The Lakeside Association Board of Directors are dedicated volunteers, prominent business and professional leaders, friends and clergy who commit their time, resources and talent and bring a wealth of experience to the Board. According to Board Bylaws, the goal is to develop a diverse and representative Board with the skill sets needed to support the mission and vision of Lakeside.
There are currently 19 members; six are ex officio members with voting privileges. Ex officio members with voting privileges include:
- One each nominated by the Bishops of the East and West Ohio Conferences of the United Methodist Church;
- The Minister of the Lakeside United Methodist Church or his or her designated congregant;
- The President of the Lakeside Property Owners Association;
- One representative elected by the Lakeside Property Owners Association;
- The chairperson of the Lakeside Chautauqua Foundation Board.
The President of the Lakeside Association serves as a member, ex officio, without vote. The remaining Board voting members are elected at the annual meeting of the Board. Two-thirds of the elected Board members, not including ex officio members, are leaseholders or Island View grantees (commonly called property owners).
The full Board meets quarterly on May 17, 2024 and August 2, 2024 and via Zoom on November 8, 2024 and February 21, 2025. The business portion of the Association Board meeting on August 2 will be open to the community. Members work throughout the year on committee initiatives. Elected directors can serve two consecutive three-year terms.
Board members have a fiduciary responsibility to guide the organization toward a sustainable future. The Audited Financial Statements are posted online. The Board adopts sound governance and financial management policies and makes sure there are adequate resources to advance the Lakeside mission. Individuals can contact TheBoard@lakesideohio.com with questions.
- February 2024(update)
Lakeside Board Meeting Minutes:
- February 2024 Board Meeting minutes will be approved at the May Meeting
- November 2023 (meeting minutes)
- August 2023 (meeting minutes)
Short- & Long-Term Strategic Priorities (approved 2021)
- Restore the safe use of the lakefront facilities.
- Support annual operations, facility maintenance, and capital expenditures with financial and fundraising plans.
- Grow the customer base with a multi-year marketing plan.
- Improve the guest experience through upgraded digital technology.
- Engage future generations of Lakesiders via enhanced intergenerational self-discovery programs.
- Create a clear set of historic preservation standards and processes.
- Celebrate the rich cultural, historic, and religious heritage of Lakeside Chautauqua through a season-long celebration of our 150th Anniversary in 2023.
- Improve the entry experience and safe flow of traffic.
- Prevent the further erosion of the shoreline and expand lakefront facilities and recreational programming.
- Upgrade and expand guest housing facilities.
- Develop and implement an asset management plan prioritizing upgrades of existing facilities and infrastructure.
- Expand upon Lakeside’s traditional summer season.
- Identify growth opportunities that support Lakeside’s mission and vision.
Board Membership & Committees Charters
To apply for Board membership, download a Board Application and return to: Lakeside Chautauqua, Attention: Board of Directors, 236 Walnut Avenue, Lakeside, Ohio 43440.
Committee Charters:
- Audit Committee Charter
- Executive Committee Charter
- Finance Committee Charter
- Governance Committee Charter
- HP-DRB Charter
- Municipal Service Committee Charter
- Succession Planning Committee Charter
- Tree Advisory Committee Charter
- Street & Drainage Advisory Task Force
- Land Management & Development Task Force
Meet the Board
Jane Higgins Marx
Chair
Jane Higgins Marx, Chair — (Upper Arlington, OH) joined the Board of Directors in May 2020. She is vice-chair of the Board, chairs the Municipal Services Committee and serves on the Nominating Committee. She became Managing Partner of the law firm Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP in February of 2021. Jane has spent all 21 years of her legal career at the same firm building her trusts and estates practice. Jane is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and active in the Ohio State Bar Association. In the greater Columbus community, Jane is chair of the Franklin County Guardianship Service Board and member of the board of directors for the Legal Aid Society of Columbus. Jane was born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio. She earned her B.A. degree in Economics and English Literature from Denison University. She received her J.D. degree from The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. Jane is married to Jeff Marx, a finance executive at Hexion, Inc. Jane is a lifetime Lakesider and introduced Jeff to Lakeside over twenty years ago. Their sons, Nathan, grade five, and Adam, grade three, are fifth generation Lakesiders. Their family cottage is located on Lynn Avenue and has been in Jane’s family for over one hundred years. When Jane is not practicing law, she can be found coaching cross country and basketball, fundraising for St. Agatha School and sharing her love of cooking, baking and tinkering in the yard with friends and family.
