Board of Directors 2011-2012
Denis Boon – President
Shelby Smith – Vice President
Shelby became a member of the Cultural Center Board of Directors in 2004. When committee assignments were handed out, he chose to head the one for the Hawkins Preserve. He helped design the initial plan for placing the 122 acres of Hawkins under a conservation easement. He has helped with the planning and operation of almost every major event happening at the Center. For several years he gave particular attention to recruiting new Board members as well as recruiting and sponsoring evening programs and events. Shelby served as vice president for one year and as president of the Board for two years.
He was born in northwest Oklahoma, the grandson of covered wagon pioneers. He earned a teaching degree in English and Art, teaching for 4 years in Oklahoma and for 7 years in Colorado at the Fountain and Cherry Creek Districts. For 10 years he managed community action programs for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe at Ignacio followed by 3 years of selling real estate in Durango. Starting in 1985 Shelby taught English and his wife Roberta taught French in our Cortez Schools. Both retired in 2003. They enjoy visiting their children in New York, New Mexico, and Ohio and other relatives in Oklahoma and California. They have visited France and other parts of Europe many times over the previous 21 years.
Larry McGee – Treasurer
Pat Rauscher – Secretary
Diane Cherbak
I have an undergraduate degree in Food Science and a master’s in Business. I worked at Lockheed Martin in Flight Test for over 30 years. It was a very exciting and rewarding career, but I am thoroughly enjoying retirement.
I lived at the beach for the first 25 years of my life, then in the high desert for 30. My plan is to spend the next 30 years in the mountains.
My husband and I bought property in 2001 and moved here full time in 2010. We love the area and are immersing ourselves in our new community. I love the outdoors and enjoy gardening, hiking, camping, birding, working with my Rotties, and never tire of the magnificent vistas in the area.
I believe the Cortez Cultural Center is a vital part of this community and want to help continue that presence.
Lan DeGeneres
Matt Keefauver
Bruce Johnson
Mitchell Toms
Patsy Brown (ex officio)
Shawn K. Collins (ex officio)
Shawn is a native Coloradan, raised in the Denver and Colorado Springs area. She attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where she fell in love with the southwestern corner of the state while attaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology in 1997. Shawn attended graduate school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she gained an appreciation of “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” She earned her Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Anthropology (2001 and 2009, respectively), specializing in archaeology, and is an expert in prehistoric agriculture and environment in parts of the western hemisphere. Shawn, her husband Bill, and daughter Samantha, moved back to arid southwestern Colorado as soon as feasible, and started a private contract archaeology and web design company in 2005. Shawn and Bill are avid bicyclists, and enjoy mountain biking or taking Sam on some of the beautiful trails in this area.
Shawn was hired as the Executive Director of the Cortez Cultural Center in May 2011, and is working hard to develop and strengthen collaborative relationships with organizations and businesses throughout Montezuma County. Her goals for the Cultural Center are to make it “the Center” of the community, increasing community involvement and interaction with the Center, and providing a diverse set of programs and activities that appeal to people of different ages, interests, and cultural backgrounds.
