Nancy Couperus Resident and Activist of Los Altos Hills

Nancy Couperus was a long-time resident of Los Altos Hills, who together with her husband Jitze, were active in a number of aspects regarding how the Town was run. In particular she was known for her strong advocacy of Public Open Spaces and their preservation for the communal good.

Her involvement in Town affairs started by chance in 1973 when Nancy and her husband, who had recently moved into Town spoke at a Town Council meeting. She spoke as a member of the public in favor of working with representatives of the person who owned Westwind Barn at that time to come up with a plan for it. She was asked to work with Irma Goldsmith, an early resident who had worked to incorporate the town and was thus a co-founder of what was to become the Town of Los Altos Hills. Irma was an active proponent of pathways or trails through the town, and now was teamed up with Nancy to approach the representatives of the Barn's owner.

The Barn was owned by the Countess Margit Bessenyey who owned the property which served as a breeding facility and training center for her Hungarian horses. She lived on her ranch in Western Montana and delegated much of the running of the barn to trainer, Linda Tellington-Jones, whose work with people and their horses became world-renowned and continues today in clinics across the country. A fellow trainer at the Barn was Jim Forderer, a single Dad to around half-a-dozen adopted kids - all with disabilities. He was a horse-trainer as well and actively encouraged his children to become involved with horses as a potentially beneficial therapeutic activity..

These two people, Tellington-Jones and Forderer, were delegated by the Countess to negotiate details surrounding the potential donation of the Barn to the Town of Los Altos Hills.

Nancy Couperus and Irma Goldsmith would represent the Town in these discussions. The intent was to try and encourage the donation of this facility to the Town. A tentative offer of this donation had been made to the Town, but it was contingent on certain conditions being agreed upon.

This first involvement by Nancy with "the Barn" was the start of a long relationship - starting with the successful acquisition of the Barn. This was accomplished through donation of the Barn itself by the Countess Bessenyey accompanied by a token payment by the Town for a large parcel of land on which the Barn and its horse rings and paddocks were located.

From this start, the Barn evolved into a community asset for a wide spectrum of members of the public who enjoyed its facilities. It became the venue for several town-wide annual celebrations (Earth Day, Hoedown, Santa Claus and Barn Lighting,... to name but a few)

But of all the activities supported at the barn, the one with the greatest initial community impact was the program sponsored by the non-profit originally named "Westwind 4-H Riding for The Handicapped". Today nearly 50 years later, it is still thriving but now under the name Westwind Riding Institute (WRI).

The impetus for this program was as a result of Nancy's efforts to fulfill her assurances to the Countess Bessenyey and subsequent Town Councils that the Barn would provide something of value to the wider community. The idea of horse-based therapy was starting to get traction at that time, and Nancy copied the idea from a similar early program operating in Marin County.

Over the years, the program has provided not only recreational horse-riding to hundreds of kids with either physical or less visible limitations - but also tangible therapeutic benefits to a large proportion of them.

But perhaps a benefit with even wider reach has been the result of an un-anticipated consequence...

Every year, a number of seniors from local high-schools sign up as volunteers in the program to help with the horses and the riders. They do this for many reasons - for the satisfaction but also to earn a good reference in applications to go to their University of choice. The unintended side-effect of their involvement in the program has resulted in the choice of a career path by many of these high-schoolers going in the direction of medicine (Doctors, Nurses) or other therapy-related professions.

Today this program continues to thrive as living testimony of Nancy’s commitment to community service.

Despite these efforts to ensure the future of the Barn as a community asset, around the year 2000 a few members of Town Council floated the idea of selling the property to a developer, to add money to the Town's capital fund - using the claim that this represented the highest and best use of taxpayer's money.

In response, Nancy and a number of friends launched a ballot initiative whose effect would be to require a vote of the residents before any of the larger pieces of town-owned land could be disposed of, or have their use (open space or recreation) be changed.

In summary, Nancy's efforts had positive impacts on the preservation of open space in the town of Los Altos Hills, as well as assurance that the Barn remains as an asset to the wider community - one that has brought joy and healing therapy to countless kids with limitations, and inspired countless other high-schoolers to follow medicine-oriented careers.

Following are two images - each one testimony in their own way, to the impact she had on the Town.