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Spotlight On <br />Cris Call <br />Denver Water Conservation Specialist <br />and Editor of WaterWise <br />Tell us a little bit about yourself. <br />I was born and raised in Arlington, <br />Virginia. I have a BA in government <br />from the College of William and Mary, <br />and an MBA from the University of <br />Phoenix After my BA I worked for the <br />C &P Telephone Company (the local Bell <br />company) as a business phone consultant. <br />Eventually, I wanted to move to a drier <br />climate so I transferred within the Bell <br />system to Mountain Bell in Denver. I <br />started work at Denver Water in 1981, as <br />a technical writer in the Data Processing <br />section. I later became a programmer/ <br />analyst. I worked in DP for 11 years. <br />When did you move over to conservation <br />and why? <br />I transferred to conservation 14 years ago. <br />I thought it would be interesting and a <br />change of pace. I had to learn a lot, never <br />having had experience in conservation. <br />I think they hired me for my computer <br />skills. My first duty was to man (woman in <br />this case) the conservation hot line. At that <br />time Denver Water was heavily promoting <br />turf -type tall fescue, and my most frequent <br />questions were about grasses. I had to <br />learn rather quickly the qualities and <br />drawbacks of each kind of turf. Also, I was <br />assigned to co -chair the DBG plant sale, <br />which also involved a very steep learning <br />curve. There were new opportunities to <br />learn every time I turned around. <br />How did you get started working on the <br />CWWC newsletter? <br />My first contact with the CWWC <br />newsletter was to do some editing for <br />the Xeriscape Colorado newsletter. That <br />limited editing evolved into complete <br />editing when MWCI and Xeriscape <br />Colorado merged. <br />Is the newsletter your only involvement <br />with CWWO <br />No. 1.glso manage the CWWC <br />membership database. I designed <br />an Access data base to keep tabs of <br />membership and I send out renewal <br />0 <br />notices. I should mention, we need a <br />replacement to take on this task when I <br />retire this spring. <br />Have your duties changed much in <br />the 14 years you have been with the <br />Conservation Section? <br />Yes, they have grown. In addition to <br />handling calls and emails from the public, <br />I organize the annual seminars and <br />planning and design clinics. (The seminars <br />are great because I get to listen to a lot <br />of wonderful speakers!) I also work <br />on our Commercial/Industrial program, <br />calculating quarterly savings and sending <br />out status update letters to companies <br />that have a performance contract with <br />Denver Water. I do a lot of writing. I <br />was responsible for putting together the <br />Beautiful By Design brochures, with <br />help from my colleagues in Aurora. I <br />also created the "Right Grass In The <br />Right Place" and the "Three R's of Water <br />Conservation" brochures. And I do <br />periodic articles for newspapers, including <br />WaterWise. It's a good thing I enjoy <br />writing! <br />I also enjoy dealing with the public, for <br />the most part, but I do get some peculiar <br />questions. For example, during the <br />drought Denver Water allowed certain <br />watering days for people with odd <br />numbered addresses and other watering <br />days for people with even numbered <br />addresses. Almost every day I would get at <br />least one call from someone asking if their <br />address was even or odd. <br />What was your most memorable event <br />during your years in conservation? <br />Well, the whole drought experience was <br />pretty memorable for a number of reasons, <br />but the scene that made the biggest <br />impression on me happened a couple of <br />years ago. I organize the Xeriscape section <br />of the Denver Botanic Gardens annual <br />Mother's Day plant sale. Being at the sale <br />is another way of getting the Xeriscape <br />concept out in front of the public. That <br />year we had a heavy wet snow that <br />smashed all the awnings down on the <br />tables and crushed most of the plants. It <br />was a disaster! The Plant Sale was ruined, <br />and it didn't do much for the promotion of <br />Xeriscape that year. <br />Speaking of Xeriscape, is your yard a <br />Xeriscape? <br />I have partly Xeriscaped my own yard. <br />The back lawn is about half the size it was <br />when I bought the house, and I've reduce <br />the front turf by about a third. I've got <br />more planting beds with water conserving <br />perennials and shrubs. I've discovered <br />their care is very time- consuming for a <br />single person — I've turned into a yard <br />slave! <br />What are your plans for the future? <br />I'm planning on retiring from Denver <br />Water this June. After 25 years at Denver <br />Water I think it's time for a change, but I <br />am going to miss all the friends I've made <br />here. I plan on taking some time to mellow <br />out. However, I'm going to have to find <br />another job fairly soon so I can keep my <br />dog Lucy, a 19- month -old spaniel mix, in <br />the style she's become accustomed to. <br />Volunteer Needed <br />Cris' retirement means that we need <br />a volunteer to take over her duties as <br />manager of the CWWC membership <br />database. The job takes a couple of <br />hours a month. Knowledge of ACCESS <br />is a big plus. For more information, or <br />to volunteer, contact Mike Bauer at 970- <br />477 -5426 or mbauer @erwsd.org. <br />