This post was written by Ben Hand, 2012 Mono Lake Intern.
For over 30 years, visitors to Lee Vining have been lured off of Highway 395 and into the Mono Lake Committee by the iconic storefront and mural—and for many the colorful front with its deep steps has become the lasting image of the Mono Lake Committee and the town of Lee Vining.
But visitors this past summer arrived to find a sight not seen since the Committee first moved into the building more than three decades ago: a complete renovation of the building-front and its surroundings. Members and longtime visitors who visited the store during the summer shared their excitement with staff over the look of the new front, and related to us a number of wonderful recollections of the old storefront and the many events that took place on its steps.
Many of our visitors have also been interested in the story behind the new storefront, and the reasons we had for renovating it for the first time in 30 years. The long answer is that renovating the front gave us the opportunity to make the Committee more accessible to our guests with physical handicaps, as well as to create a more pleasant space for outdoor events and evenings spent watching the sunset. But the short answer is that we renovated the front of the Mono Lake Committee because of the generosity of Grace de Laet, and it is only because of her that the storefront has been able to undergo such a dynamic renovation.
Grace was born in Detroit in 1933, but by the 1960s she had moved west to California. In 1978 she, like many Californians, heard a passionate young environmentalist named David Gaines describe the plight of Mono Lake and the subsequent endangerment of the Mono Basin’s ecosystem. Grace, a lifelong birder and conservationist, was immediately struck by the immense importance of saving Mono Lake, and by the vision that Gaines outlined for achieving such a vast undertaking. Grace brought something to the Mono Lake Committee that it had previously lacked: a fund-raiser with ambitious plans!
Over the course of the next several decades Grace would not only provide her skills as a wonderful fund-raiser and public advocate for Mono Lake in the San Francisco Bay Area, but she also remained a pivotal voice within the Mono Lake Committee community—providing advice, guidance, and support to numerous staff members and volunteers. Grace also joined the Committee’s Board of Directors, thereby institutionalizing her pivotal role with the Committee.
When Grace passed away in 2008 her famous generosity towards the Committee and the cause of Mono Lake conservation and restoration did not end. As part of her will, Grace set aside a portion of her estate to the Mono Lake Committee, in support of projects that help visitors learn about the lake and how it is being protected.
We were able to use the money Grace left to us to complete the long-needed renovation of the front of the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore. Because of her bequest, the front of the Committee now not only has an aesthetically-pleasing remodel, it also has a wheelchair lift to make it handicap-accessible, a new water bottle filling station, a scale model map of the lake, and a renovated front seating area—among other improvements.
None of this would have been possible without Grace’s generous gift and vision for the future of the Mono Lake Committee. Because of Grace and her desire to see the Committee continue to serve as a source of both information and conservation, we will be able to welcome visitors during their visit to the Mono Basin, and inspire people of all ages to learn more about the lake and what they can do to help. Her vision will live on into the future for Mono Lake.
that is quite a legacy. unfortunately i never met her, but i thank Grace for her thoughtfulness.
Thank you, Grace. Your name befits you.