2012 Volunteer Recognition
Extraordinary Service Award
Janet MacKenzie - Mesa Prieta Project Coordinator
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The current Project Coordinator Suzie Frazier was becoming weary with the many demands of the rapidly growing Project and needed to take time off for her and her own family. With Suzie leaving, the Project was in dire straits. Janet moved smoothly into the position and while she proclaimed “I don’t take direction easily” as her mantra, her leadership and organizational skills became quickly obvious.
Janet came to the project with a BA in Fine Arts and a Masters in Anthropology that includes a specialty in Archaeology. Paid for 20 hours of work a week, Janet often puts in up to 80-100
hours some weeks with volunteer time including petroglyph recording on
the mesa. She is tiny in frame but mighty in stature - moving tables,
bookcases and rocks (as in boulders) and other weighty objects as though
she were employed by Bekins.
Her
responsibilities include writing grants at which she is very
successful, producing budgets for the project, processing ALL of the
field work from the recorders and preparing it for entry into the data
base. She readily corrects Katherine’s and Candie’s mistakes with glee.
Janet works skillfully with all of the volunteers – and – she washes
dishes.
She organizes, sets up, runs and takes down and deals with the
aftermath of the Summer Youth Intern Program. The Program requires a
huge effort every year to find appropriate students and enough adult
volunteers, work with the BLM who whom we collaborate and locate enough
high-clearance vehicles to take into the field. And that’s BEFORE the
first day of the Program. She also organized and participated in the
trip to Washington DC for the interns and adults when the Program was
awarded the Take Pride in America Award in 2011.
Janet supervises ALL of the activities of the Project. She gives
private and public tours and is Vice President of Vecinos del Rio Board
of Directors. Community Outreach is another of her tasks. She has
developed partnerships with pertinent organizations to liaison with Mesa
Prieta. Of necessity she is involved in all of our fundraising efforts.
In
addition, Janet has contributed in a great way to our award-winning
School Curriculum; she organized, edited, wrote additional material and
published the volume. She continues to play a critical role in the
curriculum as it is introduced to schools throughout Northern New Mexico
and Colorado. She does much of the organizational work for our Teacher
Training programs and works with our Curriculum Coordinator to present
it.
Janet works with and struggles with all of our schedules; she is
involved in all aspects of the project. She is especially active with
recruitment of new volunteers, giving time to interview each one and
determine their interests.
Janet, for these and countless other tasks you do, we are incredibly grateful. Thank you!
Volunteer of the Year - Ruth Holmes
Unlike most of us, Ruth joined what was to become the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project long before it was even a thought in Katherine’s mind. Ruth worked with the original recorders associated with the Archaeological Society of New Mexico to record Katherine’s land – 188 acres – in 1993 and 1994. The teams, many of whom signed on for one or two weeks with little training, worked through June and July of two summers. Ruth was one of the few recorders who had prior experience recording in other |
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areas of the state with leaders Jay and Helen Crotty and Jeanne and Jerry Brody. The task was completed – the count was 6000 petroglyphs. Ruth
rejoined the mesa recorders now known as the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph
Project in about 2003 when the assignment was to record the 225-acre
Manuel Salazar property. Working with long-time friend and recording partner, George Wessler, they tackled their provenience with enthusiasm.
The next project for the recorders was the re-recording of Katherine’s land.
The initial recording more than a decade earlier did not have the
advantage of GPS units, digital cameras, modern recording sheets, the
Design Element Inventory or the multiple specifications of petroglyph
recording now used. Again, Ruth and George tackled their assignments and worked diligently over the next few years. When George no longer was able to record, Ruth teamed with Chris Wolff with whom she worked for another two years.
When
permission was granted to record the 10,000 acre Richard Cook land on
Mesa Prieta, Ruth again recorded, this time with partners Pat Roach and
Donna Clark. One of Ruth’s greatest joys was the
opportunity to record the “Man Who Fell From the Sky”, an image she had
known from years ago.
When asked what she enjoyed the most about petroglyph recording, she paused, and then answered: “When I see an image on the rock, it is just the image and me. I want to try to understand what the image is saying, the feeling of the person who made it. It is a very personal relationship.”
Thank you Ruth for your many years of participation on Mesa Prieta; you are one of a kind.
Extraordinary Generosity - Jim Margard
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Jim
Margard received an award for his "Extraordinary Generosity" at the
2012 Annual Flute Player Tour. Jim has been a supporter of the Mesa
Prieta Project for a number of years and his endorsements are truly
appreciated.
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MPPP Certificates of Appreciation
Volunteers are recognized for hours spent as docent tour leaders,
petroglyph recorders and surveyors, training, school curriculum, Summer
Youth Intern Program, office assistance, library organization, Site
Watch monitoring, Petroglyph Committee participation, data base and
leadership responsibilities.
Volunteers recognized are:
10-YEAR CERTIFICATES: Lee and Candie Borduin
5-YEAR CERTIFICATES: Jan Stone, Ginger Gaffney and Glenda Fletcher
