear what the other one as a mediated case,” Thomas said. situations?

And if the people have kids, they Thomas, who makes custom fur- “People tend to not be willing to lose is saying,” Hammer said.

“They’re often saying the same “better learn how to talk to each other niture, has several lawyers in his face in front of their opponent. They thing, they just don’t realize it,” he about childcare because they’re going don’t want to be defeated.” family, and while he found he didn’t The shuttle diplomacy technique said. “You take the heat out of the to have to,” Hammer said. “Mediation like the conflict in the legal profession he found law itself “pretty “gives people a chance to be more discussion. You reframe it back to is a helpful model for them.”

Whether the issue is a small interesting.” He’s a Libra (an astro- honest, to make concessions without the other person and point out what each is saying to the other.” amount of money, a rift between logical sign whose traits include feeling threatened,” he said.

Hauge said mediators help people business partners or a messy Robertson, a retired aerospace diplomacy and open-mindedness) and a middle child who was always industry engineer and executive, said separate their positions from their divorce, mediation can lead to positive outcomes. the peacemaker, so mediator seemed being a mediator requires good listen- interests.

Say a homeowner is angry about “People are taking responsibila good fit when he was looking for a ing skills and the ability to absorb the crummy trees the landscaper ity for their own problems instead and assimilate information quickly. new way to volunteer.

“It does involve a significant planted. Her position is that the of letting someone else solve them,” “I have a certain affinity for it,” he said. “You have to, to want to do it as amount of thinking on your feet,” landscaper is wrong, but a mediator Thomas said.

CONFLICT

“What makes it interesting are the stories that come out, the behind-the-scenes kind of things.”

JACKSON CUPBOARD The Board Members of the Jackson Cupboard would like to thank the following volunteers and businesses who have made it possible to provide food and daily necessities to our neighbors in need: Andrea Evans Ann Carruth Ann Jowers Ashley Moore Bruce Burkland Cathy Poindexter David Nichols Dean Munn Deb Vanderveld Deborah Lopez Diana Rojo Herb Brooks Holly McKoy Hotel Terra Tuesday Group Jill Callaway Joe Kinsella Joey Journey School John Springer Judy & Dick Greig Julie McLaurin Karen Van Norman Kathy Cummings Kay Benson

Keith Mader Lana Crabtree Laura Dunlop LDS Missionaries Les Jones Leslye Hardie Linda Palmer Liz Lockhart Loretta, Cliff & Craig Kirkpatrick Luette Keegan Maime Cheek Mandy Bellarado Margaret Creel Marge Ryan Martha Gilmore Melanie Roney Miki Holding Mike Cloherty Mike Conlin Nancy Dunlap Nina Luxmoore Patty Staley Patty Lummis Richard Brecker

Richard Rice Robin Miller Sara Lee Murphy Sarah Kerr St. John’s Episcopal Church Susan Hall Tom Muller Thompson Palmer & Associates Tracy Frankovich Tricia Overdyke U.S. Forest Service Tuesday Group Wedco Tuesday Group Albertsons Jackson Whole Grocer Smith’s Food & Drug Please forgive us if your name was mistakenly omitted but know that your help is also greatly appreciated!

We would also like to thank the various businesses, churches, clubs, schools, and individuals who conducted food drives and made monetary donations on our behalf, too many to mention but know that your help is greatly appreciated!

Volunteer Board Members: Steve Gieck, Mike Randall, Amy Wierda, Jett Thompson, Shirley Craighead, Jennifer Jacobsen, Therese Metherell, Evan Molyneaux, Paul Vogelheim, Smokey Rhea, Kathy Cummings, Amy Brooks

We are always looking for new volunteers. If you are interested please email: jacksoncupboard@gmail.com Jackson Cupboard P.O. Box 1622 • 170 N. Glenwood • Jackson, WY 83001 www.jacksoncupboard.org • jacksoncupboard@gmail.com Like us on FACEBOOK! The Jackson Cupboard provides emergency food needs for members and organizations of the Jackson Community.

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 11

Helping hands for dancing feet Parents of students, others help backstage at Dancers’ Workshop.

By Emma Breysse

D

ressing a cast of hundreds for a stage performance takes the resourcefulness of a Depression-era farmer, the patience of a saint and a Las Vegas-level tolerance for sequins.

Putting on a performance at Dancers’ Workshop also takes the dedication of a core group of volunteers who combine a love for the arts with a willingness to pick up a needle or a set of car keys and pitch in.

A production on the scale of this winter’s “If the Shoe Fits” takes even more helping hands than it does dancing feet.

Two of them belonged to Robyn Lunsford, a 20-year veteran volunteer and the parent of a Dancers’ Workshop alumna.

“I started volunteering when my daughter was there,” she said. “I kept it up because I wanted to give back after they gave my daughter so much for all those years.”

This winter’s production featured everything from ball gowns to peasant dresses, mouse ears to butterfly wings. Costumers even had to find feminine outfits for two broad-shouldered men. Lunsford helped out with the costumes, but she said it wasn’t even the trickiest show she’s helped with.

The Dancers’ Workshop adult program, kids’ school and Junior Repertory Company might not seem like the first place to look for an engineer like Lunsford. But over the years she’s logged so many hours on so many different types of projects, she said, that it’s sometimes hard to keep them straight.

“I do some of whatever they need me to do,” Lunsford said.

Some of the more intricate costumes onstage are actually some of Lunsford’s sparkliest engineering projects.

Headpieces and tails that fit the character a girl is trying to portray, but still move enough so that she can dance to portray it are Lunsford’s specialties in the costume shop, she said.

