Alumni Profiles: Where Are They Now?

Zipline catches up with A/U Ranches alumna Kristin Messer and three new trustees serving on the Adventure Unlimited board: Clara Germani, Steve Holser, and Tim Terry. 

Kristin Messer

When Kristin (Morse) Messer thinks back on her years at the A/U Ranches, she sees a steady growth in confidence, strength, and a sense of spirituality. 

She was a painfully shy kiddo when she first showed up at a Family Camp session. Of course, the love of the staff and exciting adventures opened her heart to a place that has remained so special to Kristin and her family. 

She spent several years as a camper at Sky Valley and Round-Up ranches. It was interacting with the soulful staff in the Mosaics program that changed her mind about where she wanted to attend college, landing at Principia College the next fall. 

Kristin loved the chance to be a part of the A/U Ranches as a counselor in both Mountaineering and Explorers over the summers of 1999 and 2000. Watching campers stretch physically, socially, and spiritually left a big impression. Lessons learned in practical mountaineering skills, as well as cherished healings, have stuck with her all these years later. The Rocky Mountain Rest Step has gotten her up many a mountain.

After a long stint in the Midwest, where she pursued a law degree and hiked over hills instead of mountains, Kristin moved to San Francisco and became a housing rights attorney, working to keep tenants in their homes in an ever-changing city.

Kristin and her husband, Adam (a fellow A/U Ranches alum), still live in San Francisco, now with their two young children. They love hiking, biking, and skiing in Northern California. 

Last summer, while touring Iceland in a campervan with the family, Kristin was reminded of lessons learned at the Ranches, including joyfully adventuring in all kinds of weather, pivoting when the trail/weather/kids just aren’t cooperating, and letting God be her rod and staff on the trail. She is so grateful for the A/U Ranches and the gift of growth it has given her.

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Clara Germani

You may recognize her byline from news articles you’ve read, and now she’s bringing her skills to the Adventure Unlimited Board of Trustees: Clara Germani!

Clara is a journalist who has covered politics, war, environment, race, and justice for national publications, including The Christian Science Monitor.

She says she’s grateful to serve the institution that was so formative in her own life.   

The challenges and victories of two camper experiences at Sky Valley Ranch and Round-Up Ranch in 1971 and 1972 gave her the foundation of spiritual, physical, and intellectual stamina that has been life-shaping, even today.

Whether it was a Mt. Princeton climb (in Keds!), learning the meaning of false peaks, or a quiet campsite conversation parsing the Golden Text in the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson with an Oklahoma girl who would become a lifelong friend, the depth of meaning in her camp experiences has echoed down the decades. 

Adventure Unlimited has also remained important for her family. Her husband, Marshall Ingwerson, is an alum of the High Stampede program. Her daughter, Ellen Ingwerson, was a camper for five summers, a seasonal staff member for one, and a 2016 DiscoveryBound (DB) National Leadership Council graduate. And her family has shared meaningful adventures at many summer Family Camp sessions and good times at regional DB Outreach events. 

Clara now lives and works as an editor and writer in Laguna Beach, CA, where she’s also a nature center and backcountry patrol volunteer for the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.

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Steve Holser

Steve Holser is starting his second term of service on the Adventure Unlimited Board of Trustees!

Since leaving the board in 2020, Steve has continued his involvement with Adventure Unlimited as a three-time mentor for DiscoveryBound’s National Leadership Council (NLC) program, as a DiscoveryBound Ambassador, as a volunteer at NLC annual All Class Retreats, and as occasional A/U Ranches staff. He is honored to be serving again. 

Steve has served the organization in almost every capacity, including camper, counselor, staff member, National Alumni Board president, and chairman of the Board of Trustees, and has enjoyed all of those opportunities.

Steve is retired and cherishes traveling internationally with his wife, Laurie. The two spend a lot of time with their three children and five grandchildren, all living nearby. He takes every opportunity to work with hot air balloons, as he has for several decades. Additionally, he has served his branch church in many capacities.

Why has he continued his work with Adventure Unlimited? Because “supporting youth and participating with them in their growth, particularly with Christian Science, is a most humbling and rewarding experience.”

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Tim Terry

Tim Terry, new member to the Adventure Unlimited Board of Trustees, has been involved with the A/U Ranches as a camper, staff member on the outdoor work crew, bus chaperone, Memorial Day clean-up volunteer,  and Bible Study attendee. 

Previously, he was a Nevada Attorney General’s Office prosecutor for 20 years, as well as a law clerk in the Nevada Supreme Court after receiving his bachelor’s degree at Long Beach State and his J.D. at California Western School of Law.

He’s the father to Allison and Jon and lives in Bandon, OR, with his wife, Claudia Ballard.