Board Of Directors
Officers
President, Evelyn Giddings (Eureka, CA). Evelyn Giddings was born and raised in Crescent City, California; she holds a BS degree in Business from Humboldt State and an MBA in International Business from San Francisco State. Ms. Giddings is very active in her community and currently serves as the Board President for the Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation and is also a member of Humboldt County’s Work Investment Board. She lives in rural Humboldt County with her husband, David Lemm. Together they have three grown children and nine grandchildren. She recently retired as a Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking Manager, with Umpqua Bank for the Humboldt-Del-Norte Region and prior to that was with Six Rivers Bank/North Valley Bank for six years. Prior to banking she was in Sales, Marketing and Management. Ms. Giddings joined the HBG Board of Directors in 2003.
Vice President, James T. Sessa (McKinleyville, CA). For over thirty years, Mr. Sessa has assisted in the management of Coast Central Credit Union, from yesterday’s $37 million in assets to today’s $1 billion plus in managed assets. As the Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer, he oversees all functions of the credit union, including investments, which serves nearly 60,000 members and businesses on the North Coast. He holds a BS in Management from Humboldt State University and is a graduate of the Western CUNA Management School at Pomona College in Claremont. He is a charter member and active committee member of the Credit Union National Association of Chief Financial Officers, a professional community of 1,300+ finance and accounting leaders from across the country. He is past President of Mad River Rotary and is active in a number of community organizations with an emphasis in community enrichment and youth related projects. He is married to Julie Sessa and together they have two grown children. Mr. Sessa serves on the HBG Finance Committee and joined HBG Board of Directors in 2001.
Treasurer, Cathy Randall (Garberville, CA) Cathy Randall Studebaker, owner of Randall Sand & Gravel since 1991. Cathy remembers when the HBG first started. She thought it was a wonderful idea and even then she wanted to be a part of it. She was born & raised in Humboldt county and over the years she has belonged to many organizations, both professional and philanthropic. She supports local community parks and the local schools. The business was her parents retirement, her daughter’s college education, her son’s future and now her retirement. She has visited many beautiful gardens in her travels and loves to garden. She thinks the garden is an important part of our Humboldt community and she would love to be part of making this legacy happen. She joined the HBG Board of Directors in 2016.
Secretary, Micki Davis (Eureka, CA) Micki was born in Arcata. At age 10 she moved with her family to the northern Sierra Nevada region. She returned to Eureka in 1982, attended college, and began her career with City of Eureka and then Eureka City Schools. She retired in 2016 after 30 years of administrative work and raising two sons. Knowing of her love of gardening and past experience growing heathers, her husband Mark Moore, curator for the Native Plant Garden, suggested she consider volunteering at HBG in the Betty Kuhnel Heather Garden. Micki is currently co-curator of the heather garden and is a member of the Garden Committee. In January 2019 she joined the HBGF Board of Directors and is looking forward to helping the Garden continue to grow as a major attraction in Humboldt County.
Board of Directors
Nancy Cavanaugh (Eureka, CA) A native Californian, born in Santa Monica and raised in Southern California and Honolulu, Hawaii. She has a BSN /MSN from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Nancy, a widow and now retired, resides in Eureka, California, as do her son and daughter and their families. She has been active with Miranda's Rescue for the past twelve years, previously serving on their board of directors as Vice-President. A life long love of plants and animals, she has recently joined the HBGF Board of Directors.
Frank Bickner (Eureka, CA) joined the HBGF Board in Feb., 2020. He has been a resident of Humboldt County for 45 years. He graduated both from College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State with a BS in Geology and a MS in Watershed Sciences. He recently retired as senior owner and Chairman of the Board after 32 years from LACO Associates Consulting Engineers. Frank managed the initial geologic investigation for the HBG site for College of the Redwoods and is very familiar with the site conditions at the HBG. Most importantly he is an active gardener and a swell guy. Join us in welcoming Frank to the HBGF board of directors.
Barbara Groom (Loleta, CA). A thirty-five year resident of Loleta/Table Bluff, Ms. Groom started the Lost Coast Brewery in 1989 following a career in pharmacy. Under her guidance Lost Coast Brewery moved from being a small brew pub to becoming a national and international award winning brewery. A member of many community organizations and boards of directors, she brings a keen awareness of the community, business sense and her love of botanical gardens to the HBG Board. Ms. Groom serves on the HBG Fundraising Steering Committee and joined the HBG Board of Directors in 2005.
Larry Eitzen (Eureka, CA) Larry was born in Cleveland to Oliver and Rosemary Eitzen. Oliver had grown up on a farm in Kansas and was an ardent gardener. On one acre he planted over 90 trees many of which are still growing in a western suburb of Cleveland. On vacation he loved to visit arboretums bringing with him Rosemary and the kids. His passion was passed on. When Larry is not in the office he can be found with his wife, Kitch, working on their one acre parcel. She cares for the landscaping and he maintain the weeds and vegetables. Larry says, “The Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to take a break from the otherwise hectic pace, a place to enjoy the beauty of nature and the passage of the season and years. Volunteers and staff do an amazing job."
Robert Crane recently retired as President of the C. Crane Company. Committed to the role of AM radio as a tool for dialog across the country, Robert has combined his passion for communication with user-friendly, though advanced radio design. As president of C. Crane, Robert has traveled extensively throughout China and has seen firsthand the impact of China’s massive economic growth. In addition, Robert has appeared on several radio programs throughout the country, talking about C. Crane’s new products, and most recently, introducing Americans to the benefits of C. Crane’s almond milk filter system. In 1983, Robert made the transition from a successful, home-based, design and construction company in the San Francisco Bay Area to a rural California location with a small population.
Mary Gearheart is a retired landscape design professional with over 30 years experience creating aesthetically and functionally pleasing architectural designs for residential properties and public spaces. Through her firm, Design Work, she worked closely with architects, engineers and other professionals to ensure client’s visions were implemented with appropriate plants and outdoor design. She worked with other volunteers to bring a Botanical Garden to Humboldt County and currently still volunteers to help insure the Master Plan for the Humboldt Botanical Garden, as designed by Landscape Architect, Ron Lutsko, is closely followed. Mary has also served on the Humboldt County Planning Commission, the boards for Hospice of Humboldt, Redwood Parks Conservancy , and in the past, HBGF.
Kimberly D. Preston is the Principal and Owner/Manager of Omsberg & Preston. She graduated from San Diego State University in 1996 and is a registered Civil Engineer and Land Surveyor in California. She has nearly 30 years of professional planning, civil engineering, project management and surveying experience. She began with Omsberg & Company, Eureka in 2002 as a Project Engineer and became the owner of Omsberg & Preston in Eureka in 2004. Ms. Preston is very involved in our community and is an Affiliate Liaison to the Board for the Humboldt Association of Realtors and is a Member of the Humboldt Builder’s Exchange. Kim brings a wealth of experience to the Humboldt Botanical Garden. We are excited to have her join our team.