Committee Members

Dave Zeretzke

Dave joined the Trails Committee on San Juan Island in 2000 when he was working for the Board of County Commissioners as a department director of Administrative Services which included Human Resources, Information Technology, Risk Management, oversight of the Board of Equalization, select capital construction projects and assorted special projects. As a lifelong hiker, bicyclist, backpacker, camper and gardener, he made sure that every holiday included lots of outdoor time. He and his wife have enjoyed bicycle vacations in many states and in Holland. His first trail involvement was in 1972 in Ogden, Utah after moving west. The Old Military Road Trail project is a dream he has shared with others since moving to San Juan Island in 1980.

Mike Vouri

Mike is the author of five books about national, state and regional history, including The Pig War: Stand-off at Griffin Bay. Prior to his 21-year stint as chief of interpretation/historian at San Juan Island National Historical Park (from which he retired in 2015), Vouri was a public affairs officer/history curator for the Whatcom Museum of History and Art, a reporter for the Bellingham Herald and an assistant director for the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. He currently is a group leader and lecturer for the Skagit Valley College Road Scholar program.

Boyd C. Pratt

Boyd is the Adult Programs Associate with the San Juan Island Library and in that capacity coordinates the monthly Know Your Islanders Talks cosponsored by the Trails Committee. After moving to San Juan Island in 1991, in addition to farming, he has done historic preservation consulting work on as many as he can of the 172 islands (at high tide) of the San Juan Archipelago. His interest in the Old Military Road stems from his research into the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Belle Vue Sheep Farm, which established the “Cowichan Road” that was subsequently used to connect American and English Camps (the Military Trail).

Todd Kaden

Todd moved to the San Juan Islands in 2003 with his spouse and two young sons after visiting regularly for over a decade. He spent six years on Orcas Island before migrating west to San Juan Island. He practiced as a pharmacist for over thirty years in a variety of settings. He enjoys travel, hiking, backpacking, cycling, skiing and kayaking.

Jeffrey Gillette

Jeff and Pam Gillette are relative newcomers to the island, having only been here since 2018. Pam is an artist, where she transforms her love of nature to images of beauty. One of her more recent accomplishments is that she illustrated a children’s book that focuses on family relationships as seen through a natural perspective. Jeff is a retired Omni-channel turn-around executive, with extensive international product development experience. Their love of this project is centered around their son’s service as a decorated United States Army Officer, their love the history and natural beauty of this island, and they want to honor those who have blazed the trail before them.

Tim Dustrude

Tim is an avid walker and bicyclist and the recent Chair of the SJI Trails Committee. He originally approached the Trails Committee in 2015 with a slide presentation that demonstrated ever decreasing walkability in our town and community. After receiving great support and encouragement from several members, he joined the Trails Committee, refined the presentation and began showing various community groups what’s happening as far as walk-ability and bike-ability and suggesting what we need to do about it. He ended up with 16 private, business and government organizations endorsing his vision statement. This eventually led to the creation of a Trails sub-committee devoted to getting our town and county to pass a Complete Streets ordinance which both have now done.

Robin Donnelly

Robin enjoyed the beauty of San Juan Island and the Salish Sea as a boating youngster in the 50s and 60s. She and her husband, Tom, have owned property here since 1989. After retiring they have lived full time on island since 2014. It is very important for them to share with their children and grandchildren some of the joys of both land and sea found here and help conserve its beauty and fascinating history. Robin’s background includes Vice President and President of the American River Natural History Association; author of Biking and Hiking the American River Parkway, a Cultural and Natural History; and with Tom, a team member and an originator of the nationally recognized Roche Harbor Trail System which connects Roche Harbor with Roche Harbor Highlands and English Camp. It remains her dream to help connect people to nature and nature to people and to foster communication between potentially conflicting parties, such as the Military Road facilitated during the bloodless Pig War where commonalities were celebrated rather than differences.

Jim McNairy

Jim is a retired high school social studies teacher who has called San Juan Island home for over 30 years. He began his teaching career in the early 1980’s in the small town of Darby in the Bitterroot Valley of Western Montana. He and his wife Dotty moved their young family to San Juan Island in 1992, where Jim taught a variety of history, government, and current events courses at Friday Harbor High School for 21 years. He capped his teaching career with a 4-year stint at an international school in Incheon, South Korea, before retiring in 2017.

Jim is an avid hiker and e-bike rider. He is particularly excited about how the Old Military Road Trail can be creatively incorporated into the curriculum of local island schools.

Mark Noyes

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Mark Noyes first encountered the San Juan Islands when his father would bring him and his brothers up on camping/fishing trips. As an adult he brought his kids up to the islands for adventures in hiking and kayaking. He lived in Friday Harbor for a couple of years in the early 2000s, when he joined the San Juan Island Trails Committee and advocated for a “walkable island.”

Mark and his wife bought a 110-year old house in Friday Harbor in 2017, and made their move up in early 2019, where he rejoined the trails committee and took an interest in the Old Military Road Trail project. An avid bicyclist, hiker and kayaker, Mark loves the outdoors and the weather on San Juan Island is just how he likes it.

A licensed general contractor, for a dozen years Mark was the maintenance supervisor for a historic children’s park, Fairytale Town, in Sacramento, CA, where he built, remodeled, or restored children’s play structures, paths, bridges and fences. He also designed and installed native and drought-tolerant landscapes and thoroughly enjoyed working with the existing landscape/terrain to incorporate natural trails and “desire paths.”

Mark now works as an estimator and drafts person with Green Man Landscape, Inc. in Friday Harbor. Whether it be urban trails such as the American River Parkway in Sacramento, CA, interstate trails like the Pacific Crest Trail, or our very own network of island trails, Mark feels that trails are a valuable resource leading to personal enrichment.

Shaun Hubbard

Three sets of Shaun Hubbard’s great-great grandparents came to San Juan Island in the 1800s, so history feels alive to her wherever she goes on the island. That’s why she’s excited to see island history connect up with the present day by helping to make the Old Military Road Trail (OMRT) a reality for everyone to enjoy.

Raised in Seattle, but frequently visiting her mother’s extended family on San Juan Island, Shaun grew up knowing that the islands were a unique and special place. After retiring from her graphic design business, Shaun and her partner, Harold, built a home in the middle of the island and soon became immersed in managing the endangered Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) and wildflower habitat on their property, while also volunteering to do the same with the San Juan County Land Bank on their adjoining Cady Mountain Preserve.

In addition to outdoor work, Shaun has volunteered her graphic design skills for various local groups promoting the conservation of the environment and of island history: OMRT, San Juan Historical Museum, San Juan County Land Bank, San Juan Preservation Trust (Western Bluebird reintroduction), and Friends of the San Juans and San Juan Islanders for Safe Shipping (advocacy of healthy salmon and orca habitat).

We Need Your Support Today!

Questions? Comments? We would love to hear from you!

Email: info@oldmilitaryroadtrail.org