We are a group of people who live within two miles of the Sawmill and pass by its beauty everyday.  We want to make sure that the mill becomes once again a vibrant part of our community.  We come from many backgrounds.  Some were born here, some have recently come, some have taught in the many wonderful schools in this area, others have made this their homes from which they run their businesses.  And still others just want to help. All of us love this beautiful reminder of our industrial past.

Founders

PRESIDENT
Sidney J. Poritz, M.F.A., Ed.D.,B.B.A

Historic restoration developer, art educator

 My background in historic preservation and 3D-art along with my extensive work experience in period building make me ideally suited to oversee the design and construction phases of the project.  I have taught at Skidmore College, UMASS and at the Metropolitan, Whitney, and Brooklyn art museums. I have been involved in three multi-unit Historic Preservation projects using Department of the Interior Standards. The development of period houses at Chestnut Hill included negotiations with the Rattlesnake Gutter Trust (land preservation in Leverett) and the Conservation Commission of the Town of Leverett to make designs embedded in the natural environment with houses representative of the colonial period.  I served on the Leverett Planning Commission for fourteen years.  I am a trustee at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum in Hadley, Massachusetts.

VICE PRESIDENT
Donald A. Robinson, PhD, PE, CSP, ARM-E 

Registered Professional Engineer, Certified Safety Professional and Associate in Risk Management and thereby qualified to assess and mitigate a broad range of risks.

I have experience in both industry and academia as an engineer, administrator, and faculty member with a focus in many aspects of safety management and engineering in areas such as occupational safety, chemical safety, disposal of hazardous material, fire prevention, radiation safety and biological safety.   I have also served as an expert witness in cases that involve issues of machine guarding, products liability and root cause of injuries and illnesses. There are potential public safety, occupational safety and health and machine guarding issues associated with this project that I can help eliminate or mitigate.  My career in the field of environmental health and safety spans over five decades and I believe I can make a significant contribution to the safe preservation and use of the sawmill facility and associated dam.

TREASURER 
Susan Lynton 

Executive manager, creative filmmaker and fundraiser

A business development and strategy executive with academic training and professional experience in media communications, I have worked for some of the largest American and international companies. My strengths include strategizing, creating and implementing programs, designing Web platforms and advertising campaigns, which add brand value and decrease costs while increasing revenue. I have also produced and written documentaries and public affairs programming for various networks, including five half-hours for CNBC Europe. As a screenwriter and program developer, I have worked for A&E, Time Warner, Paramount Publishing, WNET 13, Nickelodeon, PBS, Proctor & Gamble, CNBC and WCBS and have worked with the French and US governments to promote cross-cultural understanding amongst disadvantaged youth. I was a founding member of the Coalition of Professional Women in Arts and Media (secretary/treasurer), on the Board of New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT), and Chair of the Westport Writers’ Workshop. Three Cine Gold Eagles, four grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities state-based programs, a grant fromTime-Life and a Highest Leaf Award from the Women’s Venture Fund for innovation and creativity have been awarded to me.  Most recently, I have been involved with various aspects of historic preservation in Leverett as well as being involved in revenue planning for the town.

SECRETARY
Sara L Robinson, Ed.D. 

Educator, administrator, program developer

I am a master educator with a strong background in educational programming. I have focused on students diagnosed with ADHD and high-level functioning autism. Also, I have developed programs at the Bement School, a private primary and middle school, that capitalized on its being situated within Historic Deerfield. Historic Deerfield is a restored village dating to the late 1600s. My work included developing programs for students to do research in the humanities including the historical significance of homes within Historic Deerfield and write reports on their findings. My particular interest is in advocating for students to experience hands-on learning and develop an appreciation for historical treasures such as those located in Historic Deerfield. After leaving Bement, I founded a private school to provide active learning and a computer-based curriculum for students who have differing learning styles. I will contribute to the rebirthing of the North Leverett Sawmill from an educational programming perspective as well as assisting in the overall preservation project. My goal is to apply extensive educational and creative learning skills to championing the current and future educational value of this asset to the community and beyond.  This will dovetail with the volunteer position of president of the Leverett Historical Society and the integration of collaborative programs for the three main historical structures in Leverett including: The Moore’s Corner one-room schoolhouse, the Field Family Museum, and the North Leverett Sawmill. Preservation of these structures is crucial to saving the history of Leverett’s industrial and educational foundations. To achieve this end, it is important to involve educators and individuals with an extensive historical perspective of the Town.

DIRECTOR
Cynthia L. Baldwin, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus

Grant writer, fundraiser, assisting in event planning

I have been an educator at the university level for more than 30 years. I have written, been awarded and managed a large number of federally-funded research grants and trained undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students in science fields. Part of my work was in Africa including as an advisor for the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development on the effect of animal and zoonotic infectious diseases and vaccines on food security. I have been on expert panels for the White House and the National Academy. For the Sawmill, I will prepare grant proposals and assist in other fundraising, public interaction and event planning.  I have served on the zoning board of Leverett for many years.

