Thank You to VOC Crew Leader: John Scott

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Thank You to VOC Crew Leader: John Scott

Alex Schupp • Apr 24, 2018

Thank You to VOC Crew Leader: John Scott

We are sad to say farewell to John Scott, who has contributed to more than 100 projects in his 17 years of volunteering! John is moving to Chicago in May for work and, although he will miss the mountain views and friends he's made, he is looking forward to shaking things up and pursuing volunteer opportunities with the Nature Conservancy.

John was our 2007 Volunteer of the Year and has worn every hat from Crew Leader to Team Lead, Crew Leader Manager, and OSI Instructor, all in the name of bettering his crew leadership and expanding his trail-building knowledge.

John's favorite projects included those in the Breckenridge/Frisco/Dillon area, where he has been able to work with the same project team (including volunteers and land managers) for more than 10 years, and will miss VOC's "spirit" the most.

In John's words, "So many volunteers come out every year on their first project and go away feeling really great about what they did. Most don’t always come back, but I think that “spirit” they take with them lasts them longer than we may know. I remember a volunteer that came up to me one day to shake my hand. He said that 4-5 years previous I had been his crew leader with him and his family on a project. He said they had a great time and that after that project his daughter (who was in High School) decided to focus her college career on environmental management. He said it was the best thing he had ever done to take his kids out on a VOC project."

It is this ability to teach volunteers about trails and invest them in caring for Colorado that has made crew leading so rewarding for John, in addition to the great volunteers and volunteer leaders he's met along the way. To whom he would like to say...