Lunsford’s know-how has turned Jackson dancers into everything from monkeys to peacocks, she said.

“It’s a fun challenge to figure out how to do something like the tails,” she said. “Like the time I did the monkeys for ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ It’s tricky to get them to stay upright, stay on the costume and main-

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Savannah Dennis plays Cinderella in a Dancers’ Workshop production, one of many on which volunteers helped out.

tain a curl while still having that motion so the girls can dance in them.”

Dancers’ Workshop’s Meleta Buckstaff relies on Lunsford and fellow volunteers like Ann Dennis and Kathy Stuck for a wide range of tasks and jobs. They fetch and chauffeur dancers from visiting companies like the New York City Ballet and Diavolo, serve as ushers at performances and pick up whatever slack paid employees can’t handle.

“We really couldn’t do what we do without all our volunteers,” Buckstaff said. “They just do so much for us.”

Volunteers often start out helping because their children dance in the school or in the Junior Repertory Company, Dancers’ Workshop’s preprofessional pro-

gram. Dennis and Stuck, for example, each have a graduating senior in the company this year.

But sometimes it’s simply a desire to promote the arts and give back to the community.

Meg Whitmer, another member of Buckstaff ’s “core group,” has never had a child in a Dancers’ Workshop class. Nor is she much of a dancer herself.

“Nope, I’m just a landscape architect,” she said.

“My art experience is more with outdoor spaces.”

Whitmer volunteered with the arts in Florida, where she still spends part of the year. There she met Dancers’ Workshop’s artistic director, Babs Case.

When Whitmer moved to Jackson, she looked up Case and found a new volunteering home.

“I just think the arts are so important,” Whitmer said. “I like the way they help us express ourselves and our world. I just really like being able to support an arts scene in my community, and it’s really so special to have a place like Dancers’ Workshop in such a small town.”

The amount of work it takes to give first-class ballerinas a first-class welcome, for example, is worth it when those same ballerinas leave raving about Jackson, Whitmer said.

“Dancers’ Workshop really pulls out all the stops to be hospitable to visiting dancers, just to show them how valued they are,” she said. “I’ve driven some of them around over the years and helped guide them through town, and they always tell me on the way back to the airport how much they loved their time here and how much they want to come back.”

The family feeling among the volunteers also is a big draw for Whitmer, she said.

“It’s your group, you know,” Whitmer said. “You and all these other people doing a piece of what it takes to do something like a winter production. It becomes your home.”

Lunsford recalled one show where a dress had to be covered with sequins — a tedious and painstaking operation — that she said is one of her favorite memories at Dancers’ Workshop because all of the organization’s regular volunteers pitched in.

“We all just sat there sewing millions of sequins, and it was actually kind of fun because we were all doing it together,” she said. “It’s great to work with all the other volunteers and all the people who work so hard to make Dancers’ Workshop happen.”

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12 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Volunteers stretch social service dollars Programs keep residents from hitting rock bottom, help them learn new skills and give them a lift.

By Kevin Huelsmann

T

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE FILE PHOTO

he Human Services Council began roughly 25 years ago as a way to ensure that taxpayer dollars were being put to their best use.

In the ensuing years, the group created a network that essentially forms the backbone of social and human services in the valley. Through the council, staffers from Curran-Seeley’s substance abuse program can talk to someone at Teton Youth and Family Services about potential trends they’re seeing that might overlap. They can coordinate grant applications and so on.

The Human Services Council started in 1988.

Funding was tight at the time and town and county officials wanted to make sure that the money they were setting aside for these groups was being put to good use. They wanted to make sure the valley’s human service organizations were working together.

“We didn’t have the working relationship we have now,” Rhea said.

A new requirement was put in place. If the agencies wanted money from the town and county, they would have to create formal working relationships, thus the council.

The first members were Teton Youth and Family Services, the Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center, the Children’s Learning Center, Community Entry Services, Curran-Seeley, Teton Literacy Center and the Senior Center of Jackson Hole, Rhea said. It’s expanded to included Community Safety Network, Latino Resource Center and CLIMB Wyoming.

The first few years primarily were spent build-

Cate Smith brings lunch to Gene Sinn in 2011 as she volunteers with the Senior Center of Jackson Hole’s meal delivery program. The senior center is a member of the Human Services Council.

ing trust, learning how all of the organizations operated and dealing with logistical issues, such as finding office space. As the organizations worked together on more projects, the council became more integrated. Its members starting taking advantage of having regular interactions with one another; discussing emerging trends and potential effects they were seeing in their clients.

They even started bringing in more groups.

Eventually they formed a group called Systems of Care, which is open to any organization that provides human services, not just those that provide state-mandated programs.

Throughout the years, council members have seen many of the same issues come and go. They’re almost constantly trying to make sure they have enough money to pay for their programs. When the economy is in the doldrums, residents’ needs typically are greatest, but this also is the time when it’s difficult to find money from cities and counties, let alone from state and federal programs.

“Funding is always a big issue for us,” Teton Youth and Family Services Executive Director Bruce Burkland said.

What has helped keep these organizations running for so many years is the support of numerous valley residents who donate their time and skills.

They offer their talents and expertise to teach others. They give up their times to sift through man-

agement issues.

Many of the organizations that comprise the Human Services Council rely on volunteers to fill spots on their respective boards. These boards meet regularly and often require members to serve on various committees.

Volunteers keep down staff costs. They provide emotional breaks to the people who are faced with the personal tribulations of valley residents. And their presence can carry a lot of weight for people in various social service programs, said Smokey Rhea, executive director of the Community Resource Center.

