Special to the Town Crier
Resident Profile
The third-grade class flocked around its leader for the field trip. Keith Gutierrez, the program director at Redwood Grove, in Shoup Park in Los Altos, looked like no teacher they'd ever had. He wore a flannel shirt, jeans, hiking boots, and a leather hat adorned with a beaded strap around the crown and feathers hanging down behind.
Gutierrez, 38, led the children down the road into the woods and into another time. On the way, he played a whistle he'd made out of elderberry bush wood and explained the many ways the Ohlone had made use of this plant.
Gutierrez shot arrows he carried in a quiver he had made out of a red fox's hide. "This fox was dead by the roadside," he explained to the children. "I have a permit as a naturalist, so I was allowed to take it for its hide, but don't you kids touch dead animals." They nodded solemnly.
Twenty years ago, Gutierrez graduated from high school without any definite plans. He applied for a summer job as a camp counselor at Hidden Villa and found his vocation. He worked there for 10 years, while taking college classes in education and environmental studies.
"It was a great time to be at Hidden Villa," Gutierrez said. "All the people around me were teachers." He learned about children, the wilderness, and animal husbandry. "Hidden Villa is my second home and my university."
At Hidden Villa, Gutierrez met Raye Girouard, whom he regards as his mentor. "Raye was a mountain man kind of guy. He taught me all kinds of Indian skills: flint making, arrow making, cordage (using plant fibers to make cords and ropes), fire starting, and archery."
After Hidden Villa, Gutierrez worked Deer Hollow Farm for eight years. While coordinating the many programs there, he met with archeologists, anthropologists, and Ohlone descendants to learn more about the people who used to live on this land.
Gutierrez came to Redwood Grove as director and caretaker two years ago. He runs the camps and programs there, sharing his love of nature with children. In his scant spare time, Gutierrez writes songs about the environment, which he sings later to visitors. He also carves wooden statues.
At the end of the third-graders' visit, Gutierrez showed them how to scrape rocks and wet the dust they generated to make face paint. The children eagerly painted their faces, learned the Ohlone dance and song he taught them, and had a celebration together. Then they went home alight with the history that Keith Gutierrez had brought to life.