By Tom Beckwith
Kristy Judd holding the plaque proclaiming "Kristy Judd Day" in Golden
Friday, February 15, 2008, was “Kristy Judd Day” in
Golden. The official proclamation by the city’s mayor, Jacob Smith, was one of
many tributes given to the long-time Colorado Mountain Club Executive Director
at her going-away party attended by a hundred people. Judd resigned in December
to become the Executive Director of Metro Volunteers in Denver. She stayed on
at the CMC through the opening of the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering
Museum on February 16 (see related article on the BWAMM opening in this issue
of T&T).
During her decade-long tenure, Judd guided the CMC as it
moved into its new offices in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in
Golden. The acquisition of the AMC was a joint venture by the American Alpine
Club and the Colorado Mountain Club facilitated by the Golden Civic Foundation.
Chuck Baroch, Executive Director of the Foundation and former mayor of Golden,
paid tribute to Judd for her years of service and her leadership as the two clubs
turned the former Golden High School building—and subsequently the city’s
Junior High School—into a world-class center for mountaineering.
Additionally, Judd sought to stabilize the finances of
the CMC by acquisition of funds through the Scientific and Cultural Facilities
District of the five-county region of metropolitan Denver. In the last fiscal
year, the CMC took in a little over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars from
SCFD, according to controller Cathy McGuire. Judd was instrumental in broadening
the club’s programs of service to the membership. She also expanded the club’s
support staff; during the course of the evening, many staff members remarked
that, “She was the best boss I’ve ever had.”
According to former CMC president Sherry Richardson, Judd
leaves a stronger CMC with a Board of Directors more focused on the club’s
mission and dedicated to carrying the organization into the future. During her
years of service, the club greatly enhanced its physical facility, steadied its
financial position, and heightened its visibility in Colorado and with other
mountaineering organizations.
A committee headed by Alice White will search for the
next Executive Director for the CMC. In the interim, Bill Strathearn, the
former treasurer for the club, will serve as interim E.D. P
Sherry Richardson and David Hite contributed to this
article.