Today I had the pleasure of working with Barb Shane, a first-year “first-aid” volunteer with the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol. I first met her a few weeks ago when, in the course of “planting” a bamboo pole with an orange disc, the bottom of the disk bopped me a fraction of an inch below my right eyebrow. Barb’s diagnosis: you’re going to have a shiner – and I did.Barb, originally from West Caldwell, NJ, came to Vermont in 1986 because, as she told me, “I loved the mountains.” She arrived with a Sociology degree from New York University and a minor in Journalism. She worked as a part-time reporter at the Stowe Reporter, and waitressed at Mr. Pickwick’s Restaurant, Edson Hill Manor, and Trapp Family Lodge. In a more practical pursuit, Barb returned to school at Vermont's Norwich University, where she earned a Nursing degree in 1991.
Barb has been an ER nurse at Copley Hospital (11 miles north of Stowe, in Morrisville) for the past five years. She spent the previous 12 years as a Medical Surgery nurse and in Medical Telemetry (Cardiac Monitoring.) And, she is also an Oncology Certified Nurse both at Copley and Burlington’s Fletcher Allen Hospital, where she also works 1 day per week.
Barb lives in Morrisville with her three sons (ages 13, 15, and 18,) who, like their mother, are avid skiers or riders. The oldest, having been accepted by all 4 of his early-admission choices, heads off to college, somewhere in the northeast next September. Between her sons’ soccer, hockey, and basketball games, Barb hardly lacks for things to do! She also plays hockey in several adult leagues.
Hopefully, you won’t have to meet Barb at the mountain. But, if you ever do, you’ll be in good hands.
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