Projects | David Kirk

Good Things from Desert Botanical Garden

One of my favorite places in the Valley of the Sun, and the number one thing to do here according to virtually every travel guide known to mankind, is Desert Botanical Garden. My husband, Randy Stopher, has been a Docent there since 2012. I recently joined the ranks of more than 800 volunteers, completed the necessary classroom and field work, and am now a Docent myself. I have the great pleasure of orienting groups of up to 15 people through 50 public acres of the Garden, using dialogic interpretation techniques to help visitors appreciate the wonders of desert plant adaptations and ethnobotany, the study of the relationships between humans and plants. There is always something happening there, and I am thrilled to be part of it. If you are coming to town, we would be happy to show you around.

See what's happening at Desert Botanical Garden

Good Times, Good Eatin'

When my mother passed away, I inherited her floral-patterned 3x5 file box of recipes. Some are neatly typed, many are handwritten, most have a stain or two from the ingredients, and many were torn from the pages of 1950s and 1960s women's magazines. Her pantry staples were the ingredients of the era: butter, Jell-O, bread crumbs, canned tuna, spaghetti, and love. I have them all scanned and organized by appetizers, entrees, desserts, and such. If you grew up in the 50s and 60s, this is a trip down culinary lane. Have a hankering for something delicious, calories be damned?

Check out Mom's recipes

The Art of Grandma Wendel

My mother's mother, Martha Lintner Wendel, set a goal when she was 65 years old: create a painting for each of her children and grandchildren. A few years ago, I began wondering what became of her project and, so far, have identified more than 80 of her paintings, scattered around the country and the world. I combined my new passion for building websites with a love for her art and made a home on the web for her works.

Visit the Martha Wendel Gallery

My Family Tree

I am a ninth-generation Pennsylvania Lancastrian and proud of it. Over the years I have been adding roots and branches to my family tree. The deepest root traces to Sir Hugo Herr von Bilried, born in the year 1009. Are we related? Possibly. Corrections and additions are always welcome.

Check out my family tree

Lucy: A Gift for America

I have been collaborating with a former client and dear friend to write her memoirs, tentatively called Lucy: A Gift for America. The story traces her life from the day her parents, who met in a displaced persons camp in Germany after World War II, smuggled her aboard a flight to America tucked into a shoe box, through the founding and ultimate sale of the business she built with her husband, and her many and varied philanthropic activities today. Look for publication in early 2027.

More Nostalgia

I continue to work on digitizing the hundreds of photos I have in boxes and albums that I have been hauling from home to home for the past 40-plus years. So far I am well into my college years (1970–1974). Thankfully my photo memories are mostly digital for the past couple of decades. I am using an excellent app called Photomyne to do the job. Here is a selection of shots from the 1950s. Yes, I know. I was adorable. And no, I do not know what happened.