Gwen Swigart Nichols
Vice Chair/Treasurer
Gwen Swigart Nichols, Vice Chair/Treasurer from Westerville, OH, is President and CEO of Nichols & Company, CPAs. The firm coaches growing businesses and families through tax and accounting challenges from compliance to strategic tax planning. Gwen has held active roles in the Westerville Chamber of Commerce, Church of the Messiah United Methodist, Westerville Rotary Club, AAUW, Sigma Alpha Tau Alumnae Chapter, Calusa Club Cooperative Treasurer (Naples, FL). Raised in New Philadelphia, Ohio, Gwen fell in love with Lakeside on her first visit in 1986 as a member of Youth Musicale, a music ministry of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is a 1993 graduate of Otterbein College where she met her husband Brian and quickly identified a shared love of Lakeside. As a child, Brian visited regularly with his family including his grandfather, a United Methodist minister. Their dream to purchase a cottage was realized in 2011. Their children, Carson and Mabry, have savored summers living and working in Lakeside. Their first cottage is now a rental shared with many families during the summer months and home base at Lakeside is in what was once a bicycle shop. The entire family enjoys the Lakeside atmosphere and sharing worship, fellowship, and recreation with frequent guests.
Rev. Rachel B. Miller
SEcretary
Rev. Rachel B. Miller, Secretary – (Dayton, OH) joined the board in 2021. She graduated from the University Kentucky with a B.A. in Business Administration, a B.A. in Music Education, and earned a M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary. She is the Client Relations and Outreach Manager for Wespath Benefits and Investments based in Glenview, IL. Prior to this, she served for 15 years as the VP of Business Development and Commercial Lending for the United Methodist Financial Credit Union. Rachel is currently the chairperson for the West Ohio United Methodist Division of Deacons, is a member of the West Ohio United Methodist Board of Ministry Executive Team and is a delegate for the upcoming United Methodist General and Jurisdictional Conferences serving as secretary for the delegation. Rachel’s husband Dennis is the senior pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Dayton/Tipp City, OH.
Doug Adams
Doug Adams (Venice, FL) joined the Board in 2024. He and his wife Nancy were introduced to Lakeside over ten years ago by their then college-aged son who attended events as part of a Christian leadership summer program. After renting for a number of years they purchased a cottage in 2021 and have become involved in various activities of the Lakeside Historical Society along with advisory groups for renovating older Lakeside facilities.
Doug practices a Biblical servant leadership style and has previously served on several Church, School and Missionary non-profit boards. He is also currently President of his Homeowners Association in Florida.
Professionally, Doug owns a small consulting firm specializing in market analysis, strategic planning and evaluating test markets for industry marketing programs and companies. He is a graduate of Emory University with a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. in Finance. Doug and Nancy met through InterVarsity while at Emory. Together with their three children and spouses along eight grandchildren, all look forward to time together at Lakeside each summer.
Jack Allen
Jack Allen (Lakeside, Ohio) is a graduate of Ashland University and the Ohio State University College of Law. Professionally, Jack was a partner in the firm of Mitchell, Allen Catalano and Boda, with offices in Columbus and Mansfield, Ohio. After 33 years in private practice, Jack accepted an appointment as a U.S. Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration in 2008. Jack served in that position in Columbus initially. In 2012, He was appointed Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge for SSA, serving in Falls Church, VA. There, he worked on national disability policy issues for SSA and with the Chief Judge, provided oversight for hearing offices across the country. After retirement from his judicial position, Jack and Pam returned to Lakeside and became full time residents in 2018. Jack and his wife, Pam have been Lakeside property owners since 1985. Their two daughters grew up enjoying many Lakeside summers and they have now shared their love of lakeside with Jack and Pam’s five grandchildren.
Steven Brunot
Steven Brunot is a lifelong resident of northeast Ohio. He started coming to Lakeside in the late 1980s, when his girlfriend’s parents, Neil and Judy Glaser, bought a small cottage on Laurel. Fast forward nearly 40 years, and he and his wife now own his late in-laws’ house at Jasmine and Sixth. His two daughters (Rachel and Sarah), now in their 20s, grew up spending much of their summers at the house.
Steve recently retired after a career in government finance. He spent the past 15 years working for the Summit County Engineer’s office as director of administration, overseeing budgeting, human resources and information technology. He previously worked for the cities of Tallmadge, Macedonia and Avon Lake in Northeast Ohio.
He and his wife live in Shaker Heights. His wife, Susan Glaser, is the travel editor for The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
In retirement, Steve looks forward to enjoying his favorite Lakeside activity, sitting along the lake with a morning coffee and donut listening to the serene sound of the lakeshore.
