Get to Know the ETA Trustees and Staff

BOB HAMBLEN, PRESIDENT

Bob Hamblen is a retired city planner, having worked for the City of Saco most recently. Bob is a long-time supporter of the natural world and human appreciation of it. He’s a past president of both the Eastern Trail Alliance and the Eastern Trail Management District, and a long time member of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Bob is a member of the newly created Saco Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, serves on the Maine Trails Coalition Leadership Council, and the York County Trails group. A long-time interest was fulfilled in 2019 when he became a certified Master Gardener through the University of Maine Extension Service. Spare time? Reading, sea kayaking, bicycling, and OLLI.

ERIC WRIGHT, VICE-PRESIDENT

Eric is an information technology professional who lives in Saco, Maine. He is a bike packing enthusiast who joined the Eastern Trail Alliance to help promote the trail as a safe place for all ages and abilities to enjoy the outdoors. Eric frequently commutes to work on the Eastern Trail and also enjoys the trail with his wife and their doggo. His off-road adventures help him to unplug and maintain a work-life balance.

RALPH HILTZ, TREASURER 

Ralph is a retired accountant with a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from Husson College, and also recently .retired from a job as a Job coach at L.L. Bean. He lives in Saco with his wife Terry and Sheltie Lucy. They have three adult children, two boys and one girl. Two are school teachers teaching special needs children and other child operates his own company doing web page design. In addition to being an accountant Ralph spent 11 years coaching sons Little League teams, and three years as President of Biddeford Youth Hockey. When youngest son decided at age 11 to be a youth hockey referee he became one also and did that for about 10 years. Now in retirement he enjoys all sports as well as traveling with his wife.

BILL DEHAIS, TRUSTEE

Bill first was exposed to trail riding in 1978 on the Warren County Bikeway (NY) riding from Glens Falls to Lake George frequently and was a early believer in the rail to trail conversion process. In addition to bicycling bill enjoys most anything outdoors including motorcycling, kayaking, hiking and fishing. He is also a collector of breweriana, mostly Schlitz memorabilia. Professionally he is a career banker and currently is the Chief Administrative Officer for Kennebunk Savings Bank. He also serves as finance chair and volunteer on the Board of the Cumberland Woodbank. Bill resides in Cumberland with his wife. They have two grown children.

 

BRYAN GALLANT, TRUSTEE

Bryan is honored to join the Eastern Trail Alliance as a trustee. He is an avid triathlete and outdoor enthusiast. Originally from New Hampshire, Bryan moved to Maine nearly 10 years ago and spends as much time as he can in the White Mountains skiing, hiking and biking. His career has been in the ski and bike industry as a freestyle ski coach and an employee at Rodgers in Scarborough, Maine. Bryan competes in local triathlons as well as Ironman races around the country. You can find Bryan running on the Eastern Trail, swimming along the coast or on his bike in southern Maine.

 

TOM McCULLOM, TRUSTEE

Tom is a South Berwick resident since 1980 with his wife, Jannette. Tom worked at Civil Consultants, a Survey and Engineering company since 1978 and is a licensed Professional Land Surveyor. Retired, Tom is an active cyclist, has ridden the Pan-Mass Challenge for 15 years and is an active volunteer for South Berwick events.
Tom is currently the Town of South Berwick representative to the ETMD.
We welcome Tom to the ETA board.

 

KELLY WHETSTONE, TRUSTEE

Kelly Whetstone is the Deputy General Counsel of Foreside Financial Services in Portland, Maine. Kelly lives in Scarborough with her husband, daughter and two dogs. As an avid runner and marathoner, the Eastern Trail is close to her heart. You will often find her out the trail training for a race, riding bikes with her daughter or walking her dog.

JOE YUHAS, TRUSTEE

A retired teacher/professor, Joe’s academic background is in Wildlife Biology,  with research on DDT and it’s effect in our environment.  He worked as a park naturalist and taught in Ohio before moving to Maine in 1975, teaching here until he retired in 2000. Joe is very interested in environmental issues and teaches courses on Climate Change and Natural History at York County Senior College. A biker both on and off the trail, he can also be seen snowshoeing and x-c skiing during the snow season. He has been a volunteer for the MLR since 2011 and can be seen at community events boosting the ET. Joe enjoys singing with his church choir and with Harbour Singers, a group that sings at bedsides, hospice, and nursing homes.

 

JOHN ANDREWS, FOUNDER OF THE EASTERN TRAIL

The Founder of the Eastern Trail and an ETA President Emeritus, John was an inspiring man of vision and untiring spirit. John’s vision to create the Eastern Trail started in the early 1990’s. He was persistent, but patient, and made tremendous progress in a relatively short amount of time.

Sadly, John passed away on February 20, 2017.

Read more information about John, including some of the many public tributes to him on this page.

Eastern Trail Alliance Staff

NANCY BORG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Nancy joined the Eastern Trail as a volunteer in 2013, became a part time employee in 2015 and in 2019 became the Eastern Trail’s Executive Director. You will find Nancy at most Eastern Trail events enthusiastically sharing the vision of the trail. When she’s not at an event, she enjoys singing, loves to travel, listening to opera, reading non-fiction and spending time with her husband, Charles and their dog, AJ.

 

CAROLE BRUSH, ETA TRAIL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ETMD

Carole is Executive Director of the Eastern Trail Management District (ETMD) and Trail Development Director of Eastern Trail Alliance (ETA). For the past decade, she was Executive Director of the ETMD and ETA, leading both organizations through a period of growth and progress, including doubling off-road mileage and developing an amazing staff. Carole is excited to now focus on ET funding and expansion through campaigns such as: “Blazing the Trail South” from Kennebunk through the Berwicks, and “Over the River” to connect the off-road trail sections in Biddeford and Saco. She is a Registered Maine Guide who shares her passion for wild, natural places through hikes and retreats, teaches Yoga, Pilates, and mindfulness, and enjoys sunset and moonrise with fellow trail-goers during monthly full moon walks at Scarborough Marsh ET.

PATTI POOLE, OFFICE MANAGER

Patti has been a long time volunteer for ETA, most notably as the food service coordinator managing the post ride lunches for several years. She also volunteers for Saco Bay Trails as a trustee, past president and current treasurer. Patti retired in Dec 2019 after a long career managing IT in the chemical distribution industry, most recently for Azelis Americas. Her interests include boating, beaching, hiking and gardening. She lives in Scarborough with her husband Malcolm and has 2 grown children, Charles and Madeleine.

 

JEN STEELE SKILLINGS, EVENT COORDINATOR

A Scarborough native and resident, Jen became a stay-at-home-mom after the birth of her son in 2013. As the Event Coordinator for the ETA, she is responsible for planning the trail’s annual fundraising events including Taste of the Town, John Andrews Memorial 5k, Mend the Gap 10k, and the Annual Meeting. Jen enjoys biking, running, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing on the Eastern Trail with her husband James and son Andrew.

 

 

 

LARRY GLANTZ, WEBSITE MANAGER

Larry got involved with the Eastern Trail after reading John’s Feb. 1998 article in the Press Herald. In those early years he served as a founding Trustee and Vice President of the ETA. He created ETA’s first web site in 1999 to showcase the Eastern Trail vision to the region, state and beyond. The web site won American Trails’ best local trail website award in 2003. Leaving the ETA board (designated as one of the first Trustees Emeritus!), he continued as a volunteer but returned as a part-time staff member in 2011 to manage the ever-growing ETA website. Larry lives in Cape Elizabeth and works for L.L.Bean.