Aug 6, 2008 7:37 pm US/Pacific
Volunteer Takes Kids for a Walk on the Wild Side
Jefferson Award Winner: Peg Utterback
San Mateo
Peg Utterback can get "wrapped" up in reptiles - literally! When we met her, she was showing a king snake to a group of wide-eyed children. For 30 years, this 85-year-old volunteer has brought children face-to-face with Bay Area wildlife at the Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo.
"When you look at the expression on their faces, especially when you bring on an animal that they 'AH!' you know, like a snake or something, they enjoy every minute of it," Peg says with a smile.
"She really comes with a passion for the animals, and the environment. The kids pick up on that," adds museum volunteer manager Lee Cauble.
Besides museum tours for school students, this retired phone company customer service adviser leads hikes in the San Bruno Mountains. She helps kids get a "feel" for local animals .. from touching a snake's skin.. to imagining the river otter's thick fur..
Often Peg's audience leaves with a new perspective.
Fourteen-year-old Kelsea Wong says, "Usually, people think the skin's gross and slimy but when you feel it, it's all smooth."
Eleven-year-old Ashley Duree adds, "I'm not really that scared of snakes anymore and tarantulas."
Peg volunteered at Coyote Point for about 50 hours last year. But perhaps her biggest claim to fame is that she's the only one of the museum's 50 docents who will handle Cordelia the tarantula.
"This is a brown tarantula, which is native to this area," she says, showing off the giant spider.
"She's really gutsy and brave. Not everyone's comfortable with the tarantula," says Lee.
Cordelia is fast.. so fast, she bit Peg's finger once, a couple of years ago, in the middle of a school presentation.
"It was a surprise! AH! She bit me!" Peg laughs.
Peg quietly put the tarantula away. The bite was not deadly, and the kids never suspected anything wrong.
"Anybody else would have dropped it," says Lee. "Or at least flinched and said, 'Oh I just got bitten,' but she was the ultimate in calm, cool and collected."
Museum staff call Peg one of their most dependable volunteers, first in line to help, whether training new volunteers or assembling mass mailings.
How does she have the energy to do that at 85?
"I'm in good health. The legs still hold up," she says. "I feel 65."
For three decades of volunteer service inspiring children to appreciate animal and plant life at the Coyote Point Museum, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Peg Utterback.
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