Catherine Edwards
Catherine Edwards is the Chief Executive Officer of ClearWater Solutions, LLC (CWS), a private equity-backed infrastructure services business. CWS operates public and private water, wastewater, and gas distribution utilities in 13 states across the southern U.S. With double-digit year-over-year combined acquisitive and organic growth, CWS is rapidly scaling its business to bring quality utility operations experience to small and mid-sized communities seeking to professionalize their operations. CWS also has a Capital Management Solutions operating division that provides clients with value-added utility construction and maintenance services. Catherine is responsible for all aspects of the operations, strategy, growth, and financial performance of CWS’s operations. Catherine joined CWS in March 2023 and brings more than 28 years of combined legal, regulatory, and executive management experience to her role. Before joining CWS, she served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Corix Regulated Utilities Inc. (Corix), which owns more than 1,300 regulated water and wastewater utility systems across 18 states and 2 Canadian Provinces. Catherine also previously served as the chief executive of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), the state’s public health and environmental protection agency. Prior to DHEC, Catherine spent over 11 years with Duke Energy Corporation in Charlotte, NC, serving in various legal and executive management capacities until her last role with the company as President of its South Carolina operations in 2012. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Catherine currently serves as (i) President of the South Carolina ETV Endowment Board of Trustees, (ii) Chairperson of the University of South Carolina Honors College Partnership Board, and (iii) Trustee of The Nature Conservancy (South Carolina Chapter). Catherine is a lifelong Lakesider and looks forward to serving the Lakeside Chautauqua community as a member of its Board of Directors. Catherine holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the University of South Carolina, a law degree from The Ohio State University School of Law where she served as an Associate Editor of the The Ohio State Law Journal, and an Advanced Management Program certificate from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Catherine and her husband, Randy Dobbs, reside in Greenville, SC with Catherine’s 17-year-old son, Fritz Heigel. Catherine also has two young adult daughters, Olivia Heigel and Adelaide Heigel, who live in Dallas, TX and Columbia, SC, respectively.
Elizabeth Erwin
Lakeside Property Owners Association Representative
Elizabeth Erwin (Columbus, OH) and her family visited Lakeside and decided they would like to own there on that first visit, as they fell in love with it immediately. Shortly afterwards, she (and her husband Patrick Kasson) purchased a cottage and began a renovation. They enjoy Lakeside with their three daughters, Lilly (13), Annabelle (11) and Violet (9).
Elizabeth grew up in Columbus. She graduated from Miami University with a BA in both Microbiology and Economics. She attended the University of Cincinnati Medical School. And after graduation she completed a residency in Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in Columbus. She then had a fellowship in Allergy and Immunology, at the University of Virginia. Since 2005, she has been an Allergy/Immunology specialist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. During that time, she has received numerous grants for her research, which currently focuses on pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis.
Elizabeth also serves on her daughters’ school PTO. She is active in her parish, running many fundraising and other events. In her free time, Elizabeth focuses on time with her family. Her children are active in many sports. Elizabeth and her family enjoy traveling, and they spend most summer weekends at Lakeside.
REV. Karen Burtner Graham
Lakeside United Methodist Church Representative
Rev. Karen Burtner Graham — (Lakeside, OH) joined the board in 2018 when she was became pastor of the Lakeside United Methodist Church. She is currently the chairperson of the Board’s Hospitality and Guest Experience Committee as well as a member of the Religious Life Advisory Task Group. She also served on the Four Pillars Strategic Planning Committee. She led Lakeside Chautauqua’s Thursday Vespers the last three summers. Karen graduated from Earlham College (Richmond, IN) with a B.A. in Religious Studies, and received her Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School (Nashville, TN). Lakeside UMC is her sixth pastoral appointment since she began full-time ministry in 1984. She is a member of the 2019 class of Leadership Ottawa County, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Portage Resale Center in Port Clinton. She has 3 adult children and 4 young grandchildren.
Jim Hackbarth
Jim Hackbarth – (Columbus, OH) joins the board in May 2022. He has extensive executive management experience across several industries including technology, executive recruiting, insurance. He most recently retired after 18 years as CEO of Assurex Global, the world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage group with over 100 offices around the globe. He has served on several profit and non-profit boards and continues to be very active serving as a board member to technology firms and an advisor to investment bankers / venture capital funds. He is passionate about leadership development and helping organizations execute their business plans while being socially responsible. He has both a BSBA and MBA from The Ohio State University. Jim, his wife Susan and four adult children and four young grandchildren have made Lakeside a part of their lives for the past 30 years. They purchased a cottage on Oak St in 2010 and due to their growing family purchased an additional home outside the west Second St. gates in 2019.
