Wonder Women -Women with Unconventional Interest

Iris Taggart

Iris Taggart’s love affair with the B-17 Flying Fortress began twenty-one years ago when she heard the exciting news about a B-17 flying into McClellan Air Force Base offering tours and booking flights. She decided it was time to become acquainted with the four-engine bomber her husband, Robert “Tag” Taggart flew during World War II. Tag flew thirty-two missions in one called “Lady Faithful” with the 8th Air Force, 390th Heavy Bomb Group, 570th Squadron, before they ever met and married. She very quickly booked flights to Reno for her family and a surprise flight for Tag. She was hooked the minute she stepped inside the “Nine-O-Nine”, a B-17 that belongs to the Collings Foundation from Stow, Massachusetts. Listening to the roar of those engines was music to her ears as they taxied to the runway, revved up and flew off into the wild blue yonder. That flight opened doors for Iris, and she has been the Stop Organizer for the Collings Foundation for twenty years. She’s brought in their B-17, B-24, B-25 and later their P- 51 and she’s had many flights in all of them. The one warbird that has eluded her so far is the P-38 Lightning, so that’s her dream. She has also been the Stop Organizer for EAA 52, bringing in the “Aluminum Overcast” B-17 from Oshkosh, Wisconsin since 1998 when Chuck Yeager flew in on it. She had twenty-one media people at the Lincoln Airport to greet Chuck and the B-17.

One year, Aluminum Overcast was down for repairs so they sent “Fuddy Duddy” B-17 as its replacement… another flight for Iris. Two years ago “Liberty Belle” owned by the Brooks Foundation in Georgia, the most recently restored B-17 out of 12,731 built, flew into Mather Field to honor Iris and her late husband. They took all four of her family for a memorable flight and took Iris in the beautiful bird to Salt Lake City and bought her ticket back to Sacramento. She said “It just doesn’t get any better than that” and she feels she is the luckiest lady in the world to be able to fly and be involved in these wonderful bombers. All the warbirds are her love but the B-17 is her passion – all because of her beloved husband, Tag.

Iris isn’t a pilot but she has been dubbed the “Queen of Aviation”, the “Queen of the Skies” and the Maven of Local Military History.

Tia Gemmell

A casual question launched Tia Gemmel’s second—and beloved—career as a photographer. A newspaper publisher asked Tia if she would take photos at annual Memorial Day Jazz Jubilee in Old Sacramento.

That was 1999 and she was almost into her second decade of teaching art to middle school students in Lodi. An art major at Southern Oregon College, she also studied photography, but felt it couldn’t make a viable career whereas teaching could. Tia took the jazzy assignment and thus began the slow evolution of her life. Living in Sacramento and commuting everyday to Lodi to teach added a slight complication of getting back to Sacramento to shoot the evening happenings, so she kept a change of clothing—for black tie events—in her car.

Over the period of about six years, she had two jobs: teacher by day—paparazzi by night But in June 2006, she cleared out her classroom of 26 years accumulation of supplies and materials and resources. “I wasn’t ready,” she recalled, and brought it all back. “The following year, I did the same thing.

I was a nervous wreck in June. The toughest thing to do was signing my name on the retirement forms—after 27 years.”

Her business, Riverview Media Photography lets Tia set her own hours. “The flexibility is wonderful. I meet new people all the time. She photographs events for nonprofits like the Sacramento Metro Chamber and other chambers, and does executive portraits—going out to the clients’ businesses and shooting environmental photographs. Her big loves are old cars and boats—you will find her snapping away at the Tahoe classic boat show and local auto concurs’ d’elegances and Pebblebeach Concours. Her artful photographs can be found (and purchased) online at phototia.com. She is also a contributing photographer for Senior Magazine (see “Around the Town with Tia”)

“You read about people who make changes in mid-career—and I’m one of them. “I am just blessed.! Tia@phototia.com

Mary Ann Robbins

This is Mary Ann Robbins, a 76 year-old long time student and Black Belt at Robinson’s Tae Kwon Do at Marconi and Fulton Ave. Robbins began training at age 60 at Robinson’s TKD in Roseville after suffering a major medical emergency following a burst appendix. The TKD workouts helped increase flexibility, endurance and strength while giving Mary Ann positive reinforcement as she gained belt ranks. Having recovered her health and vigor now 16 years later she vows never to quit training, “I started slow, but kept moving”. Her positive outlook has kept her young at heart and a leader among her classmates. Robinson’s has a large number of senior students training at its 18 regional locations.

Mary Ann had tried Tai Chi but found it slow and repetitive and when invited to learn the Korean-based martial art, Tae Kwon Do, jumped into the class with Grandmaster Clint Robinson. She is active in ‘dojong’ (Korean for gym) events and has been one of the KVIE Phone Bank volunteers, last year helping public television raise over $100,000. Robinson’s students, including Mary Ann, were honored as Phone Bank of the Year in 2009. A great person who always seems to be smiling, Mary Ann Robbins, never fails to raise the spirits of those around her. With generations of Sacramento families training, and students from 6 to 86 enjoying this unconventional exercise, Mary Ann Robbins is a great example of TKD’s healthy benefits.