At the resource center, volunteers historically have lent a hand putting together bags of supplies for clients. As part of a new program, they’ll be serving as mentors for specific residents, almost in a manner similar to that of the Teton Mentor Project.

That means they’ll need extensive training, Rhea said. And it means that the resource center will have to carefully groom potential volunteers to make sure their personality and disposition fit with the program.

“When they’re mentoring somebody, they’re helping them learn how to get out of some of the patterns they’ve put themselves in,” Rhea said. “You can’t tell them what to do. You have to show them what to do.”

At the Van Vleck House, and most of the facilities See SOCIAL SERVICES on 13

Volunteering

Ian Conner, 12 Life-threatening Pulmonary Disease I wish to be a zookeeper

Thank You to our Jackson Volunteers!

Amy Golightly Michelle Kren Lani Matthews Kristen Pope Kevin Pusey & Randall Woodford

If you know of a child with a life-threatening medical condition, call 1.888.WYO.WISH wyoming.wish.org 252621

We’d like to express our deepest gratitude to our Board and Committee Members, Festival Auxiliary, Office Volunteers, Usher Corps, Jackson Hole Wine Auction Volunteers, Music In The Hole Volunteers, and all who have given their time and talent to the Grand Teton Music Festival. We applaud your efforts—without you, our programs would be not possible. Thank you!

Summer Concerts July 4 – August 17, 2013 gtmf.org Jackson Hole Wine Auction June 21 & 22, 2013 jhwineauction.org 252944

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 13

A BIG

U O Y K THAN r the past year! e v o rs to n e m nteer to all our volu ves of youth! li e th in e c n g a differe You are makin

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE FILE PHOTO

Willa Darragh, 9 months, reacts after eating a piece of an orange at Children’s Learning Center.

The Learning Center is a member of the Human Services Council, which allows groups providing social services in Jackson to share resources and knowledge.

SOCIAL SERVICES

vice groups and their volunteers brings with it many other benefits. It someContinued from 12 times serves as a public relations move. that fall under the county’s youth and As volunteers become more involved family services program, volunteers with an organization, they gain a better lend their time to show off special- understanding, which they carry into ized skills, such as photography or the community.

The interaction also can benefit the cooking.

“The use of volunteers primarily volunteers.

“It can be an is for the enricheye-opener for ment and develwhat really exists oping kids’ interin our communiests,” Van Vleck ty,” Rhea said.

House Director Cindy Knight The services that human said. services orgaVo l u n t e e r s nizations offer also play a role in teaching more – Smokey Rhea have significant effects on other practical skills, executive director support sersuch as shopping, community resource center vices, such as budgeting or food the hospital or safety. law enforcement Van Vleck offices. staffers cover a “It’s not like these people go away,” lot of the same material, but sometimes it simply helps to have the Burkland said. “Sometimes they’ll residents hear it from someone else, end up in worse shape, in the hospital or jail or one of those services. For Knight said.

“Sometimes they just listen more to example, the kids we deal with might someone who is more of an expert and starting getting in trouble. It’s not like not in a parental type of role,” she said. that’s going to turn around on its own.

The exchange, between human ser- It ends up taxing the basic services.”

“It can be an eye-opener for what really exists in our community.”

Love dogs?

As the saying goes, a tired dog is a good dog. Walking dogs, teaching them basic obedience and even fostering them overnight helps prepare them for “forever homes.” The Animal Adoption Center and Jackson/Teton County Animal Shelter both need volunteers.

Web: JacksonShelter.Petfinder.com or AnimalAdoptionCenter.org Get involved: Stop by the Animal Adoption Center, 175 N. Glenwood, or call 739-1881, after the facility reopens May 7 from its spring closure. The town and county shelter, located at 3150 Adams Canyon Road a mile and a half south of Jackson, is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monday through Friday. Call 733-2139.

presents

OUR

VOLUNTEERS Thank You!

Adam Vansickle John Rentschler Mike Bressler Evan Christensen Maureen Molinari Julie Deardorff Ben Brettell Lindsay Luther Steve Whisenand Jim Wilson Rob Edmondson Nick Grenoble Mark Baudendistel Clint Troxel Juniper Lopez Steve Tatigian Carolyn Reeve Andy Irvine Amy Ringholz

Amy Kallaugher Erin Holmes Becky Tillson Aude Nevius Whitney Goodrum Pauline Chu Nancy Vaughn Kaitlin Colligan Vanessa Bergmann Zeb Hermanson Loren Hall Alex Stevens Stephanie Kiser Jim Clouse Molly Dearing Kate Kool Kris Smith Kevin Huelsmann Mary Kamstra

Kevin Kramer Vanessa Torres Charlotte Davis Julieta Lyall Ali Shafranek Mike Shaefer Evan Giles Monique Gustin Elyss Clasen Patricia Read Pistono Jeannie Leary Jeremy Leeper Joe Burke Emily Sustick Grace Robertson Adam Van Sickle Tracy Welch Sara Stephan

Making Connections. Empowering Youth.

tetonmentorproject.org • 690-2581

N A N C Y d E i d R E f R A N K E m i LY C i N d Y J U L i A JA N E b O N N i E C i N dY L i SA C A N dAC E R O b E RT g E N E V i E V E N i C K i S A N dY f R A N J E S S i C A m A R K p E T R i A d E A N N A A m Y J U L i A N N E LY N N E T T E KiLEE LEiSA Liz SHERi mONiqUE CHARLOTTE p i p pA A p R i L L A U R E N m O L LY C Y N T H i A L O R i m A R TA L U E T T E d AV i d b R E N d A L A N i C i N d Y fAY E J E N N i f E R m A R g A R E T g R E g g J O H A N N A J A i A E L L E N C L A U d i A A S H L E Y A L E x i S K E L LY K AT i E C A R T E R b i A N d i A N N A S U S A N K AT i E LiNdA SHELLiE SARAH NiKKi JACKiE JOAN f i O R E L L A L i z K AT i E K AY T E z A N S H A N N O N

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS fOR HELpiNg bUiLd A COmmUNiTY Of SUppORT, SAfETY, ANd HOpE!

