New Program Year welcomes New Staff!

 We begin 2015 by welcoming our new Center Director, Kate Barrier and our new Program Director, K’Anna Burton to the Blue Deer team. They bring to these positions a long time commitment from many years of participation as volunteers here at Blue Deer.

I am very excited to be working alongside them to be in service to you and all who will visit Blue Deer this year.

Here is what Kate and K’Anna have to say about beginning their work here…

With Gratitude,

Mark Gionfriddo
Executive Director



 After the long journey to Blue Deer Center, I always feel a rush of excitement and anticipation as I drive around the reservoir and turn toward the Center.

Stepping out of the car into the cold February night I am greeted by the clean, brisk air. Turning my gaze upward I see Orion high in the sky standing bold and bright overhead. The half moon illuminates the snow-covered land.


What a beautiful welcoming!!


In that moment I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this opportunity to be on sacred ground and serve Blue Deer Center in a greater capacity as Center Director.

I am grateful to have my partner, K’Anna Burton, as a fellow pilgrim on this path of Sacred Relationship. There is much work to be done. I will need the help and support of the larger community to continue to forward the mission of Blue Deer Center to provide a place for ancestral wisdom.

I hope to see many of you here this summer. Sign up for a program, volunteer for a work weekend, come walk the land, sing with the river, or sit by the fire.

“Retreat, Discover, Heal” on this Sacred Land.

Kate Barrier











Hello everyone!

I am so very excited to begin working here at Blue Deer Center.

I come to this position of Program Director with a love of Blue Deer Center that has developed over many years of program participation, communal gatherings around the fire and as a long-time volunteer staff.

I feel, as many do, that this land, the mountains and valleys, and this sacred river hold my heart and my soul in a very deep way. It is always a beautiful welcoming when I “come home” here.

To this important work, I bring a willingness to learn, grow and share what skills and talents I have that may be needed for the continued growth and development of Blue Deer Center.

My gratitude for this opportunity includes being joined by my life partner, Kate Barrier, on this challenging and rewarding work path.

To all who come to Blue Deer Center this year for a program, a community gathering, or just to sit by the fire, I am honored to be of service. And, I humbly offer my support and hard work toward the continued unfolding of the Center’s mission and greater work in the world.

K’Anna Burton


 A HEART FELT THANK YOU!

As we move into 2015 program year and begin to cultivate and nourish our new fields, I would like to take this opportunity to extend a thank you to last year's program staff, Ted Finkle, Aaron Bauman, Maria Quintana and all the volunteers that made the work at Blue Deer possible in 2014.
                            
Without their dedication and timeless work we would not have been able to deliver the experience that Blue Deer has to offer.