Jay Morse, Ron Hebert and Lou Yaich honored as MTRA’s “Volunteers of the Month” for January
There just isn’t enough we can do to repay our volunteers who are so generous with their time and their talent, so we’ve decided the least we can do is honor them here for all the world to see. We are so thankful and proud of these wonderful people and couldn’t subsist without them. Our Barn Manager, Gail Dufresne, would have a difficult time keeping our two facilities in top order without these three men.
Jay Morse, our “Mr. Fix-It” for all things MTRA and our Hillcrest Volunteer of the Month!
Jay Morse, Hillcrest Volunteer of the Month
Jay Morse is our “Mr. Fix-It” and is an indispensable asset to MTRA. With all of his talents, he keeps Hillcrest looking great and all of our equipment running and well maintained at both facilities, which is not an easy task given the age and condition of most of our tools! Jay has been a dedicated volunteer since the spring of 2012. When he is not helping feed and care for the horses at Hillcrest, he can be found under a piece of equipment or running around town searching for just the right replacement parts. He is also a great team leader and does a wonderful job organizing our volunteer crews for special projects.
Ron Hebert & Lou Yaich, Greenway Volunteers of the Month
Ron and Lou are part of the “Maintenance Crew at Greenway” and are two very dedicated volunteers that help keep MTRA looking spectacular. You will see this terrific twosome fixing fences, cutting up fallen trees and doing all kinds of general maintenance around our 33 acre facility. If there is something to be done, this dynamic duo will do it! With Lou’s background in Engineering and Ron retired from the FBI, these two will figure out what to do and how to do it the most effective and efficient way possible.
Ron Hebert & Lou Yaich, our January 2014 Greenway Volunteers of the Month
As Lou’s wife Marlena explains, “… going to MTRA is the highlight of Lou’s week. The days leading up to Wednesday and Friday, he wakes up preparing and gathering up whatever he might need for the day ‘at the farm’ (as he calls MTRA). He actually can talk incessantly about ‘the farm’ to our friends and family. I personally am thankful that he has found a place that gives him comfort and satisfaction doing his volunteer work. By the way, Lou has never done volunteer work until retirement.”
Ron Hebert hails from a small town outside of Albany, New York and grew up hunting and fishing. He had a job that allowed him a lot of flexibility, but he was always “on call”. It was difficult to make plans and forget having any type of schedule. After 20 years with the FBI, he retired in 1993, but went back to work part time six months later as a Special Investigator instead of a Special Agent. He spent the next 13 years doing what he loved best and could enjoy time off whenever he wanted. When the Heberts decided to move from their 60 acres in the mountains of West Virginia back to Florida, Ron knew he needed to find something to fill in some time. As he always wanted horses, but never had the time, he jumped at the chance to volunteer for MTRA. He loves working with the people and working around the horses, but secretly Ron and his wife Chay would like a few acres of their own with a couple of horses. Chay is also an indispensable MTRA volunteer and we are indebted to both of them for the many hours they devote.