Community Safety Network supports lasting change in the lives of those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking by offering shelter, advocacy and support any time of the day or night. All services are free and confidential. mARiA HANNAH NANCE LAUREN ELLiE KAREN A N N E A m Y A N p E Y T U K AT E SY LV i A m E g C H R i S T i E f E L i C i A H A L L i E N A N C Y pAT T Y A N N m A R i A T R i C i A b R E N d A C i N dY K R i S S TA R R R O RY C H E L S E A m E L i S SA E d J U L i E T A N i H E AT H E R L i N O R E L A U R E T TA K R i S T Y A L i C i A NACOLE Ed ANN RUTH Jim JAN bARbARA A L L i S O N J i m S H i R L E Y J i m J U dY d i A N N K AVA R b i L L g L O R i A

To join us, or for more information: 307-733-3711 24 HR HELP-LINE 733-SAFE (7233) www.communitysafetynetwork.org

Without you there would be no show.

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14 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PCJH

Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise, Bob, Mary, Terri, Kathy, Cindy, Vicki, Bill, George, Dennis, Debbie, Donna, Barb, Brie, Connie, Amy, Yvonne, Sarah, Jeff, Ed, Shirley, Dorothy, Jack, Mike, Steve, Kelly, Dan, Patty, Ken, Rodger, Jane, Katie, Ray, Meg, Karen, Clayton, Faith, Deanna, Chris, Wes, Stef, Robyn, Randy, Ray, Lana, Ron, Julie, Charlie, Rich, Don, Marilyn, Sue, Deborah, Martha, Julene, Julie, Kraig, Bobbie, Claudia, Janice, Diane, June, Kerri, Therese, Rick, MaryLou, Rich, Ponteir, Suzanne, Ingrid, Maddy, Karen, Ingrid, Susan, Addie, Louisa, Gail, Marissa, Macye, Sandra, Roy, Melissa, Louise

THANKS OUR

VOLUNTEERS

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE photo

The Teton Mentor Project pairs adult volunteers with kids based on their interests and personalities. Mike Bressler and Rowdy Smith, 12, climbed Mount Glory in January 2011.

Empowering Jackson Hole’s youth

Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole 1251 South Park Loop Road Jackson, 734-0388

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Order photo reprints 24/7 at

Brought to you by the Grand Teton Skating Academy

The Teton Mentor Project, now in its fifth year, connects local students and adult volunteers.

By Mike Koshmrl

A

n afternoon of mentoring a child through the Teton Mentor Project can be spent doing just about anything.

Climbing, fishing, ambling about Town Square, playing board games or just hanging out — any of these would make for a fine mentoring activity.

“It’s really a fun program,” said Kaitlin Colligan, program coordinator for the mentor project. “Students get to experience so many unique and interesting things based on the type of people that live in Jackson.”

The Teton Mentor Project, supported by a federally funded education grant, connects about 50 mentormentee pairs throughout the community. In many ways, it’s similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters, a nationwide and century-old groundbreaking mentoring project.

Teton Mentor Project is open to just about any student who’s interested in being paired up.

Demand for mentors far exceeds the supply, Colligan said.

“We definitely always have a need for more mentors,” Colligan said.

“Mentees are anywhere from kindergartners to 12th grade, but most are third through eighth grade. The mentors are adults in the community, out of high school.”

The mentor project has been around since 2008 and is a program of Teton County School District.

That relationship has helped mentor project leaders get tuned into the school system, connect with teachers and identify students who potentially could benefit from having a mentor.

“They’re usually struggling academically or socially,” Colligan said, “or a kid was reaching out saying they want extra help.”

The first step in getting involved in the Teton Mentor Project is signing up for an interview, which takes about an hour.

“We interview the mentor, and we try to get to know the mentee as well,” Colligan said. “We match people based on what their interests are and if we think they’d get along.”

To arrange for an interview, phone Colligan or her colleague Emily Sustick at 690-2581.

For information, go online to TetonMentorProject.org.

THANK YOU

TO OUR SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

American Gas Community Foundation of Jackson Hole Frank, Melanie and Nathan Hess National Christian Foundation SK8JH, Inc. 3rd Floor Productions, Inc

Jackson Lumber Wedco Alan’s Welding

EVENT SPONSORS

JH Winter

Wonderland www.jhwinterwonderland.org

Bank of the West Cowboy Bar National Christian Foundation Ripley’s Vacuum Shogun Sushi Town Square Inns

SILVER SPONSORS JH Community Bible Church JH Recreation and Event Center JH Roasters The Wort Hotel

BRONZE SPONSORs The Bunnery Hide Out Leather Jackson Hole Feed and Pet Supply Thoenig’s Fine Jewelry

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 15

4-H’ers patch together life skills Huhn has been teaching pioneer art of quilting for a decade.

By Lindsay Wood

A

group of giggly girls sat around a square of tables, eating Cheez-Its and piecing together scraps of blue, purple, pink and green fabric.

