Introducing Greg Mason – a site steward who joined the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship program in 2023.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Greg spent much of his life in Indianapolis, Indiana, until he moved to Utah around the time of his retirement. An avid motorcycle rider, one of his “many cross-country motorcycle trips” led him West:
“I was… very relaxed and the mind was just thinking,” he said. “From a motorcycle rider stance, we call it being asleep. Even though I wasn’t, I had a dream; and my dream while I was riding was to live someplace where I could see mountains out my bedroom window.”
“That didn’t come with any particular location,” he said, but he “landed here… and yes, from my bedroom, there’s mountains.”
The mountains and the outdoors have kept him in Utah, especially after falling in love with hiking and fishing while exploring America’s national parks with his family. Alone or with his family when they visit, he gets outside on his side-by-side, with the Northern Utah ATV Trail Riders club, on his motorcycle, or on foot. Although he keeps himself busy outdoors, he also fills time in his retirement by volunteering.
“I do a lot of volunteering,” he said, listing experiences with the BLM in Vermillion Cliffs, as a Guest Services Missionary at Temple Square, on cattle ranches, and with UCSS. “Gotta keep yourself busy.”
He enjoys volunteering because of his love of meeting and helping people and his love of freedom – after 36 years (“and a day,” he adds – “I don’t cheat myself of that one day!”) of work in commercial printing, volunteering allows him to support causes that interest him without having to commit to a shift.
“So volunteering is both freedom that you don’t exactly get with a job and a way to help other people, too,” he said. “Even if it’s helping a neighbor cut down a tree, you know, it’s all stuff that’s worth doing.”
That commitment to volunteering is a great value to UCSS. “[He] is the kind of guy you call when you need help getting a difficult job done and you want it done with style!” says Program Manager Ian Wright.
Operations Coordinator Lexi Little added that “UCSS is fortunate to have his perspective, personality, and enthusiasm as part of the program.”
Greg has brought his perspective and work ethic to the Buffalo Soldier Heritage Trail, lending help to UCSS, SHPO, and Sema Hadithi African-American Heritage and Culture Foundation throughout the project.
“I knew and heard about the Buffalo Soldiers as a child, but did I know they were in Utah?” he said. “No, I did not!” Buffalo Soldier and African-American history are American history, he says, and he is looking forward to the trail and its interpretive materials being available to the public so others can learn about this little-known part of Utah’s history too.
As busy as he keeps himself, Greg says that it’s not too difficult to fit UCSS into his schedule. “I’m retired,” he said. “I got plenty of time. From what I see with the program,” he added, “it doesn’t matter if you’re retired. All you really need is a desire to do, to get out, you know, and expand your horizons… If you’re thinking about becoming a site steward, there’s nothing to prevent that… And the more people that we get involved, the easier the work becomes.”
We can’t thank Greg enough for all his hard work to learn and educate about history, and for the enthusiasm and passion he brings to the program!
Photos, left to right: Greg camping in Montana; Greg at a UCSS site documentation project; and Greg on a UTV ride in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Cover photo: Greg at the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park.