Valley Volunteers 2012

Ashley Wilkerson

Jesse O’Connor mans the Howdy Pardners booth at Jackson Hole Airport welcoming arriving passengers to the valley with a cup of orange juice or a mimosa.

April 18, 2012VolunteersVAlley

A supplement to the Jackson hole news&Guide

Join the club

page 8

Posts with perks

page 13

welcomingface

A

Jesse o’Connor is part of posse that greets visitors.page 15

2 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 18, 2012

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

Publishers: Michael Sellett, Elizabeth McCabe

Chief Operating Officer: Kevin Olson

Special Sections Editor: Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

Editor: Johanna Love

Layout and Design: Kathryn Holloway

Photo Editors: Bradly J. Boner, Price Chambers

Copy Editors: Richard Anderson, Jennifer Dorsey

Features: Jennifer Dorsey, Emma Bryesse, Tram Whitehurst, Mark Huffman,Brielle Schaeffer, Katy Niner, Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Cory Hatch, Johanna Love

Advertising Sales: Amy Golightly, Adam Meyer, Karen Brennan, Meredith Faulkner

Advertising Coordinator: Heather Best

Advertising Design: Caryn Wooldridge, Jenny Francis, Kara Hanson, Lydia Wanner

Pre-press: Jeff Young

Pressmen: Dave Carey, Dale Fjeldsted, Greg Grutzmacher,Johnathan Leyva, Mike Taylor, Bryan Williams

Office Manager: Kathleen Godines

Customer Service Managers: Lucia Perez, Ben Medina

Circulation: Kyra Griffin, Pat Brodnik, Gary Bourassa, Hank Smith

Copyright 2012Jackson Hole News&Guide

P.O. Box 7445, 1225 Maple WayJackson, WY 83002 , 307-733-2047

Fax: 307-733-2138, www.jhnewsandguide.com

T he pages of our fourth annual Volunteers section are packed with inspiration.

You’ll read about residents who sit by the bedside of the dying, dangle from helicopters to rescue injured climbers and teach homeless dogs house man-ners. As a way to repay people who spent countless hours coaching them at sports and life, vol-unteer coaches pay that time forward for another generation. Board members for more than 200 nonprofit organizations in the area attend meetings to guide the groups and get their hands dirty, too. While the perks of a free ski pass or concert ticket help motivate volunteers to become ski hosts or ushers, there are less glam-orous parts of each job.

If you think you don’t have time to volunteer, consider that even a few hours per month could be useful.

The Jackon/Teton County Animal Shelter is looking for folks age 14 and older to help walk dogs. The animals are grateful for a break from the ken-nel routine, and the exercise helps calm them, shelter manager Corie Rybak says.

A few times a summer, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation asks people to come help pull obsolete barbed wire fencing so wildlife can move freely.

The Senior Center of Jackson Hole needs a volunteer to distrib-ute newsletters once a month and another to coordinate a summer garage sale, director Becky Zaist

said. Someone to serve as an occasional substitute to

deliver meals to shut-in seniors would “help us hugely,” Zaist said.

The Community Foundation of Jackson

Hole uses nearly 300 vol-unteers to help produce Old Bill’s Fun Run, which

in 2011 distributed $7.75 million to valley nonprofit

groups. This year’s event will be held downtown on Sept. 8.

If you have only a morn-ing to commit, the Rotary Club-

sponsored Spring Clean Up is set for May 12. By donning gloves and bend-ing over a few hundred times, you could substantially improve the beau-ty of this place.

Still don’t have time to volunteer? Almost every nonprofit has a wish list of items it would like to have donated. For example, Teton Youth and Family Services is seeking two propane grills, a shop vacuum, twin bedsheets, a washer and dryer, sturdy couches, a chest freezer and a printer.

Join the efforts, widespread, to make Jackson Hole a great place.

– Johanna Love

From the editor

SAFETYThank you for

HOPEThank you for

Community Safety Network is grateful for its many dedicated volunteers and advocates who help bring safety and hope to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Your compassion and skill make the journey to peace so much brighter!

CSN advocates at its annual appreciation dinner, November 2011.

Join Us! CSN’s next Advocate Training begins in June.

24-Hour Help Line: 733-SAFE (7233) Office Line: 733-3711www.communitysafetynetwork.org

Please proof and call Karen at 739-9541 or return via Fax at 733-2138. Thanks! PDF PROOF?

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The PC Fund for Animals Charitable Trust

“Dedicated to helping animals in need, and to promoting and protecting the rights of all animals!”

The PC Fund, Box 4220, Jackson, WY 83001 • (307)[email protected] • Member: WY Animal Network; NYSWRA; NWRA

SERVICES/PROGRAMS• Free Spay/Neuter• Vet care for domestic & wild animals (Meds/Rehab)• Healing Touch for Animals (Post Trauma Care)• Public Awareness Campaigns/Action Alerts (Animal Issues in the News or in Legislation)• Liaison w/Teton Co. Sheriff’s Office re: Cruelty/Abuse Complaints Educational Seminars• Free Educational Materials re: Pet Ownership and Pet Care• International Prayer & Healing Energy Circle (Members in 26 states and 7 foreign countries)• Any Beneficial Service we may provide to the animal kingdom

Wewould most appreciate your financial support. Thank you for caring!

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Volunteer for the 44th Annual Community

SPRING CLEAN UP

Meeting time is 9:00am

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

Free picnic lunch at Powderhorn Park at noon provided for all volunteers.

Saturday May 12, 2012

The meeting places are:Town Square • Old Wilson School

Hoback Market

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On behalf of the 23 local Habitat homeowner families and over 500,000 families worldwide,

THANK YOU, VOLUNTEERS!

A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out

Taylor Glenn Photography234348

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 3

By Emma Breysse

Years as an outdoorsman brought Mike Nelson into the Teton County Search and Rescue fold.

None of that prepared him for dangling from a line attached to a helicopter thousands of feet above the same slopes he’d hiked and skied.

“It’s unnerving at first,” he said. “It was a risk I never thought I’d take.”

It’s only one of the seemingly death-defying strate-gies employed by him and other members of the agen-cies who show up when a visitor ends up on the wrong side of Mother Nature.

The going does get tough, but according to three Search and Rescue and Jackson Hole Fire/EMS vol-unteers, that’s when the tough start trusting their training and one another.

Mike Nelson If Nelson, an eight-year Search and Rescue vet-

eran, feels the adrenaline of a rescue, it’s right at the beginning or after the job is done.

“There’s a ramp-up moment at first, but you have to take a step back,” he said. “In a way, you’re playing a game of odds, but you have to put that out of your mind at the moment. Later, you can have the breakdown.”

After the ramp-up moment, Nelson said, his train-ing takes over and he concentrates on doing what must be done.

Search and Rescue volunteers participate in regu-lar and intensive training both to keep specialized skills fresh and to make the job all but second nature, he said.

In a situation like a cave rescue, those skills can be what it takes.

The Wind and Ice caves can put both spelunkers and rescuers in a tight spot or leave them in the dark.

When someone is lost or injured underground, it takes a level head and a reliable light source to bring them out again, Nelson said.

“There are spots in those caves where you liter-ally can’t turn around,” he said. “I’ve been in rescues where we had to attach a stretcher to a team mem-ber and have them haul them out behind them.”

And just as a spelunker can find herself trapped in a tight place, so can a rescuer.

Nelson said there is an exit spot to one cave that’s a tight corkscrew of a passage where he can’t pic-ture getting a stuck person out without explosives, which aren’t exactly risk-free themselves.

