Florence Wager: passion and service
by Leslee Jaquette
Passion & service inspire Clark County advocate Florence Wager
 You may have heard of Florence Wager. The 78-year-old’s name springs up on various Clark County commissions and committees. Articulate and studied, the former Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation board member recently championed the $43 million bond issue to finance two, new library facilities (the bond passed!).
Ah, yes, that Florence Wager. Starting in the early 1990s when she moved from San Francisco back to her hometown of Vancouver, Wager has been an advocate for causes that range from trails (Chinook Trail Association, chair of the citizens’ advisory committee for the Clark County Trail and Bikeway Systems Plan 2006) to the relocation of the YWCA of Clark County. Beyond serving for 15 years as a foot soldier in the library bond efforts, Wager has spearheaded projects that include the creation of a Metropolitan Park District 2005, the Firstenburg Community Center and a health and wellness program called “STEPS to a Healthier Clark County.”
“Flossie is an amazing person who puts a huge amount of energy into the community,” says Kelly Punteney, Vancouver-Clark County Tails & Greenways manager, who has worked with Wager since 1992. “She is incredibly effective because she knows how to work with people. She can draw people together with common interests and guide them toward their goals.”
No matter how admiring, the words used to describe Florence Wager’s volunteer leadership and advocacy simply pale in comparison to her deeds. Here we share some of Wager’s background, her insights into the importance of community service and what passion and advocacy bring to her life.
Fascinated with good health
Home from one of her thrice weekly swim workouts, Wager explodes with what turns out to be a basic premise of her life, “I’m fascinated with good health!”
It seems that Wager’s mother, Amy McKenzie, a Vancouver resident until her death in 2003, served as her daughter’s role model for how to live a life filled with good health and community service. Wager describes her mother as an active, well-read, opinionated woman, who gardened and walked and worked the New York Times crossword puzzles, cared for the elderly, sewed for others throughout her long life. Recalls Wager, “My mother lived her philosophy, ‘Do something for someone else every day.’”
“You know Flossie’s mother lived to be 106 and Flossie is going to live till 125!” says 58-year-old Punteney, who adds that Wager looks like she’s about 59. “I just hope that I’m half what she is at her age!”
Volunteer work earns Wager THE JOB
After graduating from Washington State University in Pullman with a degree in communications and, later, a second degree in education, Wager taught school for several years before moving to San Francisco on a quest for a job in the arts. After a number of dead-end, but illuminating jobs, Wager did land what she refers to as THE JOB, that of Executive Director for the San Francisco Symphony Foundation.
The foundation position was so coveted, Wager remembers, that during the first round of interviews as many as three people were interviewed simultaneously. Looked upon as a “romantic” job due to its relation to the arts, Wager said she knew she had to somehow set herself apart from the competition. Interestingly, all the while Wager was struggling working the dead-end jobs, she was living her mother’s philosophy, volunteering at a local adult guidance clinic and working with young immigrants. As a result, Wager had recently been named “San Francisco Volunteer of the Month.”
“That was what nailed the job!” says Wager with obvious delight. “The Foundation was looking for someone with experience working with volunteers. Since then I have counseled many people to pursue volunteer work as a possible entrée to a profession.”
During the next 20 years as foundation director, Wager worked with thousands of volunteers and spearheaded a number of innovative fundraising opportunities. Under her leadership, for example, the Foundation developed wine tasting events and bottled special California wines under the symphony label, as well as initiated an upscale consignment boutique called “Repeat Performance,” and a Symphony Store at Davies Symphony Hall.
“During my career I trained volunteers and became adept at seeing the potential in individuals,” recalls Wager. “My strength was matching their skills to a job. Then, as staff, I tried to make it possible for them to succeed.”
Continues Wager, “The other part of the equation was to make it someone else’s project. You see, you get energy from making the project someone else’s success!”
In 1990 in her early 60’s after two decades of what Wager describes as a “fabulous career,” she returned to Vancouver to care for her older sister, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. The first year after moving back, Wager handled the Christie School’s fundraising auction, but decided against starting up another demanding career. Instead, recalls Wager, “I decided to do pro bono work for organizations that captured my interest, something I was passionate about!”
Evolution of an Advocate
The first local venture that captured Wager’s attention was the Chinook Trail Association. “It was fun and exciting to get involved in trail building,” said the outdoor-loving Wager, “A lot of different agencies were in the mix and it required a lot of patience for five years, before we actually built a section of what will be a rimtop trail around the Columbia River. It’s a 50 year project!”
Meanwhile, Wager was introduced to a great group of women that comprised the YWCA of Clark County Board. Excited about the Y’s efforts to relocate the facility to Main Street, Wager spent six years on the Y Board. She was selected as one of the Y’s eight 2002’s Women of Achievement. Last year she received the Spirit of Health Award 2005 from the Clark County YMCA.
