Huckleberry Mountain Lookout
Roxie
Metzler, a third generation fire lookout and charter member of the SMS
who was a friend to everyone she knew, was highly influential on the
Society's restoration ethic. She served as a trusted member of the
Board of Directors until her passing in 2008. Hucklberry Lookout was
the last lookout she staffed, and when District officials began todiscuss possibly replacing the historic building in the early 1990s, she
intervened with an offer to lead and organize a restoration effort of
the building. The SMS supported each phase of her work. Ultimately,
sh
e organized a group of local vonuterrs called Friends of Huckleberry which
worked in partnership with District officials. It was model project
that -- in classic Roxie form -- brought together people from the
District, local businesses, colleges, and of course, the SMS.
Don Allen Jr. sanding SMS-installed floor
at Huckleberry Lookout in 2003
Roxie was never one to take shortcuts, and her devotion to traditional methods was contagious. As a teacher with Master's degree, she was particularly skilled at explaining the value of doing things in just the right way.
Roxie's quality ethic and sensitivity to maintaining historic fabric became the prevailing philosophy within the SMS, and set the tone for the work we do to this day.
Huckleberry lookout stands as a testament to Roxie's efforts. The SMS has joined forces with the Forest's Heritage Program Manager, Cathy Lindberg, to pick-up the mantle of Roxie's near completed nomination of the lookout to the National Register of Historic Places.
Thanks to their shared interests, Roxie became a close friend of Doug Newman, the well-known writer and outdoor enthusiast from Eugene who advocated for the preservation of historic fire lookouts everywhere. Roxie guided Doug to Sand Mountain for his first visit to the site after the "new old lookout," as he called it, was under construction.
Roxie Metzler and Doug Newman at
Sand Mountain in late August 1989