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Gustavus Community Center Board Members

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Katy Dighton, President

Katy Dighton first came to Gustavus to work in the neighboring Glacier Bay National Park, where she is currently employed as an interpretive naturalist. Speaking to audiences as large as 1,000, Katy finds power in educating the public about wilderness conservation and human impacts on wild ecosystems. Living in Gustavus has been formative for Katy and has influenced her passion for community engagement. Katy believes that the Community Center is a place that uplifts Gustavus culture and wellbeing of the community and its residents. She is proud to be a part of it.

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Gus Martinez, Vice President

Gus Martinez came to Alaska in the fall of 2001 as the Bay District Ranger for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve stationed in Bartlett Cove. During his 14-year tenure he oversaw the Law Enforcement, Structure Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Marine Safety and Boating Operations. Then as the Deputy Chief Ranger for Yosemite National Park Gus was responsible for the Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue and EMS services for Yosemite; this included overseeing the Yosemite Medical Clinic which provided services to the residents and visitors of Yosemite National Park. In 2019 Gus returned to Gustavus as the Safety Officer for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Sitka National Historical Park, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Gus raised his children in Alaska and he and Sylvia decided to return to Gustavus to enjoy the quiet life of our community. Gus looks forward to being a part of the board and taking the next steps in fulfilling the vision of the Gustavus Community Center.

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Barbara Sheinberg, Treasurer

Barb Sheinberg joined the board in late 2020; she helped with the GCC Capital Campaign before that. Barbara splits her time between Gustavus and Juneau. In addition to the GCC Board, she serves on the KTOO Legacy Foundation Board and is a member of the City and Borough of Juneau Board of Equalization. Barbara brings strategic planning, budgeting, and organizational skills to the GCC Board. Her profession is urban planning. She has been providing planning services to cities, tribes, towns, businesses, and nonprofits throughout Alaska for over 30 years through her consulting business.  In 2020, Ms. Sheinberg was nominated by her peers and inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP). Barbara and her family built a home in Gustavus in the late 1990s and spend time here regularly.

 

Susan (Meadow) Brook, Secretary

Since moving to Alaska, Meadow Brook has worked as a forester, bed and breakfast proprietor, and program manager for the Alaska Coastal Management Program. She also helped spearhead the Gustavus Land Legacy campaign, which resulted in The Nature Conservancy’s purchase and protection of the town’s unspoiled shoreline. She has a forestry degree from Utah State University and a Master’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Meadow first came to Gustavus in 1977 and lived in a leaky tent while building her cabin. The tagline of the Gustavus Community Center, “Refuge from the Rain,” has a deep, visceral meaning to her.

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Lillian Ruedrich

Lillian Ruedrich joined the GCC Board in spring 2021 as a way to begin re-engaging with the community after a year of Covid-19 isolation.  She brings experience as a past board member of the Alaska Public Health Association and Juneau’s AWARE women’s shelter; past member of the Fairbanks Health & Social Services Commission; past adjunct faculty member in the Division of Population Health Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage; and former director of Student Services department at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. She has also owned and operated several small businesses. From her first visit to Gustavus several decades ago, Lillian was charmed by the pace of life as well as the peace that comes with living amidst forest friends. Finally, when retirement became possible in 2016, Gustavus became her year-round home.  Lillian looks forward to helping GCC host a wide range of events and activities to enrich the community culture and nurture the web of connections between us all.

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Megan Bishop

Megan has called Gustavus home since 2013; raising her family with her husband and creating a homestead in our beautiful community. She has deep roots in Gustavus and her primary focus is supporting the next generation. Megan has been teaching in Gustavus since 2014. Starting with a local non-profit Preschool to teaching Middle School and PreK at our public school. If you don’t catch her in the classroom, you can likely find her out in the field where she coaches two varsity sports, Cross Country and Track. In addition to the many hats she wears, Megan is a First Responder with GVFD and the President of the GVFDA. She believes the GCC will become the heartbeat of Gustavus, where we will come together to celebrate our beautiful community. 

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Jeff Irwin

“Jeffi”, as he is called, moved to Juneau, Alaska in 1994 where he served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corp (JVC) for one year, which led to a 16 year effort in the social services field and a life long love of this amazing land. He moved to Gustavus in 2009. Jeff has served on the AWARE board, on the Gustavus City Council, as a volunteer Fire Fighter and EMS responder both in Juneau and Gustavus, and is currently on the SAIL board, serving as vice-chair. One of the goals or values in the JVC was to focus on community, which has become a larger focus over the years. As a board member for the GCC, he’ll continue to broaden that focus so that this fantastic place can evolve into a space where all of our wonderful community can gather and feel welcome.

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Adrianna Cahill

Adrianna came to Gustavus in 1992 on her honeymoon!  She has lived here for much of the last 30 years, growing lifelong friendships in the community. You may have seen her Afro-Caribbean drumming with the Sugar Beats.  She has worn many hats in the community, from Park Ranger to Community Chest and Library volunteer. She now serves as Budget Analyst for Glacier Bay National Park.  The Gustavus Community Center Board is the first board Adrianna has served on and she is thrilled to be able to support GCC’s mission.

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Sean Tevebaugh

Sean Tevebaugh moved to Gustavus in 2019 as a Glacier Bay park ranger and media specialist. With a passion for photography and videography, Sean enjoys capturing the experiences and phenomena in our shared world and community. Hailing originally from North Carolina, Sean grew up seeking out natural spaces and immediately fell in love with Alaska’s vast expanses of wildness when he first moved to Fairbanks in 2014.

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