Art Beat: 'Everything is a resource'

Hi, my name is Jacob Mann and I cover the art beat for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. Stories start in many different ways. This one started with the loss of a life that touched many, and ended with a phone call with a mutual friend after the fact.

When I found out Mollie Boyer died, I was taken aback and immediately filled with grief and regret, wishing I talked to her more this last year, wishing I had quoted her more in general, and most importantly, wishing I had the chance to see her at a music festival with flowers in her long, braided hair.

Mollie was a founding member and the former Executive Director of Valley Community Recycling Solutions. She died Sunday, November 8 in Portland, Oregon after a year and half bout with lung cancer that spread through her other organs.

Longtime VCRS board member Randi Perlman told me that Mollie moved back to Portland (her hometown) after her diagnosis so she could be close to her sister and other family members, as well as a cancer treatment facility.

She said that Mollie felt better and came back up in May, but she had to return to Portland as her condition worsened.

I knew right away on top of a stand alone feature on her legacy and impact on the Valley and beyond, I was going to focus my next column on Mollie. So, here it is.

Mollie was 16 in 1969, so I think it’s safe for me to call her a “flower child,” especially considering the life she lived for her Mother Earth and hippie like qualities that made her so radiant with positivity and good intentions for everyone and everything.

I don’t mean to be glib when calling her a hippie, since that can sometimes evoke thoughts of clichés and all that, but Mollie was a walking definition of hard worker. Her strong sense of duty to her cause, community and environment was one of her defining qualities.

In fact, I have a list of adjectives collected from Mollie’s former colleagues at VCRS. I asked current Executive Director Steve Brown to pass a paper around the center so people could write down the top words to describe her.

Here’s what they came up with: “persistent, adamant, inspirational, stubborn, determined, persuasive, dedicated, passionate, stubborn (again), caring, giving, and controlling.”

I often credit Mollie as my first official interview, my first dance partner in this waltz we call Journalism. I was attending the Mat-Su College when I met her in 2015. She was my second or third interview with the school’s paper, the Mat-Su Monitor.

It was my first interview off campus, out in the “real world” so to speak, and I remember that day being one of the solidifying notions that proved that I really enjoy getting out and talking to people so I can come back and write about it.

I was hooked and Mollie was the friendly face that welcomed me into this new state of being, connecting dots across my community and telling its story, one interview at a time. She helped realize how much fun this job can be and I’ll never forget that.

The last time I recall seeing Mollie in person was at the Alaska Scottish Highland Games, which is probably the closest I ever got to that strong wish to see her in a music festival setting. I think it was the 2018 Highland Games, since she was diagnosed with cancer in 2019.

Those close to Mollie said her “bigger than life” personality and countless contributions to the Valley’s sole recycling center and surrounding community left a lasting and positive impact felt statewide and even the national level.

As someone who grew up in the Valley and saw the fruits of Mollie’s labors through a reporter’s eyes, I can wholeheartedly agree.

It’s obvious just by visiting VCRS that it’s a highly utilized and highly operational facility. Steve pointed out that Mollie was able to see her lifelong dream alive and well before she died, seeing a thriving, multi-faceted recycling center with dedicated staff and volunteers working across the grounds and efficient machines busily humming along before she died.

“I know it made her happy,” Steve said. “And to keep it going, she’s smiling above us.”

Steve and others have credited Mollie as the driving force behind the center’s evolution from a small grassroots movement to a full fledged facility widely utilized by locals.

Steve said their drive thru station is lovingly called “Boyer’s Foyer” by staff and volunteers. He noted that they plan to make some sort of formal dedication to the drive thru later on.

“This was Mollie’s life. The recycling center was her life,” Steve said.

To the end, Mollie’s dedication to the cause was evident. She left her home and property to the center in her will. Steve said when the lot is eventually sold, the remaining proceeds will go toward a special savings account called the Sustain Campaign, a sort of “rainy day of fund” meant to help the center during times of financial hardship.

“That’s how much this organization meant to her,” Steve said.

Mollie’s actions expanded beyond the VCRS , reaching various corners of the Valley and even beyond. I’ve been told her efforts affected lasting change across the state and she’s also garnered national attention along the way.

One of the top things Mollie has done for the Valley that stands out in my mind was her support for the arts. She fostered numerous relationships between VCRS and local groups, namely the Valley Arts Alliance to promote artistic endeavors and creative solutions to make the most with what’s available around us. I talked to VAA Executive Director Carmen Summerfield about Molly to get a little perspective on the subject.

“It was so neat that we could work with the recycling center and Mollie to combine art and recycling,” Carmen said. “I think art and recycling go very well together.”

One of the more prominent examples of VCRS and VAA’s artistic relationship was their annual Wearable Art and Fashion Show, where participating artists show off their own ensambles creatively crafted from recycled materials.

Carmen also pointed out that VAA always includes a recycling theme in their annual Alaska Home Companion radio show in front of a live audience. She said they plan to keep that tradition going.

Carmen said that she knew Mollie for about 15 years. She said that Mollie was well known for her never ending smile, infectious energy, and grand plans for the greater good.

“I always liked when she was enthusiastic about something,” Carmen said. “She had big ideas and I like that.”

Mollie was all about education and held numerous kinds of workshops at VCRS with VAA and other groups. There’s been art workshops, recycling classes, and everything else in between cycling through the center over the years.

“I think VCRS is one of the most successful nonprofits here in the Valley,” Carmen said. “It brings everybody together... That’s what I really like about the recycling center, and Mollie was a big part of that… I think the things that she’s done, we can build on that. She had big plans for the future... She’ll be missed but we will do things in the future in her memory.”

Looking back on the times I talked to Mollie, from the school paper to this paper, I think of a quote she used often. It was one of her top go-to’s and broadly expresses how she viewed the world.

“Everything is a resource,” Mollie said during an interview at VCRS in 2018.

My 2018 article was covering the center’s celebration of their 20th anniversary. At the time, I wrote, “Boyer lamented for the countless people from the community who’ve made the center’s efforts a success. The names are too many to list, but she knows they are looking down from ‘somewhere else’ and smiling.”

Now it’s her turn to look down, and I get a warm feeling about the idea of her smiling from above during an upcoming music festival dedicated to her memory.

“People will dance in a virtual way to her spirit,” Perlman said. “We are all better off because of her.”

VCRS is dedicating their upcoming fundraising music festival, Recycle Revival to Mollie. This year’s show will be livestreamed with various artists participating, including Portugal. The Man, Hobo Jim, and Emma Hill.

I’m definitely going to tune into this and think of Mollie the whole time. I’m also thinking about how we all can make the most of a situation that feels so far out of our control.

In the end, whether it’s saving more waste from landfills, using every bit of an animal you’ve hunted, or collating community resources for local projects and fundraisers, there’s always something going on and plenty to work with.

Let’s all try to reduce, reuse and recycle our items, our ideas, and our insights to make things a little better whenever we can. I’ll try my best to do the same.

“We’re all in this together. We’re all in this Valley together and especially now we need work together,” said toward the end of our conversation.

Recycle Revival goes live Dec. 5 at 12 p.m. For more information, call 907-745-5544 or visit valleyrecycling.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com