The quilts they were making were intricate works of art from a bygone era. Some girls were sewing, others were sashing, and some were calling for help from their instructor and mentor, Barb Huhn.

Huhn has been teaching quilting to 4-H kids for the past 10 years.

As she worked her way around the tables, she showed her youngest pupil, Hailee Brenton, a third-grader at Colter Elementary School, how to machine quilt. Hailee watched as Huhn lined up the needle and fabric and guided the stitching along in a straight line. Hailee took over cautiously, her foot pressing the pedal that had been propped up on a box so she could reach it.

“Barb!” another girl called.

The teacher turned to help first-year quilting student Josey Welfl slice a quarter-inch from her polka-dotted triangle of fabric with a rotary blade.

Josey let out a yelp, but it was Huhn with the bleeding finger. Huhn gave her hand a quick shake, wiped off the blood and smiled at Josey.

Huhn doesn’t chastise herself or her girls over mistakes, whether it’s a pricked finger or bunched-up fabric from a sewing error. Missteps are a part of her teaching method.

“I think it’s important for the kids to see that I’m not perfect,” Huhn said.

She hopes that in addition to the 4-H values — relating, caring, thinking, managing, health, giving and working — she’s teaching her quilters how to deal with life’s inevitable bungles.

The 10 girls in her class are learning valuable skills, including the obvious one of quilting. A century ago, this art form was something no family could do without, but mass production has reduced quilting to a pastime. Huhn sees it as an entry into the arts and a way to relax.

“It calms me down,” she said. “It’s one of those projects that I have to really think and concentrate.

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Barb Huhn, right, works with Lily Brazil on her pattern during a 4-H quilting class. Huhn sees quilting as an entry to the arts and a way to relax. As a volunteer 4-H leader, she encourages her young quilters to be independent and to take mistakes in stride.

It’s been a blessing in that way. It helps kids to calm down too.”

Fifteen-year-old Alise Prestrud, who is also a dancer, takes her time when she’s organizing the blocks of purple floral fabric of her quilt.

“You have to pay attention or else you’ll mess up,” Alise said as she looked up from her work.

A few minutes later, Huhn’s alarm sounded. It was time for her second group of students to file in and start the club’s meeting. The second half of Huhn’s class time (4 to 9 p.m. Thursdays) is set aside for some of the more advanced students.

The quilting club officers reviewed the minutes, had a lesson in “caring” and sat down to work on patterns of stars, squares and diamonds.

Third-year student Lily Brazil pulled out blue and white rhombuses of fabric and arranged them just so

to prepare her pattern for sewing.

She had already completed three of the four pattern blocks, and she hung them up together to admire them.

“I like watching it come together,” she said.

Huhn also likes to watch the patterns come together and see her girls win first-place ribbons at the Teton County Fair. She loves to see them become accomplished quilters like her former student Michaela Miller, who quilted with Huhn from age 9 until her senior year of high school.

Through her years of mentoring, Huhn has become a more skilled quilt maker herself.

That’s how she began her leadership role in 4-H actually. Her daughter Leslie Huhn, now 20, wanted to start quilting in 2001, so she enrolled in the 4-H See 4-H’ERS on 17

Have a skill? Come lead a 4-H club program Adult volunteer 4-H leaders like Barb Huhn are needed to teach a number of programs currently not being offered.

Four-H members have expressed interest in several of the programs lacking leadership, like cooking, robotics and leather craft, University of Wyoming 4-H program associate Amanda Zamudio said.

Club programs provide educational and career opportunities for kids ages 8 to 18.

Any adult can volunteer for a leadership role but must pass a background check and complete an in-person interview with a 4-H educator. Training materials and support for leaders are made available through the University of Wyoming extension office once a leader is eligible.

Adults must be committed to monthly meetings with 4-H’ers. Most volunteers meet every two weeks for an hour or two at a time. Potential leaders with special expertise in a subject are encouraged to

contact the Teton County 4-H Club office to start a club that’s not listed.

For information on 4-H Club or on becoming a volunteer, call the UW extension office at 733-3087 or visit TetonWyo.org/ex4h.

Leaders are needed for: Child development Computers Crocheting Dairy cattle Dairy goats Electricity Entomology Fabric and fashion/sewing Gardening Geology GIS/GPS Health

Horse judging Horticulture Hunting Interior design Knitting Leather craft Livestock judging Muzzle loading Nature and ecology Pistol Pocket pets Range management Robotics Rope craft Vegetable judging Visual arts Web pages Woodworking Wool judging

Teton Literacy Center thanks and applauds our volunteers for their excellent service and dedication.

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Abigail Hanson Adrienne Benson *Amy Bryan *Andria Clancy Andrea Evans Andrew Carson Andrew Wilson Ann Carruth Anna Padgett Seigel Anne Schuler Annie McNulty *Bill Maloney Bob Zelnio Carol Maloney Casey Stout Cassandra Lee Cassandra Sanchez

George Hein Ginna Kyle Gisele Olsen Grace Robertson *Ceci Clover Gracie Miller Chris Frank Hanacke Offut Christine Franseim Heather Hamilton Brown Cindy Winslow Isa Reynoso *Claudia Bonnist *Jade Walsh Claudia Van Remoortere *James Mathieu Cony Cervantes Jamie Turner Courtney Kaye Janet Romero Dan Muscatell Jane Gallie Debbie Schlinger Jane Kusek Derek Stal Jeff Brines Devin Corey Jeff Dickerson Dorothy Tanner Jennifer Garcia Lopez Doug Hayden Jillian Kubala Doyen McIntosh Jim Hand Eric Ebeling Jim Radda Erik Kimball Jim Ryan

