Petaluman gives back to hometown

Lori Glenn is known for her commitment to her community, serving in various posts during her more than five decades in her Petaluma.|

Lifelong Petaluman Lori Glenn is known for her commitment to her community, serving in various posts during her more than five decades in her hometown.

The 57-year-old has spent the past five years presiding over the board of directors of the Petaluma Wildlife and Natural Science Museum, a community treasure tucked away on the Petaluma High School campus that houses more than 50 species of insects, reptiles, amphibians and mammals.

She’s also served as sheep leader for seven years with Tri-Valley 4-H, and volunteered with the Union School board of trustees as well as the board of local nonprofit Crusin’ The Boulevard, and donated her time to help the San Antonio Volunteer Fire Department with its annual barbecue.

“It gives me a strong feeling of family, of connection to community causes,” Glenn, a daughter of the Garzelli dairy family, said of her volunteer work.

Glenn has also gained praise for her stewardship during tough times in her posts, and during her tenure at the student-run museum, she’s guided the nonprofit through controversies that included an ousted director who allegedly misused funds, and a national outcry over a video showing students mistreating rats. But, no matter what issues she faces, Glenn said she remains calm and enjoys her work.

“I feel good (about contributing),” she said. “It makes me happy to do something for kids and I love working with our great group of community members and volunteers.”

The Petaluma Wildlife and Natural Science Museum has continued to grow and under Glenn’s direction, a live reptile wing has been added. The museum, which has been on campus since developer Hugh Codding donated the entire Codding Museum inventory to instructor Ron Head in 1989 to create an innovative educational program, also hosts tours for groups and individuals, and offers a summer camp for children ages 6 through 12.

Glenn, whose own children attended programs at the museum, said she plans to continue to work to improve the facility, adding an outdoor classroom with an animal warming area while also beautifying the front of the building.

Glenn has also lived in the same house for 53 years, and relishes the sense of community in Petaluma. Glenn says she shares the values laid down by her parents during her childhood.

“My parents were good, honest hardworking people who raised their kids to be pretty good people,” she said. “They instilled in us the values of knowing our neighbors, making friends with newcomers and helping each other whenever possible. Petaluma is really neat for this kind of thing, networking and working together for the good of all.”

When the family had to sell off the dairy herd in the 1990s, they looked for other ways to keep the land and “others came together with us to help us plan for the future,” she said. After receiving funds granted from a state environmental conservation program and the county, the hundreds of acres of working pasture lands on a portion of Garzelli lands, which frame one of the more scenic entrances to Petaluma, are slated to be conserved as open space in the near future.

Glenn, who also works as a pharmacy technician, said that her own family is her biggest accomplishment.

“I am on two other nonprofit boards, I work full time, and still, being there for my family is most important,” she said. “Thirty years of marriage to my husband and raising two kids who have grown to be amazing adults are what I consider my greatest accomplishment.”

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