Volunteering is Fun!

This month’s volunteer profile features Jerry Kerr.

“Being a volunteer with El Rancho de las Golondrinas has been a rejuvenating experience for me. I majored in American Studies in my undergraduate (UMBC) and graduate (U of Wyoming) programs with a focus on American History and Museums. My first credible job in New Mexico came in 1973 with the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology’s Education Department. It was a grant-based position and short-lived. My work in New Mexico, before I moved to Maryland, included 4 years at the Steaksmith Restaurant when it was downtown (1976–1980), selling Native American art, freelance writing and legal administration. From there, my career went in several different directions before settling into a 27-year career as a bank administrator in Maryland.

Coming to El Rancho de las Golondrinas has been like coming home. I had always felt that I would come back to New Mexico, but had not anticipated finding a second home with El Rancho de las Golondrinas. I had done some volunteer work with the B & O Railroad Museum while in Maryland, but it took my retirement and moving back to New Mexico before I found some satisfaction for what had been my avocation all those years while ‘administrating’ for restaurants, law firms and banks.

I love giving tours to folks of all ages and I like the fact that I often learn new things from those folks too! My focus the last two years has been the big mill (El Molino Grande) and will continue to be so, but I hope to contribute in other areas too.”