This week, the Damariscotta River Association (DRA) announces the election of both three new trustees and of several new officers.
All of the directors and officers of the DRA have deep roots in Maine and long records of service to various Maine charitable, educational, and environmental organizations.
The diversity of these experiences ensures that DRA projects reflect to the fullest extent possible the varied interests of those who live in the areas the organization serves.
The new board members were chosen by the membership present at the DRA’s annual membership meeting. Members unanimously and enthusiastically elected a slate that included Normand Saucier, Alden McFarland, and James Donovan.
Once the new board was constituted, the DRA Trustees themselves elected their own officers. Bruce Lutsk of Newcastle, formerly the DRA’s treasurer, was elected as the DRA Board of Trustees President. Rob Hunold was chosen as board vice president, Normand Saucier was elected treasurer, and Holly Emmons was re-elected as secretary of the board.
Lutsk replaces Dick Clime, who stepped down after four years as president. The trustees celebrated Clime’s “wise and steady leadership” and noted their appreciation that he will remain on the board for the next year until his second and final term is up.
Bruce Lutsk and his wife Jane, a Thomaston native, moved to Newcastle in 2005 following his retirement from the practice of law.
He was first introduced to the beauty of Maine during his four years as a student at Bowdoin College. He did not return to the state until the early 1990s and met Jane on Hurricane Island when he became an Outward Bound School Trustee.
Following his graduation from Bowdoin, Lutsk continued his education, receiving an MA in teaching from Harvard University, a Ph.D. from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Connecticut. He served as a Signal Corps Officer in the U.S. Army for two years and was stationed in Korea and at the Pentagon.
Lutsk moved to Connecticut in 1970, where he taught at the University of Hartford for four years and served as assistant director of the University’s National Teacher Corps Program.
He began his law career in 1974 and practiced with the Hartford firm of Reid and Riege for over 30 years, retiring in 2005. He is currently a managing director of Curtis Island Partners, a retirement consulting firm headquartered in Camden.
Lutsk has a long history of service to non-profit organizations and notes that he is excited about his work with the DRA.
Robert Hunold now serves as DRA Board of Trustees Vice President. Hunold has been trying to put down roots in Maine his whole life. Summers spent on Sebago Lake in Raymond as a child set the stage for a passion of everything Maine.
Undergraduate college time in Arizona followed by careers as an Aerospace Engineer, Naval Aviator, graduate student and family physician finally yielded an opportunity to move to Nobleboro in 2005.
Hunold and his family purchased a 238-year-old farm in Nobleboro and he quickly set up practice at Miles Memorial Hospital. Their farm’s location on Oyster Creek and witness to unbridled development seen while living in Arizona led to a growing interest in land conservation.
Hunold said, “It’s all about being outdoors in the Hunold household” with triathlons, kayaking, farming or snowboarding frequently on the day’s agenda.
An amazing farm, wonderful neighbors and an opportunity to serve the community as a family doc has certainly led to “living the dream.”
New treasurer and Trustee Normand Saucier is a native of Lewiston and has been a part-time resident of Jones Cove in South Bristol for 20 years, trying to become a full-time resident during that entire period. This fall he succeeded in his quest, and now lives year ’round in South Bristol with his wife Dorothy Naylor.
Saucier is a Certified Public Accountant and graduate of Providence College. He started with the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and has since worked in senior financial management positions in non-profit and for-profit organizations in several countries.
These include CFO roles for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and Tyco International Europe in Paris, France, and Alcatel USA in New York City.
Holly Emmons was re-elected as board secretary. After spending summers in South Bristol since 1960, Emmons retired to her home on Seal Cove in 2005. Since retirement she has worked in a flower shop, a garden center, and as an estate gardener. Currently she is a volunteer at a local Alzheimer’s facility in addition to DRA.
Emmons received her B.A. in biology from Mt. Holyoke and a Master’s from the University of New Hampshire. She was a Professor of Plant Science at SUNY Cobleskill for 30 years teaching a variety of horticulture classes.
Her work in habitat restoration for the Karner Blue Butterfly spanned 15 years; another lengthy project involved the propagation of hundreds of Hart’s Tongue ferns for reintroduction into western New York. In 2001 Emmons’ plant propagation work was recognized with a stewardship award from The Nature Conservancy.
Additional new trustees include Jim Donovan and Alden McFarland.
Donovan moved to Maine in 1987 to become the president and CEO of the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine. In 1997, Donovan became the leader of a new company created by Maine Medical Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine called Maine Partners Health Plan.
Donovan joined Lincoln County Healthcare in 2008 where he serves as president and CEO. He has served on the boards of the Maine Community College System, the Park Danforth Retirement Home, the Piper Shores Retirement Community, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, the United Way of Greater Portland, and the Maine Cancer Foundation. He currently serves on the board of the United Way of Mid Coast Maine.
Donovan holds degrees from Holy Cross College and the George Washington University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Donovan and his wife Brenda live in Newcastle along the Damariscotta River.
Alden McFarland was born and raised in South Bristol. He attended Lincoln Academy and graduated from Husson College with a degree in business. After service in the U.S. Army, he went to work for Harvard Trust Company in Cambridge, Mass.
In 1975, he had the opportunity to move back to Maine when he accepted a position with The First National Bank of Damariscotta.
McFarland spent a 29-year career at The First, serving as both branch manager and commercial lending officer. He retired in 2004 and began a career in real estate where he and his wife, Ann, became known as “Team McFarland.” He left the field of real estate in 2009 to pursue his first love, lobstering, and now fishes about 350 traps in the Damariscotta River.
McFarland has always believed in community service and has served on the South Bristol Planning Board, Budget Committee and Comprehensive Planning Commission. He is currently the South Bristol representative to the board of directors of the CLC Ambulance Service, where he serves as treasurer.
He has worked with the Gulf of Maine Foundation, the YMCA, the Waldoboro Public Library, the Lincoln Academy Development Committee, and is an active member of the Damariscotta-Newcastle Lions Club. In 2009, Alden was named Alumnus of the Year by Lincoln Academy.
Rounding out DRA’s Board of Trustees are current members Tom Arter of Damariscotta, Becky Brown of South Bristol, Dick Clime of Bristol, Bill Coyne of Newcastle, Susan Dale, also of Newcastle, Peter Drum of Damariscotta, Matt Filler of Walpole, Joe Guttentag of South Bristol and Washington, D.C., Emily MacKenzie of South Bristol, Christine Preston of Round Pond, Ed Seidel of Damariscotta, Tenley Seiders of South Bristol, and Polly Ulin of Damariscotta.
The Damariscotta River Association, a non-profit community-supported land trust located at 110 Belvedere Rd., in Damariscotta, has been working since 1973 to preserve and promote the natural, cultural, and historical heritage of the Damariscotta River region.
Through the organization’s programs in land protection, stewardship, water quality monitoring, marine conservation, and education, the DRA works to foster healthy, productive waterways and surrounding lands for the benefit of the natural and human communities that rely on them. For more information about the DRA and its programs visit www.damariscottariver.org, call 563-1393, or email dra@damariscottariver.org.