JJ Gill Joe Burke John Good *John Lummis Joyce Steece Julia Kirby Julie Mclaurin Kate Wiley Kathy Cottman Katie Bersch Katie Mannen Katie Mathies Katie Murray Keely Castor Kelli Ward Kelly Barnhart Kelly Flickenger Ken Jern Kim Morse *Kit Hughes Kris Gridely

Kris Smith Kyla King Leanne Williams Li Wang Lia Silberg Linda Judge Lindsay Wagner Lindsey Anderson Lisa Chong Mackenzie Moore Maddy Ewig Margie Ryan Mark Hannon *Matt Rodosky Megan O’Brien Miller Resor Molly Perlman Morgan Powell Nancy Carson Nina Resor Noah Barnhart

THANK YOU! Owen Jones Patricia Read-Pistono Patty Tucker *Petria Fossel Paul Hansen Polly Warner Randy Reedy Rhonda Watson *Robert Biolchini Rose Caiazzo Rose Novak Sandy Strout Sarah Ernst Sarah Kerr Sarah Stienwand Scooter Gill

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

Scott Blackwell Sharon Reiman Shawn Means Shellie Morrillion Sosa Stephanie Franco Stephanie LaMeer Stephanie Tzompa Steve Whisenand Sue Hebberger Tammy Christel Tana Hoffman

Teen Power Teresa Griswald Tris Dunn Tyler Harlow Valerie Conger Van Driessen Victor Hernandez Will Grassell *Board Members

16 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Number crunchers

tackle taxes Low-income people get help preparing federal tax returns.

By Ben Graham

F

ew people enjoy preparing their tax returns.

So the volunteers who help residents fill out their tax forms for free at Teton County Library each spring must be a rare breed. They say they find fulfillment in processing others’ W-2s and 1099s.

“Everybody here does it because they want to give back,” said Deb Adams, director of the library and a first-year volunteer. “We see what we’re saving them.”

The program returned an estimated $250,000 to participants this year, site coordinator John Hebberger Jr. said. The total includes federal tax refunds and the amount people saved by not having to pay for professional tax help.

Everyone doesn’t necessarily get money back, he said, but because all volunteers are trained, they are able to get every penny possible back for people the government owes.

The average cost of hiring someone to do such work is $200 to $300, Hebberger said. That’s not feasible for much of Jackson’s working class.

“A lot of folks, that’s just not in their budget,” Adams said.

The program, sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service, is aimed at helping lower-income people get trained tax help.

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Volunteer Grace Robertson looks over tax documents with a client at Teton County Library. The tax preparation service offered free to working-class people returned an estimated $250,000 to participants this year.

Individuals and families of up to three making less than $50,000 per year qualify. Families with four members must earn less than $56,000 and those with five less than $64,000.

Despite the parameters for participating, the crowd waiting in a back room of the library for tax help March 28 was diverse. Young seasonal workers, retirees and married couples with children in tow patiently waited their turns.

“They come because we can do for free what they would pay for elsewhere,” said Gail Hahn, a library employee and volunteer greeting people at the door. “Sitting down with a trained individual is comforting.”

Indeed, each of the volunteers in the program must pass a test to become certified.

It’s not necessarily brain surgery, but it is a time commitment and takes some concentration,

Hebberger said.

The test for a basic certification is 30 questions long and involves completing fake tax returns.

There are two more certification levels: intermediate and advanced.

The test is open book and is more about finding the right information than memorizing the tax code, he said.

“I can honestly say that you don’t have to be an accountant to do this,” Hebberger said.

That might be true, as Hebberger is a geologist.

But his fellow site director, Lynn Grimes, does have an accounting background.

Grimes and Hebberger have been with the program for eight years.

Asked why she would spend her downtime doing See TAXES on 17

Thank you

to all the volunteers and donors who came together to help repair the old Pass Road.

Institute for

Gl bal Awareness Wilson, Wyoming USA

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 17

Paperwork to compile What to bring to get your taxes done for free in spring 2014: •Last year’s tax return •Birthday of taxpayer and dependents •Social Security card or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) letter •All W-2 or 1099 forms for the 2013 tax year •Driver’s license or photo ID •Bank account number for direct deposit •Both spouses must be present for return to be filed electronically To volunteer next year, call Teton County Library at 733-2164 and dial extension 229 for Education and Programs Manager Dimmie Zeigler. Training takes place in early January, and tax assistance is offered each week from late January through early April.

A

s private land uses have shifted in the valley,

Founded in 1993, the JHWF works to promote ways for people

requiring less fencing, many landowners have turned

to live compatibly with wildlife. Through our Give Wildlife a

to the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation to modify

Brake™ Program, our Fencing Program, our Bear Wise Jackson

or remove fencing to better accommodate the migration of

Hole Program, and Nature Mapping Jackson Hole in collaboration

wildlife. Without our volunteers, these efforts would not be

with the Meg and Bert Raynes Fund, our legion of volunteers are

possible. Thank you, volunteers!

at the forefront helping to protect the valley’s wildlife.

Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation Celebrating 20 years of helping our community live compatibly with wildlife.

We depend on your support - please donate today!

TAXEs

Continued from 16

for free what she usually gets paid for, Grimes pointed to those who benefit.

“People are just so grateful and appreciative that this is a free service,” Grimes said.

One such person came to the library hoping someone could help her with an exceptionally complicated tax return.

“I’ve done my taxes before, but this year I had four different jobs in two different states,” Sara Johnson said after Hebberger helped her finish her taxes. “I didn’t want to screw it up.

