The 1794 Board of Directors

 

Patrick Borezo. Orange, Massachusetts.

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Jo Ellen Boskind. Jo Ellen Boskind has devoted her professional career as a clinical social worker to promoting the quality of connection in the lives of North Quabbin residents. While Director of Social Services at Athol Memorial Hospital in the 80's she initiated support groups for Cancer survivors and their families and Alzheimer Caregivers. In the last 20 years she has been in private practice in Athol, she has helped many individuals and couples to achieve mastery over their challenges and experience more fulfilling relationships. A devoted meditator, she has in addition been teaching introductory courses in Insight Meditation over the last three years. Her membership on the board and chair of the building committee of the 1794 Meetinghouse has enabled her to participate in the development of community connections through the provision of extraordinary performing arts. A resident of New Salem, she is grateful for the many outdoor activities she is able to indulge in including gardening, hiking, biking, horseback riding and cross country skiing. She is also grateful to her two kittens Amma & Mukti and her 37 year old horse Honey for reminding her always of her place in the world.

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Lynn Boudreau. Lynn resides in Orange and is Lead Medical Transcriptionist for Baystate Medical Center. Board member since 2009.  Lynn has been a member (and former manager) of Quabbin Valley Pro Musica since before it became part of the 1794 Meetinghouse.  She has sung in the North Quabbin and Pioneer Valley area for most of her life, with the Greenfield Chamber Singers in the 1980s, Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus, Pioneer Valley Capella of Northampton and Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s women’s a capella group, Clinical Notes, and has been a featured soloist locally.  She is honored to have been part of the recording of Carolyn Brown Senier’s compositions in the Mattawa Song Cycle.  Lynn has a BS in Biology from Bridgewater State College, and has worked mostly in the medical field, though nature always beckons her to the outdoors.  She has two children, Elise and Devin, and three grandchildren, who are her delight.

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Heather Brissette. A native of Athol, Heather is active in the North Quabbin community and believes strongly that we all have a responsibility to become invested in our communities if we hope to keep them vibrant and appealing places to live. Brissette works for the Town of Athol and is the administrative assistant to the Board of Selectmen and to the Town Manager. She is the mother of two middle school-aged children, Holly & Jacob. Heather is a graduate of Northeastern University (1993) where she earned a BS in journalism and political science. Prior to taking her position at Town Hall she worked as a political reporter in Massachusetts and North Carolina. In addition to the 1794 Meetinghouse Board of Directors, Brissette currently serves on Athol’s Board of Assessors, Athol’s 250th Anniversary Committee, and is a co-founder of the annual Big Cheese Road Race. She is a former member of the Athol Zoning Board of Appeals, zoning bylaw review committee, and the Lake Park Playground rebuilding committee.

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John Ciesluk. John is Assistant Professor, Lesley University. A board member since 2003. John is married to fellow board member, Jane Williams, and he has lived in New Salem since 1997.  John joined the faculty of the Educational Leadership Ph.D. Program at Lesley University in 2008 after retiring as an elementary principal.  John chairs the meetinghouse education committee and hopes to see this committee broaden the Meetinghouse’s circle of influence among area schools. Relevant Past Positions: Former President, Board of Directors, Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association; current Editor, Board of Directors, Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association; member of Board of Directors, MassPartners.  Education and Training: BA, English, Colgate University,1968; MAT, English, UMASS,1970; Ed.D., Instructional Leadership, UMASS, 1982. Accomplishments and/or Awards Received: Certificate of International Service, Government of the Cook Islands, July 2002; Massachusetts Elementary Principal of the Year, 2003- 2004; National Distinguished Principal, 2003-2004.

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Henry Cramer. Henry is a retired school adjustment counselor. He has served as a board member since 1989.  BA, Liberal Arts, Ohio Wesleyan University;  MA, Psychology, Boston University.  Hank’s interests with 1794 Meetinghouse are the building committee and theatrical lighting.  While in high school in Needham, he had learned a little about the building trades through summer jobs with builders.  Hank left the field of social work and moved to New Salem with his wife, Donna, and their two sons in 1973 as part of the “back to the land” movement.  He became a house husband/farmer  and designed and built his own house.  He served on the New Salem Fire Department, Conservation Commission and Planning Board for many years.  He was the Director of the restoration of the Town Common and established the Scenic Overlook.  Other interests include oil painting,  gardening and creating video documentaries about the behavior of wild animals in New Salem.

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Jean Derderian. New Salem, Massachusetts

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Adam Frost. Adam moved to the North Quabbin in 2008, equally drawn by the region’s cultural and natural offerings. A native of Connecticut, Adam studied violin from an early age, and was a founding member of the Litchfield Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of the cellist David Darling. He now resides in New Salem with his wife and three sons, and is owner of The Wooden Wagon, an importer of European wooden toys and folk art. Adam has been on the board of the Meetinghouse since 2009, and has a particular interest in traditional, classical and early music.