Wager notes almost as an aside, that concurrent with the Y Board she served on the Board of the Ft. Vancouver Regional Library Foundation, and on the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Commission, which she presently co-chairs. She co-founded the Parks Foundation. In addition, she serves on the Clark County Railroad Advisory Committee, a natural, as most of the men in her family in her parents’ generation were railroaders.
Around 2000 Wager launched into some pro bono consultations with the Vancouver Symphony. She saw a struggling, fledgling volunteer group and with her symphony experience was able to help by serving on the board fund development committee and encouraging board expansion. Wager completed her “tour’ with the Symphony last summer, but continues as a member of the fund raising committee.
Health passion leads to plan
About five years ago, Wager was inspired by what she describes as “a cataclysmic” issue, obesity. “The burden of obesity is created by adults and is borne by children,” says Wager. “When I started reading about the obesity problem in the U.S., I became totally involved and eventually developed a conceptual plan that I called Fit Clark County.”
Wager contacted many community leaders and organizations, including the Vancouver mayor and county commissioners, schools, parks and recreation and even several restaurant owners. “They were all interested and I thought the project immensely ‘grantable,’” recalls Wager. “But it never took off until I sat next to County Administrator Bill Barron at a symphony function. I told him of my plan and he put me in touch with Community Choices 2010.”
Speaking of cataclysmic, Wager and her Fit Clark County plan dovetailed with the work that was already in progress at Community Choices. Working with Barbe West and the Choices team and the Vancouver/Clark Parks and Recreation Department, Wager helped land a five-year, $2.5 million Steps to a Healthier US federal grant. Wager joined a coalition entitled Steps to a Healthier Clark County that over the next five years works with schools, worksites, health care systems and the community to support Clark County residents who are ready to make healthy choices (see www.stepstoahealtheirclarkco.org).
According to West, Wager serves on at least four committees. “Initially, Flossie wanted more people to take responsibility to improve their personal health,” notes West. “But she never got stuck on a soapbox. Instead, she has been excited to grow her position to build a healthier community.”
“The coalition took on my plan, modified the goals, got a grant from the federal government and has aimed the plan’s sites at combating obesity, asthma, diabetes and promoting tobacco cessation,” describes Wager. “Building on baby steps, it’s gained momentum and grown into a beautiful consortium that advocates policy change that affects the health of everyone in the county.”
The other most exciting outgrowth of this consortium, the “Steps” program and a grant from Kaiser Permanente, is the recent publication of 50,000 copies of the Walkaround Guide: 10 Great Walks in Our Community. The guide describes 10 attractive, accessible walks in Clark County plus 25 more with maps and details. The guide’s distribution is being tracked and given to people who need to walk.
Wager loves the success stories that are growing out of a healthier Clark County. She tells how John Knapp, formerly 450 pounds, has become the “poster boy” for the guide. By walking on Padden Parkway and managing his diet, John lost half his weight. These days, at 180 pounds, John frequently shares his story, “The trail saved my life!”
When the effects of advocacy can be seen directly touching the lives of individuals like Knapp, Wager is ecstatic. She foresees that government will continue to create positive policies such as serving only healthy food at public functions and providing paths so that one can walk safely. It will create a buzz similar to the anti-smoking campaign of decades’ past and eventually make choosing a healthy lifestyle “the thing to do.”
“Florence-In-Training”
Fortunately for Vancouver and Clark County, pursuing her passions and developing new projects energizes Wager. She bursts with enthusiasm for one of her latest interests, realizing the Trails and Bikeway System Plan for the county in which the goal is 240 miles of trail and only 60 miles have been built.
One particular section is a fascinating project. Wager cannot wait to jump on the creative advocacy bandwagon in support of the trail vision that will develop a rail and trail and then continue over Native American routes to connect Vancouver to Yakima, as part of a statewide trail system. “Hopefully, we’ll fire up the state to support the trail.”
While Wager has her clear passions and prerogatives, she counsels that volunteerism is a great anecdote to depression. In fact, she figures that her personal return on volunteerism and advocacy is huge.
“Over the years I have always been in awe of the talent in our community,” observes Wager. “As a senior, I have the choice to sit around examining my naval or plug into the community. For me it’s clear. There’s so much to be done and it’s so much fun to be a doer – it’s so American to be a doer!”
In the meantime, Wager’s admirers shake their heads in admiration and affection. “Flossie exhausts me, she’s such a model,” says West, who explains that she and her cohorts have developed a term that everyone understands and appreciates. “When we see individuals with advocacy potential, we call them a ‘Florence-in-the-making!’”
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