GICCA Welcomes New Board Members
GICCA Welcomes New Board Members
In January 2019, the Guemes Island Community Center Association (GICCA) welcomed two new board members. One is a long-time islander and one is a relative newcomer. They come together with the common goal of serving our community. Almost like bookends, our treasured multi-generational families that are steeped in tradition and our new arrivals who are discovering the many things we all love about this island join to continue writing the colorful and evolving story of Guemes Island.
Carol Deach is a third-generation Guemes Islander born to Alice and Marv Shoultz in 1950. Her many adventures growing up on the island could fill volumes and they include attending school at the Guemes Schoolhouse until it closed in 1960. Her higher education, then marriage to Tom Deach, followed by the birth of their two children took her young family to other parts of the state, and then to Idaho. She and Tom returned to Guemes in 2010. Carol’s training in art and special education has benefited our community in many ways. Carol was president of the Guemes Island Historical Society and helps with the popular summer Guemes Science Camp as a teacher and organizer. Her vegetable and flower farm stand on Edens Road helps fund her volunteer work with Great Shape! Inc., a humanitarian organization that provides access to education and health care for children and families in Jamaica.
Libby Boucher and her husband, Tony, found their way to Guemes through the brother of a friend who owned property on the island. After a few years of perusing real estate ads and dreaming of island life while still young enough to enjoy it, they made the decision to leave their jobs in Sammamish, and move north to Guemes in 2017. Not quite empty nesters, they have one of their three sons also living here. Tony still works from home. Libby left a career as an office manager at an elementary school where she was president of her local office employees union. Volunteering was also an important part of her life in Sammamish and she wasted no time becoming involved here on Guemes. You’ll see her in the Guemes Library on most Wednesdays. If you ask Libby why she enjoys volunteering, she’ll tell you it’s the best way to meet people when you move to a new location.
Location brings us back to that common ground. There are many of our long-time residents who over the years have served on the board that governs our 105-year-old Community Center. That foundation and support provide a match to the new energy and enthusiasm that honors tradition and keeps our community working together and moving forward. We welcome the contributions Carol and Libby bring to GICCA.