“Every rescue is unique just because of the ter-rain you’re in and what the conditions are,” he said. “It’s always an improv moment when you have to figure out what will work best for that par-ticular situation.”

Tim CiocarlanIf anyone knows how to plan a rescue, and how to

throw that plan out when necessary, it’s Tim Ciocarlan. A 20-year veteran and one of the original members

of Search and Rescue, he’s done more of just about all of it than anyone on the team.

That includes making the call, as incident com-mander, on whether his team can manage the risk of any given mission.

“The problem with rescues and trainings is they’re very dynamic,” he said. “Boy, things can go wrong fast. It all comes down to can your people do that rescue and can they come out safely.”

Ciocarlan knows that it also comes down to trust-ing the people he sends out, even when they make a call to change the plan. Chances are slim that the information he has before the mission starts accu-rately represents the entire situation, he said.

A January rescue after a skier triggered an ava-lanche in Four Pines is a perfect example. Early

information said Edie Asrow, 43, of Jackson, was high up the mountain where the risk of triggering a second avalanche was great.

“We weren’t going to go where we [originally] thought she was,” Ciocarlan said. “It came down to, ‘If we don’t go she might die. If we go, one of us might die.’ ”

When Asrow told rescuers a helicopter sent out to survey the scene flew right over her, they real-ized she was lower down than reported, and they decided to try skiing up to her.

They were still in avalanche terrain in blizzard conditions, but both Asrow and her rescuers made it out safely.

The middle of a rescue is “a really extreme time,” Ciocarlan said. “If you make a mistake, you’re lost, or you’re setting off an avalanche. Those are scary situations. You fall back on your training, and you fall back on your teammates.”

Sometimes, the worst happens despite everything.Weeks after the Asrow rescue, Ciocarlan was

involved in the decision-making process to send Fire/EMS Battalion Chief Mike Moyer, helicopter pilot Ken Johnson and team member Ray Shriver aloft to rescue a snowmobiler near Togwotee Pass.

The mission turned sour when the helicopter crashed, fatally injuring Shriver and leaving Moyer and Johnson with severe leg injuries.

“I would not be telling you the truth if I said it didn’t take the wind out of our sails,” Ciocarlan said.

Before the Feb. 15 crash, the worst injury suf-fered by a Search and Rescue team member was a broken wrist, he said.

“I won’t tell you it wasn’t hard, and it was tough for me as incident commander, but we have a job to

do,” he said. “When the next call came, we were all ready to rescue again, and we needed to, honestly.”

Will SmithIt can seem like Dr. Will Smith takes every chance

he can to put his medical skills to extreme tests. An emergency room doctor at St. John’s Medical

Center, Smith also volunteers for Fire/EMS, Search and Rescue and the National Park Service.

His business card announces him as “The Wilderness Doctor.”

“I definitely enjoy taking my skills out in the field,” Smith said. “It’s a special niche that I’ve been able to find.”

He started volunteering his medical skills, often taking them to the backcountry, with Fire/EMS, where he is now the medical director. The concept snowballed from there.

For Smith, a wilderness emergency requires the same skill and care as a hospital emergency.

“I don’t ignore [the risk], I don’t discount it,” he said. “Just like medicine, you have to evaluate the situation. You get to know what to do and where to do it.”

Sometimes that involves hanging from a heli-copter, sometimes it involves navigating swift rapids to find a trapped rafter and sometimes it involves running into a burning building — all things Smith has done either in the field or in a training situation.

When you ask him why he would take the extra risks without pay, he’ll dispute your point, however.

“We do get paid, in a way,” he said. “We’re help-ing people and helping to keep them safer in the backcountry, and that’s really rewarding.”

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Will Smith, Teton County Search and Rescue medical director, rides below a helicopter in 2008 with a litter carrying a backcountry snowboarder who broke his leg on Mount Glory. The patient was evacuated to a waiting ambulance at Coal Creek on the west side of Teton Pass.

In mountains, rescuers

face risksMembers of Teton County Search

and Rescue and Jackson Hole Fire/EMS put themselves in danger

to aid others.


By Tram Whitehurst

E very Tuesday night, the quiet family practice office of Dr. Richard Sugden transforms into

a bustling center of activity as the Teton Free Clinic takes over.

A line of people snakes out the door as patients wait for their order to be determined by the spin of a bingo cage. Some nights, there are so many people that some have to be turned away.

Many are here because they don’t have any other options for their medi-cal needs. Since 2003, the free clinic has been the primary health care pro-vider for a number of low-income and uninsured residents of Teton County.

Although it’s staffed by two part-time health care professionals, a rotating group of volunteers forms the backbone of the service.

“The volunteers are critical here; we couldn’t do it without them,” said Dave Saurman, a physician assistant who works part time at the clinic and full time at Teton Valley Hospital in Driggs, Idaho. “They’re an integral part of what’s going on.”

About six to eight volunteers each week provide a range of services for patients, from medical examinations to translation and administrative work. One volunteer even cooks din-ner for the group.

On this night, Julie Giacobassi, a retired musician who played oboe and English horn and who now calls her-self the “gopher” of the office, brought homemade chili with cheese, onions and cilantro.

She has been volunteering at the clinic for more than six years. In that time, working with patients and other

“passionate volunteers,” she hasn’t wanted to leave.

“This is just a very special place,” she said. “I look forward to it every Tuesday night.”

Other volunteers see time at the clinic as a way not only to serve the community but also to keep their skills up, medical or otherwise. For example, Sugden, who helped start the clinic and who donates his East Broadway office space for its use, said he gets to practice his Spanish with some patients.

For Dr. Bill Holmes, a recently retired ear, nose and throat special-

ist who spent the last 10 years of his career at the Mayo Clinic, the free clinic gets him out of the house and allows him to continue to use his skills to help others.

“I really wanted to help out,” he said. “It gets me out of my wife’s hair and helps me keep my skills up.”

But all agreed that what motivates them most is the chance to really make a difference in people’s lives by helping to improve their health.

“It’s nice to be able to provide the skills to people who need it and services to those who need it,” said Lanny Johnson, a physician assistant

at Teton Orthopaedics who’s been vol-unteering at the clinic from the start. “The patients really appreciate it.”

The volunteers see 25 to 30 patients most weeks, treating everything from sprained joints to chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pres-sure. To qualify, patients must live or work in Teton County, not have health insurance and make less than 200 per-cent of the federal poverty threshold, i.e., $22,340 for an unmarried person.

The clinic is able to provide some medications for free and also gets help from St. John’s Medical Center, which is right next door. The hospital provides lab and imaging services to patients at no charge — a total value of $40,000 last year alone.

Patients who need additional medi-cal care, such as surgery, can some-times work out deals with doctors. For example, the clinic was able to find a doctor at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center who performed brain surgery on one patient at no cost, Saurman said.

Despite the current group of com-mitted volunteers and outside assis-tance, the clinic could still use addi-tional help.

Clinic Director Amy Adams said they are always looking for more volunteers, particularly those with a medical background, as well as more funding. The clinic is primarily financed through private donors and Old Bill’s Fun Run.

“How can we inspire the rest of the community to get involved?” she said.

For information about clinic ser-vices, volunteering or donating, go online to www.tetonfreeclinic.org or call 739-7492.

Helping with health careVolunteers fill in the gaps of community’s medical needs at Teton Free Clinic.

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE

At the Teton Free Clinic, Dr. Richard Sugden, with nurse JoAnne Scott, examines Derek James. Sugden’s office hosts the free clinic each Tuesday for medical providers to volunteer their time providing free primary medical care for low-income and uninsured residents.

