Port Townsend Boiler Room: Board of Directors

Board of Directors

	Amy Smith, President “I became involved with the Boiler Room in the fall of 2000. I had been living in Seattle, and had become addicted to methamphetamines. I was directed to the Boiler Room as a safe haven, a place where I could have the space and support to clean up and sober up. Since then I have been clean, and feel the Boiler Room was instrumental in saving my life. I started volunteering in December 2000, served as coffeehouse intern in the spring of 2004, joined the Board of Directors in June 2004, and became secretary in September 2005. Continuing to work with the Boiler Room has given me an opportunity to share my story with others, and to be an example to youth that it is possible to turn your life around.”
	Terri Comstock, Vice President Boiler Room Treasurer from June 2006 to September 2008. Both of her children grew up around the Boiler Room. Has a Child Development Associate Degree from the University of Alaska Southeast. Worked with K-5 grades in the public school system in Juneau for 4 years and 1 year as Head Start classroom teacher. Has owned and managed several different retail businesses in Alaska and Washington. Was Bookkeeper/Office Manager for a two person privately owned Physical Therapy office for 4 years. Currently Office Coordinator for the Wellness department at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend.
	Mary Hilts, Development Committee Chair Mary chairs the Development Committee. Originally from Los Angeles, Mary moved to Port Townsend in 1980. She is a musician, artist, advocate for social justice, and grandmother of five. She graduated from Washington State University with a BA in Humanities. She works as Development Associate for Centrum, a non-profit Arts Education Foundation in Port Townsend. Mary assisted with the 2008 Boiler Room Auction fundraiser, and brings development and fundraising skills to the non-profit.
	Marty Gay, Treasurer Marty arrived in Port Townsend in 1993 from California to establish a better environment to raise his son Dakota. With his wife, Michelle Sandoval and Jan and Dave Garing, he is the owner of Windermere RE Port Townsend. Marty has also served in many leadership positions with other non-profits over the last 17 years including Swan School, Grant Street PTA, EDC of Jefferson County, and Team Jefferson. He has served in the role of treasurer for the EDC and Swan School. He is a former school teacher and writer who enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience.
	Julia Cochrane, Board Secretary Para-educator at Blue Heron Middle school for the past 12 years. Her home is the Willow Tree House – transitional housing for youth 14 to 24. She is a Founding Member of the Healthy Youth Coalition, an original Steering Committee member of East Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity, member of the Social Justice Committee of Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and a Homeless Shelter volunteer. Also a member of Peninsula Pride Alliance, and a board member of Jefferson AIDS Services.
	Bruce Marston Charter member of the Board (1995 to the present); active member of Jefferson Community Network Board (1999 to the present); active in Healthy Youth Coalition (2000 to present); active member of Outreach for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and program coordinator for the Sunday Soup ecumenical outreach program; various salmon projects including past leadership roles in Wild Olympic Salmon (1987-1997); Vietnam Veteran (1970-71) in US Army, Bronze Star medal; B.A. English from Randolph Macon College; honored as one of 6 recipients for the first annual “Heart of Service Award” ( 2006) by the Peninsula Daily News and Jefferson Rotary Clubs; member of Admiralty Audubon since 1984.
	Maitland Hardyman Raised in Southern California. BA and MA from University of Chicago, BFA Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. Artist and teacher for a number of years. Moved to Port Townsend in 1988. Member and holder of various offices in Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Long time member and Treasurer of QuimperArts, an arts cooperative offering life drawing sessions and workshops. Past president of local Amnesty International group. Trustee of Ormsby Hill Trust, actively working with underprivileged and underserved youth in Vermont, Connecticut, California, Mexico, and Washington State.
