Marie Wilson
President
I have been a member of TOWN for over fifteen years and a member of the Board for almost two years and counting. I am originally from Brooklyn, New York and found my way to Northwest Austin in June of 1984. During my working career I have been an Electro-mechanical drafter (at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque), an Administrative Assistant and an entrepreneur in the field of Professional Organizing. I am currently retired which gives me the flexibility to participate in many outdoor activities. Discovering TOWN has been a joy. Participating in outdoor activities with like-minded women has given me more confidence in the outdoors. TOWN continues to be a great source of discovery and learning. I especially enjoy camping, kayaking, hiking, and biking.
Janet Fitzsimon-Barr
Treasurer
Native Texan who has always been a nature geek. I love birdwatching and watching all of nature. I love to walk around on our 3 acres in Bastrop county each season and see all the changes. So much fun to take amateurish photos and upload them to the app iNaturalist. I work full-time in downtown Austin so my weekends are sacred, but filling them with a Townie outing is the best! I have been a TOWN member and board member for many years. No kids, just a slew of cats and 2 dogs, 1 husband.
Sherry Mason
Secretary
My name is Sherry Mason and I have been a member of TOWN for almost one year. I was born in New York and at the age of three my family packed up and moved to sunny Miami, Florida.. Miami was a great place to grow up. In 1970 my husband and I moved to Austin where he got a state job, and I went to UT School of Nursing. I worked as an RN for many years finally retiring in 2013. I am a member of the native plant society and Travis Audubon. In fact, I was volunteering at Blair Sanctuary pulling up invasive plants with another volunteer who happened to be a member of TOWN. She told me all about the organization and how much fun it was to camp, so I immediately went to the website and signed up. I love being out in nature and TOWN provides so many opportunities to do this! My all-time favorite parks are Enchanted Rock and Pedernales Falls.
Dawn Kidd
Membership Chair
Born and raised in Miami, FL. My interests include kayaking, camping, hiking, and reading. Attended Vanderbilt University for my B.S., University of Texas at Austin for my M.A. and Ph.D. Retired last year after 30+ years of teaching at the Texas School for the Deaf. I currently work part time as an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter, an adjunct instructor for Lamar University, and on several projects for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY. My husband and I have a daughter and a son, and two granddaughters. My first trip with TOWN was 2016 (I think!) to Palo Duro Canyon. I was looking for people to camp with; I had been very active as a Leader for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, and we did tons of camping, but then they graduated from high school and moved on. So, I moved on to TOWN!
Anna Elman
Tech Support and Acting Outings Coordinator
I am a long time Austin resident. I moved to Austin for an Electrical Engineering degree from UT and pretty much never left. I’ve always been a big on hiking, camping, and traveling. But I got involved in TOWN through Wednesday kayaking group. It was so wonderful to find women with so much experience in the outdoors! I really enjoyed all the varied activities that TOWN offers. I am slowly getting into birding. My husband and I have 2 grown daughters and a rescue Chiweenie named Nacho.