Volunteer OpportunitiesBaking Goodies • Book Sale • Books on Wheels • Children’s Programs and Craft Helper

College Prep Program Mentor • Digital Scrapbooking • Friends Coffee StandJunk Mail Management • Library Program Hospitality • Mailings

Old Bill’s Fun Run and Parade Participation • Poster DistributionReading to Seniors • Recycling • Patron Services Projects • Sewing

Shelf Reading • Shelving

Friends of the Teton County Library contribute to every part of the library through their volunteer work.

Anyone who volunteers at the library is automatically a Friend. The library recognizes and thanks its many Friends!

Somira Sao and Tormentina Burwick

125 Virginian Lane • Jackson WY 83001 • 307-733-2164 • TCLib.org HOURS Mon through Thurs 10 am - 8 pm • Fri 10 am - 5:30 pm

Sat and Sun 1 pm - 5 pm • Closed Legal Holidays

T E T O NC O U N T YL I B R A R YFOUNDATION

The Library THANKS All Our Devoted Volunteers!

If you’d like to volunteer, call Volunteer Coordinator Maria Hayashida-Ludington, 733-2164, ext. 255 or email

[email protected]

Volunteer Appreciation PartySaturday, June 23 5:30-8 p.m.Powderhorn ParkCelebrate the work you do at the 4th Annual Friends & Staff Mixer!

TCL Book Sale May 17-20, 2012The Virginian Conference Center750 W. Broadway Ave.

Thursday 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.Friday 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.Sunday 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Please bring your own bag for books!

The Book Sale needs volunteers! No need to stay all day, all we ask is two or three hours of your time.

Your donations to the Teton County Library Foundationmake library programs & enhancements possible



234264

UPCOMING EVENTS:


By Johanna Love

In photographs of the Jackson Hole High School girls basketball games, assistant coach Mike Mattheis is

often just out of the frame.But he’s always there. For the past eight years, Mattheis,

41, has volunteered his time to be an assistant coach. He goes to every Broncs girls practice, every game, and travels hundreds of miles across the state with the team.

“He’s been an integral part of the program,” Broncs girls coach Sean Shockley said. “He’s really important as far as the consistency, terminology. He’s another set of eyes. He knows exactly what I’m after.”

Shockley and Mattheis have known each other for about 35 years, Shockley said, since the playground at Davey Jackson Elementary School. They are close enough that Mattheis is able to sense what a player needs to hear based on how Shockley talks to her, Shockley said.

“He’s valuable at countering my emotions,” Shockley said. “If I’m too hard on a kid, he knows how to build them back up.”

Mattheis said his “great relation-ship” with Shockley is what’s kept him in the post for so long. Mattheis loves the game and understands it, he said.

“As a player, I wasn’t the biggest or strongest kid,” Mattheis said, “but I understood how to play the game, how to be a team player. I think that’s a lot of it, how to play as a team.”

At the beginning of each practice, players drill on their individual skills, but during the bulk of practice, they work on team strategies.

“I think that’s why we’ve been super successful,” Mattheis said. The Broncs girls have won four straight state championships. “That’s fun. I love see-

ing those kids win.”Growing up in Jackson, Mattheis

was coached by many people who devoted their time to his personal and athletic development: Rudy Sanford, Bob Baldock, Verlyn Hoagland, Steve Hardeman and his father, Gary Mattheis. He played football, base-ball and basketball and raced with the Jackson Hole Ski Club.

What he remembers about those years is coaches who made sports fun and “pushed me to be better.”

After graduating from Jackson Hole High School as a varsity bas-ketball player in 1989, Mattheis attended college at Notre Dame, playing on intramural teams and coaching a women’s intramural bas-ketball team.

When he returned to Jackson,

Mattheis and friend Wade Sanford helped basketball coach Les Bishop run practices for a year. Then, eight years ago, when Shockley took over the girls team, Mattheis helped with some practices. Seven years ago, he was asked to be a full-time volunteer assistant coach.

As a Realtor back then, and for the past five years as owner of Town Square Tavern with his brother, Steve Mattheis, Mike Mattheis has had jobs flexible enough to spend the time need-ed during basketball’s long season.

“People sometimes think that I’m crazy for putting all that time in,” Mattheis said, “but it’s giving back to the community that I grew up in.”

Seven years ago, Mattheis teamed with Rich McCain and Jay Anderson to start the Jackson Hole Youth Football

program for students in fourth through sixth grades. That keeps him busy all fall before basketball begins.

“Those kids make me feel young,” he said.

Basketball is where his heart is, though. Many of his friends and fel-low town league basketball players, like McCain and Mel Orchard, also volunteer.

“When you know the other coaches,” Mattheis said, “you know a lot of the kids, it’s easy to want to be involved.”

And the sport brings all ages of Broncs to the gym on frosty evenings, he said.

“The coaches who coached me when I was young still come to the games and coach me on my coaching.”

Coach is ultimate team player

After being coached by others,former high school standout gives his time.

NEWS&GUIDE FILE PHOTO

Broncs Mike Mattheis and Wade Sanford celebrate Sanford’s game-winning free throw in the West Regional basketball tournament in 1989. Today, as a volunteer, Mattheis helps coach the Broncs girls basketball team and runs a youth football program he co-founded.


Mattheis goes to every Broncs girls basketball team practice, every game, and travels hundreds of miles across the state with the team.

KAy MATTHEIS / COURTESy PHOTO

Mattheis, seen here playing with The Elks baseball team in 1983, remembers all the coaches who made sports fun and “pushed me to be better.”


By Jennifer Dorsey

C hris Englund has many good memories from his 15-plus years as a volunteer for Hospice of the Tetons, but one stands out as his

proudest. It was the day he spent at the home of a terminally ill patient whose family wanted to drive over to Idaho Falls to go shopping.

“I spent 13 or 14 hours with the client,” Englund said. “The family told me it was the first time in two and half years they had had a day off from being caregivers. That I really, really liked.”

Englund is one of two dozen men and women who help Teton residents enjoy a good quality of life in their last days — or weeks, or months — and who also assist their loved ones. The job takes volunteers into people’s homes — and also to St. John’s Medical Center and the Living Center — and it is endless in variety, from baby-sitting grandchildren and doing laundry to sitting by the bedside of a dying man or woman.

Bette Caesar has read to patients — “Valley So Sweet” and “All Things Great and Small” are among her favorites — baked cookies with them, worked with them on the computer, taken them on drives to spot wildlife, sat on the porch with them listening to birds and rubbed lotion onto hands

and arms.“Sometimes I just hold their hand,” she said.Debbie Phillips once spent an hour before work

each day at the hospital with a dying man who had no family in town and didn’t want to be alone.

Being there at the

end of lifeHospice volunteers provide

practical and emotional support to patients, families.


Chris Englund has volunteered with Hospice of the Tetons for more than 15 years. “All caregivers go straight to heaven,” Englund said. “Even the atheists.”

See BEING THERE on 7

Loyalty

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.

2012 Summer Season:July 4 - August 18

Tickets on sale now!307-733-1128 • www.gtmf.org

Thank You To Our Wonderful Grand Teton Music Festival Volunteers!

234233

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

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Thank You to our Jackson volunteers!Amy Golightly, Michelle Kren, Lani Matthews & Kevin Pusey


Other days have required more mun-dane tasks, like making meals.

“Whatever is needed, we pitch in and do it,” Phillips said. “We know we’re going to embrace whatever we find that day. We’re there to make their life more comfortable.”

