DEAR FRIENDS,
For over 20 years now, serving the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance as a board member, and more recently as its first Executive Director, has been a major aspect of my life’s work – right up there with family and the Elkhorn Ranch. A year ago, on December 20, 2016, our lives changed in an instant when my husband, Charley, had a serious accident. From that moment forward, we had to juggle priorities to put family first, and focus all of our energy on his recovery. During this same time, Tom Sheridan, Chair of our Science Advisory Board, experienced serious health issues. Meanwhile, and on a brighter note, Sarah King took some personal time to welcome a second child, George, into the cadre of Altar Valley future generations. Luckily, our Program Administrator, Sherie Steele was steady at the wheel and we’d made a great decision the previous year when we added Kyle Thompson to our team as our Science & Conservation Coordinator. One of my key mentors, Kerry Baldwin, stepped up to serve as an interim Executive Director for much this year – further icing on the cake.