A professional furniture craftsman and owner of Joy in Wood Furniture Makers since 1979, Rich has a passion for selfless service and a deep appreciation for the natural world. He is President and Founding Director of Amazing Earthfest, a nonprofit organization founded in 2009, producing an annual educational, arts and outdoor adventure festival celebrating National and State Parks, Forests, Monuments and Public Lands of the American West. To help conserve the matchless cultural, scientific, wildlife and recreational resources on federal lands in southern Utah, he served on the Board of Trustees for Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, friends group for the National Monument, from 2008 through 2017. He and his wife Debra relocated to Kanab, Utah, from Maine in 2007 to live an active outdoor lifestyle, discover and enjoy America’s public lands, and contribute to the culture and emerging identity of their chosen community. Rich is founder and President of the Stellar Vista Observatory, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation of a public educational astronomical observatory in Kanab. To preserve the exceptional natural darkness in his chosen community and beyond, Rich led a successful community effort to write and enact a comprehensive night sky friendly outdoor lighting ordinance, adopted by the City of Kanab in 2017, to become the 3rd city in the state of Utah to codify preservation for its starry sky resources.
Debra Csenge writes, paints, and gardens in Kanab, Utah. She left her former home in Maine in 2007, and now hikes the trails of southern Utah. She holds a bachelor’s degree in studio art which she received as a “non-conventional” student in 2004 at the University of Maine in Portland/Gorham. She has worked as a self-employed furnituremaker and upholsterer, for the outdoor company LL Bean in Freeport, Maine, and as a library assistant at Kanab City Library. She now thoroughly enjoys her retirement. She is the owner-director of the Adobe Studio and Gallery in Kanab, and is a member of Willow Wind Poets, a branch of the Utah State Poetry Society.
Josh began his involvement with Amazing Earthfest by bringing his knowledge of bootstrapping small tech organizations to the Amazing Earthfest team. Utilizing open source software he was able to slash the tech budget while expanding the team’s digital capabilities. Since then he has been elected treasurer and also does bookkeeping.
When not staring into a screen Josh can often be found wandering and exploring the forests of Pennsylvania, trapping and observing ancient light in his telescope, looking for meaning and fulfillment, and hanging out with Ted
Steve graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1967, with a degree in mechanical engineering. His career encompassed roles in mechanical design, project/systems management, and departmental management. The core of his business experiences were within the transport refrigeration, plastics processing machinery, and supercomputer industries. From his youth, Steve has always had a love for exploring, respecting, and caring for the wonders of nature. His passion for protecting Mother Nature accelerated the more he witnessed the abuse bestowed upon her, and he became more active in speaking out and taking action. Soon after moving to Kanab in 2011, Steve’s hiking and hands-on educational experiences within the high country desert of America’s southwest further broadened his understanding and appreciation of our planet’s delicate ecological web. With that he quickly became involved as a volunteer for Amazing Earthfest, eventually serving on the Board as Treasurer. Steve and his wife Jeanne returned to their Wisconsin roots in 2018, where he has become involved in assisting and promoting environmental causes within west central Wisconsin. Steve continues to serve on the board of directors for Amazing Earthfest.
Born in Kanab, Utah (1936), the youngest of 8 children, descendants from American settlers in what became Boston, 1620, and immigrant pioneers to Utah, 1850. Her father, Woodruff Rust, and grandfather, Will Rust, built the Kaibab Lodge (V-T Ranch), 10 miles, from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, in their endeavor to mix tourism and nature – a love of the Earth that would influence Maida’s dedication to dance and the environment in years to come. Maida has been a member of the AE Board since the early founding. She earned her BA in dance and theatre at Brigham Young University and her MA in dance at the University of Utah. As Founding Artistic Director, Maida has created a significant body of work for the internationally recognized Maida Withers Dance Construction Company (1974) – over 100 dances of breadth and vision www.maidadance.com. Maida and the Company have collaborated on projects and toured to over 20 countries. Maida began creating dances about the environment in 1980. She added the United Nation’s Earth Summit, Eco ’92, with 100 artists for ecology. Her dances, interactive works driven by social and political consciousness, have featured loudspeakers, laser beams, wireless cameras, cyber worlds, video installations, video feedback, always with original music created and performed live. Maida is a distinguished professor at The George Washington University in Washington, DC where she has created and directed BA, MFA and MA programs in dance. She is the mother of four adult children and two Russian grandchildren.
Cindy has been an avid lover of the great outdoors since serving as Communications Officer for the Outdoor Club in high school. Raised in rural Tennessee, she pursued a profession that offered opportunities for travel and outdoor adventure. She earned a degree in Parks and Recreation from East Carolina University and landed her first job with the National Park Service as an intern on the east coast of North Carolina at Cape Lookout National Seashore. Thirty years later, she retired as a division chief for Interpretation and Education from Klondike Goldrush National Historic Site in Skagway, Alaska. Cindy fell in love with the high desert while working for Joshua Tree National Park, one of her longest assignments. In 2021, she and her husband Karl made the exciting decision to move to Kanab and live among red rock cliffs. When Cindy isn’t walking with her dog, Roxy or hiking, she loves to write. Currently she is taking on-line classes in creative writing. She looks forward to sharing her passion with the Amazing Earthfest team to celebrate nature.
Dave is a nature enthusiast who finds joy in the outdoors, marveling at the beauty and awe of the natural world. He particularly enjoys the dark skies of southern Utah, where the stars fill the heavens. For the past three years, he has worked as a mail carrier with the Post Office in Kanab, managing a highway route. Before that, he spent 24 years as a truck driver in New England. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, he has lived in Arizona, Massachusetts, and now resides in Utah. In his spare time, he enjoys projects like hooking up his home with backup solar power, combining his interest in discovery and sustainability. Dave has always loved southern Utah, a passion sparked by his favorite vacation on Lake Powell for two weeks when he was around thirteen, during which he fell in love with the night sky. He also loves hiking, embracing the opportunity to explore and connect with the beauty of the natural world.
Jan lived in Phoenix for more than 50 years. She fell in love with Kanab during a visit to Bryce and Zion National Parks in 2004 and made it her home in 2021. She holds a BS in Geography and a Master's degree in Secondary Education from Arizona State University.
As a retired high school teacher and guidance counselor, she dedicated her career to teaching Biology, Earth Science, and Environmental Science and helped her students navigate through the tough teenage years. She also led diversity and leadership camps, creating transformative experiences for inner-city youth often introducing them to pine forests, starry night skies, and even snow for the first time.
An avid animal lover and outdoor enthusiast, she finds joy in hiking and connecting with nature, cherishing the beauty and serenity of the landscapes that inspired her move to Kanab.