Formally defined by the Hospice Foundation of America, hospice is “a special concept of care designed to pro-vide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-lim-iting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments.”

While pain management and physical comfort are key, there’s an emphasis, too, on helping the sick person live as fully as possible.

“The focus is really on how to live each day to the best of their abil-ity and the way they want to,” said Wendy Wolf, who coordinates the Tetons program. “It’s also designed for not just the person who’s ill but for the family.”

While doctors, nurses, aides and therapists provide professional-level services, the volunteers in the Hospice of the Tetons program are “the backbone that provide anything that’s nonmedical,” Wolf said.

“These are people who are will-ing to enter people’s lives at one of the most fragile times for the patient and their family,” she said. “They are some of the most courageous and big-hearted people.”

Volunteers don’t just breeze into the program. Before meeting hos-pice clients, they are required to go through 32 hours of training that covers, among other things, the phi-losophy of hospice, boundaries and ethical issues, the role of volunteers and their own “issues” with death.

“It’s a mini death and dying course,” Wolf said. “You’re walking into such fragile territory that if you

don’t have a sense of who you are and where you are with living and dying, it’s harder.”

Phillips said the training gave her “peace and understanding.”

“It’s a realization we all get older and an understanding that aging and death are part of the natural life pro-cess, and not to fear it but to embrace it,” she said.

Hospice clients, too, have their own ways of embracing — or not — their last days.

Englund said he has met patients who want to reflect with him on their life and legacy. Others just want a good chat, like the man who was eager to share his hunting sto-ries with him. When clients are in an upbeat mood, Englund will laugh and joke with them. Whatever a per-son needs.

“When they want to talk, the world is their oyster,” he said.

Englund has met adamant athe-ists and devoutly religious people dur-ing his years of hospice volunteering.

“We honor every faith and make absolutely no judgments,” he said. “We will listen to what they say and give anything they say value. It’s their process they’re going through, not ours. What they really want is validation of what’s important to them, and I just love doing that.”

Given hospice’s connection with death, it might seem like depressing volunteer work, but those involved say it’s anything but.

“Yes, there are sad times, pro-foundly, for the volunteers and their clients,” Englund said, “but believe it or not, there are joyful times.”

And whether the mood is light or dark, hospice volunteers feel privi-leged to be trusted to be with people at one of the most important transi-tions in the human experience.

“It’s truly an honor to be with someone at the end of their life,” Caesar said.

BEING THEREContinued from 6

A StAnding OvAtiOn fOrour Volunteers!

www.jhcenterforthearts.org233434

the Center for the Arts presents world

class entertainment to the community. We

wish to thank the Volunteers and the valued

members of the Board of Directors who

dedicate their time and efforts to ensure

that the Center remains the community

gathering place for Jackson Hole.

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!

Please remember us

when making your

Old Bill’s donations

SENIOR CENTERO F J A C K S O N H O L E

Celebrating 30 yearsof serving seniors

Thank you

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“WE OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED THE VERY THINGS THAT MOST DESERVE OUR GRATITUDE.”

-Cynthia Ozick

Thanks to all who volunteered for the Art Association in 2011, we are here because of you and look forward to an art filled 2012!

307.733.6379www.artassociation.org

If you'd like to join the most creative volunteers in the valley contact [email protected]. Perks include discounts towards classes and sneak previews of what we are up to.

No time to volunteer? No problemo. Support us by coming to an evening of off-season specials at the Q Roadhouse and the Rendezvous Bistro April 16 - 22.

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JULY 25 - JULY 29, 2012

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Thank you to our many volunteers. We couldn’t do it without you!

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

234602

Read Hole Health!Jackson Hole’s most comprehensive

health-related supplement looks at traditional and alternative health care choices.

Look for it May 2nd!HOLE Health

INSIDE

May 4, 2011

A supplement to

the Jackson Hole

News&Guide

7 Friendly competitions

at Jackson gyms help

in weight loss efforts,

pay major bonuses.8 Ask a few questions to

make sure you have

the right insurance for

you or your family. 10

Nature provides bounty

of health-enhancing

substances in the form

of medicinal plants.

St. John’s Community Health Fair • 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday • Snow King Center • See story on page 3.

FITClassically


By Mark Huffman

It’s not just about pancake breakfasts, though it seems sometimes that every service organization has one.

No, it’s a chance to meet people. And an opportu-nity to raise cash for worthy causes by every method you can think of, from the oldest event in the area, the Lions Club’s 49er Ball, to the goofiest, the Kiwanis Follies.

Service clubs in Jackson have hundreds of members, and without them community charities would be much poorer, less able to meet the needs people can’t pay for themselves and that the government also won’t fill.

Like many service club members, Jim McNutt, presi-dent of the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole, joined to net-work and make friends with people involved in every government agency, business and nonprofit in Teton County. A Rotary meeting “lets you meet people and to hear about the diverse programs other people bring to these events. ... It’s great for information. You’re always learning about what’s happening in the community.”

“I wanted to meet other women and figure out a way to volunteer,” president Anne Shuler said of her reasons for joining Soroptimist International of Jackson. “I’ve met a lot of people who are interested in giving some-thing back.”

Garth Dowling, vice president of the Jackson Kiwanis, agreed: “Kiwanis is an excellent opportunity for mem-bers to support groups in the area that are interested in the education, welfare and development of the town and its children.”

Michael Schrotz, a Jackson Hole Lions Club board member, said its 25 members are inspired by “a sense of giving back to the community. ... If I want to help others, I can’t write a check for $5,000 or $10,000, but the Lions can have an event to do that. ... Many people don’t even know the Lions is helping them, but we do it.”

Getting the job done is satisfying, but it is often a challenge, with so many things compet-ing for time. Schrotz made a special plea for his group and all the service clubs in the valley: “All the volunteer clubs have a hard time with mem-bership, everybody is too busy,” he said. “But we work to get this stuff done, because it’s important to the community.”

Money is vital, he said, but “a check isn’t going to flip the pancake. ... We need people to come over to the other side of the grill for an hour” to keep the work going.

Here’s an introduction to Jackson Hole’s service groups and some of what they do.

RotaryOf 1.3 million Rotarians worldwide, there are about

250 in Jackson Hole. They run a huge Wine Fest every May, their biggest fundraiser, an event that “takes a

tremendous amount of work,” McNutt said. Rotary events raised about $90,000 last year, pro-

viding $60,000 in scholarships for about 30 students. Rotary’s three subgroups also operate exchange pro-grams for students and business people; work in the town clean-up; run a booth at Music in the Hole; pro-vided more than 5,000 meals last year at Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church; contributed to disaster relief for Japan and Joplin, Mo., after natural disas-ters; and supported Rotary International’s anti-polio effort, which has come close to eradicating the disease.

Learn about Rotary Club of Jackson Hole, the larg-est group of Rotarians, at www.jacksonholerotary.com, or about Rotary Supper Club of Jackson Hole (presi-dent Jack Daily) at www.rcjhsupperclub.org and Rotary Breakfast Club of Jackson Hole (Neil Ford, treasurer) at 734-0290 or [email protected].

SoroptimistSoroptimist International is the largest women’s

service group in the world. The 40 Soroptimists in Jackson continue one of the area’s oldest traditions, the Christmas Tree Festival, held each December for the past 30 years. Members elaborately decorate trees and wreaths, auction them and spread the proceeds among women and girls as scholarship and grants. Last year, the event raised more than $30,000.

