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Boards and Committees

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The Fortnightly Club of Summit
Board 2024-2025​

Executive Board​

President - Heather Althoff

Vice President - Wendi Porretti

Treasurer - Liese Kant

Secretary - Yvonne Horrell

Chairpersons​​

Book Club - Emkarr Meehan & Joyce Zemsky 

Day Trips - Neetha Shetty-Alva

Development - Liese Kant

Film Club - Patti Richards

Garden - Sandra McTernan & Joyce Zemsky 

Historian - Emkarr Meehan

Home & Hearth - Beth Galban

Mah-Jongg - Liese Kant

Membership - Heather Althoff & Roanne Karzon  

Hospitality - Beth Woodbury

Photography - Sophie Ferronato

Rentals - Amy Kovar

Community Engagement - Jackie Lasaracina

Scholarships - Amanda Ford

Walking Club - Roanne Karzon & Joyce Zemsky

Theater - Eileen Rath

Webmaster - Emkarr Meehan

Standing Committees 2025-2026

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Garden & Grounds

Chairs: Sandra McTernan and Joyce Zemsky

Activities:

  • Plant, prune, and mulch to beautify and maintain the Twin Maples garden and planting beds

Skills/Attributes: No experience needed; willingness to learn. Bonus if you can bring helpful family members

Meetings: 2-hour sessions, 1 to 2 times in fall and spring on Twin Maples grounds

Note: More members needed; students earn volunteer hours

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Home & Hearth

Chair: Eileen Rath

Activities:

  • Maintain Twin Maples by checking cleaning supplies. Purchase hand towels (Restaurant Depot), toilet paper and paper towels (Costco), hand wash, floor cleaner, light bulbs, etc., as needed

  • Manage vendors 

    • Establish and maintain professional relationships with vendors (e.g., Total Home Cleaning, Perfection Contracting for geothermal maintenance, B Safe Security for fire alarms, Summit Fire Department for annual inspection)

    • Coordinate house maintenance issues with Ian Paytas (maintenance person)

    • Ensure work is completed timely and meets expectations

    • Coordinate vendor bids and work

    • Communicate needs and progress with the executive board and full board as appropriate

Skills/Attributes: Reliable, thorough, good at coordinating appointments, good at establishing and maintaining professional relationships with vendors

Meetings: To be determined

 

Hospitality

Chair: Wendi Porretti 

Activities:

  • Create Sign-Up Genius for general meetings and other events as requested

  • Volunteer via Sign-Up Genius to assist with club events

  • Bring themed decor items to complement each meeting theme/season

  • Set up tables, chairs, food, wine, etc.

  • Add themed decorations after room setup is complete

  • Clean up after events

Skills/Attributes: No specific skills needed

Meetings: No committee meetings—just volunteer as much as possible through Sign-Up Genius

 

Sunshine

Chair:  Lynn Reed, Erika Sirabian

Activities:

  • write and mail either a short note or card to member (for life events such as births, deaths, weddings, "Thank Yous," etc.)

  • set up a meal train (via sign-up genius for injured or ill members)

  • offer to bring groceries/pharmacy items to (injured or ill members)

  • call a homebound member for a brief check-in and chat

  • offer to accompany a member to a medical treatment or appointment 

Skills/Attributes: No specific skills needed​​

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​Volunteer Committees 2025-2026

 

Community Engagement

Chair: Wendi Porretti

Activities:

  • Identify and organize community volunteer opportunities in the greater Summit area

  • Participate in at least three volunteer opportunities per club year

  • Lead or co-lead one or more volunteer opportunities—organize, promote, and host

Meetings: 2 to 5 per club year (Twin Maples or virtual)

 

Day Trips

Co-Chairs: Wendi Porretti and Joni Gilton

Activities:

  • Propose day trips and present pros and cons of suggestions

  • Meet with the committee for ideas and to reach a consensus on outings

  • Plan outings (4-6 per club year—e.g., painting, tea, baseball game, etc.)

  • Volunteer to co-chair events

Skills/Attributes: Organization; knowledge of events in the area

Meetings: Virtual, as needed, frontloaded (1 hour)

 

Development/Grant Writing

Chair: Liese Kant

Activities:

  • Assist in identifying funding opportunities

  • Assist in assembling materials for grant submissions

  • Assist in managing grant awards

  • Help create an annual Wish List and obtain estimates for repairs and capital improvements

  • Support other fundraising activities

Skills/Attributes: Experience with grant writing, grant management, and fundraising is helpful but not necessary

Meetings: Periodically as needed (1-3 hours at Twin Maples)

Note: Development is actively seeking more committee members

 

Historian/Archivist

Co-Chairs: Emkarr Meehan and Ellen Leonard

Activities:

  • Run Twin Maples' "Four Centuries in a Weekend" event in October

  • Organize historic club and Twin Maples documents

  • Liaise with the Union County History Programs Coordinator

  • Participate in Union County History Programs occasionally

Skills/Attributes: Interest in history

Meetings: Twin Maples or Zoom—once per month or as needed

 

Membership

Co-Chairs: Heather Althoff and Roanne Karzon

Activities:

  • Recruit and welcome new members

  • Maintain the membership database

  • Take attendance at General Meetings

  • Host Fall/Spring orientation events

  • Organize the annual membership renewal drive (June)

  • Distribute the schedule of events to each member

  • Mentor new members

  • Perform reception duties: prepare name tags, take attendance

Skills/Attributes: Friendly and welcoming; good communication skills

Meetings: Virtual, 1 to 2 per month during the day (1 hour)

 

Photography

Chair: Sophie Ferronato

Activities:

  • Take photos at meetings and events

  • Edit and distribute to Social Media/Publicity Chair and Webmaster

  • Create a library to archive photographic memories

  • Communicate with committee members and the Social/Promotion Chair to stage photos as needed

  • Take, edit, and save photos in a shared Google Photos library

Skills/Attributes: A good eye for photos, a camera or cell phone, and access to Google Photos

Meetings: One meeting at the start of the club year at Twin Maples as needed via text/chat (15-20 min)

Note: Extra help is requested to preserve the club’s photographic memories

 

Publicity/Social Media/Website

Social Media & Website Chair: Emkarr Meehan
Publicity Chair: OPEN

Activities:

  • Social Media: Create posts to publicize events

  • Publicity: Organize and assist with online and print publicity campaigns

Skills/Attributes: Experience or familiarity with marketing, communications, and/or content creation

 

Rentals

Chair: Amy Kovar (Open Co-Chair or just a helping hand to respond to emails is welcome)

Activities for Weekend Rentals:

  • Monitor FN emails and respond to rental inquiries with basic rental fee information and details on what renting the house includes

  • Maintain rental calendar and tracker spreadsheet for dates and all four payments

  • Arrange site visits, draft and send out contracts, receive and review signed contracts, and ensure receipt of COI

  • Assign and hand off to the event house manager

Activities for Standing Weekday Rentals (Handled by Lorraine Boyer):

  • Manage contracts

  • Liaise with renters on any issues that arise

Skills/Attributes: Proficiency with Google Docs

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