Get to Know the ETA Trustees and Staff

Eastern Trail Alliance Trustees

RANDI HOGAN, PRESIDENT

Randi Hogan is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® with 25 years’ experience in the social sector, working with organizations advancing equity and well-being. As a fundraising executive, she has advised donors, business leaders, and grantmakers investing in transformational change around the world. She founded Hogan Philanthropy Consulting to help generous individuals and families create strategic giving plans that reflect their values, advance their philanthropic goals, and make the greatest impact on the issues they care about. Randi currently serves as chair of the Conservation Commission in Scarborough, Maine, where she lives with her husband and their long-haired miniature dachshund, Moxie. Many of her favorite trips away from home have been on bike trails, and she is thrilled to have the Eastern Trail nearby.

KELLY WHETSTONE, VICE-PRESIDENT

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.

BILL DEHAIS, TREASURER

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.

JEN STEELE SKILLINGS, SECRETARY

Jen is a regular user of the trail and is grateful for John Andrew’s vision to create this incredible resource for all to enjoy! Her favorite trail activities include biking, running and snowshoeing with her family. Jen lives in Scarborough with her husband and son.

BOB HAMBLEN, TRUSTEE

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.

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.

CAROLINE PINEGAR, TRUSTEE

Caroline moved to Scarborough with her family in 2019 from Northern Virginia and quickly fell in love with life in this Town and Maine in general. As an avid runner, the Eastern Trail has always been her “go-to” spot for both short and long training runs. She is an Environmental Planner with HNTB (transportation planning firm) and has her Masters in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Tech, and a Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation. When she’s not shuttling her boys around or watching them play sports, she enjoys going to the beach, picking blueberries, eating lobster, and basically anything having to do with summer in Maine. Caroline and her husband Jake have two sons in Scarborough schools and a daughter in college in Virginia.

DOUG SMITH, TRUSTEE

Doug is the Social Responsibility Administrator at Kennebunk Savings, a mutual bank serving southern Maine and Seacoast New Hampshire. He helps facilitate the Kennebunk Savings Community Promise program, through which the Bank contributes 10% of its after-tax earnings to nonprofits within the communities it serves each year. He also helps manage the Kennebunk Savings Bank Foundation. His role at Kennebunk Savings focuses on fostering and strengthening relationships with nonprofit partners, documenting and reporting out key performance metrics to internal and external stakeholders, and assisting his team in advancing the Bank’s overall corporate social responsibility initiatives. After living in Washington, DC for 14 years working in a variety of sectors and roles ranging from consumer packaged goods to higher education to a local nonprofit advocating for bicyclists and other vulnerable road users, his family moved to São Paulo, Brazil. He now resides in Saco with his wife, teenage son and two dogs. When not commuting to work on the Eastern Trail, you can find him hiking the trails, paddling on the ocean, biking in the woods or downhill skiing – his son’s favorite new activity.

ERIC WRIGHT, TRUSTEE

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.

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.

CAROLE BRUSH, PAST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2006-2020

Carole served as the Executive Director of the Eastern Trail Alliance and the Eastern Trail Management District for many years. An avid outdoors lover, she is a Registered Maine Guide and enjoys cycling and hiking throughout the region. She managed major improvement projects for the Eastern Trail, such as the Turnpike Bicycle-Pedestrian Bridge and current Close the Gap campaign, adding significant trail extensions. Carole has been leading workshops and retreats for over 20 years, sharing her passion for wild, natural places, the practices of Pilates, Yoga, meditation and mindfulness, as well as the study of wellness and complementary energy therapies.

Eastern Trail Alliance Staff

(VACANT), ETA/ETMD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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.

MCKENZIE PENTON, EVENTS & STEWARDSHIP COORDINATOR

McKenzie joined the Eastern Trail Alliance in 2021 to assist with volunteer coordination efforts for the Alliance’s main events. McKenzie has significant experience in the non-profit space having served as the Director of Events and Business Development for Invest in the USA (IIUSA) since 2015. In addition to his experience in managing volunteer and member-related services for a large international not-for-profit McKenzie brings a host of fundraising, event planning, and business development experience to the table.

McKenzie earned a B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. After nearly eight years in the beltway, McKenzie recently completed a move to Portland, Maine. Where he enjoys exploring the local food scene as well as the outdoors.

PATRICK CONLON, TRAIL PROGRAM MANAGER

Patrick has been visiting Maine and cycling the Eastern Trail for years. Since relocating from Jersey City, NJ to Biddeford, ME in 2021 he has been employed at Gorham Bike & Ski Saco as a bike mechanic and has launched Bike BS (Bike Biddeford/Saco) to promote cycling in the sister cities. Back in New Jersey Patrick was deeply involved in the cycling community. As a trustee of Bike JC, a non-profit bicycling advocacy organization, he worked with the city government to construct a network of protected bike lanes and organized all types of group rides and events designed to grow the area’s bicycle culture. He served as the organization’s president from 2017-2021. In 2018 he established a non-profit bicycle shop called the Newark Community Cycling Center in the city of Newark NJ. In late 2021 Patrick worked with the New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition and the Open Space Institute to organize the Bike 2 Trenton advocacy ride which helped to push Governor Phil Murphy to commit to building the Essex/Hudson Greenway, an off road rails to trails project connecting 8 of the most densely populated municipalities in the state. Patrick sees his work with the ETA as a fantastic opportunity to help grow and maintain Southern Maine’s Multi-Use Greenway.

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 starting in 2011 to manage the ever-growing ETA website. Larry lives in Cape Elizabeth and is retired from careers at both USM and L.L. Bean.