Renee McBride (Rental Coordinator) is no stranger to the Berkshires, having lived on Mt Washington for 20 years with her family, as well as owning and operating a Home decor furniture store for the same amount of time. Two weeks after graduating with a degree in Economics from UMass Amherst, she flew to Japan to teach English for a year. A honeymoon to Indonesia inspired her future retail business, based in Thailand where she had a beach bungalow on a remote island in the south. Her children Lydia and Tai were brought up there and in the Berkshires. She now manages short-term rental properties in the Tri-State area, and loves community interaction and events. Current interests include searching for up-cycled goods, cooking, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.
Amy (Social Media) is Berkshire born and bred, with roots in Pittsfield and a heart that now beats in Ashley Falls. Though Berkshire blood runs through her veins, Amy’s spirit is far from tied down, mostly due to her love for language, culture, and adventure. A Spanish teacher by trade, she spent six years teaching in the public schools before earning her MA from Middlebury College. She then packed her bags and moved to Madrid, where she taught English at a pharmaceutical university—gaining international insight and a healthy dose of tapas—before returning to the U.S. Upon return, fate stepped in: she re-met the love of her life (and thus married), resumed teaching, and bought her home. After twenty years in the public schools, Amy founded her own language business, Polyglot Prose, where she is teaching, translating and interpreting. Now, Amy is happily settled in the southern Berkshires with her husband, two sons, and two dogs, sharing her passion for language and becoming more and more woven into the fabric of a community that has been there for her all along.
Olivia Sblendorio (Operations Coordinator) is a retired Ringling Bros. flying trapeze artist, with a BA (Asian Studies) from Vassar College. Since moving to the Berkshires in 2017, she wears the many top hats of vaudevillian, actress, embodied intuition coach, somatic empowerment practitioner, and family budget counselor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she'd never even heard of the Berkshires when she met her now-husband who was born around the corner from Dewey Hall. Certified in feminine leadership, Olivia is honored to support the everyday magic that happens when a community gathers, transforming Dewey Hall into a true reflection of the people it serves.
Patricia Strauch (Bookkeeper) was born and raised in Allendale, NJ. Patty and her singer-songwriter husband, Bruce Mandel, (proud “crazy-cat-parents” to Wolfie and BB), now reside at the top of a mountain in Otis, where their closest neighbors are the herons, moose, and beavers that frequent their pond, along with the occasional visit from a bald eagle. After retiring from a corporate legal career at Merck, Patty became involved in many of the region’s extensive music and other cultural venues; as a performer, organizer, and volunteer. She now enjoys using her organizational skills to assist nonprofits with streamlining office and financial procedures, both as the Treasurer at her church, and as the Bookkeeper at Dewey Memorial Hall. Patty is proud to be a member of the team at Dewey Hall working together to promote “good and kindly feelings”.
Robbi Hartt (Sponsorships) earned her MA (English) from Georgetown University. She served as founding director (in 2000) of the Horizons Program at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, CT and subsequently built a 20-year career there as an English teacher and Writing Center director. After coming to the Berkshires for many years, she and her husband moved to New Marlborough full time in 2019, renovating a 1795 farmhouse to create a respite for families dealing with pediatric cancer. She writes regularly for The Berkshire Edge/Out & About, The B, and New Marlborough’s 5 Village News. After being introduced to Dewey Hall through a Business Monday spotlight, she became enamored with its mission of promoting “good and kindly feelings” and began working as a consultant to raise sponsorship funds.
Beth Carlson is a partner in Silo Media, a design firm specializing in graphics, website and video production. She is a founding board member of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center for Freedom and Democracy. She is currently the campaign manager for Farmsteads for Farmers, working with Berkshire Community Land Trust. She co-produced TapRoot Sessions, a traditional music series at Dewey Hall for several years and was a co-producer of the Oldtone Roots Music Festival. As a community activist, Beth was a key player in the effort to save the historic Searles School in Great Barrington. A natural and inspired organizer, she has produced a myriad of events, including Construct’s Warm up the Winter, many Dewey Hall events, as well as many community fundraisers.
Brian Healey is a senior corporate attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York City. He has considerable experience working with nonprofits, in both legal and volunteer capacities, in Washington, DC (American Trial Lawyers Association) and New York City (NYS Trial Lawyers Association, Friends in Deed, Visual AIDS). Brian resides in Ashley Falls with his partner Lee and their two beagles, Henry and Billy. He is the President of the Ashley Falls Village Improvement Society and is a dedicated gardener, jam maker and visual artist. His photographs and artwork have been exhibited in galleries and shows in New York City and Hudson, NY. Brian is honored to be a member of the Board and looks forward to strengthening his ties to the community though Dewey Hall.
