Courtney DeBisschop, 1st Vice President
email@emailaddress.com
Jenny Phelps, Secretary
Jenny grew up outside Chicago and San Francisco but has never felt more at home than in Vermont. Her love of Vermont started while attending Middlebury College and has only strengthened since moving back to Weybridge with her husband, Bryan, in 2009. Bryan grew up in Middlebury and a highlight of his childhood summers was his annual family vacations on Lake Dunmore. Since 2012, Jenny and Bryan have spent every summer at their family property on Kelsey Lane. Their 2 daughters, Andie and Haven, have learned to swim, fish, kayak, tube, and waterski on Lake Dunmore. Their fishing dock has falsely led dozens of kids to believe that you are guaranteed to catch a fish within 5 seconds.
Jenny has been in technology sales for the last 16 years. For the last 4 years, she has worked for Cisco Systems as an Account Manager covering Vermont and Western MA. She co-founded The Midd Summer Festival in 2011 which drew over 1,700 attendees its inaugural year and generated nearly $14,000 for local non-profits. She loves travel, cooking, camping, hosting parties, and coaching her girls' soccer teams.
She is excited to join the LDFLA and help support their important work protecting and preserving Lake Dunmore and Fern Lake so that one day her grandchildren can learn to swim and fish here as well.
Julie Whittemore
Julie is a native Vermonter who grew up on a 400 acre dairy farm in Shoreham. She and her husband Pete Whittemore of 35 years raised their 3 daughters right next to the family farm. While raising the girls, she was a passionate Silversmith. She participated in various juried craft fairs all over the tri-state area. In 1997, she and her husband started a CNC Machine Shop located in New Haven, VT. The business has seen great success and expansion and is now preparing for the next generation to take over.
After selling her family’s camp of 40 years on Lake Hortonia and the family’s long time home in Shoreham they purchased property on Quiet Lane in 2013 where they built their year round home.
Julie enjoys spending her time with the grandkids fishing, boating, hiking and making lifelong memories on the lake. She also enjoys golfing kayaking, and spending time with family and friends. She looks forward to sharing with her kids and grandkids all the activities the lake has to offer and the importance for caring for it.
Trustees
Deb Lowe
Deborah Lowe is a certified Orthotist and Prosthetist, and a co-owner of Bio-Medic Appliances, Inc, which provides custom artificial limbs and orthopedic braces for people of all ages. The company has offices in Essex Junction and Rutland, and specializes in devices for children with physical and developmental disabilities. She and her husband live in Richmond, VT, and own a camp on Dunmore Cove. You can see her on the lake most weekends, pedaling around in her yellow Hobie kayak.
David Johnson, 2nd Vice President
David and his wife Jane have spent the last four summers at Lake Dunmore on Mountainview Drive. Dave works for Princeton University at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. A PhD physicist, he is currently working on the ITER fusion research facility, under construction in southern France. He specializes in the development of diagnostic instrumentation used to characterize the magnetically confined plasma. He expects to retire in the next year. He and his wife enjoy the hiking, biking, skiing, kayaking, and sailing opportunities at and around the lake, and want to preserve this wonderful resource. Dave serves on the invasive species committee, and is currently involved in mapping the lake bottom in order to track the weed growth, with the hopes of using this technology to help mitigate the milfoil threat.
Sandi Everitt
Over 20 years ago, Sandi Everitt discovered the joys of Lake Dunmore. In 1998 Sandi and her husband, John, and their three children became summer residents at the lake on Sunset Point off Indian Trail. Their family, now including spouses, and most importantly six grandchildren, continue to enjoy the many activities lake life offers. Sandi ran for a position on the LDFL Board so she can support the important work of the Board to keep the lakes vibrant and active for families in the years to come. Sandi is a retired Vermont Attorney. She started her legal career with a firm in Middlebury and then became Deputy States Attorney for Addison County. She joined the Vermont Attorney General’s Office as Director of the Civil Rights Unit and also served as Director of the Consumer Assistance Program before retiring. Sandi and John currently spend their winters in Florida and their summers on the lake. Over the years, Sandi has assisted with different lake initiatives and currently is assisting with the member database. Sandi loves kayaking and fishing and as a Board member she will strive to encourage and maintain these important activities on the lake.
Chip Paison
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as a Trustee of the LDFLA board.
I am a native Coloradan who moved to Vermont 23 years ago. I graduated from the University of Arizona in 1986 and moved soon after to Nevada and then to Vermont in 1992 to work for Omya Inc. During my time at Omya, I worked in many different capacities gaining knowledge about a variety of industries and traveling extensively throughout the world. During my time here, I’ve gained a growing understanding of what being a Vermonter and active community member is about. I have served the community on the Stafford Tech Regional advisory board, as volunteer for Pittsford Food shelf and Community Cupboard, and as a volunteer for many Gift of Life Marathon blood drives (helping to set national records)! I was also and active member of the Lakes Alive campaign and co-chaired the advanced giving.
