Maggie McRae, the Dewey Hall Manager, is an Alexander Technique Teacher, musician, dance caller, and event organizer based in Egremont, MA. She grew up on a small farm near Sanford, NC and attended Brevard College, where she got her BA in Music. After completing her degree, Maggie lived in Trondheim, Norway, working as an au pair and learning Norwegian fiddle tunes and traditional dances. Upon her return to the US, Maggie moved to the Boston area to become an Alexander Technique Teacher. She completed her 3 year Alexander Technique Teacher certification program in December 2017 and moved to the Berkshires. Maggie is currently a member of the Lenox Contra Committee and an organizer of TapRoot Sessions, a traditional music and dance series, which is a collaboration with Beth Carlson. Maggie also works part time at Blue Rider Stables. As the manager of Dewey Hall, Maggie looks forward to continuing to bring new life, energy, and activity into Dewey Hall with the help of the local community!
Michael Siktberg (Rentals Manager) moved to Sheffield in 2020 with his wife Ruby (and their three cats!). Before that he spent 20 years in New York City, where he worked as a musician and actor. Besides having performed for theatres all across the country, Michael is a popular children’s entertainer and pre school music teacher. He is a graduate of the American Music and Dramatic Academy and a member of the Actors Equity Association. Michael is thrilled to be joining the team at Dewey Memorial Hall, and relishes in the endless possibilities for bringing music, art, fellowship, and love to Sheffield and the greater Berkshire community.
Clara Stickney grew up in the woods of Southern Maine in a family of musicians. She performs regularly as a fiddler and lever harpist with The Gaslight Tinkers, the Red Case Band, and solo. Clara holds a masters degree in occupational therapy from the University of Southern Maine where she also earned her bachelors degree in health sciences and minored in music. She offers typical and adaptive music lessons to children and adults on the piano, fiddle, and lever harp. Clara is also an avid flower gardener and floral artist (check her out on Instagram @Berkshireflowerwoman) and worked as a gardener on the coast of Maine for almost a decade. She moved to the Berkshires in 2021 and started working as the Dewey Hall Office Fairy in 2023 where she uses her penchant for puns and organization to help connect the community. At present Clara and her partner Harry the potter are looking to purchase their first home to settle in the Berkshires (if you know of something perfect please connect us).
Patricia Strauch (Bookkeeper) was born and raised in Allendale, NJ. Patty and her singer-songwriter husband, Bruce Mandel, (proud “crazy-cat-parents” to Wolfie and BB), now reside at the top of a mountain in Otis, where their closest neighbors are the herons, moose, and beavers that frequent their pond, along with the occasional visit from a bald eagle. After retiring from a corporate legal career at Merck, Patty became involved in many of the region’s extensive music and other cultural venues; as a performer, organizer, and volunteer. She now enjoys using her organizational skills to assist nonprofits with streamlining office and financial procedures, both as the Treasurer at her church, and as the Bookkeeper at Dewey Memorial Hall. Patty is proud to be a member of the team at Dewey Hall working together to promote “good and kindly feelings”.
Beth Carlson is a partner in Silo Media, a design firm specializing in graphics, website and video production. She is a founding board member of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center for Freedom and Democracy. She is currently the campaign manager for Farmsteads for Farmers, working with Berkshire Community Land Trust. She co-produced TapRoot Sessions, a traditional music series at Dewey Hall for several years and was a co-producer of the Oldtone Roots Music Festival. As a community activist, Beth was a key player in the effort to save the historic Searles School in Great Barrington. A natural and inspired organizer, she has produced a myriad of events, including Construct’s Warm up the Winter, many Dewey Hall events, as well as many community fundraisers.
Fred Frayer has a B.A. in Music from Colby College and a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University. He spent eight years working for major nonprofits in Philadelphia including the Walnut Street Theatre and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. He recently retired from Verizon where he had been a computer programmer/analyst since 1990. Fred is an avid acoustic musician, playing mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and guitar. He played in local Philadelphia area bands over the past 35 years, and his latest group, Auld String Theory, released a CD on Amazon in 2016. In 2020, Fred moved to Great Barrington with his wife Heidi.
Kathleen Dempsey has held business/financial management positions in the investment, legal, technology and academic fields in upstate New York, Boston and Western MA. She and her husband moved from the Boston area to Sheffield 30 years ago and later established Dempsey Physical Therapy on Main St. She was actively involved with her three children’s sports, theater, band and fundraising activities at Undermountain, Sheffield, and Berkshire Schools. A member of the Trustees since 1997, Kathleen and her two granddaughter consider Bartholomew’s Cobble like their second backyard. She takes fitness classes at the Senior Center and is picking up some mad pickleball skills. Kathleen is eager to support Dewey Hall’s efforts to use the arts to connect neighbors and promote a thriving community.
Ken Terry is a healthcare journalist and author who has written three books on healthcare reform. A former editor at Medical Economics, he has also written for such publications as InformationWeek, cio.com, Fierce Healthcare, WebMD and Medscape Medical News. Before he covered healthcare, he wrote about the music industry for Billboard and Variety. Besides serving on the Dewey Hall board, he has been active in the Sheffield Land Trust. He enjoys hiking and biking and attending concerts with his wife, fellow board member Lisa Lucas.
Lisa Lucas is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She’s been a therapist for 20 years working in community mental health and has extensive experience in adoption and foster care. Lisa currently provides telehealth counseling for Calm and Sense Therapy, and works with teens, adults, and seniors, dealing with depression and anxiety issues. Lisa lives with her husband, Ken Terry, who is also a Dewey Hall board member. She is a recent NJ transplant to Sheffield. Biking, hiking, music, art, and dance are her favorite pastimes. She is also an active volunteer with Left Field, Sheffield Democratic Committee, and of course, Dewey Hall.
Maria Nation is a screenwriter with over 40 movies to her credit. A native of Malibu, she has lived on the East coast since 1984 and moved to her 1811 farmhouse in Ashley Falls in 1996. When not at her computer writing, she is outdoors gardening (her gardens have been published in many books and magazines), hanging with her dogs, horses, mini-donkeys, hiking with her partner John Halbreich, or in her kitchen baking sourdough breads and cooking for friends. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Berkshire International Film Festival and, in the past, she was a Trustee of the Berkshire Botanical Garden, on the Sheffield Planning Board, and a publicist/consultant to Berkshire Grown, Monterey Masonry, Irish Water Spaniel Club of America, etc. A committed homebody, she did ride a Berber stallion across the Sahara desert in Morocco three years ago and, with that bragging right, she never has to leave Sheffield again.
Wenonah Webster is the principal and creative director of her family’s business, Webster Landscape. Before joining Webster, Wenonah had her own landscape design business in Columbia county for 15 years. Prior to focusing on landscape design she spent 20 years working closely with first Pamela Read Hardcastle and then Ariella Chezar producing large weddings and events locally and abroad. She appeared on Martha Stewart in 2005 demonstrating how to build terrariums after Martha saw her terrariums in an installation in Hudson, NY. Wenonah returned to the area full time in 2011, making the Berkshires her permanent home to raise a family. Since moving back to Sheffield and taking over the family business she has been inspired, as a business owner, to be an active member of the community.
