Read below for an essay excerpted from 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People, Wildlands’ 50th anniversary book honoring the partners and volunteers who have made remarkable contributions to land conservation in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Read “The Next Remarkable Chapter,” our series introduction by President Karen Grey.
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The customary practice in the non-profit sector is to measure volunteer impact by the number of hours served. However, the cumulative impact of Marilynn Atterbury, Skip Stuck, and Rob MacDonald on Wildlands Trust goes well beyond the extraordinary number of hours they work.
With the “Three Amigos,” it is more about the intangibles. It is their positive energy, reliability, leadership, creativity, and intellectual generosity that endears these three amazing individuals to the Wildlands staff.
If you arrive at Davis-Douglas Farm at 8:00 a.m. on a beautiful spring morning, you may encounter a cheerful gardener tending the vibrant flower beds that she designed and built. This is Marilynn, a former horse farm manager, who tends the Davis-Douglas gardens as if they are her own. If you attend a guided hike, your leader is likely to be Skip Stuck. A retired social worker and non-profit manager, Skip has many talents, including teaching carpentry skills to our land stewards. Rob MacDonald, an IT professional, is the man to thank if you use Avenza, the new Wildlands trail app featuring maps of our properties, or if you enjoy the new trail complex along the Indian Head River.
“These are the most special people we could ever have working with us,” said Stewardship Manager Owen Grey. “We talk all the time about how we can find more volunteers like them, and always conclude that it will probably never happen.”
Indeed, there are great volunteers, and then there are the “Three Amigos.”
Purchase 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People today: wildlandstrust.org/shop50