Paul Hubbard
Lakeside Chautauqua Foundation Board, Chair
Paul R. Hubbard, Foundation Chair – (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) – joined the Lakeside Foundation Board in 2020. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Accounting and Finance. He was the Founder and CO-CEO of Plum Healthcare Group, a rehabilitative, high acuity skilled nursing facility operator serving the elderly in the western United States. He was a founding member of the Callaway Sharp Institute; a management consulting firm serving integrated healthcare systems across the United States, and was a senior auditor and CPA with KPMG Peat Marwick. He has previously served on the Boards of Baybridge Capital Partners, LLC, and the California Association of Healthcare Facilities. He is currently on the Board of Encore Capital Ventures, and is one of the principle owners of Saucy Brew Works, a Cleveland based brewery enterprise. Paul and his wife Christine started coming to Lakeside in 2000 and purchased a cottage in 2008. They have three children, Riley, Meryl and Piper, who are fifth generation Lakesiders.
Dr. Robert H. Huntington
Robert H. Huntington — (Tiffin, OH) joined the Board of Directors in April 2020. He serves on the Governance Committee. He became president of Heidelberg University in 2009. Prior to his appointment, Rob worked in the corporate sector, including 22 years in executive management at Dunkin’ Brands Inc. in Boston. He also served on the Lasell College Board of Trustees for 11 years. In the Tiffin community, Rob is an active trustee on the boards of the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership, the Tiffin Community Foundation, and the East Green Foundation. Rob was born in Minnesota and raised in Oregon. He earned his B.A. degree in Political Science and German from Middlebury College. He received his M.A. degree in German literature from Middlebury’s University of Mainz program in Germany, his M.B.A. degree from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and his Ed.D. degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Rob is married to Susan McCafferty, an attorney and clinical psychologist. They got engaged at a great Who concert in Toronto many years ago. After several hotel and rental experiences, they purchased their Lakeside cottage in 2012. Their daughter Ashley has finished graduate school in England and their son Aidan attends college in Pennsylvania.
MaryAnn Kelmer
Lakeside Property Owners Association Representative
MaryAnn Kelmer (Lakeside, Ohio) an Ohio native, has been a Lakeside cottage owner for 24 years and a year-round resident of Lakeside since 2016. A successful small business owner, MaryAnn founded Kelmer Transcription Service in 1989 for the medical and legal communities. In the early 2000s she started an innovative business called Fabric Rescue in which she taught classes, gave lectures, and sold her own line of fabrics and quilt patterns to quilters all over the Midwest. Currently she is the co-owner of Sweet & Savory Cottage Bakers, a small-batch artisan bakery that serves the Lakeside Farmers Market in-season and delivers fresh baked goods directly to customers’ homes all over the Marblehead Peninsula in the off-season. At Lakeside, while assisting the Rhein Center director, MaryAnn observed the serious need to improve the way students registered for classes. She researched, proposed, gained approval for, and implemented an on-line registration system after becoming director herself 2014. The system was widely accepted from the beginning and is still being used today. MaryAnn is the President of Lakeside Property Owners Association and has also served on that board as Director and Vice President. She volunteers for the Lakeside Heritage Society and is actively engaged in the care of her 100-year-old father. She and her husband Rich have one adult daughter, Grace, who lives in Michigan.
Larry Kisabeth
Larry Kisabeth graduated from Heidelberg College in 1974 with a BS in Mathematics and Physical Education. He attained his MA in Educational Administration from Bowling Green State University in 1987 with additional coursework at the University of Findlay. He formally retired from public education, for the first time, in August of 2009. He began his educational career at Carey High School in August of 1974, teaching mathematics for ten years. He then came to Tiffin City Schools where he taught mathematics for another six years. In the fall of 1990, Larry became a guidance counselor at Columbian, serving in that position for twelve years. In August of 2002, Larry was named the principal of Columbian High School and served in that position until his retirement in 2009. Since retirement, Larry has served two stints as an interim principal and a year as an interim Athletic Director at Columbian High School. He also served as an interim Dean of Students at the Tiffin Middle School. He served as an interim principal at Fremont Ross and as an interim assistant high school principal at Findlay High School. Mr. Kisabeth served five years as an adjunct professor at Heidelberg University teaching “Mathematics for Elementary Educators”. Kisabeth just completed 50 years of coaching athletes, 35 years with high school athletes. He has been the varsity coach of Boys’ Basketball, Girls Basketball, Boys’ Baseball, Girls Softball, and Boys’ Track. He was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Heidelberg College from 2006-08. In 2008 Heidelberg’s men won the first basketball championship in the school’s history. Over the years Larry has served on many boards with Family Counseling in Tiffin, The Tiffin-Seneca United Way, the Allen Eiry Senior Citizen Center, the Lakeside Property Owners Association, and several committees at Trinity United Church of Christ in Tiffin. Larry and his wife, Debbie, recently celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. They have three grown children and four grandchildren. Larry and Debbie are third generation Lakeside cottage owners. Larry has been coming to the Lakeside family cottage every year since 1960.
