The Board of Directors for COARC, the Columbia County Chapter of NYSARC, Inc., is representative of the Columbia County, NY, community at large. 


2009/2010 COARC Board Members:

Mary Blass, President Mary Ann Harris, Vice President Annette Dennis, Secretary August Sena, Treasurer Nelson R. Alford, Jr. Denise Barry Karen M. Blass Anne F. Connor

Donna Knight Priscilla Moore Barbara G. Roemer Pamela Silkowski Andrew Small Dorothy Wheeler Lenore Whitbeck Elizabeth Young

Brief Bios:
 
Nelson R. (Dick) Alford, Jr., COARC Board member since June 2009, is a practicing attorney in Columbia County for more than 35 years. He is a member of the firm of Guterman Shallo & Alford, PLLC in Hudson. He is the attorney for the Village of Chatham and the Town of Hillsdale, and a member of the Independent Judicial Nomination Qualification Commission for the Third Judicial District of the State of New York. His is also the President of the Columbia County Agricultural Society and the Columbia County Fair.
 
Denise Barry, Ed.D., the longest continuously serving member of COARC's Board of Directors (since 1972), is the most tenured teacher in the Hudson City School District. She has spent 26 summers as a teacher/administrator in local correctional facilities. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities for Columbia/Greene Counties.
 
Karen M. Blass, COARC Board member since February 2009, is the Vice-President at First Niagara Bank in charge of Columbia, Greene, and Dutchess County branches/markets. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army.  She has served as the Treasurer of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Executive Board and as a board member of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and the March of Dimes.
 
Mary Blass, President of the COARC Board, past Vice‑President and Secretary, and a Board member since 1996, served as a NYS Certified Family Care Provider for individuals experiencing disabilities from 1967 until her retirement in 2005.
 
Anne F. Connor, COARC Board member since 1997, is the Director of Advisement and Evaluation in the School of Business and Technology at Excelsior College in Albany. She has also served on various Hudson City School District Committees.
 
Annette (Mickey) Dennis, Secretary of the COARC Board and a Board member since 1989, is a registered nurse employed at the Chatham pediatric office of Dr. Lawrence Greitzer.  She is the Director of Religious Education (pre-K through 6th grade) at St. James Church in Chatham.  She is the parent of an individual experiencing a disability.
 
Mary Ann Harris, Vice President of the COARC Board and a Board member since 1999, is a retired Office Manager/Administrator with Kaiser. She is currently a real estate associate in Columbia County and the Office Manager for David Harris Electrical Contracting Inc. She also works in the office of Ghent Wood Products. 
 
Donna Knight, COARC Board member since June 2009, was the IS Manager for Country Curtains for 11 years and a parent advocate for the Committee on Special Education for the Chatham Central School District for the past 8 years. She served on the Canaan Planning Board from 1996-2008.
 
Priscilla Moore, COARC Board member since 2007, has been a certified Family Care Provider for 32 years. She also served on the Family Care Advisory Board for the Taconic DDSO.
 
Barbara Roemer, a COARC Board member since 2008, was co-operator of a Columbia County restaurant for 40 years and the operator of a gift shop/gallery for 20 years. She is an 18-year member of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and served as its Director for 4 years.
 
August Sena, Treasurer of the COARC Board and a member since 2002, retired from the Taconic DDSO where he was employed as a teacher and later as a site developer for group homes, apartments, workshops and day care centers. While teaching, he was the coordinator for the Very Special Arts Festival program and he served on the organizing board for the Exceptional Artwork program of OMRDD. He is an elected councilman on the Hillsdale Town Board and Chairman of the Hillsdale Sewer Committee, with past service as Chairman of the Hillsdale Planning Board and Chair of the Hillsdale Master Plan/Zoning Committee.
 
Pamela (Pam) Silkowski, COARC Board member since 2006, holds a Master of Science Degree in Organization and Management and works as the Director of Human Resources at Parsons Child and Family Center. She was formerly employed at COARC as a Recruiter.
 
Andrew J. Small, Board member since 2007, is a certified public accountant with a Master of Science Degree in taxation from Long Island University. He is a partner in the firm Karp, Ackerman, Skabowski & Hogan, P.C. in Hudson and he was previously employed in Manhattan at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Price Waterhouse.
 
Dorothy (Dodie) Wheeler, a parent Board member since 2008, is employed by NYS OTDA in the Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance. She is the President of the Board of the Albany Cougars Special Hockey Club and has been active in youth sports in the Chatham area for many years. She is a current member of the NYSARC, Inc. Board of Governors.  She lives in Ghent with her husband, Alan, and two sons.
 
Lenore Whitbeck rejoined the COARC Board in 1991 and she has served as past COARC Board President, Vice‑President, and Treasurer of the COARC Board.  She is a former Social Work Assistant and a member of the Board of Managers of The Home in Hudson. She helped establish the Happy Day Pre-School for developmentally disabled children, which was the first early intervention program in Columbia County.
 
Elizabeth (Betty) Young rejoined the COARC Board in 1993 and she has served as a past COARC Board officer.  She is a former COARC employee and a parent advocate for the Committee on Special Education for the Hudson City School District for 15 years. She is currently a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.