CISA Board Members 2008

Executive Committee

Rus Peotter, Chair WGBY
General Manager of WGBY, Springfield and Vice President of the WGBH Educational Foundation. In addition to leading WGBY, he also serves on the boards of seven regional institutions and is also active nationally with PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Mark Tanner, Vice Chair Bacon & Wilson P.C./Morse & Sacks
Currently involved with the Hampshire County United Way serving
on the leadership giving committee, am co-chair of the Attorney's
division of the campaign, and am on the funds distribution committee. He is on the Board of Directors of the People's
Institute, involved in Big Brothers/Big Sisters, serving as a big brother. He is also on the executive committee of the
Hampshire County Bar Association and is currently president elect.

Greg Melnik, Treasurer Retired
Greg was a Senior loan officer with First Pioneer Farm Credit, ACA for over thirty years. First Pioneer is a full service lender to agriculture and agriculture related businesses. It also provides an array of financial services including tax preparation, record keeping, payroll and appraisals. Greg grew up on a small vegetable farm in Deerfield.

Ryan Voiland, Clerk Red Fire Farm
Owner of Red Fire Farm in Granby and Old Depot Gardens in Montague. Ryan has been farming and studying for the past ten years and holds a degree in horticulture from Cornell University.

Faye Omasta, Past Chair Hickory Dell Farm
Faye and her husband own Hickory Dell Flower Farm and Gift Shop in Northampton where they raise llamas, and grow stock and distinctive annuals and perennials and other farm products.Faye worked for 17 years in corporate finance as well as employee recruitment and development for GTE/Verizon.

Board Members

Do-Han Allen Valley Advocate
Advertising Director of the Valley Advocate, aregional news, arts and entertainment weekly. He has thirty years of advertising, marketing and promotional experience in radio, television, and print media.

Bob Antil Founder and Director of the Residential Arts Program of the Fine Arts Center of the University of Massachusetts, a multi-arts facility including performance, three gallery spaces, and artists-in-residence. Consultant for performing arts in programming, marketing and community outreach.

Charles Barker, retired
Retired part owner of the former Deerfield Plastics, Co. (now Pliant Corp.) Part owner of Quonquont Farm.

Sheila Dennis The Wilderness Society
A fundraising professional for over 20 years, Sheila is the Director of Major Gifts, Eastern Region for The Wilderness Society, and has held senior fundraising positions at the Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Yale University.

Warren Facey Bree-Z-Knoll Farm
Owner of Bree-Z-Knoll Farm in Leyden, a dairy and maple syrup operation, and a member of the Pioneer Valley Milk Marketing Coop, Pioneer Valley Plan for Progress and the Massachusetts Farm Bureau. Warren is a founding member of CISA.

Steve Goodwin College of Natural Resources and the Environment Associate Dean, College of Natural Resources and the Environment; Associate Director, Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station; Director, Center for Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which is responsible for the agricultural activities of the Commonwealth’s land grant university.

Ann Hallstein The First Church of Deerfield
As a CISA volunteer for many years, Ann worked mainly with the Development Committee, raising funds for the Senior FarmShare program. Ann is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She is also a writer, with a recently published book, Uncommon Gifts, about people from the Valley.

Diane Roder, Sojourner Sheep
A Local Hero farmer and past volunteer for CISA's Women In Agriculture program. She has operated Sojourner Sheep for a little over ten years. She produces fiber, which she dyes and offers as yarn, carded fleece and other fiber- related products. Diane lives in Northampton. She holds degrees in Education (BS), Nursing (BSN) and Public Health (MPH).

Gary Schaefer Bart’s Homemade
Co-owner of Snow’s/Bart’s Homemade and Connecticut River Valley Foods, a local food distributor. Gary hopes soon to begin manufacturing his ice cream with local milk.

Brian Schultz
Associate Professor of Entomology and Ecology and former Dean of Natural Sciences at Hampshire College, Brian is a founding member of CISA.

Tim Smith Apex Orchards
President of Apex Orchards in Shelburne. Apex Orchards has been supplying the region with farm fresh produce since 1828, offering a selection of apples, peaches, pears, apricots and plums through pick your own and retail operations. Tim also operates The Shelburne Honey Company out of Apex Orchards, running approximately 100 hives each year.

Barry Steeves
Founder and former co-owner of La Cazuela in Northampton, Barry is committed to using local food ingredients wherever possible and purchases produce from the Western Mass. Food Bank Farm.

M.A. Swedlund
Currently serves on CISA's Public Issues & Education Committee. She also serves on the Town of Deerfield Energy Committee and is working with two 6th graders and a 5th grade teacher to start the Environmental Action Club at the Deerfield Elementary School. Her other community service work includes seven years on the Deerfield School Committee and as a board members for the Veterans Education Project and the Women's Fund of Western Mass.

Mike Wissemann Warner Farm
Owner of Warner Farm in Sunderland, home of the famous “Mike’s Maze”. Mike grows conventional and organic vegetables and fruits on approximately 110 acres of land that has been farmed since the early 1700s. Mike sells his produce wholesale to area markets and at his own farm stand. He serves on the Sunderland Agricultural Commission and is a selectman.