Volunteer of the Quarter – Rosina Newton

By Dan Monn, Animal Care, Gift Shop and Volunteer Assistant
Wolf Haven International

Rosina Newton started volunteering at Wolf Haven International almost four years ago, and she has been enriching guests’ experiences ever since. If you aren’t sure if you’ve been on one of her sanctuary visits, you may remember her trademark wolf ears and tail and bright personality. Rosina is a guide on both sanctuary and prairie visits, and also helps with our school groups. When Rosina is guiding our public visits, she goes above and beyond. She will take a group of guests into the wolf sanctuary for the 50-minute visit, and then lead any interested parties out to the prairie, returning just in time to take the next group into the sanctuary. Her dedication and passion shine through every visit she leads.

Originally from Seattle, Rosina’s first introduction to Wolf Haven happened when she saw a presentation at the Edmonds Library as a child. Years later, her love of animals brought her to Yelm to be closer to her horses and lucky for us it brought her closer to Wolf Haven. Remembering that first introduction she scheduled a visit soon. On a hot afternoon Rosina was the only guest, and though she didn’t see any wolves, she said the guide did such a great job she was convinced to volunteer herself.

Now Rosina is the guide sticking it out in rough weather. In fact, one of her favorite visits was one that was nearly canceled. On Halloween a couple years ago, the last visit occurred during a nasty hail storm; still, a handful of hearty souls showed up. Rosina was more than happy to take the group in, and they were rewarded with a show. All the wolves were out, and some were even playfully jumping trying to catch the hail. Good weather, or bad, Rosina always gives our guests a rewarding experience.