Twelve years ago, Dolores local Kathie Butler retired from a 31-year career as an elementary school teacher, mostly spent in the Mancos school district.
But that was not satisfying enough, so she spent the next dozen years teaching kids how to read and write as the children’s librarian in Dolores.
Now that she has retired a second time, the energetic Butler isn’t through yet and is opening a nature center on her sprawling family ranch just north of Dolores off the Norwood Road.
“I love teaching kids and being creative,” she said.
The soft-spoken, articulate educator has a knack for telling stories and motivating kids to get hooked on books, writing and the creative arts.
Over the years, thousands of kids have passed through her after-school reading and writing programs. She was a familiar sight afternoons during the school year, holding a stop sign for kids to cross Colorado Highway 145 to the library.
“I had to make sure they all got here safely,” Butler said. “The kids here are still bookaholics, and I really enjoyed helping them.”
At one point, she had eight after-school programs going.
“Besides reading and writing, we wrote our own plays, acted them out, wrote scripts, made movies and had puppet shows,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Now it’s Act III for Butler.
This year, she started The Nature Center at Butler Corner on her 236-acre ranch, which borders the San Juan National Forest.
She plans to host school groups and community members interested in learning about nature. There are 6 miles of nature trails through forests and meadows, and you can see mountains from all Four Corner states.
“I want kids to learn to respect nature, learn about wildlife, and get outdoors more,” she said of her motivation to start the center.
The nonprofit is under the umbrella of the San Juan Resource Conservation and Development Council. Grants are being sought to install composting toilets for visitors. More benches and picnic tables are also planned.
Already local teachers and conservation groups are planning field trips to the new nature center, located just 3 miles north of Dolores where the road bends to enter the national forest.
The center plans to have snowshoe tours, and star-gazing programs to.
“I’m so excited; I’ve always wanted to have an educational use for the family ranch, and this is a perfect fit,” she said.
And if that is not enough to keep Butler busy, she has completed eight children’s novels that are just sitting on the shelf.
“I may finally have time to focus on submitting my novels to publishers,” she said. “I love to write books.”
For more information on the nature center visit their website at www.thenaturecenteratbutlercorner.org or call (970) 882-4593.
