Karen Turino has been very involved with San Damiano right from the beginning. She notes: “I was serving on the Monona Park and Recreation Board back when the idea of purchasing the property was barely a twinkle in the City of Monona’s eye. At the time I thought it was a pipe dream, so I was thrilled when the purchase actually went through.”
She and her husband Tim were asked to help with the first Celebration on the Shore gala in 2023 and “the rest is history.” Karen believes “the importance of the property cannot be overstated; it is the last, largest greenspace on the shore of Lake Monona” and keeping it undeveloped maintains a free greenspace on the beautiful lake for everyone to enjoy. “I live down the street and it is heartwarming to see so many people enjoying the space, especially watching and photographing the amazing sunsets.”
Karen’s volunteer contributions at San Damiano are many, but she points out that she enjoys "doing" more than "meeting.” She adds: “It is satisfying to help with setup and teardown of the public events such as the Biergartens and Winter Celebrations, and it's always fun to chat with the attendees who are generally extremely supportive of the Friends of and its plans for the property.”
Karen is familiar face in the civic life of Monona; she and her husband Tim were pivotal in the creation of Monona’s iconic Dream Park: “Tim saw a video of a community built playground at an Optimist meeting, shared it with me, and ask if I'd like to build one in Monona. I (foolishly?!) said yes, and three years and 50+ meetings with the City later, we oversaw the build--in five days-- with over 3,000 volunteers. Many of the people we met during the project are still good friends today.”
Even Karen’s “me time” includes community spirit: “I'm enjoying my free time since retiring from UW-Madison. Having more time to read is the best thing about retirement - I love my book club! Additionally, I like to walk, garden, bike (e-bikes are the best!) and kayak.” But in true Karen spirit she adds: “Also, the UW has a really fun trolley campus tour for new employees, for which I am one of the guides.” We, at San Damiano, bet those are really fun tours...an idea for the future!
Thank you, Karen, for your amazing dedication and hours of volunteer work dedicated to San Damiano! We appreciate all that you do.
Also, thank you to Liz Dannenbaum, for writing this volunteer spotlight.
If you are interested in volunteering with Friends of San Damiano, contact us at info@sandamianomonona.org or fill out this form. We would love to hear from you!