	Markus Koch Raised in southern Ontario Canada, surrounded by the Great Lakes, Markus developed an early interest in sailing that eventually led him to Port Townsend. He attended college on a scholarship at Boise State, majoring in education and arrived here in 1993 after a six year stint in the NFL as a defensive end and linebacker with the Washington Redskins. A keen interest in the arts as well as developmental social issues prompted Markus to become an anonymous supporter in the Boiler Room’s early days, then more recently a volunteer and eventually an active board member. His experience ranges from highly successful team working environments to the practical skills gained through long distance sailing voyages and he brings to the board a peaceful and realistic optimism for the nurturing of healthy creative experience and community for all.
	Jason Bishop Youth Representative Jason is one of our two youth representatives. He has been a volunteer since 2005, working closely with all managers at the Downtown location. In 2008-2009 he worked as the Programs Intern. He is a senior in the Mar Vista alternative high school program.
	Stephen Boruch Building Maintenance Committee Chair Board member of the Boiler Room since 1996. Professional shipwright since 1983 in both Alaska (1983-1991) and Port Townsend (1991-present) as well as having spent time as a commercial fisherman. For the past five years he has worked at the Jefferson General Hospital as a carpenter, cabinetmaker and engineer in the maintenance department. Studied English Literature from 1979-1983 at the State University of New York, as well as living and studying abroad for 18 months in England and France during that time.
	Annette Huenke A Port Townsend resident since 1992, Annette is co-owner of Ancestral Spirits Gallery, the Boiler Room’s neighbor on Water Street. The gallery is one of the premier indigenous art galleries in the United States, representing established and emerging artists from throughout North America (and even Siberia). Annette has also been involved in volunteer community affairs, on the board of directors of the Jefferson County Economic Development Council, as an active member of the Port Townsend Peace Movement, and most recently as a member of the hiring committee for the new general manager.
	Cory Ench Cory moved to Port Townsend in 1997 and has been on Board since 2001. Cory fundraises (i.e. Wall of Sound Music Fest 2001 and 2002, BR Auctions of 2005 and 2008, etc.) and helps take care of the building. An award-winning artist and illustrator whose work has been exhibited in galleries, commissioned by the National Park Service and Native American Tribes; he has created cover art for fantasy and science fiction books and magazines, posters for festivals such as Burning Man and Oregon Country Fair, etc. Education: BFA in painting and sculpture, Cornish Institute of the Arts, Seattle; Human Anatomy studies, University of Washington Health Sciences. Cory has taught painting and drawing at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, and served as Art Docent for the Sequim Schools.
	Catska Ench Catska depended on the Boiler Room when she was a teenager in the mid-nineties, and credits it with playing a major role in her development as an artist by providing a safe place to do creative work. A Board Member since 2001, she is a co-producer of the 2005 Fine Art Auction (Boiler Room Fundraiser), 2008 Auction/Concert fundraiser, and other similar fundraising events. For the last 9 years she has worked as a professional illustrator on projects such as cover art for Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, posters for Burning Man, Oregon Country Fair, etc. Other clients include Port Townsend Rotary, Sequim Museum, Elwha S’Klallam Tribe, Port Townsend Farmers Market, and more.
	Echo Aronica Youth Representative …im Echo Aronica, a 22 year old who has been going to the boiler room since i was 10. the boiler room was a second home to me, and now that i am a parent myself, i hope to help maintain the boiler room as somewhere kids for many generations will be able to safely hang out.
	Becky Shipley Becky has been volunteering at the Boiler Room since 1997. She was a coffeehouse intern for the Boiler Room while the Boiler Room was still at the Uptown location. Graduating in 1999 from Chimacum High school with a year of college under her belt, she took some super-fabulous working vacations to Alaska and California before deciding to come back to Port Townsend. After that, Becky was the general manager of the Boiler Room during the transition to the downtown space and was nominated for Port Townsend Business Leader of the Year in 2006 for her involvement with the Boiler Room. She enjoys animals, being outside, swimming, camping, hanging out with her friends’ kids, volunteering for the “Read to Rover” program at Grant street school and doing a weekly volunteer shift at the Boiler Room. She is currently a full time student at Peninsula College and an employee of Dog Townsend and Waterfront Pizza, both located in Port Townsend.