Nancy Rothwell retiring

COLFAX – Current Perkins House Volunteer Coordinator, Nancy Rothwell is set to retire after over five years of being coordinator. Rothwell is originally an antique dealer from Seattle. After retiring from her physical therapist job there she moved to Colfax. Upon noticing that the Perkins house needed a lot of help, she started to volunteer her time there. "I'm a painter and a physical therapist. Healthcare fine arts and antiques," Perkins said.

After a while volunteering the Perkins House noticed that Rothwell could be relied upon, asking her to be the leader. Former coordinator, and current volunteer of 7 years, Theresa Dale passed the duties of volunteer coordinator onto Rothwell.

"I've been thinking about retiring for a year, but there were just too many projects at Perkins house so I didn't feel like I could leave until I got the projects done," Rothwell said. There have been improvements to the infrastructure made during her time as volunteer coordinator. "My husband and I created a drain field around the cabin to prevent dry rot, and soil erosion behind the cabin." Without these improvements the cabin was going to rot, she explained, noting that both the house and the cabin now have new drain fields.

Rothwell also noticed that the house was starting to lean, pushing for new foundation in the house, which now keeps the house stable. In addition she helped the Perkins house attain a new roof, which was the very first project that they completed, as well as a new garage.

"My husband was right beside me doing the improvements. He's a former contractor so he brought some skills that I did not have," Rothwell added, noting that with some of her free time they intend to do some travelling.

For Rothwell the best part of being volunteer coordinator was working with other volunteers and teambuilding. "Five years ago we only had 3 volunteers and now we have about 15," she said. "We have good volunteers who are helping the house improve."

Rothwell is not done volunteering yet, "I will always be involved in the community," she said, mentioning that she is still invested in the greenway project, a project that is bringing a biking trail to Colfax. That project will be taking up her time, as well taking the chance to study printmaking, "I'm a painter already but I've never studied printmaking, so I want to improve my skills."

To follow Rothwell as volunteer coordinator will be Ronda Penwell, who Rothwell noted is the history teacher at the high school so loves history. "She's enthusiastic and looking forward to the job."

Rothwell is leaving two major things on the list for Penwell to take up. "Two things on my list that I wish I could have taken care of are carpentry to improve the outside of the house, and porches that have dry rot," also noting that after that the house needs to be painted. Penwell will still have Rothwell as a mentor, who still has every intention to be involved with the historical house, "I'll be at events. I'll still be involved," Rothwell said.