Thank you for visiting the Coastal Interpretive Center website. We appreciate your comments, suggestions, and questions. For general inquiries, please contact our Center Administrator, Laura Caldwell, at hello@interpretivecenter.org.
Executive Director
The Board of Directors has opened the search for a new Executive Director, who can build on Barbara’s accomplishments and lead the Coastal Interpretive Center through our next stage of growth and development. The Board is committed to finding a leader with a passion for the Coastal Interpretive Center’s mission of educating the public about the natural and cultural history of Washington’s Pacific Coast and inspiring the joy and wonder of nature. Those interested are encouraged to view the position description and apply.
Staff
LAURA CALDWELL
Laura moved to Ocean Shores in 2017 and shortly after began volunteering with the center. After a brief stint away earning her Masters degree in Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies at SOAS University of London, she returned to Ocean Shores and resumed her volunteer work with the center before being hired in 2020. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, learning more about Grays Harbor’s history, both natural and cultural, and exploring the area’s natural wonders.
RACHEL DAVEY
Rachel ventured to Ocean Shores in 2021 after receiving her Masters degree in Cell Biology from Central Washington University. She reached out to volunteer at the Coastal Interpretive Center after settling in and has loved every opportunity to get more involved. Rachel has a background in educational outreach and community service and is passionate about sharing her love of learning with all. In her free time, she dotes on her pup Zola and is tolerated by her cat Goose. She enjoys travelling, reading, movies, and playing video and/or board games with her friends.
Bookstore Clerks & Docents
RICHARD BLOOM
Bookstore Clerk & Docent
Richard ventured to Ocean Shores in 2023 after spending a year in New York City. He is a native Washingtonian with a love for all plants and animals. Richard reached out to work with the Coastal Interpretive Center after settling in here in Ocean Shores to be near his family. Richard has a YouTube channel where he showcases all his travels and nature walks around every new city he visits. In his free time, he travels to places he has never been to explore the nature and the food! He enjoys traveling, Disney theme parks, movies, and playing board games with his family.
MARGARET BORRON
Bookstore Clerk & Docent
Margaret grew up in Seattle and one of her childhood dreams was to live in Ocean Shores. She purchased her first property here in 1984 and was determined to make Ocean Shores her forever home. After an extensive career in accounting and human resources management Margaret decided she wanted to fulfill another one of her childhood dreams, to become an educator. She left the corporate world in 2013 and went to work for the Kent School District as an elementary school paraeducator where she stayed until moving here.
Margaret moved to Ocean Shores fulltime in 2020. She loves our community and is active in many organizations. She is very grateful to have this opportunity to combine her love of nature, community service and education in her role here at the Coastal Interpretive Center.
DIANNE BURTON
Bookstore Clerk & Docent
Dianne retired to Ocean Shores in 2020. She has volunteered with the Center since 2021 as a museum host and docent. She enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading, beachcombing and exploring the western Washington coast.
TINA JAMES
Bookstore Clerk & Docent
This is Tina’s third year on the Coastal Interpretive Center team! Tina retired in 2021 after 34 years working for a food distribution warehouse in Kent. Tina is a proud Grammy to 8 grandkids ranging in age from 4 to 20!! She has been happily married to Mike for 34 years. Together, they love to cruise and explore new places. They also enjoy the beautiful Ocean Shores sunsets from their back porch.
Board of Directors
JEAN STEVENS
President
Jean Stevens is currently the president for the Coastal Interpretive Center’s Board of Directors. Jean’s professional background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, 40 years as a Registered Nurse, a Master’s degree in Business Administration and 28 of her professional years in administration of hospital nursing, critical care and kidney dialysis. Jean and her husband Vince began coming to Ocean Shores in 1981. As time moved on, they were living and working in Spokane, but bought their second home in 1984 in Ocean Shores. Through their work and relocations to Alaska and Portland, Ocean Shores has always been their consistent home center of beach and local social enjoyment. This included many visits to the Center to learn and understand some of the wealth of information available. Jean joined the board in 2014 and has served as treasurer for 7 years. She is pleased to give volunteer hours to the treasurer’s position and any other Center needs.
BRUCE RITTENHOUSE
Vice President
After retiring from over 30 years of service with the federal government Bruce moved to Ocean Shores to enjoy the natural resources of the Olympic Peninsula and Washington Coast. Bruce was raised in Oregon and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Oregon State University in Botany and Plant Pathology and a Master’s Degree from Idaho State University in Plant Ecology and Zoology. During Bruce’s career with the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service in Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and finally Washington D.C. where he was a manager for the wildlife, fisheries, and wild horses and burros. Now that Bruce is retired he enjoys gardening, fishing, hiking, birdwatching, and camping while doing volunteer work for several organizations.
NANCY ELDRIDGE
Secretary
Nancy moved to the North Beach area in 1999 to take on a Forestry position with the Quinault Indian Nation. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the University of Washington in Silviculture and Forest Management. As a life-long nature and outdoors lover, she joined the CIC Board in 2010 to help promote the education mission and work with our local kids to “get their hands on nature.” She is most interested in seeing the Center grow into a world class interpretive center and a targeted destination for visitors from all over. Nancy retired from her Forestry Manager job in April 2016 and now plans to devote much more time to the Center’s long term mission and vision.