This was beyond helpful.”

She appreciated that the service was free, but she also described her experience with a word not usually associated with taxes: “fun.”

The service isn’t open just to those who have an hour or two on a weekday evening to wait at the library.

There is a drop-off service as well for those who work evenings. People can leave their paperwork with the volunteers and pick up their completed returns later.

www.jhwildlife.org • 307.739.0968 • PO Box 8042 • Jackson, WY 83002 253541

Thank you

4-H’ers

Continued from 15

Club’s quilting class. Huhn got in on the action and joined class leader Mary Martin to learn better techniques.

When Martin decided to resign in 2003, she handed the reins over to Huhn.

“We have our own little quilt guild,” Huhn said. “The group of girls I have now challenges me. I know that I’m improving myself as far as helping them. I’ve learned to not be so critical of myself.”

Her go-with-the-flow attitude carries over to the girls. During the class they seem at ease with themselves and Huhn. Their teacher likes the club to be “as natural as possible,” she said, and she allows them to think independently.

By encouraging their autonomy, Huhn lets the girls set the bar for achievement themselves, even if that means extra work for her. She sometimes will spend five to six hours outside the meeting time helping her kids cut quilt pieces, one of the hobby’s more difficult tasks.

Huhn will continue to work with her girls inside and outside class through July to prepare their patchwork wall hangings and bedspreads for the fair.

That way everyone who “wants a firstplace ribbon can get one,” she said.

Her endeavors may go without pay, but they don’t go without appreciation from her students and their parents.

“Barb is amazing,” Alise’s mom, Becky Prestrud, said. “She volunteers her time every week and goes above and beyond.”

to all our community volunteers

B

ank of Jackson Hole would like to thank every volunteer who contributes to our community. The countless generous acts of kindness performed by members of our society make Jackson unique.

Over the past 5 years our message has focused on bringing attention to the people who make living in this Valley truly wonderful, and we’re proud to be sponsors of many of these honorable causes. We are lucky to consider this terrific community our home and serving as your locally owned, operated, and managed bank. Wherever your philanthropic goals take you we are here to support one person: YOU.

We answer to no one but you. www.bojh.com

Headquartered in Jackson Locally Owned and Managed 10 Branches 19 ATMs Commercial Loans Real Estate Loans Mortgage Loans Main Branch 990 West Broadway 733-8064

Town Square Branch 10 East Pearl St. 733-8067

Wilson Branch 5590 West Highway 22 733-8066

Smith’s Food & Drug Branch 1425 South Highway 89 732-7676

Hillside Facility 975 West Broadway 734-8111

Teton Village Branch 3285 West Village Dr. 734-9037

Aspens Branch 4010 W. Lake Creek Dr. 733-8065

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18 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Online matchmaker builds relationships

Silver Star Communications

Connecting Communities - Connecting Lives, since 1948

VolunteerJacksonHole.org pairs prospective volunteers, nonprofits.

Community Service • Scholarships • Local Events

By Jennifer Dorsey

A

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Your local source for: Security, Smart Home & Theater Solutions Computer Repair & Networking • Wireless Phones Smith’s Plaza - 734.9040 - www.silverstar.com

g n u o Y Thanks to Al

d her ears of directing the chorale an y e.

0 1 r e horal h C r e h o t f in nearly 25 years of involvement

Get matched As of mid-April, these are some of the organizations hoping to find helping hands via VolunteerJacksonHole.org:

Sunday, May 5th 3PM

Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole • 1251 South Park Loop Road Free Admission and refreshments 252866

window shopping encouraged

Cougar Fund • Build shelves for the storage room in office on Gaslight Alley.

• Find artists who portray cougars in the wild to feature on Cougar Fund’s website.

• Send Facebook messages telling people how they can help cougars.

Teton Raptor Center • Help out at RaptorFest on Father’s Day by selling tickets, pouring beer, overseeing kids activities and more.

Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation • Report roadkill on foundation’s hotline.

• Become a Nature Mapper and log wildlife sightings (training June 3).

Community Foundation • Help out with Old Bill’s Fun Run: fold T-shirts, take pictures, man water stations and more.

PAWS of Jackson Hole • Assist at Tuxes & Tails Gala and Auction on June 29: ticket sales, auction management, and event set-up and break-down.

Community Safety Network • Become a junior (teen) advocate and help peers learn about healthy relationships.

Teton County Library • Help out at the Book Nook.

• Assist weekly with recycling.

Friends of Pathways • Celebrate National Trails Day on June 1 by pitching in on trail work.

The journey continues ~ thanks to our Volunteers! ars

ra Celeb

5 ye ting 5

Join us today!

225 N. Cache Street 733-2414 jacksonholehistory.org

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JH Chorale

Spring Concert

re you looking for a relationship?

One where you have fun and feel needed and appreciated?

Whether you’re looking for a longterm commitment or want to play the field, there’s an online service in Jackson Hole that can hook you up … with volunteer opportunities, that is.

It’s VolunteerJacksonHole.org, a Community Foundation of Jackson Hole website where volunteers and nonprofits can find one another.

Like any matchmaking service, the site promotes pairings based on shared values and interests. If you’re a prospective volunteer, you register on the site and then, with checklists, specify what you’d like to do.

Activities to choose from include arts and crafts, tutoring, mentoring, senior services, meal preparation, event planning and fundraising. Another list breaks out agency services — animal, children, pregnancy, recreation, disas-

ter response, human rights, etc. — if that’s how you want to find an organization that’s a good fit.

