The PRT Good Neighbor Award recognizes people who voluntarily build a better community in Canelo, Elgin, Sonoita and Patagonia. We asked our readers to nominate someone they knew who was a “good neighbor.” Thank you for sending in your nominations for the 2025 Good Neighbor Awards. Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Patra Kelly coordinates all the drivers for the Patagonia Senior Center’s completely volunteer-run transportation service for eastern Santa Cruz County. Sometimes she’s digging to find drivers, sometimes she’s dealing with people who do not get that if there are no drivers available, there is nothing she can do about it.
She goes on the trips to Nogales to pick up food for the center and spends much of her time at the center, just keeping things going.
Patra just helps people.
One time, a regular lunch patron signed up for cell service with a company that claimed to, but didn’t, have service in Patagonia. Patra spent hours on the phone getting that straightened out for him.
“Patra is an unsung heroine who goes about her work without seeking any attention and without any pay,” said Maggie Devries, one of four people who nominated Patra for the Good Neighbor Award. “Through her daily presence in the Patagonia Senior Center, I have seen her help multiple people who have had sudden/acute changes in their health, such as a stroke, and those with chronic conditions, such as cancer. She finds out what is needed and then helps them get what they need. In addition, she manages the Senior Center ride program, so seniors can get to their medical appointments. In some cases, without Patra, they would not be able to access medical care.”
Patra, Devries added, also shops for people who can’t get to the grocery store themselves.
“I hope Patra can be recognized for all that she does for our community,” she said.
Patra’s husband, Chuck, offered more reasons that Patra deserves recognition.
“Patra is a gifted poet. She never says a word against anyone. She always has a cheerful disposition. She enjoys meeting and helping people. She loves Patagonia and the people who live here. She has never been singled out for praise,” he said.
Some interesting facts about Patra:
• She grew up on a cattle ranch in Idaho.
• After college, she went to Bogota, Colombia, to teach at a school alongside Franciscan nuns. That’s how she met Chuck. The two were married by a Lakota Sioux medicine man during a Sundance ceremony.
• While living in New Jersey, Patra and Chuck taught in a parent-run cooperative school and lived with their daughter, Michele, a few blocks away in a mansion that they turned into an intentional community.
• After Patra and Chuck moved to Oregon, she delivered mail and taught dance to children, performing stories told through movement and dance.
• Patra and Chuck moved to Patagonia in 2005. Patra became a writer for the Patagonia Regional Times, at first simply helping then-editor Donna Reibslager answer emails.
• Patra enjoys writing poetry and has developed an interest in quantum physics, which she says “reminds us that nothing is separate. I am fascinated that elementary particles do not exist by themselves alone but by interconnecting with all things. As in the microcosm, so in the macrocosm, all beings are entangled. No being can exist alone, and separateness is an illusion. I find this consoling as I age.”
“I wholeheartedly concur with the nomination of Patra Kelly for the GNA!,” Leslie Breuninger wrote in her nomination. “I’ve known Patra for around 50 years and can attest to what an asset she is. Her quiet resilience, willingness to become involved, and commitment to her community is a natural part of who she is on the planet. Often her poetry or essays reflect that community. She is a deep thinker, has a wonderful sense of humor and is a great dancer. Who could better reflect Patagonia?”