BETH OLSZAK
Treasurer
Beth was a huge fan of the TV series Here Come The Brides. This devotion contributed to her relocation to the Great Northwest after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. Beth has worked as a restaurant manager, domestic violence advocate, payroll & HR manager. She retired from corporate life as an employee benefits account manager specializing in complex self-funded clients. Beth’s Third Act began when she moved with her mother to Ocean Shores in 2021. She started volunteering at the Coastal Interpretive Center in 2022. She loves being a cheerleader for the center. She hopes her curiosity, passion, whimsy will help advance the goals of this wonderful organization.
DEE BAKER
Immediate Past President
Dee’s favorite place is the beach. That is why she decided that Ocean Shores was the place for her and has called it home for the past two years (and hopefully many more). Dee is applying her extensive financial and HR background to help in facilitating the CIC’s goal to become a “World Class” Interpretive Center educating the community about the wonders of the Washington coast and inspiring the joy and wonder of nature.
HOLLY DUFFY
Director
Holly graduated from the University of Portland and taught English in Salzburg, Austria, through the Fulbright program. She credits her time in Austria with her love of travel, trail running, and our coastal climate. More recently, Holly has held different roles in the fields of marketing and communication, including serving as the head of marketing for Timberland Bank and as the Director of Marketing for Grays Harbor College.
Holly joined the CIC because she believes in its mission to inspire the joy and wonder of nature. She currently serves as the CIC’s Secretary and is a member of the COMIT committee. Holly also enjoys being a part of the CIC’s blogging team.
CATHEY PETERSON
Director
Cathey and her husband, Bob, moved to Ocean Shores after retiring 10 years ago. They both found Ocean Shores to be “a great little town by the sea” and wanted to do their part as community servants, so they jumped into volunteering “pretty much on day one,” according to Cathey. Cathey and Bob both value education and believe it is the key to success, so she volunteered at the Elementary school as a reading tutor, with the Kiwanis to help provide scholarships to local seniors continuing education, and as a member of the North Beach School Board. “I have always felt the Coastal Interpretive Center is an undervalued asset to our community, so when the opportunity came up to join the team, I felt it was a great fit for me,” Cathey said of her decision to join the Board. She added, “I look forward to a partnership with the schools to teach our kids the importance of the whole region historically, environmentally, and ecologically.”
SUSAN WRIGHT
Director
I am a retired Kindergarten teacher. We came to Ocean Shores as weekenders in 2007 and I became a nearly full time resident in 2014 when I retired. I have always wanted to live by the sea, and developed a strong interest in Marine Biology during my teaching career. I volunteered at the elementary school for two years. We had visited the CIC as adults and have toured it with our grandchildren. Education, Marine Biology, and taking care of the amazing environment we have in Ocean Shores are very important to me.
ANNA KOETITZ
Board Member Emeritus
Anna Koetitz came to Ocean Shores in 1996, when her husband Arvid retired from Boeing. At the urging of her husband and other friends who were involved with the Interpretive Center, she began volunteering in 1998. She’s lived on the West Coast, the East Coast, the Gulf Coast, and the Hawaiian Coast in her colorful life, which included a period of service in the US Air Force prior to marrying her 27-year Navy seaman Arvid. She’s raised three daughters, taught herself many crafts, and designed the house and landscaping at her home in Ocean Shores. She enjoys daily walks and volunteers at the Center every week.
JIM NAGAN
Board Member Emeritus
Jim has been serving as a Center volunteer and/or board member since 2009 with a focus on governance, facilities, grants/fundraising, and management. He is inspired by a favorite quote from the naturalist John Muir: “There is a love of wild nature in everybody.” The Center’s Mission Statement speaks to fostering that love; the pleasure of partnering with so many other enthusiastic volunteers to move the Mission Statement from words to action is why Jim is involved with the Center.
WALTER WEED
Board Member Emeritus
Walter began volunteering at the [then] Ocean Shores Interpretive Center in 1993. Prior to that, from 1947 – 1989, Walter was a draftsman for Boeing and lived on Vashon Island. He spent a number of those years under contract overseas with the Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) group, primarily in Germany. Many friends and contacts were made and maintained with people in Europe. Walter and Elone hosted foreign teachers in their home on Vashon, and have made three summer trips driving their motor home to the east coast, shipping it across the Atlantic, and picking it up on the other side for months of driving about Europe. They have participated in Volksmarches in over 75 European villages. Walter gave the Coastal Interpretive Center’s retail bookstore, Damon’s Outpost, its name. He sums up his experience at the Center like this: “When volunteering HERE, you’re also always learning.”
Committees
Much of the operations of Coastal Interpretive Center is done by volunteer committee members. Help is always needed for this effort, both in worker and leadership roles.
Education Committee
Plans education curricula, outreach, and services. Off-season activities include updating education materials, planning learning activities, and training volunteer docents to assist with visiting school classes and youth groups. During spring and summer, the committee conducts day camps and field trips.
Finance Committee
Drafts the annual budget for board review and approval and reviews policies and procedures for financial aspects of the Interpretive Center’s operations.
Fundraising Committee
As a 501(C)3 non-profit organization we are constantly seeking funds to further our mission and grow the Center. The Fundraising/Development/Membership Committee works to maintain and increase membership, create fundraising events, appeal to donors, develop ideas for fundraising opportunities, and review/recommend grant opportunities.
Communications, Marketing, Technology Committee (COMIT)
Responsible for social media, website content & maintenance, production and distribution of flyers, event tickets, news stories, and advertising.