Greg Collins

After graduating from Chaffey High School in 1967, I attended Chaffey Jr. College for two years beginning in 1968. I eventually moved to Mammoth Lakes where I worked at the ski lifts in the winter and as a carpenter during the summer months. On my days off I skied and hiked. In 1971 I moved to Santa Cruz where I met and married my wife Martha and where our daughter, Rosalie, was born in 1974. After our son, Ian, was born in 1978, we moved to the Sierra Nevada foothills.

In 1979, Martha and I bought 50 acres in the middle of the National Forest near Grass Valley California where we lived "off the grid" for four years. As we looked forward to having school age children, my wife and I became interested in education and we started a Waldorf School in nearby Nevada City which still exists today as the Yuba River Charter School. In 1983 Martha was offered a teaching position at Haleakala Waldorf School on Maui and we left our home in California. We bought two acres on the windward side of the island and built a home there. I was employed as a carpenter and cabinet maker until I started my business as a Neuromuscular Therapist in 1995.

Our children grew up and attended high school on Maui. Our son and I enjoyed surfing and windsurfing and a general love of water sports. Ian swam competitively throughout his high school years and I joined a Masters Swim Team. Our daughter pursued her love of horses, purchasing her first horse with her earnings from baby-sitting and, subsequently, drawing her family into many equine adventures. Upon graduation from high school, both our children pursued their college education at mainland universities. Rosie attended the University of Oregon in Eugene, and Ian, Western Washington University in Bellingham.

In 1997, Martha and I returned to the mainland and took up residence in Seattle. Martha became the Administrator of the Seattle Waldorf School and I was hired to do Neuromuscular Therapy at a local hospital out-patient clinic. I worked in this clinic for eight years until I started a private practice where I work to this day. Our children now live nearby and have families of their own. Martha, who is now retired, takes care of our two grandsons three days a week and manages a half acre garden which provides food for low-income seniors.

I continue to swim with a Masters team here in the Northwest. It has been a great joy of mine to reconnect with my high school history teacher and swim coach, David Radcliff, who holds world records for all freestyle events in his Masters Swimming age group. My wife and I delight in the natural beauty of the Northwest and take full advantage of the many year-round opportunities there are for hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing adventures.