Happy Menocal has been a member of the MRG board of trustees since 2023. Happy is the founder and owner of Happy Menocal Studio, where she leads a team of artists, calligraphers, and designers who specialize in branding, custom stationery, murals, and textile design. Happy has brought her professional experience to her work on the MRG board – you’ll recognize her slug design as the logo for the Spring Wingding. She is currently helping advise on the renovation of MRG headquarters.
Happy grew up in Bedford, and fondly recalls exploring these woods as a child. She returned to town with her family in 2020. She lives with her husband John, daughter Daisy, and son Rip in an 18th-century farmhouse nestled beside the Gorge. She has enjoyed learning about the local flora and fauna from Rod and his staff, and about the important work of managing invasives. She is grateful to be part of the MRG ecosystem, and is motivated to apply the same curiosity, care and resourcefulness to her own family’s property, in harmony with her neighbors.
Happy loves walking and running with friends around and through the Gorge, and many of those friends have since become supporters of the MRG mission themselves. Happy and her family also enjoy basking in the glittering feldspar of the quarry, her favorite feature of the preserve.
We are grateful that Happy shares her time and talent with us, and look forward to seeing what color slug she’ll come up with next year for the 2027 Mianus River Gorge Spring Wingding!