The club lost money on its first Bras for a Cause sale — done with models, runway style — but the event caught on, and last year the sale brought in $35,000.

“The money goes to the St. John’s Hospital Women’s Health Care Fund and the Wyoming chapter of Susan G. Komen, both for breast cancer research and support,”

Shuler said.Like many members, Shuler said she was just look-

ing to make some friends, but found the friendship is strengthened by the group’s community work: “There’s a lot of camaraderie ... and it’s nice to be able to give back.”

Rotary, Soroptimists, Kiwanis, Lions raisethousands of dollars to support community causes.

Service is the business of clubs

PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Ellen and Richard Tambor dance the night away at the 2010 Lions Club 49er Ball at The Virginian Lodge. “It’s just fun,” Ellen Tambor said. “We like getting dressed up.”


Alexa Masek models “Pink-a-Licious,” which tied for highest bid at $1,500 at the Soroptimists’ 2010 Bras for a Cause fundraiser.

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Bernie Williams pours a taste of a red wine from Wild West Wines & Spirits for Cara Kelly in 2009 during Rotary Club’s 21st annual Wine Fest at Snow King Center.

KiwanisJackson Kiwanis has only about 15 members these

days. Dowling calls the group “small but mighty.” They focus on kids. That has included about $1,500 in schol-arships for high school seniors last year, helping pre-

pare a room for children making long stays at St. John’s Medical Center, and working with police and fire depart-ments on inspecting child car seats at the county fair and the health fair.

Dowling said the club also supports other groups

concerned with the education, welfare and develop-ment of the valley’s children. Two such organiza-tions Kiwanis supports are the Van Vleck House and Red Top Meadows, which are both involved with troubled youth.

The annual Kiwanis Follies is the group’s big fund-raiser, a burlesque-style show that lampoons the people and events of the valley. It’s a year-round effort, and “the week before the follies, almost no member of Kiwanis gets any work done in their real jobs.”

Contact Dowling at [email protected] or check the website at www.kiwanisofjacksonhole.org.

LionsThe Lions Club of Jackson’s early group disband-

ed, but a new incarnation arose in 1971. Jackson Hole Lions Club runs the annual 49er Ball, a winter party held almost every year since 1896, encourag-ing attendees to dress in their best Old West fin-ery. Lions put up about 260 U.S. flags all around Jackson for eight holidays a year, collecting a $45 sponsorship for each flag, mostly from nearby busi-nesses. Lions also run a food booth serving breakfast and dinner at the county fair. About $30,000 raised last year went to help people who needed support because of accident or illness, and to support a tra-ditional Lions project, eye care, both in this area and around the world.

Call Michael Schrotz at 734-8226 or find the club on Facebook.

And more ...Other service groups in the area include the Jackson

Hole Jaycees, who sell Christmas trees and run a July Fourth pancake breakfast to award scholarships and orchestrate the Fire in the Hole July 4 fireworks show (contact them at www.facebook.com/jacksonholejaycees); the Jackson Elks Lodge No. 1713, which provides mutu-al aid and awards scholarships (call 733-1713); and the Jackson Hole Masonic Lodge No. 48 (email at [email protected]).



Ellen and Richard Tambor dance the night away at the 2010 Lions Club 49er Ball at The Virginian Lodge. “It’s just fun,” Ellen Tambor said. “We like getting dressed up.”


David Ottley, Garth Dowling, David Auge, Mark Hassler and Mike Randall perform the CanCan’t during the finale of the 2011 Kiwanis Follies. The annual laugh fest spoofs valley events of the past year.


IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH PHILANTHROPIC LEADERSHIP

When we invest our time, we all become philanthropists and enrich our

community. Whether you want to answer a hotline, inspire a young reader or

plan an event, you will fi nd the perfect match at Volunteer Jackson Hole.

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

ENRICH

INSPIREINSPIREINVESTINVEST

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By Brielle Schaeffer

Jackson resident Sarah Wines has spent the night with Max, Sparky and Choco.

She has also taken Liberty, Greta, Scooter and Daisy home with her.

But that was all before she fell in love with Flynn.

Wines has fostered more than 61 dogs through the Animal Adoption Center during the past five years.

“I just love that I’m helping these homeless animals find a home,” said the certified public accountant and St. John’s Medical Center employee.

Wines made a home for 2-year-old mutt Flynn last August after foster-ing him for a week. She wasn’t expect-ing to get a dog, but the laid-back pup charmed her.

“He was so easy,” Wines said. “I real-ly liked his demeanor.”

Foster volunteers care for dogs awaiting adoption when the center is not open, like in the evenings or on weekends, said Animal Adoption Center operations manger Lindsay Goldring.

“Sarah has been helping for years,” she said. “Our fosters are our lifeblood.”

The center provides foster volunteers with food, toys, bones and a neon “adopt me” vest, she said.

“Every single dog goes home every single night,” she said. “Fostering is a good way to get to know dogs and ‘date’ dogs to see what dogs suit your fancy.”

Wines said she started fostering canines as a way for her yellow lab, Suzie, to have some playmates. Suzie died in 2010, and Wines continued tak-ing dogs home for the night.

“It’s so much easier for them to get adopted after they’ve been in a house,” she said.

Also, Wines is able to tell the center more about each dog’s habits, like if it is housebroken or likes to chew on things or climb on furniture

Max, a retriever mix she cared for, was getting physically stressed out at the center, she said. But after she took care of him, he got adopted. It’s a point of pride with her that most of the dogs she has fostered have found homes.

Daisy, a basset mix, was adopted from the center and then moved to California with her new owner.

“Now she’s a beach bum,” Wines said.Sometimes she sees her fosters

around town, but they go by differ-ent names.

“They don’t keep in touch,” she joked.Originally from Miami, Wines

moved to Wyoming in 2001 to go cross-country skiing for a winter after college. She never left.

She likes to hike, ski and enjoy the area, she said. In that way, she and Flynn are two peas in a pod.

“He likes everything Jackson has to offer, too,” Wines said. “Except water. He’s petrified of water. We’re working on that.”

Flynn’s personality has “changed so much,” she said. Before, he was so shy he wouldn’t even get in the car. Now he loves to go for rides, play with other dogs and chase the neighbor’s urban chickens.

“It’s great to have something to come home to,” Wines said. “Even the days you don’t want to get out, you have to, because he’s raring to go.”

The center is always looking for volunteers, from foster parents to dog walkers to cat cuddlers, she said.

Visit the adoption center’s web-site, www.animaladoptioncenter.org, for information.

Serial dog dater settles down


Even after falling in love with Flynn and adopting him, Sarah Wines still fosters homeless dogs for the Animal Adoption Center.

Wines fostered more than 61 dogs before finding ‘the one.’

Contact Karen Brennan for more info 307-413-6772

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!

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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF JACKSON HOLE

Thanks and Recognizes the volunteers who serve to enable the church’s Outreach Programs, including:

Wednesday Fellowship Dinners• Food prep• Table set up• Clean up• Cooks

Community GardenWork a garden plot and donate 10% of your bounty

to a worthy cause

Jesus Oriented Youth in JH Summer CampLeaders in Training: Local students entering 6th-10th grades

Upward BasketballCoaches and Referees

If you would like to volunteer to serve, visit us at www.pcjh.org or the www.cfjh.org website

or call the Presbyterian Church office

734-0388233460

Volunteers Needed

facebook.com/jhtrajacksonyoutube.com/jhtra1993

for Jackson Hole Therapeutic Riding Association

No horse knowledge or experience necessary.

