Staff

Executive Director – Craig Lentz
Program Director – Fayre Stephenson
Finance Director – Matt McKay
Registrar and Office Manager - Hilary Green
Operations Director – Ed Mann
Maintenance Director – Claude Nadeau

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Board of Directors

 

President - Wendy von Zirpolo, Danville, NH
Reverend Wendy von Zirpolo is serving her second year as Ferry Beach president. A third & fourth generation Unitarian Universalist, she was ordained into ministry in 2005 and currently serves the UU Church of Marblehead, MA as parish minister. She has been coming to Ferry Beach for nearly a decade and served as coordinator of Religious Education week for several years.

Wendy also serves as the ordained member of the UU Allies For Racial Equity, is a member of the UUA Accessibilities Committee, has done extensive relief work in New Orleans and is a UU Women's Federation volunteer for communications. She is a long-time Special Olympics Swim Coach and teaches special needs swimming several hours a week in Haverhill. She and her husband, Peter, reside in Danville, NH where their youngest of four children is completing high school. They have three daughters in college.

Vice President - Ruth Gitchell Shepard, Natick, MA

Secretary - Steve Onacki, Saco, ME
"I originally came to the Beach in 1973 for Family Week, but managed to beg my parents to let me and my brother come back that summer again for IMPACT, the teen week of the times.  However, my real love of the Beach developed as I worked on the crew for the next 5 years, and I have been coming back ever since.  I eventually moved to Maine in 1982, mostly due to my fond remembrances of Maine while at Ferry Beach.  I currently live in Saco with my wife, Diana, and two daughters, Katherine and Jennifer, who are at the University of Southern Maine and Thornton Academy respectively. I work for the State of Maine as a Probation Officer and am on the Board of the union that represents our agency.  I have been on the Ferry Beach Board of Directors since 2002 and I currently serve as the Secretary of the Board."

Treasurer - Paul Provencher, Hampden, MA
Paul is a long time Ferry Beach member having attended Work Week I & II; Connecticut Valley District, then Clara Barton District Conferences, Yoga, Photography, Kayaking & Vacationing. Paul is a member of the Springfield, MA congregation; has served on their Board and served as the Treasurer of the Connecticut Valley District for 7 years up to the district merger with the Clara Barton District. In his professional life he is a Financial Advisor operating his own practice serving clients throughout New England.

Gary Adams, North Andover, MA
Gary is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist having grown up as a youth in the Universalist Church in Barre, Vermont and for the past 18 years he has been a member of the North Parish of North Andover Unitarian Universalist Church.

Gary has been very active in church governance and activities at the North Parish Church for many years and has chaired the church's membership committee, finance committee and annual pledge campaign, and currently serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees and Parish Council chair. He also served on the Ferry Beach marketing committee for two years prior to being elected to the Ferry Beach Board Of Trustees.

Gary's family started coming to Ferry Beach in the 1950s as Grove vacationers and he also attended youth conferences as an LRY'r. Gary and his wife Suzanne have been Ferry Beach weekend coordinators and Ferry Beach boosters for the North Parish Church for the past 10 years and are regular participants in Music Week and Homecoming Weekend at Ferry Beach. An avid sports enthusiast, Gary is proud to have invented "one bounce" volleyball at Ferry Beach.

He is the president of Exceptional Management Services (EMS), a company that has specialized in association and conference management since 1986. He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and the American Society of Podiatric Executives. Gary lives in North Andover, MA with his wife Suzanne Adams, who is also a partner in EMS, and three cats. They have a son Greg who is an IT manager for Thoratech, Inc., a maker of artificial heart assist devices and who lives with his wife Debbie in Merrimack, N.H.

Charles Boothby, Bangor, ME
Charlie first visited Ferry Beach in about 1947 for Camp Seabreeze and has visited intermittently ever since. For the last few years he and his wife, Judy have been attending the Camp Ferry Beach Reunion Weekend and the Annual Meeting. He has been a member of the Augusta (ME) Unitarian Church, the Fairfax (VA) UU Congregation, and for the last 6 years, the Bangor (ME) UU Society. Judy and Charlie were married in the Bangor Church in 1958. He was first elected to the Ferry Beach Board in 2003 and re-elected in 2006. He is a fifth-generation Universalist and his son, Paul, is a UU Minister. Charlie currently serves as the President of the Northeast District.

Brad Cohen, Boston, MA
Brad Cohen has been in love with Ferry Beach since first attending Gayla in 1991. He served as a Conference Coordinator for two years and helped coordinate several winter reunions. A Ferry Beach Life Member, Brad credits Ferry Beach and Gayla with helping him love being a gay man, rather than just not minding. He lives in Jamaica Plain, MA and has been on the Ferry Beach Board of Directors since 2004.

Rick DeWolfe, East Calais, VT
Rick DeWolfe resides in North Calais, Vermont. He is married to Kathy and has two boys, Reid and Jack. They are all life members. Rick is the president of DeWolfe Engineering Associates, Inc. a civil and structural engineering firm working in New England and the mid-atlantic states. Rick is a third generation Ferry Beacher who brings to the board a wealth of knowledge from his 30 years of experience in the construction and engineering business. Rick’s personal goal is to preserve the beach for future generations.

Bob Kelley, Keene, NH
Bob Kelley joined the FBPA marketing committee in 2005 and was elected to the board in September 2006 after filling a vacancy for several months. He has attended The Family and Friends Conference for over a decade and has served as intergenerational events coordinator in 2006, 2004, and 2003.

Bob attends the Keene Unitarian Universalist Church in Keene NH. He has served as a mentor in the Coming of Age program and serves on the Investment Committee. Professionally, Bob has worked as an information systems manager for over 20 years in the K-12 and College sectors. He earned an MBA in May 2006, plays trombone in the Nelson Town Band and was a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Bob and his wife D'Vorah have two children, Brendan and Elizabeth. In 2006, Brendan was a co-leader of the Young Adult strand at F&F August and Elizabeth was a councilor for Different Drummers and an end of season Tron. D'Vorah has served as Junior Teen leader at F&F for the past 5 years; and as a workshop leader in Women's Week; and was a two term President of KUUC.

Joy McNaughton, Lynn, MA
Joy McNaughton, a Registered Nurse, lives in Lynn, MA with her daughter Kayla. She started coming to Ferry Beach in 1982, with her daughter Bonnie, and has not missed a summer at "the Beach" since. Joy attended RE Week for many years and has thoroughly enjoyed trying out a variety of other conferences over the last few years. She has worked as the Ferry Beach nurse (in the days when we had different nurses for different weeks), led several workshops, and acted as music director for an RE Week production of "The Greatest Show on Earth".  Joy is a 3rd generation Universalist, and although an active member of the UU Church of Greater Lynn, she considers Ferry Beach to be her true spiritual home. She became a Life Member in 2004.

Joy's passions include music, seeking ways to promote peace, justice and equality in the world, women's spirituality, nursing, writing new words to old songs, and of course, Ferry Beach.

Last year, Joy realized a dream come true when she brought her granddaughter, Kyleigh, to Ferry Beach. It is her hope that someday Kyleigh will bring HER grandchildren to share in the magical, healing spirit that IS Ferry Beach.

FBPA Constitution and Bylaws
Proposed FBPA Constitution and Bylaw changes (for the 9/2/2007 Annual Meeting)