Who we are
Spiral Living Center Board Bios
President
Bridge Baker
“I am an excellent mother of four, ages 15 to 30. I run/own a successful delivery service of produce and wholesale mushrooms. I’ve run outdoor food booths, catered weddings, and practiced healing arts. I’ve lived off the grid for over 30 years. I am a firekeeper. I love our earth and walk in balance with her. She’s been my teacher and friend. I seek to volunteer for, and support, all efforts to keep balance and harmony within our community, to grow and have fun doing it!”
Vice President
Steve Orr has designed and installed artistic and functional edible and medicinal permaculture gardens for over twenty-five years. He teaches people to use the plants in theri gardens and especially enjoys converting lawns to gardens. Steve manages a ten acre permaculture farm, Frog Farm, where you may find him milking goats, pruning fruit trees, building compost, planting perennials, or playing his guitar.
Treasurer
Ananda Floyd: spent the latter part of her childhood in the woods on the banks of the Illinois River in southern Oregon. After graduating from Reed College with a BA in Mathematics, Ananda spent about a year teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. "Living so close together, the resources of life, consumed by us all, were often in plain view..’" The fragile reality of our future made Ananda want to live in, and preserve, the incredibly beautiful valley she grew up in. She believes local food and power production are integral to providing a world where the grandchildren can thrive.
Secretary
Maureen Hanson
I moved to the valley Jan. 1, 2009 after living
all of my life in the Seattle area.
Starting in 2002, my husband lost six family members in a four year
period and we decided there was more to life than just getting up and going to
work everyday so we could pay our taxes and mortgage. We saw property down here, knew nothing of the area but it
felt good and so moved here with five other family/sort of family members.
I got hooked up with the Frog Farm in a co-op
fruit tree order and learned about Deb’s herb work, an area I have had some
studies in, and since then have become involved in Spiral Living Center
activities. We had no idea that we
would find so many kind and generous people, willing to share their knowledge
with those of us who are just beginning to learn how to live more
sustainably. We have tons of
things to learn.
I quit my job of 27 plus years of driving
buses, first for Metro in Seattle and then the last 21 years as a school bus
driver for a district of 25,000 kids.
Yikes. I also spent six of
those years as a Driver Trainer. I
had one year of a Professional Herbalist course and one year in a Kinesionics
course with K. P. Khalsa. My
husband, Paul, was a contractor, running a small business doing custom sheet
metal work and I helped occasionally with the bookkeeping. We have 3 daughters, Sarah 32, Emily 23
and Caitlin 20.
Board Members
Margaret Hall Morton: “I was born and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains of southern Virginia. My family farmed and raised chickens and goats. I moved to southern Oregon nine years ago as my health began to fail….. I have lived in the Illinois Valley for 5 years on 20+ acres. My family lives off the grid. We grow and store about 60% + of the annual produce we consume. I have found better health and peace of mind, living with the land.”
Betsey Norton was born and raised in Maine, graduated from Tufts University in 1965 with a degree in Sociology and worked in the inner city of Boston for three years before relocating to the West Coast. Betsey has 24 years of experience in organic gardening in eastern Washington, despite no support from the surrounding community. Her family grew all their own food, raising chickens, ducks turkeys, steers and rabbits. Her children learned where their food came from and still love to garden. Betsey believes that sustainabiliity is critical to survival. Therefore, it is her interest to promote sustainable living skills here in this beautiful valley in order to survive in style with friends and neighbors.
Amy
Schell-Lapora grew up on the shores of Lake Ontario
in Northern New York. She was drawn to the wild rivers and mountains of
southern Oregon 16 years ago. Her background is in outdoor education and
she loves getting kids into the woods. Amy is the mother of a 3 year old
and a 14 year old, and enjoys being an active and involved parent. She
and her husband, Jerry, run Wild River Organic Farm on the banks of the
Illinois River.
Matthew
Molyneaux has been involved
sustainable and organic agriculture for 15 years. He has a B.S. degree
from CSU Chico in Plant Science - Agriculture, and currently works as an
organic farm inspector. He has a small family farm in the Illinois Valley
where he and his wife homeschool their 3 children. Matthew has served on
the board of the Mendocino County farmers market association, and has been an
activist for ecological living for many years.
Executive Director
Debbie Lukas has 20 years experience as an herbal medicine maker, founding the family business Siskiyou Mountain Herbs. She propagates and grows many medicinal plants on the Frog farm in Takilma, Oregon. Debbie teaches classes emphsizing respect for the land, ethical harvesting techniques and propagation of rare medicinal plants. She has been involved in nonprofits as staff, board member or volunteer for many years, and dreams of uniting diverse people in the Illinois Valley in the quest for sustainable living. She raises chickens, vergetables, herbs and hope!
Library Assistant
Eric Hanson Eric Hanson was born and raised in the Seattle area, and spent much of his adult life based in NYC, but traveling the country as an operatic baritone. A brief stint in corporate America convinced him that life in the "slow lane" was much to be preferred, and after nearly five years of "imagineering" helped to create an intentional community of sorts in the beautiful Illinois Valley.
Eric and his wife, Vicki, his brother and his wife, and two of Vicki's older brothers manage the Willow Springs Farm on Takilma Road. When not employed at the Frog Farm Library, you can find Eric volunteering at the community golf course, splitting wood, building cob structures, or harvesting weeds for salad.
Office Assistant
Spiral Living Center is seeking volunteer help for this position. Please contact spiral@spiraliving.org or call 541-592-3642. Thanks!
Stewardship Committee members include: Steve Orr, Charley Greenwood,, Jerry Lapora, Rachel Goodman, Margaret Morton, Bridge Baker, Deborah Murphy, John Roth, Christine Perala-Gardiner, John Gardiner, Laurel Peña, Kelpie Wilson, Grace Brookman and Debbie Lukas.