Upcoming Volunteer Training Dates:

SATURDAY, APRIL 21ST, 10AM-12PM MONDAY, APRIL 30TH, 9AM-11AM

––––––––––––––––For a complete listing of opportunities,

visit our website www.jhtra.org––––––––––––––––

For more details call Volunteer Coordinator, Kristina Scarff

(307) 733-1374 or [email protected]

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Visit us online at


By Cory Hatch

L ast November, when the resi-dents of Bar Y Estates asked for help removing a barbed wire

fence along Highway 22, Wilson resi-dent Bob Kopp marshaled not only his forces, but also his wire cutters.

Kopp, president of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation board of directors, isn’t the kind to hide behind Robert’s Rules of Order. The most enjoyable part of his post is “being out there and pull-ing fence,” he said. “I just love getting out there and getting my hands dirty.”

For Kopp, who moved to Jackson Hole in 2009 from Albany, N.Y., where he also volunteered, the foun-dation was perfect to fill his need to contribute to his new community.

“When I moved to town full time, I was looking to get involved here,” he said. “I was impressed by the fact that they were action-oriented, not policy-oriented. It was really making a differ-ence in protecting wildlife in this area. It’s a precious resource and the reason why a lot of us have chosen to live here.”

Kopp’s philosophy is common among members of the various non-profit boards in Jackson Hole: a desire to do good work steeled by the drive to

take action. The same holds true for Mackenzie

Walles, a member of the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum board. When KJ and Craig Morris came up with the idea for a place where parents and caregivers could play, learn and explore with their children, Walles jumped at the opportunity to help.

“We were all sort of noticing that we have so many things in this val-ley for our children to do, but they’re expensive and they’re at set times,” Walles said.

The founders of the museum want-ed a place that was accessible to fami-lies that might not be able to afford other activities for children.

“We would get together about once a week,” Walles said. “We formed commit-tees. It was all volunteers working on exhibits, marketing and fundraising.”

After the town of Jackson helped with a dollar-a-year lease on the museum building downtown, the idea took form, and the museum opened to the public last November. This April, it saw its 7,000th visitor.

As a member of the executive com-mittee, Walles specializes in fundrais-ing. Any money brought in that doesn’t go towards exhibits, staff or upkeep

goes toward scholarships for local families in need. Outreach efforts aim to involve the Latino community and other groups in Jackson Hole.

“We’re really working on making this a place for our entire communi-ty,” Walles said.

For Lisa Rullman, serving on the board of the Teton chapter of Habitat for Humanity is a matter of not only community spirit but also faith.

“It’s part of my personal religious beliefs to do what we can for others,” she said. “And I think Habitat is one of the best organizations there is for ending poverty.”

Rullman, who is secretary of the board’s executive committee, has served Habitat for five years.

“The organization has been grow-ing in recent years,” she said. “We know the need is great in the com-munity, and we’re doing everything in our power to meet that challenge.”

In addition to helping the board with strategic planning — the group hopes to build a minimum of 25 new dwellings by 2016 — Rullman stays busy outside the boardroom. While one of her proudest moments was learning to swing a hammer, “I’m bet-ter off with my talents feeding the vol-

unteers from time to time,” she said. Rullman also helps with outreach

to local churches. In other commu-nities, churches drive Habitat for Humanity’s efforts, and Rullman hopes to generate that kind of support in Jackson Hole.

“Recently, some of the churches have helped us tremendously by housing volunteers,” she said. “We have big groups that come through. It’s heartbreaking to have to turn vol-unteers away because we can’t find a place for them to sleep.”

Kopp said it is heartening to come to a community where service is an ethic that’s so widespread.

“This is an amazing town we live in,” he said. “The biggest thing that I see is that people are basically living here because they want to live here. A lot of people make sacrifices. You see their passion and commitment to their community. It’s what makes Jackson special.”

To learn about the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, Jackson Hole Children’s Museum and Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area, visit www.jhwildlife.org, www.jhchildrensmuseum.org or www.tetonhabitat.org.

All those in favor, say ‘aye’BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Mackenzie Walles plays with her son, Cayden, 3, at the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum on April 6. Walles serves on the museum’s board.

Jackson Hole’s board members take action to serve nonprofits.

Barb Huhn

Barbara Trachtenberg

Ben Manzano

Bernadette Cuvalo

Bethany Ankerson

Bev Menghetti

Bill Maloney*

Billy Oppenheim

Biz Doyle

Bob McLaurin*

Bob Moeller

Brad Campbell

Brian Smith

Carol Maloney

Caroline Hudnut

Ceci Clover*

Cheryl Brown

Christine Franzeim

Claudia Bonnist*

Corey Fifles

David Hewat

Debbie LaJeunesse

Derek Stal

Dorothy Tanner

Doug Hayden

Dustin Nichols Schmolze

George Hein

Grace Robertson

Gustavo Suclla

Hanacke Offutt

Heather Hamilton-Brown

James D. Hand

James Radda

Jamie Dunn

Jamie Lavenstein

James Mathieu*

Jamie Turner

Jane Kusek

Jeff Dickerson

Jennifer Conwell

Jenny Spence Barkley

Jessica Chambers

JJ Gill

John Fox

Julia Kirby

Jade Walsh*

Katie Matthies

Katie Murray

Keely Castor

Kelli Ward

Kit Hughes*

Kris Gridley

Kristina Smith

Laura Remmy

Laura Yungmeyer

Leif Huot

Lindsey Anderson

Lisa Ryan

Lori Clark-Erickson

Louis Centrella

Louis Smithwick

Mackenzie Moore

Mark Hannon

Marsha Wackerly

Matt Rodosky*

Marva Duke

Mike Shaeffer

Molly Perlman

Myra Dorros*

Nancy Carson

Nina Resor

Noah Nicole Barnhart

Patty Tucker

Paul Hansen*

Petria Horner Fossel

Pier Trudelle

Polly Warner

Randy Reedy

Reagan Warsinske

Rebecca J. Edge

Robert Biolchini Jr.*

Robyn Reedy

Rosa Sanchez

Rose Caiazzo

Rose Novak

Rosemary McIntosh

Sabrina Jourden

Sam Hartnett

Samantha Danahy

Sandy Strout

Sarah Kerr

Scooter Gill

Stephanie LaMeer

Steve Melanson

Sue Hebberger

Susan DeMuro

Teresa Griswold

Tim Cline*

Tom Mann

Tony Mendes

Tris Dunn

Valerie Conger

Van Driessen

Victor Herndandez

Wilden McIntosh-Round

*Board Members

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

THANK YOU!Abi Arnold

Ainsley Cooper

Alicia Cox

Allison Frederick

Alison Jones

Alyson Klaczkiewicz

Amanda Benavides

Ana Rode & Family

Andria Clancy*

Andrea Evans

Andrew Carson

Andrew Wilson

Ann Carruth

Anne Fish

Anne Schuler

Annie McNulty

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, email [email protected] or call 307-733-9242.


By Katy Niner

The natural and cultural backdrop of Jackson Hole affords ample opportunities for volun-teerism with rewards. Perks include skiing

around Rendezvous Mountain all day or attending events staged at the Center for the Arts and Walk Festival Hall. Here is a trio of rewarding roles.

Alpine ambassadors“What’s the easiest way down?”This is the No. 1 question asked of Andy

Zimmerman, a volunteer mountain host at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Runners-up are where to find lunch or a drink.

This season, the resort enlisted approximately 65 mountain hosts, a volunteer position that offers the perk of a season pass and days roving around the mountain.

