50 People for 50 Years: Gayle Conover
The Transition from Volunteer to Board President
Perhaps it was providence through her horse loving daughter that led Gayle Conover to SHHRC (now Mane Stream). Her daughter was a bit too young at 13 to volunteer so Octavia Brown suggested Gayle come along with her daughter and according to Gayle, “And so it began.”
Gayle remembers, “I met many new and special friends with the same goals: to volunteer, and to make a difference in the people we served. I learned a lot about the special needs community, something I never could have learned on my own. It was also a great time to spend with my daughter outside of our own riding and horse related life!” Gayle witnessed the dedication of countless volunteers and the commitment to the program was impressive. “In the early days, before the new facility was built, a lot of hard work was involved with limited resources, but it never compromised the quality of lessons.”
Board members like Jill Thomas, Sheila Tweedie, and Mary Pat Gallagher became Gayle’s go to girls during the new construction. They worked right alongside the guys that Gayle had wrangled into helping. One was Gayle’s husband Wayne, who supported her through all of her absent hours at work and at home. The other Board member was Carmen Paterniti, “We couldn’t have done it without the countless volunteers, too many to mention, but so hard working. The therapists who would amaze me with their knowledge, and the instructors who developed a deep trust with so many of the clients.”
“When time spent on a horse can help a non-verbal child to speak for the first time, it is life changing. Therapeutic (Adaptive) Riding has so many benefits for the clients and their families. Offering occupational, physical, and speech-language therapies on-site is also a very important aspect of the benefits to the program.” According to Gayle, clients came from near and far to be a part of Mane Stream. Teenagers volunteered to show their commitment to community service which is a huge part of a well-rounded student applying for college. Volunteers worked side by side with the same goal, of making it the best experience for a client.
The hardest thing for Gayle was moving from a volunteer to board member. She missed being in the riding ring with the students she got to know so well, however, she recognized the potential of the program and the prospect of raising funds to build a new facility that would ensure the means to serve more participants and expand the programs offered.
Gayle expressed, “Extreme thanks and gratitude goes to the Kamine and Kluge families for the confidence, generosity, and foresight they had in order to reach the goal of the capital campaign and the ability to start the project early.” The grand opening of the new facility in 2001 included a 14-stall barn, an indoor ring, proper offices, an educational area, a viewing window for lessons, and a tack room.
For Gayle after four years as a volunteer and four years as Board President, “I was so impressed early on by the work that went on at the farm, I talked about it to everyone I knew. I invited friends to the facility and encouraged anyone to volunteer even if they had no horse experience. I assured them there would always be something they could help with and feel like they were a part of something special. Bill Kluge made the comment I could never forget, “No one donates money to a cause, they donate because the person that asks has a passion for it.”
Gayle concluded by saying “Many friendships have been borne out of my time volunteering. It is still an amazing program today, that has expanded in many directions and that services an even larger community than the early days.”
Thank you, Gayle, for taking that leap to Board President!
