Colorado Visitor Center manager Cheryl McDonald commends Dorothy and Tom Collins on their Jack Snow Award for Outstanding Volunteer, a testimony to their 23 years and almost 6,000 volunteer hours at the visitor center.
RANGELY I Earlier this month long time Rangely residents Tom and Dorothy Collins received the Jack Snow Award for Outstanding Volunteer at the Colorado Tourism Conference, honoring their decades of dedicated service to the Colorado Visitor Center in Dinosaur.
The Jack Snow Award is given annually to a volunteer within Colorado in recognition of their contributions to the tourism industry in a volunteer capacity. The recipient is someone who has devoted their free time to promoting Colorado and bettering the visitor experience. Both Tom and Dorothy certainly fit the bill, with more than 23 years and almost 6,000 volunteer hours with the visitor center.
The Collins’ were thrilled with the award and hopeful that it would bring more recognition to the Center. “If the people at the conference didn’t know where Dinosaur was before, they did then,” said Dorothy, in response the standing ovation the pair received from the crowd at the conference.
Cheryl McDonald, who manages the center, seconded Dorothy’s sentiments saying, “It means so much to have our small center recognized by the entire state.”
The Collins have enjoyed their time at the Visitor Center. “You meet the greatest people in the world doing this,” remarked Tom.
The couple, who are both in their 80s, moved to Rangely in the 1940s and ’50s and spent their careers in Rangely as teachers. Since retiring they have spent many hours volunteering around the community. In addition to their service at the visitor center they also spend time helping at the senior center, museum and in their church.
Both Tom and Dorothy are hopeful that their award will encourage others to consider volunteering at the center, where they are always looking for more help.
“We are all a big happy family here. Everybody helps each other out,” said Dorothy.
McDonald is optimistic that the work of volunteers such as the Collins will help educate others about the importance of the visitor center.
“Travelers who stop in Welcome Centers stay, on average, 2.7 days longer in the state,” McDonald said. “We couldn’t do any of it without volunteers,” she added.