If an advocacy role is what you’re after, you can check off activities like writing letters, serving on a committee and attending public meetings. There’s another section if you’d like to donate office equipment, recreation gear, nonperishable food and other items.

You also can plug in how much time you have to offer: half or full day, one time only, weekends and ongoing.

The site encourages users to become fans of agencies, akin to liking someone on Facebook. Among the agencies awaiting your clicks are Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Jackson Cupboard and the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.

VolunteerJacksonHole.org is looking to build relationships. They may not involve long walks on the beach and moonlight picnics, but they’re bound to be satisfying in their own way.

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 19

Volunteer Briefs Nest monitors wanted

Teton Science Schools is seeking volunteers to help with the NestWatch bird box monitoring program.

NestWatch is part of a national effort to track the nesting trends of hundreds of species of birds. This spring, more than 4,000 NestWatchers will report on more than 6,000 nests in the 48 contiguous U.S. states plus Alaska. Their reports will add to nesting records that have been collected by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology going back to the 1960s.

From May to August, nest watchers check their assigned box twice a week.

A single box can be shared by two people, so the commitment can be just one time a week. Volunteers identify bird species, and count eggs, nestlings and hatchlings.

Training for volunteers is set for 4 p.m. Thursday at the Jackson campus of Teton Science Schools. Those who can’t make the training can call 413-6205 or email kelli.petrick@tetonscience.org.

Help steer public art

The Town of Jackson is seeking applicants for a public art task force.

The group will prepare the town’s Art in Public Places plan, oversee the town’s art collection and work with town boards and agencies to implement public art projects. Special consideration will be given to artists, plan-

ners, designers or business owners.

To apply, submit a letter of interest by 5 p.m. Friday to Mayor Mark Barron, care of Town Clerk Olivia Goodale. Drop it off at Town Hall or email ogoodale@townofjackson.com.

“A volunteer is a person who believes that people can make a difference and is willing to prove it.”

Disaster response needs helpers

Teton County is prone to a variety of disasters, particularly wildfires.

So Darby Eagan of First Western Trust, Rich Ochs of the Teton County Emergency Management and Jim Flower of the American Red Cross Bridger-Teton Branch are forming a new group to assist in response.

Teton County Voluntary Organizais proud of our many dedicated volunteers who are tions Active in Disaster will connect organized, trained volunteers with making a difference in our community and we thank emergency management officials before disasters occur. them for being the heart of our organization.

To get a community back on its feet 253530 following a catastrophe, a coordinated response by government, nonprofits and volunteers is key.

Please proof and call Amy at 739-9542 or return via Fax at 733-2138. Thanks!

PDF PROOF “VOAD is going to be our method to use the many people who want to help during a disaster,” Flower said.

In Teton County, volunteers’ duties may include expanding access to services, including storage of donations, care and shelter locations, certified counseling services and logistical support.

For details or to get involved, email Eagan at darby.eagan@myfw.com or call 739-3902.

- Anonymous

Community ResouRCe CenteR

Many thanks to our incredible volunteers!

We couldn't do it without you!

Like work gloves?

If getting dirty and sweaty in the name of habitat improvement appeals to you, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is planning at least a half dozen barbed-wire fence pull days this summer. Removing unnecessary barbed wire fence can save the lives of ungulates that all too often get tangled up.

When: Some Saturdays from mid-June to mid-October Web: JHWildlife.org Get involved: Call 739-0968.

For volunteer information, contact Maura at 307-733-1374 or visit us at www.jhtra.org 253569

head heart hands health

Thanks to the Volunteers

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives” -John F. Kennedy

and Their Response

Teton County 4-H Volunteers are inspiring the next generation!

Thank you for all you do for our community

photo: Dave Cernicek

September 8, 2012

Marty Anderson Carolyn Augé Roger Banks John Bauer Anjanette Beard Joe Beard Amanda Beckett Pamela Bode Kayla Bonilla Diana Brown Jay Buchner Joseph Budge Sandra Budge Joseph Burke Ryan Castagno Steve Castagno Anita Christensen Leland Christensen Kelly Clark Rob Clark

Carmen Clarke Amy Collett Chris Collett Jeffrey Daugherty Candace Dayton Reed Dayton Liz Devine Josh Dieckmann Stacey Dieckmann Trudy Funk Jennifer Goe Kerry Grande Gwen Hansen Patricia Hardeman Sue Heffron Barb Huhn Deanne Hunter Cindi Jacobsen-Brinton Lee Judge Thomas Judge

Sara Lee Lanier Ben Linn Justine Logan Kathy Lucas Virginia Mahood Deidre Morris Allison Neeley Lisa Poternitz Sandra Rodeck Pamela Romsa Gayle Roosevelt Jeffrey Sanchez Richard Staiger Illene Wagner James Wagner Amy Wilson Dana Wilson Janice Wilson Meredith Wilson Alesha Wise

Interested in becoming a volunteer? Contact the Teton County 4-H Office at 733-3087.

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INSPIRE I NVE ST ENRICH

20 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 24, 2013

When we invest our time as volunteers and enrich our community, we are all philanthropists.

Whether you want to answer a hotline, inspire a young reader or plan an event, you will find the perfect match at Volunteer Jackson Hole. We’ve enhanced the site to make it even easier to connect with the organizations you care about.

Visit www.volunteerjacksonhole.org, the Community Foundation’s free online service.

IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH PHILANTHROPIC LEADERSHIP 245 East Simpson Street • PO Box 574, Jackson, WY 83001 • 307-739-1026 www.cfjacksonhole.org • www.volunteerjacksonhole.org • www.oldbills.org 251811