Bill and Betty Anne Poe have been coming to Mo-Ranch together for 54 years.
The couple visited Mo-Ranch for the first time in the summer of 1966 to attend College Conference. They attended that conference with Linda and David Evans and Nona and Paul Debenport, who would become life-long friends.
Both remember being impressed by Mo’s beauty and size, and about how exciting and fun it was to be there.
That first visit sparked a love and passion for Mo-Ranch that has continued for decades and has been passed down for generations.
“Our children and grandchildren think that Mo-Ranch belongs to them, and so we keep coming back as a family at least once every year,” Betty Anne Poe said.
And, over the last 54 years, their family has celebrated baptisms, weddings and memorial services at Mo.
During their time at Mo, Bill and Betty Anne also directed church retreats and Mo-Ranch conferences, including Youth Celebration back in the 1980s.
Betty Anne is now a member and active deacon of First Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, and Bill is an honorably retired minister who now serves Mission Presbytery as its Interim Stated Clerk.
In addition to their years coming as guests to Mo-Ranch, the couple volunteers their time by serving on the Board of Trustees and joining the Circle M Club.
Bill, who has come to Mo every October for 40 years with a group of friends and rents out Nicklos Place, serves on the Board of Trustees as Secretary to the Board and has worked with the Board’s Development and Executive Committees.
The couple joined the Circle M Club in 2016. Their original plan was to remember Mo-Ranch in their wills, but when plans were announced to build the Upper Youth Plaza, they decided their gift would be better served to support that project.
The Poes made their gift in early 2020.
“It is important to us to support Mo-Ranch, both through regular and special giving, so that it will continue to provide its unique blend of beauty, history and spirituality for our family and for many more like us,” Bill Poe said. “If anyone else is considering making a gift to Mo-Ranch, we encourage them to give generously.”
