Hats Off!            By Wendy Garton

A  HUGE “Wa-2-Go” round of applause is deserved to all the Buck Rock Foundation’s Volunteer Lookouts for Fire Season 2003.  Hundreds of often very intense hours were logged in at Buck Rock and even Delilah saw a volunteer or two!  For these folks, their pay didn’t even cover their transportation costs… yet their dedication and expertise on the job excelled beyond request. 

While most, but not all, of the volunteers live within 100 miles of Buck Rock, on several occasions they dropped what they were doing and hit the road to cover an unexpected need.  I stand and cheer:  Donna Bower– Cambria, Tim Christensen–KCNP, Rod Clifton – Selma, Lea & Don Dotters–Visalia & Pinehurst, Eric Fraley – Lemoore, Jeff Hannel–Fresno, Jim Larsen – Visalia, Barry Logan – Jamul, Carl Olson–Fresno, Terry & Lari Ommen–Visalia, Chet Pohle –Bakersfield, Norm Punneo–Sanger, Jeff Tawney–Fresno, Ron Virden–Lemoore and Leslie Yerington–Jamul.

From re-arranging work schedules to accommodate Buck Rock, to keeping the lookout in mind after the loss of a parent, to refusing to leave Buck Rock when ravenous southern California wild fires were threatening their home, to giving extra time to coordinate and present a “Sunset at Buck Rock” program for visitors, to purchasing and hauling materials up Buck Rock’s steps for construction of a project to help make life a bit nicer or easier inside the cab, to donating their meager pay back to the Foundation…. for all of this and more… I stand and salute you.  The volunteer program has grown so much in the past two years that 2004 will be the first year that no new volunteers will be recruited.  This bunch is so enthusiastic and clamoring for dates… we need to add an extra two months of fire season to give everyone the number of dates that are requested!  With complete gratitude and appreciation for a job well done… I say “THANK YOU”  and I look forward to Fire Season 2004.

Wendy Garton
Buck Rock Foundation
Volunteer Lookout Coordinator