Rev. Scott Low
East Ohio Conference Representative
Scott Low – (Tallmadge, OH) joined the board in 2022. He loves Lakeside and has vacationed in Lakeside all but one year of his life. He met his wife, Kay (Althouse), in 1985 in Lakeside where she worked with children and youth recreation during her college summers. He proposed to her on the dock in April 1988. As an avid cyclist, Scott has ridden in both “Lakeside 120” rides (120 miles from Delaware to Lakeside). Winters include downhill and cross-country skiing. He’s also a big OSU Buckeyes fan. Kay (Althouse) is a teacher at the LeBron James I Promise School in Akron. They have three grown and married children. Scott has been in full-time ministry since 1994, and pastor at Tallmadge United Methodist Church since 2016, after having served in Solon, Cambridge, and Wooster. He holds degrees from Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MDiv.) and Ohio Northern University (BSBA).
Cindy Mahl
Cindy Mahl — (Lakeside, OH) has been on the Board for three years. She is a CPA and spent her career in banking, most recently as Chief Financial Officer at Westfield Bank. Prior to that, she was a founding officer and CFO of Western Reserve Bank in Medina, Ohio. Cindy has previously served on several nonprofit boards, including United Way of Medina County and Alternative Paths (a behavioral health agency). She is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University and Leadership Medina County. She and her husband, Tim, moved from Avon to Lakeside full time in 2018. You can often spot them walking their Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Mollie and Grace.
GREg Moore
Greg Moore (Upper Arlington, OH) joined the Board in 2020 and serves on the Municipal Services and Audit Committees. He is a lifelong Lakeside fan and married his wife Barbie (Luebcke), a Lakeside native, in the Steele Memorial Bandstand. Their three wonderful daughters are also Lakeside faithfuls, the eldest of whom was also married at the Steele Memorial Bandstand. Greg’s business experience spans information technology, communications and manufacturing with a focus on growing, funding and leading businesses from start-ups to billion-dollar companies. He serves on several corporate & non-profit boards of directors, church councils/committees, and served on an advisor panel to the US government on accelerated destruction of our chemical weapons. Greg is an electrical engineering graduate of The Ohio State University and earned his MBA from Washington University (St. Louis). He and Barbie enjoy spending time with their family at Lakeside and actively supporting several church and charitable organizations.
Kay Panovec
West Ohio Conference Representative
Kay Panovec — (Columbus, OH) joined the Board of Directors in January 2023. She is the Director of Communications for the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, where she has a very active role. She provided more than $120,000 in grants to local churches within the conference, produced videos and podcasts, maintained positive media relations, and designed and implemented crisis communication plans. She also has extensive experience in magazine editing and writing, event planning, website design and management. She won the Religion Communicators Council Interfaith Association Best of Class Audio/Video Production and the Platinum Aurora Award for “A Killer in the Dark,” a documentary about malaria awareness. She has also earned several awards for website design. Kay is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and United Methodist Association of Communicators. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in business administration from the University of Mount Union. Kay spends at least two weeks in Lakeside each summer, enjoying time with her husband, Ron, and family. Her favorite activities are walking the grounds, Hoover Auditorium programming, shuffleboard, mini golf and relaxing.
Michael Angelo Peterson
Michael Angelo Peterson is a graduate of Youngstown State University, and Wharton Business School Executive Leadership Program. He is currently the Managing Partner for a global background screening and risk management company, The Orsus Group, and an HR consulting firm, Cello HR. Mike is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Youngstown State University and has served on several federal, state, and local boards and committees. Mike is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and is heavily involved with sports in his community, including coaching the girls varsity lacrosse program at Jackson High School. Mike and his family Julie, Ava, and Estelle have been coming to Lakeside for the past 15 years. They currently reside in Jackson Twp., Massillon, Ohio.
