Dedicated to making your visit awesome!
Jim has been volunteering at the Trails Center for 9 years. Born in Eastport, Maine, Jim grew up just north in Robbinston, ME in two six generation homes—one founded in 1808 and the other in 1814. Jim grew to love history due to his upbringing. Jim’s Great Great Great Aunt and Uncle were part of the same group—called the ABCFM—which sponsored the Spaulding and Whitman missionaries who traveled west early in the 19th century. Mrs. Spaulding and Whitman are believed to be the first two white women to cross the Continental Divide. Jim has 6 known ancestors who were part of the Mayflower Society and can trace most of his family back to when they arrived in New England.
Jim graduated from the University of Maine in 1969 and was drafted to the US Army. Eventually he wound up at Fort Carson, Colorado. Jim’s father followed him and obtained a graduate degree from Colorado State going on to become a professor at Casper College. The whole family then moved out west. Jim met his wife, Susan, at Woolco in 1973. They have been married for 45 years! Jim attended the University of Wyoming and graduated in 1975 with an MSMBA. He passed the CPA exam and became a Wyoming CPA.
Jim was employed by Utah International at Shirtly Basin and was transferred to San Francisco. Jim was later transferred back (coming this at this time from Bethesda, MD in 1991) although the company had changed hands becoming Pathfinder Mines, then Cogema, then finally Areva. Retiring in 2010 when the Pathfinder Mine was sold, Jim got involved with the Trails Center. It started with an Ollie class at Casper College. Jim has also been actively involved in prison ministry (mostly in Texas) and rest home ministry (at Poplar Living Center) since 2000. Jim and his wife Susan are officers of JustAnotherMinistry.org and are licensed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
What Jim enjoys at the Trails Center is leading well-behaved 4th graders and other visitors. “I know enough to tell them stuff,” Jim says. The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center is so fortunate to have Jim here with us! Come visit and meet this fine gentleman soon!