President - Anne Rivas
I came to New Mexico 5 years ago after gardening in various locations in the Midwest for 40 years. I started Master Gardener Intern classes here in 2020 and finished in 2021. I served as Board Secretary for one year and am the current Board President. I am also a project co-leader in the Audubon Gardens. I believe the main function of the board is to listen to Extension Master Gardeners and articulate a vision for our chapter within the parameters set by the NMSU Extension Service.
Treasurer - Sandie Lemke
Sandie Lemke became an SFEMG Master Gardener in 2019.
Sandie moved to Pecos from Houston Texas with her husband David in 2016. In over thirty years in Houston, Sandie spent her professional life working with new mothers and babies as a nurse and as the owner of a mother-and-baby retail store.
Since her arrival to northern New Mexico, Sandie has been busy with various activities – volunteer and retail. Sandie worked as the barn manager for two years at the New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding. She volunteered at the Upper Pecos Watershed Association as the office administrator, grant administrator, and fundraiser for three major events. In 2020, Sandie helped with the Garden Fair setup and checkout. During the Spring and Summer of 2021 and 2022, Sandie worked at Waterwise Gardening during their plant sales.
Sandie and David live on the Pecos River at the edge of the Village. Outdoors is where she prefers passing her time: hiking, fly fishing, and spending time keeping the wild from taking over by expertly managing pocket gophers, tending flower and cactus gardens, composting, worm farming, and managing two, soon-to-be three, top bar bee hives.
Secretary - Carol Pava
Carol Pava, who is a county-certified master naturalist and became a master gardener in 2021, then took the most fertile SNaPP native plants training in 2022. She does the Xerces pollinator planting and has a community garden plot in Casa Solana. She aims to integrate the NMSU horticulture department By-laws with those of SFEMG, weeding as needed. She hopes to grow into this task, while getting a succession committee together to recruit board nominees, (like you!) to keep cultivating the organization to bloom. Formerly, she was a government auditor and CFO for a state agency as an MBA, so typing minutes while listening is a walk in the garden.
Membership - Christine Foster
Christine Foster serves as the Membership Director for both the Santa Fe and St. Tammany, Louisiana Master Gardener Extensions. She shares time between two houses with very different zones and plants, caring for flowering and vegetable gardens throughout the year and growing her knowledge of natives. Retired from corporate life in 2018, she currently spends time educating and gardening with youth at the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center, traveling with Watts of Love to distribute solar lights to communities around the world who have no access to electricity, hiking, and exercising.
Project Coordinator - Pat Hollingsworth
We moved to Santa Fe in May 2018 from the Midwest – goodbye hydrangeas and rain, hello chamisa and drought! Having gardened for 20+ years I felt reasonably successful in my efforts, but there was so much to learn here. The Master Gardeners program was a tremendous help; I joined and completed the intern class in 2019. I had hoped to be a Project Leader at Golondrinas in 2020. Alas, it was canceled. Being a Project Coordinator allows me another chance to give back, help out, and serve Master Gardeners, an important part of the Santa Fe community. I am fully retired from outside work and have the time and energy to devote to this position. Another volunteer group I was involved with for 3 years is the Aldea Outdoors Committee, a group devoted to permaculture and waterwise landscape in my residential community.