CLUB NEWS
REFLECTION ON 32 YEARS December 2023 Patty Ashbrook shares her FHGC memories and next chapter
By William Godfrey Forest Highlands Club Historian
I am not interested in being remembered for doing something positive, but would be humbled if I were remembered for being something positive. -Patty Ashbrook
A time capsule from 1992 and significant events that took place that year:
• A text-based Web browser was first made available to the public. Within a few years, millions became regular users of the World Wide Web
• Academy Awards: Best Picture,‘Silence of the Lambs’ • Johnny Carson hosts ‘The Tonight Show’ for the last time • Unemployment was at 7.5% • Patty Ashbrook hired at Forest Highlands
On December 31, 2023, Patty Ashbrook will officially retire from Forest Highlands. In an October interview, Patty shared memories of her 32 –year career and what comes next in her life.
What initially brought you to Arizona?
It was March of 1991. My husband, Buck and I got married in August 1990 and were living in Puyallup, in western Washington.
I told him I hadn’t seen the sun since September and having lived in California, I really needed sun. My oldest sister lived in Flagstaff. My mom was moving to Arizona to be closer to my sister and brother, who worked for the State Land Department of Arizona. Mom suggested we follow her. At the time, I was working for a large retail company and Buck was a volunteer firefighter. The company allowed me to transfer and keep my position. My brother said he could get Buck a job working wildland fires in the summer. We no longer had ties to Puyallup, so we packed up and moved to Flagstaff a couple of months later.
How did you first learn about Forest Highlands?
It was from the newspaper, the Arizona Daily Sun. I saw an advertisement for a position of Administrative Assistant at a place called Forest Highlands. I knew nothing about it, but it sounded interesting, so I applied for the position.
I interviewed with Carla Doarn, the Controller at the time and Vanessa Gurule, the Membership Coordinator. We had so much fun in the interview, connections were made and our personalities mixed well. I later learned from them that my hiring had nothing to do with my qualifications, but they felt I was the best fit because of my personality. continued on next page >>>
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