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Marcia Gagliardi. Marcia is proprietor of Haley’s Antiques and Publishing in Athol, is a former teacher of English, humanities, and school publications. She was an arts administrator in the late 1980s at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where her mentors believed fervently in the obligation of arts organizations to provide and promote quality, classic experiences in the fine and performing arts. An opponent of war, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons, she sometimes engages in non violent civil resistance. She has three daughters and four grandchildren.

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Janet Kraft. Janet majored in Music at San Diego State, Boston University, Graduate of U-Mass, Boston. Janet taught piano for many years in Cohasset, Ma. Director of music at Weston Methodist Church, Natick Unitarian Church, Scituate Methodist Church, First Parish Church of Cohasset in past years. Presently Director of Music at Central Congregational Church, New Salem

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Niles Larson. Niles is president of the board of directors and has been a board member since 2008. Freelances as Independent Filmmaker throughout the Northeast and is currently working on a documentary about the music scene here in the North Quabbin Area. Grew up listening to classic rock n’ roll oldies of the 50’s and 60’s with his mother and continues to listen to Classical and Jazz on daily basis. Enjoys the Meetinghouse’s quality of entertainment for the fraction of the price found in the small quiet town of New Salem

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Diane Lincoln. Diane is president of Bruce’s Browser, Inc. in Athol and owner of Linqsongs Publishing in Royalston, where she resides. Board member since 2003.  She currently chairs the Program Committee and Publicity Committee.   

Diane was on the board of directors of the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce for 25 years and was Chairman of the Board for multiple terms. She is a Corporator of the Athol Savings Bank. After graduating from Northeastern University with a pharmacy degree in 1970, Diane went into, and eventually took over her family’s independent business. She sold the pharmacy in 2004 to pursue her passion for music.   

Diane is now a guitar-based singer/songwriter (stage name Linq). She has released multiple CDs and music videos, and has received international airplay.  She was nominated for three music awards in 2009, winning “Musical Artist of 2009” in the Pride in the Arts Music Awards.  She was named OUTMusician of the Year (music + activism) at the 7th Annual OUTMusic Awards in May 2011.

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William Howe Oldach. Bill resides with his wife Linda on Lake Rohunta in Athol.  Bill is completing his 25th year of solo law practice, a general practice which includes real estate conveyancing and family law.  Prior to his law career he was a teacher and social studies department chairman at Athol High School.  He is a sports and music enthusiast.  He is a retired college football official, and enjoys basketball, racquetball, golf, biking and hiking.  He and Linda love to walk to breakfast on weekends and to travel.  Their trips have included China, Egypt, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and cruises to the Baltic, Mediterranean and South Pacific.  Bill sings bass with Quabbin Valley Pro Musica and plays baritone horn in the Orange Community Band.  

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Mary Sukols. Mary is a native of Athol who returned to Massachusetts 10 years ago after having lived many years in Houston,Texas. Originally re-locating to Leominster, she worked  as  the Executive Assistant to the Branch Administrator for Fidelity Co-Operative Bank and enjoyed volunteering in local political campaigns. As a member of Our Lady of the Lake Church, Mary participated in numerous fund-raising activities and enjoyed planning and participating in the Johnny Appleseed Festival sponsored annually by the Leominster Chamber of Commerce.

When Mary moved to Athol, she began working for Athol Savings Bank and has served as the Assistant Manager of their Convenience Center location for the last three years.

Mary has two children, a son Nathan, and a daughter Rachael and 4 grandchildren to whom she devotes much of her spare time.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the 1794 Meetinghouse, she is working not only to contribute to the preservation and restoration of a wonderful historical building, but also to help promote it as an active venue for showcasing outstanding musical talent. 

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 David Van Iderstine. New Salem, Massachusetts. David is Treasurer of 1794 Meetinghouse's board of directors.

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Jane Williams. Jane lives in New Salem with her husband, and fellow board member, John Ciesluk. She is Clinical Coordinator for ServiceNet -Sheltering and Housing Division of Franklin County, MA . A Board member since 2003. Jane has been providing outreach clinical services to the community’s homeless population and troubled youth since 1981. Through following the acting career of her son, Dylan, she has become involved with performing arts on many levels, including set design, costuming, advertising, fund raising and frequently sharing the stage. The Board of the 1794 Meetinghouse provides a venue to combine creative performing arts interests and community service. Summer 2010, Jane and her son, Dylan, brought the educational program of Stages of Life to New Salem through a collaboration with the 1794 Meetinghouse. Summer 2011, through a grant from the New Salem Academy, the program will be available again for interested young performers. 

 

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William (Buck) Williams. New Salem, Massachusetts.