Brian was raised in Sitka. He is a graduate of Sitka High School,
University of Oregon, and Pepperdine University School of Law. He has
been in private practice in Sitka since 1985. He served on the Board of
Governors of the Alaska Bar Association. He is a longtime coach and
administrator of Sitka Little League. He is currently a member of the
STW Finance Committee. His wife, Devonne, is employed at Venneberg
Insurance. They have two sons, Van and Max, ages 18 and 13 in 2006.
Vice
President/Treasurer
James Wileman
James Wileman is the CEO of ALPS Federal Credit
Union, Sitka’s only non-profit financial
institution. He has lived in Sitka since 1982.
James recently joined the Sitka Chamber of
Commerce Board. He holds a degree in Business
Management from the University of Alaska, Juneau
Campus. After graduating from UAS, he lived in
North Carolina for a short time before moving
back to Sitka. He enjoys the outdoors and,
having lived in a major metropolitan area, has a
great appreciation for the trail system right
off the road here in Sitka. His wife Shannon is
a Pharmacist at SEARHC. They have a two year old
daughter, Camryn. Together they enjoy hiking
with their family, friends and their English
Springer Spaniel named Cedar. Being a new board
member, James would appreciate any comments from
those interested in the Sitka trail system.
Secretary
Peggy Reeve
Peggy holds a B.S. degree in Plant and Soil Science from The University
of Tennessee, and a Master Gardener designation from Colorado State
University Cooperative Extension Service. After graduating from college
she moved to the ski town of Telluride, Colorado where she spent the
next seven years honing her skills in skiing, mountain biking, hiking,
rock-climbing, mountaineering, ice skating, and a host of other outdoor
activities, while working on a survey crew for the Bureau of Land
Management, in Telluride, she met her husband, Steve Ash, and the two of
them moved to Colorado Springs where Steve graduated with an electrical
engineering degree from the University of Colorado while Peggy worked
for USAA, an insurer for military officers and their families. They
continued their outdoor adventures and even took up ice climbing in the
Rocky Mountains. Inspired by her outdoor adventures, Peggy took up
watercolor landscape painting, and now specializes in expressive
painting with loose brushstrokes and intense color. They raised dogs
instead of children, which may have allowed the outdoor activities to
continue beyond the norm. They moved to Vermont for 3 years where,
through her involvement with a mountain biking association, she learned
to build sustainable single track mountain biking trails in the wet and
soggy Green Mountains. They have now settled in Sitka, Alaska, because
of the supreme beauty and access to the wilderness, and because they
have family members on Steve’s side who have lived in Sitka for over 35
years.
Board Member Hope
Lynn
Hope has a Masters
of Science degree in Special Education from
Hofstra University in New York. She has
taught over the years in New York, Florida and
for the last 14 years has been an English
teacher and Special Education Coordinator at Mt
Edgecumbe High School in Sitka. She
Arrived in Sitka 1988 as a crew member abroad
the sailing schooner Merlin. The voyage
from west palm Beach, Florida took a year to
complete via the Panama Canal, Hawaii and the
inside Passage. Hope has been a board
member of a number of non-profit agencies in
Sitka including Center for Community, Teen
Resource Center, Sitka Native Education Program
and Sitkan's Against Family Violence. He
hope is to share her love for nature and
adventure as well as her ability to organize and
work with young people to the Sitka Trail Works
board of directors.
Board Member
Max Rule
Max is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in
the State of Alaska and a member of the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the
Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants.
He has been employed as the Corporate Controller
for Hames Corporation for 12 years. Although new
to Sitka, Max is a long time resident of Southeast
Alaska having made his home previously in Ketchikan.
Max is a former member of the Ketchikan Chamber
of Commerce Board of Directors. He also served as
the Chamber Education Committee Chair and received
awards for outstanding service and as Outstanding
Volunteer of the Year. Active in sports, Max enjoys
long distance cycling and was one of the founding
members of the Southeast Shootout Basketball Tournament
and has coached both basketball and baseball. He
is the father of two boys aged 13 and 15.