DIRECTOR
Samuel J. Black, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus 

Grant writer, fundraiser, assisting in event planning

I have been an educator at the university level for more than 30 yrs, a researcher in African trypanosomiasis for more than 40 yrs and a researcher in equine laminitis for 15 yrs. With regard to administrative experience, I established and directed the Immunobiology and Flow Cytometry Facility at the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) for 10 years in Nairobi and was Head of the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at the University of Massachusetts for 10 years. (ILRADI is part of the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research to promote food security in developing countries.) I have been awarded and managed grants funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, US Agency for International Development, US Department of Agriculture, US National Institutes of Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Morris Animal Foundation for research on diseases that affect animal and human health. More recently in my retirement, I wrote and managed grants from federal agencies that supported COVID Relief and Food Security Infrastructure for the Leverett Village food co-op. I trained many graduate students in Africa, Europe and USA.  I have also served on expert panels of the World Health Organization and the US Department of Agriculture.  Working to save the Sawmill, I will assist in grant-writing, fundraising, public interaction and event planning. I also serve on the Board of Assessors for Leverett and I am the current Treasurer of the Leverett Village Co-operative Corp.

DIRECTOR
Susan Mareneck

Artist, educator & curator, historian, and organizational management

My long association with the contemporary and historical culture and landscape of the Sawmill River Valley, specifically in and around North Leverett, will help to ground the process of developing an adaptive reuse of the Slarrow Sawmill and surrounding industrial heritage site.  Personal knowledge of the community will allow me to assist in the education of local attitudes towards positive acceptance of changes that could be perceived as threatening long-standing traditions. While living in Lower Manhattan for thirty years, I helped to create and receive landmark designation for the Tribeca Historic Districts, which required research and organizing from the highest reaches of city government to the halls of the local elementary school. As head of an Art Department that covered all K-12th grades, I have learned to be a good listener and collaborator as well as a guide in developing, revising and evaluating the implementation of place-based, institutional-specific curricula which would help the Friends of the North Leverett Sawmill Museum as it responds to the desires and needs of the current and prospective market in educational programming.  I am experienced at curating exhibitions as well as researching/ writing catalogues.

DIRECTOR
Patricia G. Fiero

Massachusetts Legislative Process and Procedures, Community Organizing, Affordable Housing Development

Over the last fifty years, I have been involved in a wide range of community development activities. I have managed campaigns for the Massachusetts Legislature, including my own successful campaigns in June and November of 1984. I also was the senate district coordinator for Gov. Michael Dukakis’ successful 1982 campaign.  In recent years I served as the New England Regional Coordinator for MoveOn’s Council System. After my time as a legislator, I was employed as the head of the Housing Development Department at Housing Assistance Corporation on Cape Cod. I managed fourteen low-income housing programs in that capacity, including weatherization, a low-interest loan program for housing rehabilitation, maintenance of the agency’s properties, and management of the agency’s rental housing units.  I also directly oversaw the development of a number of low-income housing projects including a 24-unit senior housing development, Wells Court, in Brewster and a 66-unit assisted living project in Pocasset. During my time as a legislator, I received several Legislator of the Year awards: Alliance for Young Families, MA Association of Vocational Administrators, Healthquarters -Dorothy Bradford Award, MA Association of School Committees and the MA Healthy Start Coalition. Since moving to Leverett I have served on the Franklin County Regional Planning Board, been an elected member of the Democratic Town Committee, a founding member of the Leverett Alliance, a member of Hands Across the Hills and served on the board of the Leverett Coop.

DIRECTOR
Kathy LeMay

Kathy LeMay is the founder, president, and CEO of Raising Change, a fundraising organization that works to advance social change agendas and generosity worldwide. LeMay has provided social-change fundraising and generosity trainings to hundreds of organizations throughout the world—including top-level executives at, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and CitiFinancial—as well as being a prolific public speaker. LeMay began her global activism in war-torn Yugoslavia, working with women survivors. She has been featured on Oprah and on the Oxygen network for her proactive lifestyle in making a difference.

Friends

• Adam Salacuse

• Jim Perkins

• Michael R. Mareneck

• Robert H. Mareneck

• Will Melton

• Julia Shively

• Chris Carlisle

Advisory Board

• Silas Ball

• Barry Black

• Pleun Bouricius

• Harijap Fuller

• Larry LaClaire

• Bob Leet

• Abel Lenz

• Will Melton

• Bill Pearson

• Isaiah Robison

• Stan Rosenberg

• Steven Stroud

Attorney

• Rich Cavanaugh