MORP BOARD of DIRECTORS
The MORP Board of Directors was formed in 2014 and holds quarterly director meetings the third Tuesday of Feb, May, Aug, and Nov. Please contact MORP at morp@montezumaorchard.org if you are interested to attend to learn more about its work and inform MORP what you could contribute to the MORP team. Couples are welcome to join the board, but they share a vote. MORP staff regularly attend board meetings, but have no vote.
Ernie Rheaume: President, First Term and Kim Gilmore: Member, First Term: Ernie & Kim, both from the east coast, moved to Durango, Colorado in 2012 for work opportunities. Ernie has a background in cultural resource management and works to develop water infrastructure projects in the Southwest. Kim runs a small online reselling business. In 2018, Ernie and Kim decided to plant some roots and bought a home in Mancos. They became interested in MORP’s work shortly after moving to the area and attending a grafting class. Since that time, they have become very passionate about cider apples and cider making.
Cindy Gray: Vice President, First Term
Cindy and her late husband Tom, who we miss dearly, joined the MORP team through their love for their historic orchard. Cindy brings her passion for orchard preservation to the MORP team.
Jessica McIntyre: Treasurer, First Term
Jessica brings to the MORP team a passion for the preservation of nature, growing food, and processes and technology that can help to maintain a natural balance. She is educated in Environmental Studies and Geographic Information Systems. Jessica has a professional background in Systems Engineering with a focus in satellite imagery and satellite ground systems. Jessica and her family are working to restore an old orchard in Mancos, Colorado newly named Menefee Mountain Orchard. “We are a family operated orchard that is employing permaculture techniques and processes that will help to restore a balance between nature and the food we grow.”
Jon Kelly: Secretary, First Term
Jon grew up running amok outdoors in Southwest Colorado including rafting on the Dolores, San Juan and upper Colorado rivers. Years later he returned to Dolores raise to raise his own family. Jon has practiced law in Southwest Colorado since 1992 with an emphasis in real estate, water law and the needs of small business and municipalities. He brings his passion for orchard heritage and cider to the MORP team.
David Sanford: Member, second term (served 5 years as MORP BOD President)
David has been a resident of Montezuma County Colorado since 1968. He has worked for: the US Forest Service, Southwest Seed, Colorado State University, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and ARAMARK. He has been active in the community of Dolores as a member of the United Methodist church, Dolores Rotary, Dolores Chamber of Commerce, and Boy Scouts. He served on the Board of Directors of the Empire Electric Association, Montezuma Water Company, San Juan RC&D Council and the Mosquito Control Board. He has owned and operated a farm since 1971. David is married to his wife Ann, a school teacher in Dolores. Their two adult sons grew up in Montezuma County and now both reside and work in Durango. David has been interested in agriculture all his life and has wide experience in both dryland and irrigated production. He is a founding board member of MORP having joined the MORP team in 2014.
Lisa Bunker: Member, First Term
Lisa and her husband Ron became interested in orchards after attending both a pruning class and a grafting class with MORP. Their favorite apple is a seedling growing in a Montezuma County fenceline they named Montezuma Blush. They have four grown children and three granddaughters, with most of their families residing in the Front Range of Colorado.
MORP CO-DIRECTORS
Jude and Addie Schuenemeyer: CoDirectors, since 2017
After nearly two decades of playing mountaineer, paramedic, and Wildland Hotshot Firefighter, Jude became a father and business owner. Since 2001 he has self-learned how to be a parent, grower, nursery person, farmer, orchardist, historian, grafter, teacher, coffee roaster, and cook; making him a “crash-course graduate” in how to run a family farm, orchard, business, and nonprofit. In addition to being passionate about his family of four beautiful girls Jude is a fruit enthusiast; he uses his twenty some years of educator training and experience to teach his passions to people of all ages.
Raised as a “Park Brat” calling places like Mesa Verde and Death Valley National Parks home, Addie embraced a love for the outdoors and nurtured a strong sense of place. Seeking self challenge and adventure, by the time she was 19, she had worked as a Youth Conservation Crew Member and wrangler in Yellowstone, lived a year as a foreign exchange student in Argentina, picked apples in the orchards of the Montezuma Valley, and lived in Mexico before settling down to a routine of college in the winter and fire in the summer. After graduating from Colorado State University with a degree in Natural Resources Management, Addie dedicated nearly a decade to a career in wildland fire until falling head over heals for her husband Jude. Together they grew a retail nursery/cafe business and family of four beautiful girls, and along the way developed a love for community and it’s orchard heritage. In 2015, they closed the doors of their beloved Let it Grow Nursery and Garden Market so they could dedicate the time needed to work towards the mission of MORP.
morp@montezumaorchard.org (970) 565-3099 POB 1556, Cortez, Co 81321
FISCAL SPONSOR
MORP is a program of Onward! A Legacy Foundation Onward! Staff & Board of Directors.
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