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Vanessa Amsbury-Bonilla, Church Administrator

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Vanessa has been our administrative assistant since 2005, when some UU friends urged her to apply. 

Brought up in the picturesque ocean-side community of Edmonds, Washington she graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in biology. “My first job was as a naturalist in Costa Rica,” she says, and being half Costa Rican and bilingual, working there felt like a natural fit.  “I was really a glorified tour guide. I took people into Corcovado National Park and showed them the flora and fauna. It was a wonderful experience and one I will remember fondly.”

Vanessa a short time later worked for the state of Washington’s Department of Natural Resources. One of a team tracking the spotted owl, she says, “I hiked day and night, searching for owls for four years until I started a nest of my own.” 

In 1999 when her oldest child, Morgaine,  was six months old, Vanessa moved to New Hampshire. “I was on a hiatus from work then.”  Two years later she had her second daughter, CT. Both of her children are now off to college but enjoyed their many years growing up at PUUC.

She brings her dog Casey with her every day to the office. In March of 2019 Vanessa eloped with the love of her life, Kevin Goohs, to the Azores. They together own and manage the Peterborough Community Theatre which they purchased in the summer of 2018. They thoroughly enjoy bringing entertainment, education and inspiration to the Peterborough Community. As Kevin recently stated, "Community is our middle name!"

Vanessa also keeps herself busy running an Airbnb out of her home, offering a full breakfast using organic eggs from her own chickens and locally sourced food items. She enjoys welcoming people from across the globe to stay at her home in our quintessential town of Peterborough. "I'm making a little money and friends at the same time!"  Someday she hopes she and Kevin can retire in Costa Rica, running a bed and breakfast in one of the most beautiful ecologically diverse countries in the world.