Connie Griffin, known locally for her design & vintage shop 'Griffin' formerly in Great Barrington, arrived in The Berkshires 15 years ago. Born and bred in NYC and NJ, Connie began her career as a film editor in NYC with Broadcast Arts, a traditional animation studio noted for its early work with MTV and "Pee Wee’s Playhouse" television series. Following a stint with Children’s Television workshop, Connie moved into post production which culminated in her term as Managing Director of RIOT Manhattan, specializing in commercial, music video and long-format television finishing projects such as Sex and The City. Upon moving to Great Barrington, she joined The Chamberlain Group as Special Projects Director, promoting development of their custom surgical training models in both domestic and international markets. Joining Dewey Hall is one of the first highlights of her new adventures. Connie lives with her husband Paul Giroux in South Egremont. She has a BA in English from St Michael’s College, Vermont.
Evelyn Battaglia is a journalist with over two decades of experience in lifestyle publishing, notably as an editor at Martha Stewart Omnimedia, where she contributed to various magazines and helped produce many bestselling books. Since leaving the company in 2015 to move to the Berkshires full-time, she has curated four additional books for Martha and published by Harper Collins—including The Martha Manual: How to do (Almost) Everything, Martha Stewart's Organizing, and Martha Stewart's Gardening Handbook (due out March 2025). Among other freelance roles, Evelyn is a Special Projects Editor for The Berkshire Edge's Business Monday section and Out & About Magazine. Previous experience includes practicing copyright law in NYC and serving as a congressional communications/fundraising coordinator in Washington, D.C. An avid home gardener and cook (and co-author of Home Sausage Making by Storey Publishing), she also relishes taking daily hikes with her energetic German Shorthaired Pointer.
Fred Frayer has a B.A. in Music from Colby College and a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University. He spent eight years working for major nonprofits in Philadelphia including the Walnut Street Theatre and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. He recently retired from Verizon where he had been a computer programmer/analyst since 1990. Fred is an avid acoustic musician, playing mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and guitar. He played in local Philadelphia area bands over the past 35 years, and his latest group, Auld String Theory, released a CD on Amazon in 2016. In 2020, Fred moved to Great Barrington with his wife Heidi.
Guian Heintzen retired to the Berkshires full time in 2024 after a 36-year banking career with Citigroup’s corporate bank, where he was a Managing Director. He spent most of his career in risk management, covering a number of areas including climate risk, structured financial products, and private equity & venture capital investments. Prior to Citigroup, he worked for the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children Federation. His wife, Donna, is a native of Housatonic so he has been enjoying the Berkshires weekends and summers for 40 years. Guian lives in Canaan, NY with Donna, two dogs, and about 60,000 honey bees.
Maria Nation is a screenwriter with over 40 movies to her credit. A native of Malibu, she has lived on the East coast since 1984 and moved to her 1811 farmhouse in Ashley Falls in 1996. When not at her computer writing, she is outdoors gardening (her gardens have been published in many books and magazines), hanging with her dogs, horses, mini-donkeys, hiking with her partner John Halbreich, or in her kitchen baking sourdough breads and cooking for friends. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Berkshire International Film Festival and, in the past, she was a Trustee of the Berkshire Botanical Garden, on the Sheffield Planning Board, and a publicist/consultant to Berkshire Grown, Monterey Masonry, Irish Water Spaniel Club of America, etc. A committed homebody, she did ride a Berber stallion across the Sahara desert in Morocco three years ago and, with that bragging right, she never has to leave Sheffield again.
Maura O’Malley is the CEO Emeritus of Lifetime Arts, Inc., a national arts service organization, she co-founded in 2008 to advance creative aging - an approach to programming that supports positive aging with the arts at the core. Recognized as a thought leader in the arts and aging ecosystem, she has been named an AARP Purpose Prize Fellow, an NYU Alumni Changemaker, and an Influencer in Aging by PBS Next Avenue. Since 2010 Maura has shared a family home and garden in Sheffield with her extended family. (Photo Credit AARP)
Wenonah Webster is the principal and creative director of her family’s business, Webster Landscape. Before joining Webster, Wenonah had her own landscape design business in Columbia county for 15 years. Prior to focusing on landscape design she spent 20 years working closely with first Pamela Read Hardcastle and then Ariella Chezar producing large weddings and events locally and abroad. She appeared on Martha Stewart in 2005 demonstrating how to build terrariums after Martha saw her terrariums in an installation in Hudson, NY. Wenonah returned to the area full time in 2011, making the Berkshires her permanent home to raise a family. Since moving back to Sheffield and taking over the family business she has been inspired, as a business owner, to be an active member of the community.