Zimmerman heard about the gig from friends who are hosts. Having spent four winters in food and beverage service at the mountain, Zimmerman interviewed to become a host last fall. According to the resort, this winter 50 people expressed interest in becoming hosts, 30 applied and between 15 and 20 were hired.

Zimmerman’s rookie season began with training — first aid, CPR — and then he shadowed a sea-soned host in the early winter.

All winter long, Zimmerman enjoyed interact-ing with the public and his resort peers. Beyond guiding guests, hosts work closely with mountain operations and ski patrol. With ski patrol stationed high on the mountain — skiing down to an accident affords the quickest response — mountain hosts look out for issues down low. When they see a crash, they radio ski patrol.

On duty twice a week, Zimmerman begins his day

with a mountain host meeting at 8 a.m. The crew is fun and diverse, Zimmerman said, from people with five jobs to retirees. All amicable and well-rounded, the hosts become a “brotherhood,” Zimmerman said, which means banter runs high in the morning.

“The true light of the mountain hosts’ diver-sity comes out in those early morning meetings,” Zimmerman said. Generation gaps are playfully bridged, new lingo defined. “We have a lot of fun.”

Each host is assigned to a specific area, like Apres Vous in the morning, Thunder in the after-noon. A given region will have one to four hosts assigned to it.

For Zimmerman, the toughest part of the job is juggling hosting with his paid nighttime jobs — a predicament his young peers also found them-selves in.

“Some days, you ski nearly 30,000 vertical feet,

Best gigs involve access

See BEST GIGS on 14

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski host Andy Zimmerman gives advice to visitors on where to find the best snow April 5 at the top of the Bridger Gondola. This was Zimmerman’s first year volunteering as a host at the resort.

Classical concerts, dance performances, ski passes top perks

of most-sought-after posts.

Town of Jackson St 1Cpt Eric BorgesonChris BetsingerRiclyn BetsingerValerie BlairHenry CadwaladerGreg CooljianTeresa deGrohMatt GoewertBobbi Heikkila Rick KortumFrank LaneBrad LarsonDrew RushLeo SanchezKevin SalysVeronica SchreibeisAmanda SolidayMelissa ThomasmaBrad Watsabaugh

Town of Wilson St 2Cpt Robert MoomeyShayne HansenTim HarlandDean JarvieRusschelle JonesHeath KuszakChris MommsenBrian MooreSteve Poole

Hoback Area St 3Cpt Mike MayerCpt Dave SchwindtCpt Mike TrumbowerLt Todd FitzgeraldFrank BeckerDave CernicekMary CernicekJanet PalermoLisa PotzernitzForrest SandbergBernd SieberTom Toolson

Moran Area St 4Cpt Mack McFarlandTom GetlerErik KimballPhillip LamoureuxCam PreussLarry RobinsonLogan SteffensGiovanni TabacchiChris TackeJames Warren

Pines/Wilson Area St 6Cpt Tom MasonCpt Steve MoomeyLouise GignouxBill HadeJim KnokeRemy LevyChris LittmanNathan LundquistTina MartinezConnor QuinnBrenda SherwinKelly StirnDavid Wheeler

Adams Canyon St 7Cpt Rob DearingLt Matt RedwineCarlo AcacioRay BrenceClay GeittmannJohn GonnellaJoe KravetskyJohn LaBrecJim Little, JrBen MateoskyAnthony RojoMatt SomersMike SullivanBill Van GelderSam Zuckerman

Personal Sacrifice for the Good of the Whole

Jackson Hole Fire/EMSVolunteers Standing By For You

These names represent the men and women who give up time with family and friends to serve the community.

8,753 Total Hours trained in 2011335 Total Fire calls in 20111,087 Total EMS calls in 2011

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and then you bartend or bar-back all night,” he said.

Even so, Zimmerman loved being a mountain host and plans to re-enlist.

“You are having a great time. You are skiing all day,” he said. “Sure, you are putting your time in, but you are on skis. I think most of the people enjoy making sure others are having a good vacation.”

Usher an experienceRobin Christensen and

Dennis Conley have attended more concerts than they can count since joining the Grand Teton Music Festival’s usher corps 15 years ago.

For the couple, volunteer-ing with the festival is a way to give back to the arts com-munity in Jackson Hole.

“We feel it is important to give a contribution of our time and show our appreciation to a group that enriches the val-ley,” they wrote in an email.

Ushering has nurtured their appreciation of classi-cal music.

“As a result of being exposed to such talented musicians, our understanding of music has been enhanced and broadened in a way that would not have occurred oth-erwise,” they said.

“Getting to know the musi-cians over a long period of time has enriched our lives and is one of our favorite aspects of helping the festi-val,” they said. “They are able to share the joy of music with us directly.”

Every year, the festival enlists an average of 90

ushers.“They are the face of the fes-

tival on concert evenings and welcome patrons with warm greetings,” Mike Swanson, co-director of marketing, said.

Ushers arrive an hour before concerts start. They perform a variety of vital tasks. They distribute pro-grams. They assist special-need patrons who require the wheelchair lift to access mid-level ADA seating. They collect ticket stubs and help patrons find their seats. They report any customer service issues to the front of house manager, and they

make sure patrons abide by the festival’s policies of no cameras, no cellphones, and no video, food or drinks.

Above all, they make sure the experience in Walk Festival Hall is as serene as possible.

“They offer cough drops to those with scratchy throats or coughs and ease any other disturbances to the often subtle orchestral music that resonates in our hall,” Swanson said. “They make sure patrons who arrive late do not enter the hall in the middle of a movement, and then get them to their seats as quickly as possible when

there is a break.“Basically they are in

charge of making sure our patrons get into the hall and have an enjoyable concert experience,” Swanson said. “Any complaints are usually quelled by the sound of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.”

The primary perk for ush-ers is the opportunity to enjoy most of the concert for which they volunteer, and they also receive a voucher to attend a future concert. The festival throws a thank-you barbecue for ushers at the end of each summer season.

Ushers have been a part of the festival family since the concert hall first opened in 1974.

Center of it allAt the Center for the

Arts, 75 volunteers serve as “ambassadors for the arts” at each and every event staged at the Center.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization,” Nina Doggrell, the center’s customer service director, said.

All told, in 2011, volunteers donated 1,900 hours of their time to help out with 100 events staged at the center.

Dorothy Neckels, the vol-unteer of the year, logged 100 hours volunteering with the center. Doggrell applauded Neckels’ willingness to vol-unteer for events of all kinds, whether large or small, a chil-dren’s program or a touring act, a community event or a celebrity concert.

Volunteers ensure that guests have a positive expe-rience in the center. They fill a gamut of roles, from check-ing coats to ushering, work-ing concessions to answering guest questions.

Doggrell solicits volun-teers for specific events by email. If several events are coming down the pike, she asks volunteers to pick one. Any given event enlists between 10 to 12 volunteers.

The volunteer retention rate is high, so high, in fact, that many volunteers — like Neckels — signed on when the Center Theatre first opened in 2007. The positions are so coveted, the theater keeps a waiting list of pro-spective volunteers.


BEST GIGSContinued from 13

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Andy Zimmerman samples the goods while volunteering as a ski host April 5 at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Zimmerman said the best part of being a ski host is getting an assignment as a “rover,” when he gets to go from place to place around the mountain.

The Helping Hands of Hospital and Living Center Volunteers

Thank You Volunteers for all you do!If you want to raise your hand to help call 739-7541

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.”

