Post by Okwes on Jul 24, 2007 10:42:27 GMT -5
Sharing a love of Native American rock art
Posted by: "SAL CAMARILLo" salcamarillo1@sbcglobal.net salcamarillo1
Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:40 am (PST)
RIDGECREST - A former Maturango Museum volunteer with abundant experience in the world of business, Fran Van Valkenburgh is the museum's new coordinator for memberships and petroglyph tours. She replaces the previous coordinator, Mary Hattendorf, who had been in the position since 1999.
“We are delighted to welcome Fran in a job that calls for customer-service skills, attention to detail and an upbeat attitude,” said Jane Burbank-Larson, the museum's executive director. “She is already shining in all these areas.”
Burbank-Larson added that Van Valkenburgh had barely settled into her office when petroglyph season - the time when weather conditions allow escorted visits to Little Petroglyph Canyon - began.
“The tours are filling up fast,” said Burbank-Larson, “and Fran has jumped right in to maintain the high-quality tour experience people have come to expect from museum-led trips to the petroglyphs.”
Originally from Virginia, Van Valkenburgh and her husband Ed lived and worked in Orange County for many years.
Fran had been executive secretary to a superintendent of schools in Virginia. In Orange County Ed became deputy sheriff, and Fran created a rapidly expanding job as human resources manager for PUI, a Santa Ana-based capacitor company that grew from a mere handful of people to more than 200 employees and several branches during her tenure.
Ed and Fran have been married 31 years and have a combined eight children.
When Ed retired, the couple moved in 1989 to five acres on the Shenandoah River near Woodstock, Va. They loved it there, Fran said, but the prospect of moving to the desert - which they also love - and being near relatives brought them here in 2005.
Ed began spending a lot of time with his brother Jerry, a 30-year Inyokern resident, and Fran began helping her sister-in-law, MaRene, in her store, the Vintage Vault on Balsam Street.
As Fran looked around to see what else she might like to do in our valley, she was drawn to the Maturango Museum.
“Ed and I joined the first year we were here, and last year I became a volunteer at the museum store,” she said. “It's a nice place to get to know people in the community and find out about the local area.”
When Fran learned of the pending vacancy on the museum staff, she jumped at the chance to take the job. Her motivation?
“I wanted to stay active and keep my mind going.”
Fran encourages people to call her at the museum, 375-6900, Wednesday through Friday, and to visit the Maturango Museum website, www.maturango.org, to learn about the petroglyph tours.
“The March and April tours are pretty much full,” she said, “and we're now getting calls for May.”
<http://www.ridgecrestca.com/articles/2007/03/13/news/news05.txt>
Posted by: "SAL CAMARILLo" salcamarillo1@sbcglobal.net salcamarillo1
Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:40 am (PST)
RIDGECREST - A former Maturango Museum volunteer with abundant experience in the world of business, Fran Van Valkenburgh is the museum's new coordinator for memberships and petroglyph tours. She replaces the previous coordinator, Mary Hattendorf, who had been in the position since 1999.
“We are delighted to welcome Fran in a job that calls for customer-service skills, attention to detail and an upbeat attitude,” said Jane Burbank-Larson, the museum's executive director. “She is already shining in all these areas.”
Burbank-Larson added that Van Valkenburgh had barely settled into her office when petroglyph season - the time when weather conditions allow escorted visits to Little Petroglyph Canyon - began.
“The tours are filling up fast,” said Burbank-Larson, “and Fran has jumped right in to maintain the high-quality tour experience people have come to expect from museum-led trips to the petroglyphs.”
Originally from Virginia, Van Valkenburgh and her husband Ed lived and worked in Orange County for many years.
Fran had been executive secretary to a superintendent of schools in Virginia. In Orange County Ed became deputy sheriff, and Fran created a rapidly expanding job as human resources manager for PUI, a Santa Ana-based capacitor company that grew from a mere handful of people to more than 200 employees and several branches during her tenure.
Ed and Fran have been married 31 years and have a combined eight children.
When Ed retired, the couple moved in 1989 to five acres on the Shenandoah River near Woodstock, Va. They loved it there, Fran said, but the prospect of moving to the desert - which they also love - and being near relatives brought them here in 2005.
Ed began spending a lot of time with his brother Jerry, a 30-year Inyokern resident, and Fran began helping her sister-in-law, MaRene, in her store, the Vintage Vault on Balsam Street.
As Fran looked around to see what else she might like to do in our valley, she was drawn to the Maturango Museum.
“Ed and I joined the first year we were here, and last year I became a volunteer at the museum store,” she said. “It's a nice place to get to know people in the community and find out about the local area.”
When Fran learned of the pending vacancy on the museum staff, she jumped at the chance to take the job. Her motivation?
“I wanted to stay active and keep my mind going.”
Fran encourages people to call her at the museum, 375-6900, Wednesday through Friday, and to visit the Maturango Museum website, www.maturango.org, to learn about the petroglyph tours.
“The March and April tours are pretty much full,” she said, “and we're now getting calls for May.”
<http://www.ridgecrestca.com/articles/2007/03/13/news/news05.txt>