My wife, Joan Gamble, and I bought a lake Dunmore property in 2005 to have a place to enhance our love of water activities including swimming, sailing, kayaking and water skiing. We immediately became association members and managed to have a boat sink within the first month (leaky bellows). Both of us have grown to love our close relationships with neighbors on the lake, especially now that we’ve retired from our corporate jobs.
Jay Michael, Treasurer
He is a graduate of the College of Wooster in Ohio (class of 1963) and the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania. (1965). Most of his career was with IBM including roles as: a programmer in Gaithersburg, MD; a salesman in a Philadelphia PA branch office; various management positions, including international marketing and product management in the Westchester County NY area; and a business development manager for IBM Global Network
Prior to life at the Lake Dunmore he lived in Wilton (and Redding) CT. He still serves as the treasurer of Ogden House, a HUD Section 8 low income housing unit in the area and is on the Board of the Gunar Johnson Fund, a small charitable foundation in CT.
His love affair with the Lake began with a chance visit and vacation in 1972 with Anna and 2 sons (then ages 3 & 6). The attachment grew with the purchase of property (now called 231 Lakeview Drive) in 1975. In 2006 the commitment grew substantially with the demolition of the old camp and construction of a new year-round home from Connor Homes of Middlebury. Today the lake is home year round in all senses of the word.
He served on the LDFLA Board of Trustees since the fall of 2009 to 2015 in the capacity of Treasurer. During this time he identified the need for substantially increased funds to meet future needs. This led to the Lakes Alive – Now & Forever capital campaign where he serves as the Campaign Director
He and Anna are now full time Lake Dunmore Vermonters and loving it. He enjoys woodworking, golf, pickleball, skiing and the grandkids with varying degrees of skill.
Jeff Benton
The Benton family has owned a home on Lake Dunmore since 1998. We rented on the lake annually before that since 1979. Wendy is third generation on the lake as her grandparents rented here annually since her late mother was a child. Wendy’s father and cousin also own property on the lake. Jeff has served on the LDFLA Investment committee since its inception. He also serves on the Finance and Planning Committee of Neshobe Golf Club. Jeff is a co-founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Strategist of Fairfield Advisors. Fairfield is a hedge fund focused on volatility trading strategies. Prior to forming Fairfield, Jeff enjoyed a 25 year career as a member of the New York Stock Exchange, serving on many committees, including 4 years as a member of the Board of Governors of the Exchange. Jeff was also COO of RPM Specialist Corp and COO of Kellogg Specialist Corp. He is a former member of the NYSE, New York Futures Exchange, the New York Options Exchange, and owned an options market-making firm on the CBOE. Jeff received a BA in Business Administration from Bucknell University.
Sean Sweeney
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as trustee of the LDFL board.
My family first came to lake dunmore in 1947 when my father was part of a group of Philadelphians who started a summer sports camp called Camp Brebeauf. My first year attending the camp was in 1964 and that’s when my family first bought a property on lake Dumore . Our family currently has 2 year round properties on the lake. My wife Caroline and three daughters enjoy all water activities including water-skiing, sailing,SUP, and kayaking. We have participated in the Vermont sun triathlon for 25 years in a row with the hopes of someday getting in Jeff schumann’s league!
A former CEO of Philadephia Insurance Companies -spent 40 plus years in the commercial property casualty insurance industry- hold MBA from Saint Joseph’s University and have been a member of the LDFL water quality committee for the last 2 years.
Doug Perkins
Doug is a fourth generation Vermonter who graduated from Burlington High School many moons ago. After getting his BA from Dartmouth College, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard, where he spent 22 years as a surface operations officer in assignments around the world. Along the way, he qualified as a ship salvage diving officer, obtained a private pilot's license with instrument and multi-engine ratings, was awarded a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Northeastern University, and rose to the rank of Commander. After retiring from the Coast Guard in the mid-90's, Doug worked for 15 years as a project manager and program analyst for a succession of consulting firms in the Washington, DC area. When the siren call of Vermont simply became too overwhelming, Doug left the DC rat race behind... buying vacant property on Fern Lake where he and Chree, his wife of nearly 50 years, spent eight years designing and building their retirement dream home. The Perkins have been year-round residents since 2016 ... and hopefully for many decades to come
Jackie Sullivan
A lifelong Vermonter, Jackie resides in Middlebury with her husband Tom where they raised their two sons Sean and Keegan. She grew up in Middlebury and has lived there all but 6 years while attending Champlain College and then serving in the US Air Force. She has worked for the Town of Middlebury for nearly 20 years, serving as Town Treasurer and Accounting Services Manager. She has served on both the Henry Sheldon Museum and MHS/MUHS Alumni Boards.
Having grown up on Dunmore and spent her teen years working on the Lake, it has long been a desire to purchase a camp on the water. In 2019 she and her husband purchased a camp they someday hope to renovate into their year round home, enjoying all Vermont has to offer.
