Desert Lady Diaries

DLD| Mary Helen Tuttle |Ep 158

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Born and raised near the Catskills in NY State, Mary Helen Tuttle fell in love with a guy who had started building a place in the desert.
 
When Steve took a job on the west coast, they moved to Fontana. Thinking the desert home would just be a weekend retreat, the couple would make trips out on weekends to work on the dome home. They started working on their desert place in 1990 and made the move full-time in October of 2000.
 
Mary Helen believes when you move somewhere new, you need to reach out to find your people, "no one is going to come knocking on your door". Moving to California, Mary Helen learned, "You need to bloom where you're planted."
 
With that in mind, Mary Helen joined the JT Rotary. She likes the idea that her little bit of time and money, mixed with little bits of time and money from other Rotarians, makes a larger difference in the world. The JT Rotary team coordinates projects like restocking the shelves of local food pantries, providing new shoes to kids for the new school year and coordinating a summer camp for 275 local kids. If JT Rotary sounds like an organization you can get behind, send an email to jtrotary@yahoo.com or check out their Facebook page to join.
 
In this episode, Mary Helen shares the rich history of Copper Mountain Mesa (North JT) and how the residents came to have electricity, water and a community center. The Center is locally famous for their 1st Saturday of the month pancake breakfast and is hoping to be able to serve everyone again Labor Day weekend (2021). Mary Helen explains that prior to being closed for Covid, the Community Center came up against some difficulties with the County citing the Community Center kitchen with infractions. While some grants have been secured to pay for the materials, the labor is all volunteer. If you can help, with labor, materials or financially, head to the Center’s website and get in touch or make a donation. The website is: cmmcommunitycenter.org .