Meet the Founder - Beth Chu
Posted on OBAB Facebook Group on Jan 31, 2023
Beth dreamed up OBAB and started recruiting for help with organizing beautification projects in the summer of 2021. Things got rolling thanks to Penny Moloso who signed on as co-organizer and OBAB had their first effort at Boynton Park in Oct. of 2021. They had 17 volunteers who did so much good in just 2 hours. Since then OBAB has grown and will hopefully continue to grow more and do more good in the community.
I was born in North Dakota but moved frequently because my dad was in the Air Force. His last assignment was in Arizona at ASU, teaching in the ROTC program and once he retired the whole family was ready for a move to greener and more temperate pastures. So, we ended up in Vancouver, Washington where my parents still live. I have 7 brothers and sisters and our vacations were camping as a family. I have very fond memories of camping, fishing and hiking all over the country. One thing that my parents made a point to teach us (they were also always Boy Scout leaders as my brothers were scouts) was how important it was to leave a site better than how we found it. Packing out litter, helping to maintain trails and seeing how much impact can be made in a short amount of time by many hands was ingrained in me from an early age.
After leaving home, I went to BYU for undergrad with a short stint as a missionary for my church in southern Japan. It was at BYU that I met Ben and we became only good friends because we were both dating other people at the time. Once those relationships ended, we gave ‘us’ a shot and I am so happy that we did. Ben is unbelievably fun, kind, thoughtful, humble and has an inspirational work ethic and sense of duty. He is everyone’s favorite, especially our children’s. Ben and I got married in 09’ and immediately moved to Delaware for graduate school for him. It was a hard time to get a job in education so I worked as a long term substitute teacher until our oldest (Eli) was born.
We moved down to Florida 5 years later to be closer to his parents and after one summer it became very apparent that Florida heat and I didn’t mix though no one can say I didn’t try. Plus, I missed the Pacific Northwest and after 10 years on the East coast close to Ben’s side of the family, I wanted to be closer to my side. Ben found a position here at BAH and we moved right around our 10-year anniversary. We were immediately struck as we explored with the beauty of the area and the potential of the towns here.
We have 3 children (Eli, Alice and Israel) who are my bosses. I feel very lucky to be able to be a stay-at-home parent at this time though I would like to go back to teaching High School once the youngest, Israel, is in school. I enjoy baking, hiking, reading and travel.
I credit the many sleepless nights for the months just after Israel had been born with the creation of OBAB. In the quiet dark while I nursed him or rocked him to sleep it was easy to contemplate what I saw on our daily walks or trips to the parks. It occured to me that a large volunteer group focused solely on beautification would be so beneficial to this area. I felt like the towns had all the potential in the world but needed help to better reflect the beauty surrounding them. And also, the communities needed more of a sense of pride. Still do. This idea also would give Ben and I a tool to help install the lessons I learned as a kid about leaving a place better than how you found it in our own children.
The sense of community pride is my biggest wish for OBAB. I hope that our work inspires people to pick up litter, clean up after their dogs, spruce up their yards and homes and to consider themselves stewards of their neighborhoods and community. As OBAB continues to grow, I’d like to get more involved in creating or sponsoring public art as well as helping to manage litter through more trash receptacles in public spaces. Our 2nd Saturday events have had up to 70 people at one time and I would like to see the numbers grow so that we regularly see that many people coming to help or more.
