Donette Spiekerman

Huron Pines (HP): Where did you grow up? How did your childhood shape your passions & hobbies?

 I grew up in Howell, a small town between Lansing and Detroit. However, my childhood started in the Owosso area and was shaped by my mother whose own life was shaped by tragedy. Both her parents were killed in automobile accidents, leaving her orphaned at a young age. Remaining family raised her by transferring her from aunt to aunt and school to school. It was a hard life. Eventually she found love, married and had two children. World War II separated them, while she worked in a factory. Upon his return from war, complications from rheumatic fever took my father’s life at the young age of 26, leaving mother with two babies younger than 3.

She spoke of the hardship in her life but spoke no malice or anger. She worked hard to fashion a life for us. Eventually she embraced a new relationship and we became a family of 5. As my new father began a start-up business in excavating, I was old enough to understand the financial stress in our family. I remember those days of assistance and stretching a pound of burger for several meals. Yet we never felt poor or unloved.

Even though this seems like a sad story, it really is a foundation of strength-building. Our family experience became our way of life and I learned to work hard, keep gaining momentum, be grateful, and work in service to others. In addition, I never lost sight of the value of a dollar.

HP: Can you name something taught to you that has served you well in life?

By example I was shown a life without seeking pity in spite of hardship; a life of gratitude; a life of service, and I learned to appreciate and value money. I was taught to prepare to be independent and plan for myself, which I’ve had to do at several points in my adult life.

At age 42 I enrolled in college classes and in a relatively short time, graduated with a BA in Human Resource Administration. Without that I would have been overlooked for a professional position of employment with the State of Michigan. Some interesting volunteer opportunities were advertised through the DNR, one of which was harvesting little bluestem grass seed for restoration. The concept that I could harvest native grass seed for seeding another area and share a conservation goal with others inspired me.

Following retirement and still desiring to know more, I enrolled in the MSUE Master Gardener program. By fulfilling the volunteer and education yearly credit requirements, I am an Advanced Master Gardener working in public gardens in the area. Even though growing things is the goal, the more I learned, the more I became alarmed at the spread of invasive plant species. My attention on education of invasive species became laser focused, and went beyond education. I organized invasive plant species pulls in high value areas.

Removing invasive plants provides opportunities to grow native plants. Native plants are defined as being in a region where they evolved with other plants, with insects, birds and all wildlife in that area providing food and shelter. They are desirable and resilient. Native plants are now my focus of study and work application.

Life-Long Learning is foundational to remaining in useful conservation service.

HP: How did you become involved with our organization?

After relocating to the East Tawas area in 2007, I joined a birding club with active memberships and volunteers. Monthly meetings and field trips provided outdoor fun and educational opportunities. Conservation issues were frequently discussed and Huron Pines came to my attention as doing good work for conservation. I decided to support Huron Pines by paying a membership fee.

With every support payment, I always received a written thank you letter with genuine appreciation and a preview of Huron Pines and ‘what we’re doing’.  Huron Pines seemed to understand that support is someone’s hard earned money. I felt that every cent was valued. Feeling very appreciated for my support and sharing passion for the conservation work of Huron Pines, I continued my support. 

The invasive plant pulls that I was organizing at the Tawas Point State Park connected me to the conservation work of Huron Pines. Through conversations with the executive director, assistance from staff, and a couple of AmeriCorps members, Huron Pines supported my efforts. We made great progress and one short season of pulling spotted knapweed, we harvested a half-ton of noxious invasive weeds, equating to millions of seeds and plants from the high value area of the Tawas Point State Park day-use area.

We sincerely thank Donette for sharing her story the hope of inspiring others.