We dedicate this page to investors who want to support Wild Gift in honor or in memory of a family member, spouse, or friend. Please provide us a photo, biographical capsule, and a memorial tribute of a half-page or less.

Gayle Nelson

Armed with the rare gift of augmenting and heightening the sense of appreciation when meandering the remote corners of Idaho's Wood River Valley or Stanley Basin, Gayle seemed capable of intensifying the pleasures of any backpack outing, yurt visit, ride, paddle, skate ski or day hike. Her religiously espoused mantra was one of “can you believe this?” reverence for the scene and setting she visited. Each day in the wilderness was a profound gift and damned if Gayle wasn’t determined to take it all in with the keenest sense of approval. Her many (enlisted and orchestrated) companions were, predictably, swept along in her sense of heightened appreciation.

Travel and exploration constituted soul nourishing pursuits. When valley economic opportunities went soft, Gayle was off to Australia and Papua New Guinea for months. Long Wood River weekends were tailored excuses to enlist her wide friendship circle for THE perfect opportunity to gather and delight in companionship amongst like-minded souls. When the opportunity arose to take five years for a round-the-world sailing venture, she hesitated only so long as to insure that her father, cat and house would be well cared for and she was off……….never looking back and always savoring the experiences of new landfalls, a different culture, an isolated snorkeling reef or the pleasures of open air markets staffed by smiling vendors to whom she could relate.

The natural world was, and remained, a seminal element in the goodness of Gayle’s life…..the sacristy in which she thrived. That Wild Gift's themes will be carried on in Gayle’s name seem as natural, true and consistent as was her approach to the natural world: where possible, give more and don’t miss a single opportunity to appreciate the wonders of nature and friendship that surrounds us. We’re all buoyed knowing that her spirited participation in life will be reflected in continuing opportunities for others to make this world a bit better, day by day and good deed by good deed.

Winnie Tarakajian Chobor

Winnie had three loves – teaching, her husband and life.

The first was dedicated to her ‘children’, a generation of high school mathematics students.  She guided them through probability theory and calculus with a ‘can-do’ enthusiasm that made students listen.  “You can be anything and do anything” was her mantra, a message she especially touted to girls.

Winnie’s vivaciousness, tribute to an Armenian/Irish heritage and  ‘laughing energy’, struck all she knew.  A natural born performer, she played the guitar, piano and sang.  And with her belly dancing quite literally shed the image of a teaching marm.  Winnie entertained many in this exotic, yet exquisite art.  Among her appreciative audiences was the famous science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov, whom she befriended. 

Outdoor adventure, especially on wild waters, was another siren.  In mid-life, on a rafting trip down the Colorado River, she met Joe Chobor.  They became inseparable.  “Winjo” dreamed the same dreams and shared the same passions, hiking, kayaking and rafting together in locations as diverse as Alaska, Nova Scotia and the Adirondacks.  To hear Joe rhapsodize about Winnie, seven years after she was stolen away by ovarian cancer, you know an eternal flame has been lit in his heart. 

Joe sows tribute far and wide to his lost love.  With coins tossed to the spirits in those places they camped, paddled and celebrated together.  Coins that bear the year of their meeting, marriage, and two coins, glued back-to-back, that show their respective years of birth.  Joe's friend Bob Jonas tossed the coins from a high perch where Mt. Everest dominates the view  There are plaques in Winnie’s name at New York’s Museum of Natural History, Hayden Planetarium and Lefrak Theatre.  Grants to Wild Gift’s leaders.  You may see Joe at different times of the year, including Christmas, decorating the tree Winnie’s fellow teachers helped plant in her memory at Pequannock Township High School in New Jersey. These are tributes that inspire poetry in creative writers at Pequannock High and sing the charm and love of a robust and beautiful woman.