2019 Spring Membership Letter

Greetings, friend of the Wrangell Mountains Center,

Spring arrived early in the Wrangells this year and all of the markings of a blooming summer are beginning to bud. A drive down the McCarthy Road shows the return of trumpeter swans, young moose trekking through the marsh, and owls hooting their llast goodbyes to the long Alaskan nights. Soon the valley will be bustling with summer residents settling back in and visitors returning along with the midnight sun.

As sure as our landscape tells of the changing season, we at the WMC are preparing for an exciting summer of connecting worldwide visitors and local neighbors with the wild places we all love. I’d like to highlight a few of the goings on at the WMC and make a special plea to you, our supporter. In the last twelve months, you, and members like you, have given tremendously to launch the WMC into a new era of financial stability.

I hope you’ll make a further commitment now and join the growing ranks of WMC members who are making sustaining, monthly donations (to become a sustaining member, click here).

This year’s Spring Break-Up Fundraiser was one of our most successful yet. I’m grateful to our many supporters who came out and shared their love for the WMC with our vibrant community. Thanks also to our hosts at La Potato and the foot-stomping musicianship of Whistlepig. Our next community event will be at the Old Hardware Store during our annual Memorial Day Weekend Community Work Party, on Sunday, May 26. If you’re in Alaska, I hope you might join us in McCarthy to help prepare the Old Hardware Store for a summer of activity and stay for a volunteer’s thank-you dinner. You’ll also get to greet our staff, including Wendy Pollock, Kitchen Manager, joining us from Maine to exalt our kitchen with her culinary skills and magic,

and Sophie Littée, our 2018 Kitchen Manager, who is returning as Operations Manager and Gardener Extraordinaire. You can learn more about our staff at www.wrangells.org/staff

I’m thrilled to announce that we will once again host the 7-week, College Field Studies Program that has inspired hundreds of lives and first brought so many of our supporters to the Wrangells. And, in a reinitiated partnership with Prince William Sound College, we’ll host a week-long Environmental Science for Teachers Course. As you can see here and at recently redesigned wrangells.org, we’re expanding on our legacy of facilitating powerful connections to wildlands. On the enclosed donation card, or via our website, I hope you’ll take the time to share what inspires you about our mission, or how your life has been enriched by the WMC. To enrich the lives of future visitors to our historic, 100-year-old general store requires year-round operation, and donations and volunteered time from members like you.

We hope you’ll build on our history by becoming a sustaining member, signing up for one of our programs, and/or volunteering in ways that fit for you. On behalf of the thousands of people touched by our work, I thank you for your continued support!

With love from the Wrangells,

Stef Tschappat

Executive Director, Wrangell Mountains Center

Click HERE to learn how you can help support the WMC today.

Interested in joining us for a program or workshop this summer? Check out our schedule HERE or contact us at info@wrangells.org