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New docents come from all walks of life

This week I want to acknowledge the new group of 2012 docent graduates of the Bouverie Preserve. They are remarkable and talented folks who choose to volunteer their time talking children on hikes into nature.

  This brief overview will give you a glimpse of the diversity and interests of these 31 newly trained docents: a former third-grade teacher who used to bring her students to the Bouverie; a 30-year Navy veteran; a docent from the Sonoma State Historic Parks; a professional nature photographer; a former public health worker who loves the symphony and enjoys theatre and museums as much as nature; a psychotherapist who works at juvenile hall; a new grandfather just retired from 30 years at Agilent; a master hair stylist and colorist; a retired engineer who enjoys folk dancing; a former director of St. Dorothy’s Rest at Camp Meeker; a puppeteer and storyteller who also worked at the Harvard Natural History Museum; a gourmet cook who served as a bush doctor in Mexico; a board member of the League of Women Voters who also teaches piano; a retired field geologist who enjoys square dancing; the owner of a promotional advertising firm who enjoys swimming; a former bookkeeper who is studying environmental science after raising her children; a hike leader from Red Rock State Park in Sedona, Ariz., who excels in mah jong; an administrator with the county mental health program who first visited the Bouverie preserve 28 years ago; a retired marketing and public relations specialist who is fluent in French; an Ohio English teacher who also taught in Japan; a Jack London expert who is a retired professor from Wisconsin; a 30-year employee of the San Francisco Department of Human Services; a fourth-generation birder who has a brand new baby daughter; a retired teacher of kindergarten and seventh-grade Spanish who enjoys knitting; an administrator in the long-term health care industry who owns a Model T Ford; a retired surgeon who is also a competent carpenter; a mother who home-schooled her children; a volunteer for Wildlife Fawn Rescue who works in her family’s web-based mapping and GIS company; a fitness leader from Sonoma Mission Inn; a special-needs educator working with autistic children; a tour guide at the California Academy of Sciences who writes and teaches poetry; an attorney with a lifelong interest in the wilderness; a graphic designer and grandmother who enjoys gardening; a second-grade teacher who has done seal studies at the Farallon Marine Sanctuary; a registered nurse who loves to read; and a retired teacher of 33 years who enjoys photography and biking. Who among these brilliant folks wouldn’t you want to meet?

  No wonder I find many friends among the docents of the Bouverie Preserve who volunteer their time. Here are their names. I’m wondering how many you can match up with their interests and careers.

  Congratulations to the Bouverie Preserve Docent class of 2012: Dotty Abbott, June Ambrose, Janis Arendt, Ron Berchin, Billie Blumenthal, Bill Bridges, Annie Caro, Mark Farmer, Ann Gronvold, Chlele Gummer, Iain Jamieson, Bill Laurie, Robyn Lawyer, Patricia List, John Lynch, Janet Lynn, Lynne Myers, Susan Nuernberg, Joanne Olsson, Jason Price, Betsy Randolph, Richard Randolph, Jeff Reichel, Sidney Schallert, Julie Shoffner McGee, Sally Stone, Lisa Summers, Susan Teel, Billie Thrower, Gwendolyn Toney, Kate Twain and Mike Witkowski.

  Jeff Reichel was elected to represent the new class on the Bouverie board and provided a heartfelt speech. At times funny and at times moving, he ended with, “We were not trained to teach facts about nature, but to teach children to acknowledge and appreciate nature and to feel a spiritual connection with it.”

  We know David Bouverie himself would applaud Jeff’s speech. David was among us and for once, let the bell toll its proud tribute to this new group.

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  Share your good news with friends and neighbors in Glen Ellen. Call or write me at 707 996-5995 or P.O. Box 518, GE 95442. Or email me, creekboittom@earthlink.net.