SEQUIM — Annette Hanson can’t say goodbye — she prefers “see you around” — but she is packing up for a new life beside another mountain range and river.
This is a woman with many enthusiasms, so it’s hard to know which to start with.
She retired April 30 after devoting 34 years to the Sequim School District, most recently as resource and information coordinator — but that was just her paid job.
As an indefatigable and unpaid advocate for the north Peninsula’s natural wonders, Hanson was a key proponent of Railroad Bridge Park and the Dungeness River Audubon Center.
The park, a serene refuge for humans as well as numerous bird and salmon species, wouldn’t exist were it not for Hanson’s gumption, said Julie Jackson and Lyn Muench, two River Center board members.
Railroad Bridge Park
Back in 1993, 10 acres of woods along the Dungeness River were available to a local government or other agency to turn into a public park.
The Trust for Public Lands had purchased the parcel, the old railroad trestle had been restored — but neither the city of Sequim nor the county of Clallam stepped forward to manage it.
Nevertheless, Hanson and her late husband Mark, a science teacher in the Sequim School District, envisioned a park with an educational center by the river.
They had already created a small natural history museum at Sequim High School, filled with exhibits and taxidermy animals.
Hanson was the one who made the phone call in ’93, Muench said, to W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe then and now.
Allen, after conferring with the tribal council, said yes: Yes, we will care for the park and keep it public; it will be given as a legacy to the people of Sequim.
River Center
The Dungeness River Audubon Center was completed in 2001, and Hanson helped move the high school natural history museum into it.
Always working behind the scenes, she helped the Jamestown tribe, the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, the national Audubon Society and the River Center Foundation work together to make the center a place for travelers, school children and other locals connect with nature.
Railroad Bridge is now the heart of the Olympic Discovery Trail, well-traveled by cyclists, bird-watchers, dog-walkers and others enjoying the canopy of trees above and the Dungeness River below.
A counter installed on the bridge recorded nearly 25,000 crossings in the first three months of this year.
Through the years Hanson, though she never talked much about her role in the River Center’s existence, was often seen around town inviting people to whatever festival was coming to the park next.
She lost Mark in October 2005, but is surrounded by longtime friends and family, including sisters who live in Sequim and her two sons, and has continued to find her day job rewarding as well.
Colleagues retired at 30 years, but she kept working, calling it “a wonderful experience” to work with a series of superintendents, administrators, teachers and children.
So the question has to be: How can she leave Sequim?
Moving for love
The answer is love — the wholly unexpected kind.
Just last July, Hanson went to Yakima to attend her high school reunion. It had been 40 years since she graduated from Eisenhower High School, but she remembered plenty of classmates — but not one Gary Poor.
The two alumni met for the first time at the reunion, when Poor asked Hanson to dance.
It didn’t take long for both to realize that ballroom dancing — salsa, waltz, swing — is only one of the delights they have in common.
During a conversation that lasted into the wee hours, they learned about other shared interests: wild places, birds, new experiences.
Then Poor went home to Kalispell, Mont., Hanson came back here and the two started e-mailing.
That led to trips to the Moosefest in Roslyn, and the Miles City, Mont., Bucking Horse Sale, among other places.
For months, the couple took the train back and forth between Seattle and Kalispell, and somewhere along the line, each realized that first impression was accurate: This person is just right.
Hanson said she could tell by the way he danced with her, by how he treated her.
“There was that spark of attraction,” she added. But at the same time, she felt relaxed with him.
The catch was that she wasn’t with him all that often, not nearly as often as both wanted.
Since Poor, 59, is still working, they decided Hanson would move to Montana, to his home beneath the Rocky Mountains, not far from the Whitefish River.
Last weekend, Hanson was treated to two parties: one at the River Center and one at Carrie Blake Park with her school district colleagues.
Poor was at her side for both, chatting easily with the crowd of friends.
Honor Annette Fund
The River Center board, meanwhile, set up a legacy: the Honor Annette Fund to support future educational programs and Railroad Bridge Park care.
Already, $4,500 in donations have come in, Jackson said. Contributions may be sent to the Dungeness River Audubon Center, P.O. Box 2450, Sequim, WA 98382.
Jackson, who notes Hanson’s many projects because Hanson herself won’t, added that she was also a driver behind the River Center’s current event, the Dungeness Spring Fling.
In this fundraiser hikers, gardeners, birders, runners and cyclists gather pledges throughout May to support the park and center, and then have a party for participants and supporters June 5.
The fling also includes guided hikes; the last one is from Salt Creek to Striped Peak, starting at 9 a.m. Friday.
To take part in that outing or otherwise get into the Spring Fling, visit www.DungenessRiverCenter.org or phone 360-681-4076.
This year’s goal is $30,000, Jackson said, with more than $11,500 raised so far.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