Marianne Fulton

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Marianne Fulton is the unconventional child of an Air Force Master Sergeant from Oklahoma and a European war bride with culinary roots on two continents. From Southern Fried Chicken or Hush Puppies to Yorkshire Pudding or Wiener Schnitzel the current Prep and Pantry Chef at Café Bernardo, the original continental café in the Paragary Restaurant Group, has found a place to share the creation and enjoyment of great food. If you’ve ever eaten a salad, Calzone or Pizzetta at the popular 28th and Capitol restaurant then you’ve already enjoyed some of her tasty work. If not, lunch occurs every day! Ask for her any day Monday thru Friday, but no weekends as she has seniority after working there seven years.

After growing up learning to appreciate European cuisine during her father’s deployment to Spain, Germany and England, Marianne learned to prepare, cook and enjoy eating good food on a much broader scale than most Americans. As she and her husband both know from growing up as ‘Air Force brats’, living in a family serving the country overseas is always unconventional, especially the food. Married for 34 years to local PR Executive and former Capitol area broadcaster Rick Reed, she also learned to master a wide array of Asian dishes to please her husband’s palate by creating his favorite cuisine choices. Friends have said they consider it among their best birthday when one of the presents they receive is cupcakes or chocolate ganache covered layer cakes from Marianne’s oven.

While Marianne’s mother passed away many years ago, her recipes and the skills she passed on to her daughter live on to be shared and enjoyed by many.

Cheryl Buckwalter

People in the world of landscape design usually start by saying, “I’ve always loved plants”, but as a child, I loved architecture. I liked sharp angles and clean lines, rectangles and squares, forms that made sense to my very practical and analytical mind. I used to visit the city dump and pick through the trash before it was fashionable to do so, finding treasures like tiny blue glazed tiles, or the end of a 50’s style bookcase with just the right shape, or the marble base of a beautiful old lamp. I built forts, and doll furniture, and tiny buildings to fill the time when homework was done. I was into recycling and re-using early on.

I found myself in a series of desk jobs, all with lots of responsibility, details, and organization, always keeping everything in the right place, running smoothly. Then I noticed that my spare time was filling with friends and neighbors asking me about their gardens and what they should plant “over there”, or how to revive an ailing plant. I seemed to know the answers or would research and learn what to do, and loved helping them make their gardens special—envoking the “spirit of the place.” I was hooked. I took jobs to learn more about design and that’s when I met my husband, a soil scientist and biochemist. I knew we would make a good team.

I’ve always been independent, done my own thing, rather than following the crowd. While enrolled in Environmental Horticulture at Sierra College, I became extremely interested in water conservation and low water-use garden design in particular. These gardens were beautiful, practical, and completely logical. That day I saw “The Big Picture” and knew this would be my life’s focus. It didn’t occur to me that I was leaping into the exploding field of precise, science-based water management in the landscape. Even now, years after graduation, I thrive on all there is to know about the world of landscaping and jump at opportunities to share my passion through workshops for families of all ages.

I have contracted with the Regional Water Authority on several special projects including the River-Friendly Green Gardener Program. I recently became a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor and an EPA WaterSense Partner. I love being deeply entrenched in this business of wise water-use and management, not only for the landscapes I design, but all landscapes. Its importance to the continuing quality of our lives is just starting to be recognized. Frank Lloyd Wright said it well, “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” Landscapeliaisons@sbcglobal.net

Marilyn Kuksht

Ask Kuksht what got her into sculpting and you’ll get a surprising answer—–“playing the trombone when I was 10 years old.” She explains it like this, “Well, at that age it didn’t seem like any big deal, but it got me totally comfortable doing something a little different, and being the only girl in with a bunch of guys.” That seems to have been Kuksht’s modus operandi ever since. In college she trained in speech pathology and audiology but went to work as a project management specialist at the Trident submarine base in Washington. She worked at Sea-First bank as a technical writer and ended up as a senior executive at Bank of America. She restored and lived on an antique boat; she started riding motorcycles almost 40 years ago . Kuksht accidently found herself in many non-traditional roles, often as one of the few females around. “I never set out to do anything unusual, I just do what I think will be fun.”

When Kuksht was at the height of a corporate career at under 40 years of age, she decided it wasn’t where she wanted to spend the next 25 years. She quit to start a business building moss gardens and floral displays for office spaces. When faced with a client who wanted a floral display over 12 feet long and 7 feet high, Kuksht says she used a “chewing gum and bobby pin” approach and prayed it would hold together.

Shortly thereafter, she enrolled in an automotive welding course to learn how to build support armatures and started creating sculptures out of cast off metal bits. A friend saw one of her sculptures and took it to a downtown San Francisco art gallery launching her on an art career that has been her full time passion for the last 15 years. Kuksht describes her art journey as magical. She loves the creativity and positive environment. “It’s fabulous that so many people tell me they appreciate my work; that sure didn’t happen as a corporate manager.”

Notable collectors include Princess Bernadotte of Sweden (who hosted a show and reception for her in Stockholm), the founder of the now iconic black and yellow guides “For Dummies”, and the American Steel Institute. Kuksht’s work is exhibited and collected in Europe and throughout the United States; in Sacramento her work can frequently be seen at Solomon Dubnick Gallery (1017 25th St). Kuksht@sbcglobal.net