Keeping Orcas Center’s grounds gleaming for generations

By Colleen Smith Summers • October 11, 2022 1:30 am

For decades, three island gardeners have pruned, weeded and tenderly cared for the Orcas Center grounds.

Starting in the new year, Jean Dickerson, Pierette Guimond and Jim Shaffer-Bauck are hanging up their shears after many years of service.

“One of the many reasons Orcas Center has continued to thrive over the decades is because of our many volunteers,” said Executive Director Dimitri Stankevich. “Jean, Pierette and Jim are prime examples of top-rate volunteerism. Consistent year after year, asking little, each of their contributions of time and talent is difficult to measure but easy to see. Each in their own way, they have brought a beauty to the Orcas Center that we see every day but seldom take the time to truly appreciate. Thank you for your important contributions to our community and to the Orcas Center.”

Dickerson first became a volunteer at Orcas Center more than 30 years ago as part of the team that painted the interior of the building. In 2005, she took over the groundskeeping and gardening and designed the Chamber Music Garden and Memorial Garden.

“I really enjoyed working with Barbara Trunkey crafting floral arrangements for the Chamber Music Festival,” Dickerson told the Sounder in 2021. “Barbara created wonderful flower themes that really reflected each particular piece of music.”

Dickerson says she enjoyed being a part of the OC community, adding: “And I love plants.”

For 35 years, Shaffer-Bauck has given back to Orcas Center in a variety of ways, starting with reluctantly joining the cast of “Our Town.” Some of his highlights include his time as musical director of “Spamalot” and performing in drag in the “Enchanted Forest Cabaret.” Yet, Shaffer-Bauck says, the most “consistent and satisfying activity has been mowing the lawn.”

Guimond’s affinity for landscaping started at age 27 when she purchased her first home. After traveling the world as a flight attendant, she settled on Orcas, where she’s been a volunteer groundskeeper at the OC for 13 years.

“I love to garden and since my retirement 20 years ago, I have enjoyed giving back to the community by doing something that I love,” she said.

Some of Guimond’s favorite volunteer moments are “looking at perennial plants that help to minimize the upkeep of the grounds. And certainly stopping to smell the lavender.”

Those interested in helping to maintain the grounds of Orcas Island’s performing arts center are invited to contact Stankevich at dimitri@orcascenter.org.

Paul Huber contributed to this story.