Board Members
Meet the faces behind the scenes!
Kevin Berner, President
A retired Wildlife Management professor from SUNY Cobleskill, Kevin’s career and passions revolved around wildlife and photography. Being on the JHS board is fullfilling to Kevin so that JHS can help people become more aware of the fascinating history or the town through our books, Facebook, lectures, and other means.
Contact: BernerKL@gmail.com
Carol Bodnar, Vice President
In previous years, Carol was the owner of an independent bookstore in Westchester, and then, owner of a small farm business (Peck & Potter) here in Jefferson. She supports the JHS mission in all its efforts, researching, preserving, promoting, and celebrating the history, architecture and culture of the Town of Jefferson; nurturing community involvement and education; and interacting with and enhancing community culture and life.
Joan Powers, Secretary
Co-owner, Mill Pond Inn. Retired editor from the Candlewick Press.
Diane Ericson, Treasurer
Town Clerk of Blenheim, NY
Deep historical roots in Schoharie County.
Family researcher and archive keeper for over 20 years.
Stephanie Ruquet, Co-Treasurer
A frequent contributor to the JHS newsletter, Stephanie enjoys researching and writing about topics of local history. She is co-author of a book about a WWI Marine from Jefferson, and expects to complete a book later this year about the Civil War soldiers from Jefferson who died in that war.
Shannon Finn
Shannon Finn lives at and runs the Danforth Jersey Farm that has been part of the Jefferson agricultural community since 1817. She is raising her 3 children there as the 7th generation to grow up on the farm. Her family’s history has been intertwined with the history of the town for 207 years, making it important for her to help preserve their combined legacies as a trustee of the Jefferson Historical Society.
Bob Glas
Retired art teacher, bay constable, sailor, outdoorsman, once chairman of Jefferson Planning Board, sculptor, thespian, Judd Hall building boss. Believer in Jefferson
Sara Henry
Sara is a retired elementary teacher who spent 32 years in the Gilboa-Conesville CS. After retiring, Sara saw the wonderful work that JHS was doing and wanted to be a part of restoring and celebrating Jefferson, her home, for the past 42 years. When not participating in JHS activities Sara enjoys reading and doing pretty much anything outdoors; gardening, hiking, canoeing or just wandering around in the local fields and woods of this beautiful area.
Barb Palmer
Barb is a native of Jefferson and has a great fondness for the town. Being a member of JHS affords her the opportunity to help others appreciate the beauty of our town and its interesting history, while also helping to preserve those same things.
Barb is a former special-educator, and is now a gardener, birder and amateur photographer, and enjoys being outside whenever possible.
Gail Rentsch
Gail Rentsch’s career was in book publicity for many best-selling authors. She is author of Smart Women Don’t Retire, They Break Free published by Grand Central and co-author of The Whole Horse Catalog published by Simon and Schuster. As part of her “breaking free” she volunteers for JHS to lead community projects such as the Trees on the Green, editing the JHS Newsletter, and fundraising.
Werner Rentsch
Gail and I moved to Jefferson in 1968. It was a very bleak time for the town and the farmers. Land value had dropped and many farmers had gone out of business. The town itself was slowly closing down.
Gail and I thought the area was beautiful. I am an artist and I started to create paintings of some of the old farms. We made friends with our neighbor Bill Brayton who had a horse named Allegro. That relationship changed my life as I started to paint horses. I’m proud to be a part of JHS and grateful for Jefferson’s influence on me.
Ed Atkins
Dr. Edward G. Atkins taught Biological Sciences at Columbia University, worked at Sesame Street, contributed to NOVA tv shows , interim Executive Director of an Art Museum and seven (7) years on the planning board of Jefferson NY.
Mark Sisk
Mark is a retired bishop of the Episcopal Church. His family and he discovered Jefferson and began to build their home here in 1974. They have lived here full time since 2013.
Ingrid Zeman
Ingrid is the former Town of Jefferson Historian.
Bonnie Dailey
Bonnie is the Town of Jefferson Historian. She is also a retired attorney who spent 12 years with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. After retiring, Bonnie returned to her hometown of Jefferson. She is Registrar of her DAR chapter and Genealogist at the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie. She enjoys reading, gardening, watching the birds and re-enacting period events. Being a member of JHS affords her the opportunity to help others appreciate the beauty of our town and its interesting history.
Teresa Fellion
Teresa Fellion founded BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance in late 2011, after working as an independent choreographer since 2004. She has received the Choreographic Fellowships from SummerStages Dance Festival and ICA Boston, American Dance Guild Fellowship for Jacob’s Pillow’s Choreographers’ Lab, and LEIMAY Outsight Garden Choreographers Fellowship. Teresa has received grants for her work from The National Endowment for the Arts Window Award, O’Donnell Green Foundation for Music and Dance, LMCC, Peg Santvoord Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts Fund Grant, and many other organizations.
She has taught regularly at The Ailey School, Sarah Lawrence College, she is an Adjunct Dance Professor for 10 Hairy Legs New Jersey Arts & Education Center at Brookdale Community College, Middlesex County College, Union College, and Monmouth, and she is a faculty member and director of the Summer Dance Program at The Ross School. She was also the Dance Department Director and lead faculty at Studio Republik Dubai.
Teresa completed a Dance MFA from Sarah Lawrence under Bessie Schonberg Scholarship, Certificate from the Ailey School under scholarship, and BA in French & English Literature, with a minor in dance from NYU as a merit scholar.