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 Town of Jefferson Historian.