Board Member Charles Horan
A Sitka businessman since 1976, Charles is the
owner and senior partner of Horan Appraisals and
a member of the American Institute of Real Estate
appraisers. He has been a Boy Scouts of America,
Hiking and Backpacking Merit Badge counselor since
1993. He is a member of the Sawmill Cove Industrial
Park Board of Directors. Charles is a founding
member of the Sitka Trail Works Board of Directors
and served as Board President for six years. He is
married to accountant Christine Horan, with two
grown children.
He brings sound business judgment and practical
experience to the organization. He has planned
and selected the hiking club routes, and often
leads the hikes. He received the 2003 American
Hiking Society Volunteer of the Year Award for
the State of Alaska. He has recently dedicated
much energy in pursuit of Congressional funding
for the Sitka Trail Plan
Board Member
Deanna Bennet
Deanna is a born and raised Sitkan who has split her time between
raising three daughters and working in various fields including 15 years
for Davis & Associates/Greg Scheff & Associates Land Surveyors as a
draftsman/secretary/bookkeeper, 8 years at Lakeside Grocery and
currently employed at Sitka Community Hospital in the Physical Therapy
department as a receptionist. She has just recently (in the last four
years) joined the other outdoor enthusiasts in the pursuit of exploring
our beautiful surroundings.
“Thanks to Sitka Trail Works, I
have been able to gain access to some of the most awe inspiring areas in
our back yard. I want to help others to experience this beauty so that
they too can connect with nature and be rejuvenated in this busy,
hectic world.”
Board Member Sara Bruhl
Sara is Co-chair of the Sitka Mountain
Bike Association since 1999. She is a performing member of the New
Archangel Dancers and a supporting member of KCAW public radio station.
She is married to SEARCH physician Elliot Bruhl. She was employed as a
physical therapist for 10 years. She is the mother of two children 5 and
8 years of age. She is responsible for diversifying the trail plan to
include bicyclists. Most recently she has been the lead organizer for
the “Trails for Health” activities. She has recently assumed the main
responsibility for organizing the Sitka Trail Walks Hiking club and led
several hikes.
Board Member Don MacKinnon
Don was born
in Juneau and grew up in Hoonah and Cordova before returning to Juneau
as a teenager. A graduate of Juneau Douglas High School he also has a
degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University. He grew up hiking, hunting and skiing in the woods of
Southeast Alaska. Don worked as a volunteer instructor for the Juneau
Youth Sailing Foundation. He also has been a swim coach, swimming
instructor and skiing instructor. Don operated his own tour boat
business from 1993 to 1995. For the past 11 years he has worked as a
telecommunication tech for Jeffus & Williams CO. Inc. He moved to Sitka
in 2001 when Juneau became to big for him. While in Sitka he has
continued to be and avid hiker and back country skier while learning to
surf. He can be found most days on one of the trails around Sitka
walking his dog Libby. Don is looking forward to promoting the Sitka
trail system and working on the board.
Executive Director Deborah Lyons
Deborah was hired as STW Executive Director in
October of 2002 and was responsible for the publication
of the 2003 Sitka Trail Plan. She has a background
in the natural sciences and attended Oregon State
University before coming to Alaska in 1976. She
worked for many years as a contractor to the USDA
FS, before becoming involved in fisheries issues.
She has a deep sense of public service and has
served on a number of non profit Boards. She also
served on the Alaska State Board of Fisheries
by appointment from governors Cowper and Hickel
from 1989-1991. She was appointed by US Secretary
of State Ron Brown upon recommendation by Governor
Knowles to serve on the northern Panel of the
Pacific Salmon Commission. She is the former Director
of the Pacific Salmon Coalition Public Relations
and Education Committee. She is a cancer survivor,
and is married to David Lyons, an outstanding
fisherman and owner operator of the troller-longliner
F/V Kraken. She is the Secretary Treasurer of
the NSRAA Board of Directors and the Secretary Treasurer
of the Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society.
