People

3rd Third People

Regularly we will spotlight the activities of four 3rd Third members that are typical of the breadth of contributions and activities of our membership. This month’s people are:

Jim Gehres

Jim strikes you as an accountant or a lawyer, and he is a retired lawyer with the IRS. But he is far more than that. Colorado has 54 mountains over 14,000 feet high. Jim has climbed all of them a dozen times and some peaks 15 times or more. Jim has also climbed in South America, Russia, Africa, and around the United States. A teacher, he has helped many people develop their climbing skills including former Colorado governor Dick Lamm. When not on a mountain, Jim can be found pedaling his bicycle on a daily trip of 30 miles or so.

Rose Keating

Rose is one of the top computer and software people in the area. A few years ago, she noticed that some people did not have the money to purchase computers while other individuals and companies could not figure out what to do with their older computers as they upgraded their systems. The result was Tech For All, a non-profit that Rose founded to recondition the computers to be given to students and families. Rose is the Director of Tech For All and opens the doors two days a week as well as working her full time job. To date she has provided more than 1,350 computers to families and has trained them in their use. Rose is a 2007 recipient of the Minoru Yasui Award and is a Channel 7 Everyday Hero. If you have computer equipment to recycle or would like to volunteer at Tech For All, stop by on Fridays 9 to 3 or Saturdays 8 to noon, at 1709 S. Acoma St., Denver. Or contact Rose at 303-777-7771, ext. 114. www.denvertechforall.org.

Vance Martin

Vance is the President of the WILD Foundation, working for wilderness, people, and the environment. An author, a traveler, and a catalyst, Vance works tirelessly to help leave the planet a better place for our children and grandchildren. Every four years or so, WILD convenes a Wilderness Congress with attendees from around the world. In the more than thirty years that Vance has been involved, Congresses have been held in Scotland, Denver, Norway, India, South Africa, and Alaska. The next Congress, WILD 9, is scheduled for November 6–13, 2009 in Yucatan, Mexico with the theme “feel, think, act.” www.wild.org

Boyd Norton

Boyd is a photographer, author, teacher, and great traveling companion. Boyd is also a conservationist who has testified before Congress on behalf of park legislation and was a major factor in establishing the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area, the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Boyd leads photographic trips having recently returned from Tanzania and the Serengeti migration. If you wish to see Siberia, Peru, Borneo, Tanzania, Galapagos, or the United States, Boyd and his wife Barbara are the people to contact. www.wildernessphotography.com