Proverbs 3:27

St John’s

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By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

R esidents might wonder how Jesse O’Connor, landscape and natural history interpret-er, maintains his exuberance during one

of his 11-hour drives through Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

Last summer he drove 110 trips, a personal record. If all of his ventures were filled with “wows” and generous tips, one could rationalize how he could find the energy to volunteer and greet visi-tors at Jackson Hole Airport in the winter.

But ideal trips they all aren’t. Some go particu-larly poorly. Like the time he guided a busload of tourists without first finding out what line of work they were in.

Rolling north behind the wheel, O’Connor recounted the stories behind the scenery. There’s the National Elk Refuge established in ... We are climbing Fish Hatchery Fault ... The Teton Range was uplifted like this, the Gros Ventre River flows like that.

And then came the grazing cattle. Free-range, O’Connor expounded. Healthy. No hormones, no steroids.

Better tasting than that feedlot offal.

Authenticity comes from communityAs he rolled toward Moran, O’Connor began to

feel uneasy about the group behind him. “It was deadly silent,” he said. Highly unusual.

Turns out he was escorting some national asso-ciation of county feedlot engineers. He had just fed himself a big, fat foot.

And there were nine hours to go.“My heart wasn’t in it,” O’Connor said of his

worst day as a Jackson Hole ambassador. Nor were there tips for the driver.

Anyone else might have gone back to waiting tables, O’Connor’s former profession. Or wouldn’t have the energy to face even more outsiders after hours.

This winter he was at the airport in his trade-mark cowboy hat and duster, pouring mimosas for the freshly arrived, greeting them with an earnest smile and ready to answer questions. He’s part of the Howdy Pardners posse, volunteers who wel-come some of the millions who travel through the valley every year.

“It’s so gratifying to say, ‘Welcome to our com-munity,’ ” O’Connor said. “I believe in volunteering because I’m invested in my community.”

That investment began after he moved from Michigan to Casper in 1979, then came to climb the Middle Teton for his 21st birthday. A kegger up Mosquito Creek followed, and he met a bunch of young outdoor types there.

“There was a light in people’s eyes,” he said. “I wanted what they had. I wanted the life that was to be found here.”

After his second trip here, a climb of Teewinot Mountain became a life-changing moment. Peter Stiegler offered him a job waiting tables for the upcoming winter season, and until then he cleaned condos and was a substitute teacher. Later, he waited at The Cadillac Grille, singing the specials to his customers.

The bright eyes lured him.“Every night I would go out and be the young

wild thing,” he said. “I danced a lot, kayaked a lot.”O’Connor began to realize the ticking nature of

time and life as youthful energy swirled around him. Many who came to play eventually twisted off, went home. He decided to invest.

“Those people who are really captured by this community ... they want to share — not just take but feed,” he said.

O’Connor had two years of college at a Michigan Christian school, and in 1988 he went to the University of Wyoming to get a teaching degree. Back in Jackson, working for the Jackson Hole Christian Academy, he began teaching art and music, volunteering for a field trip to Yellowstone.

Passion becomes a career“Kids started asking me questions,” he said. He

answered. It was fun.“I think it went to my head,” he said. “I had

guidebooks, a degree in elementary education.” Interpreting came naturally.

He blended it with his next professions as a cab-bie, a bus driver and an employee of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. He would drive, answer questions, even step on a tour bus to give a lecture.

“It was almost accidental becoming an inter-preter,” he said. “That’s really my passion: inter-preting the landscape and history. Driving is how

I get to do that.”He now drives for Alltrans. He draws authen-

ticity from the community, knowing and reading the Charlie Craigheads, Jack Turners and other writers and historians.

“I’ve not only read Lewis and Clark, I’ve walked in their footprints,” he said. O’Connor once repeat-ed the controversial first ascent of the 13,770-foot Grand Teton in period clothing with hemp ropes.

Regarding his Howdy outfit, he says, “I have driven cattle.”

He lets his dialogue unfold with the scene. Light will inspire, as will animals.

“I let the landscape be the star,” he said. “I’m pretty much a straight man.”

Each busload brings with it new energy to keep him going.

“It doesn’t get old,” he said. So far, he’s never left anyone behind.

In addition to his Howdy Pardners work, O’Connor has been chairman of the Historic Preservation Board, served on the board of the Jackson Hole Chorale, directed his church choir and is the second-string bugler for the American Legion.

He married Karen in 1991, and they are parents to Eireann, 13 and Liam, 9.

The community has inspired me so much,” he said. “I’m sold. I enjoy being an ambassador for it. I’ve received so much, I’m grateful to give in return.”

Valley ambassador gives backAshley Wilkerson

Howdy Pardners volunteers Jesse O’Connor and son Liam, 9, offer a mimosa to Pete Graham, of Cambridge, Ontario, upon his arrival to the Jackson Hole airport.

o’Connor works to educate visitors, then volunteers as a greeter.

Say howdy to the HowdiesThe howdy Pardners are endangered, Jesse

o’Connor says.When they started as a greeting group a cou-

ple of decades ago, there were so many volun-teers the chamber had to turn people away. Today there are fewer than a dozen active members.

“something worries me this might be it,” o’Connor said of the most recent season at Jackson hole Airport. if more people don’t join, the program might fade.

howdy Pardners meet at 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at The Virginian lodge. Those interested in greeting visitors can attend a meeting or call oly olson at 413-4852.


Museum VolunteersMaryann Abrahams

Ann AlstedJoan BaldwinLucy Bayless

Jan BenzDarlene Blazek

Mary Ellen BockiusJeannine BrownWindy CampbellSusan ChambersJayann FordonSareta Gregory

Sharon GunbergJan Herbst

Sally JohnsonDiane KeyMeg Lally

Harry LawroskiMary Ann Lawroski

Livy LewisGeorgia Ligori

Gail Magid

Roseanne Magid

Patricia Martin

Suzanne Matthews

Dan Matzke

Julie Matzke

Marie Louise McCormack

Teddie Lou McNamara

Kathy Murphy

Erika Muschaweck

Ann Nelson

Judy Pilgrim

Norma Price

Pam Sanders

Heather Stolz

Shannon Sullivan

Kathy Tams

Sarah Tams

Ken Thomasma

Matthew Wegher

Suzanne Whitmore

Amber Williams

John WilsonVolunteer of the Year

Gallery GuidesPatricia Dempsey

Joe DiFigliaDes Jennings

Charlotte KiddCarla KussnerDoug LandauRon Stevens

Marsha WackerlyMary Willis

DocentsDon Alsted

Sally Berman Greg BrondosSusan Brooks

Jim ByrneSally ByrneLisa Carlin

Natalie GossMarilyn Gschwind

Gigi HalloranAnn Keller

Louise Koegler

Annabelle LerchJoanne Leusch

Jane MalashockBob Martin

Pamela McCoolCynthia QuastEllen Sanford

Carol SchneebeckRegina SchultzCaroline Taylor

Bobbi ThomasmaMartha Van Genderen

Mary Waid

Teen VolunteersVivian EdenTara HolmesMitch Meisl

Kinsley Smith

Youth VolunteersKamryn Lunde

Thank You to our VolunteersThe National Museum of Wildlife Art thanks our dedicated volunteers for their service this year. Truly, our volunteers make the difference!

Open Daily • (307) 733-5771 • WildlifeArt.org

Celebrate National Volunteer Week and honor the volunteers in our community.Just mention this ad and the nonprofit organization you volunteer for to receive:

• FREE admission to the Museum

• 20% discount in the Museum Shop

• 10% discount in the Rising Sage Café

National Volunteer WeekApril 15 – 21

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Valley Volunteers 2012