The Lakeside Association Board of Directors are dedicated volunteers, prominent business and professional leaders, friends and clergy who are willing to commit their time, resources and talent and bring a wealth of experience to the Board. According to Board Bylaws (effective April 1, 2023), the goal is to develop a diverse and representative Board with the skill sets needed to support the mission and vision of Lakeside.
There are currently 21 members, including three ex officio members. Ex officio members include the Pastor of the Lakeside United Methodist Church, the Lakeside Foundation Board President and the Lakeside Property Owners Association President. The full Board meets quarterly, and members maintain connection throughout the year during committee meetings. The elected directors can serve two consecutive three-year terms.
Board members have a fiduciary responsibility to guide the organization toward a sustainable future. The Board adopts sound governance and financial management policies and makes sure there are adequate resources to advance the Lakeside mission.
Lakeside Board Updates & News:
Short- & Long-Term Strategic Priorities (approved 2021)
- Restore the safe use of the lakefront facilities.
- Support annual operations, facility maintenance, and capital expenditures with financial and fundraising plans.
- Grow the customer base with a multi-year marketing plan.
- Improve the guest experience through upgraded digital technology.
- Engage future generations of Lakesiders via enhanced intergenerational self-discovery programs.
- Create a clear set of historic preservation standards and processes.
- Celebrate the rich cultural, historic, and religious heritage of Lakeside Chautauqua through a season-long celebration of our 150th Anniversary in 2023.
- Improve the entry experience and safe flow of traffic.
- Prevent the further erosion of the shoreline and expand lakefront facilities and recreational programming.
- Upgrade and expand guest housing facilities.
- Develop and implement an asset management plan prioritizing upgrades of existing facilities and infrastructure.
- Expand upon Lakeside’s traditional summer season.
- Identify growth opportunities that support Lakeside’s mission and vision.
Board Membership & Committees Charters
To apply for Board membership, download a Board Application and return to: Lakeside Chautauqua, Attention: Board of Directors, 236 Walnut Avenue, Lakeside, Ohio 43440.
Committee Charters:
Meet the Board
Jane E. Anderson
Chair
Jane E. Anderson, Chair — (Medina, OH) joined the Board in 2019. She is serving as Board Chair after leading the Nominating and Board Development Committee for two years and serving on the Strategic Planning Committee. She graduated from Miami University with a B.S. in Education and a B.A. in Zoology and earned her M.S in Education from the University of Akron. She co-chaired a successful Medina City Schools $72.4M bond issue campaign and has served on The Trust for Public Land Ohio Advisory Board, as an Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener, as Chair of the Medina Community Recreation Center Advisory Committee, and as an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist. Jane and her husband, Steve, first visited Lakeside in 1984 and purchased a cottage in 2015. They have three grown children and three grandchildren.
Jane Higgins Marx
Vice Chair
Jane Higgins Marx, Vice Chair — (Upper Arlington, OH) joined the Board of Directors in May 2020. She is vice-chair of the Board, chairs the Municipal Services Committee and serves on the Nominating Committee. She became Managing Partner of the law firm Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP in February of 2021. Jane has spent all 21 years of her legal career at the same firm building her trusts and estates practice. Jane is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and active in the Ohio State Bar Association. In the greater Columbus community, Jane is chair of the Franklin County Guardianship Service Board and member of the board of directors for the Legal Aid Society of Columbus. Jane was born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio. She earned her B.A. degree in Economics and English Literature from Denison University. She received her J.D. degree from The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. Jane is married to Jeff Marx, a finance executive at Hexion, Inc. Jane is a lifetime Lakesider and introduced Jeff to Lakeside over twenty years ago. Their sons, Nathan, grade five, and Adam, grade three, are fifth generation Lakesiders. Their family cottage is located on Lynn Avenue and has been in Jane’s family for over one hundred years. When Jane is not practicing law, she can be found coaching cross country and basketball, fundraising for St. Agatha School and sharing her love of cooking, baking and tinkering in the yard with friends and family.
Todd C. Fowler
Treasurer
Todd C. Fowler, Treasurer — (Brecksville, OH): Todd is a father, son, partner, brother and uncle. His job as a Managing Director at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland keeps him from reading at his favorite bench in Perry Park and and from finishing the never ending list of projects at the family cottage, Royal Times.
Rev. Rachel B. Miller
Secretary
Rev. Rachel B. Miller, Secretary – Rachel joined the board in 2021. She and her husband Dennis are both ordained clergy in the West Ohio Conference. Rachel is a native of Danville, Kentucky where she attended the University of Kentucky and earned degrees in Music Education as a flute major and Business Administration. She and Dennis met and married while attending Asbury Theological Seminary. She has served for the last 15 years as the VP of Business Development and Commercial Lending at Christian Family Credit Union (formerly United Methodist Financial Credit Union). She currently serves as the chairperson for the West Ohio Division of Deacons, is a member of the West Ohio Board of Ministry Executive Team and is a delegate for the upcoming General and Jurisdictional Conferences serving as secretary for the delegation. Rachel and Dennis have been coming to Lakeside for 27 years and hope to one day own a cottage.
Jeffrey C. Beach
Assistant Treasurer
Jeffrey C. Beach, Assistant Treasurer — (Fort Thomas, KY) joined the board in 2021 after being elected as President of the Lakeside Property Owners Association (LPOA) Executive Committee. Jeff was appointed to the LPOA Executive Committee in 2016, officially elected in 2018 and elected to serve as President in 2021. He has been employed by Visa for 18 years, currently serving as Vice President, Emerging Markets. Jeff also serves on his local school board, having been elected five times and is currently in his 17th year (and final term). He graduated from Murray State University with a B.S. in Marketing and earned his MBA from Xavier University. Jeff’s wife, Diane, introduced him to Lakeside as she had visited since she was a child. After vacationing together at various Lakeside rentals for 20 years, Jeff and Diane purchased a cottage in 2013. They have three daughters: Mallory (20), Natalie (18) and Sydney (15).
Elizabeth Erwin
Elizabeth Erwin (Columbus, OH) and her family visited Lakeside and decided they would like to own there on that first visit, as they fell in love with it immediately. Shortly afterwards, she (and her husband Patrick Kasson) purchased a cottage and began a renovation. They enjoy Lakeside with their three daughters, Lilly (13), Annabelle (11) and Violet (9).
Elizabeth grew up in Columbus. She graduated from Miami University with a BA in both Microbiology and Economics. She attended the University of Cincinnati Medical School. And after graduation she completed a residency in Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in Columbus. She then had a fellowship in Allergy and Immunology, at the University of Virginia. Since 2005, she has been an Allergy/Immunology specialist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. During that time, she has received numerous grants for her research, which currently focuses on pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis.
Elizabeth also serves on her daughters’ school PTO. She is active in her parish, running many fundraising and other events. In her free time, Elizabeth focuses on time with her family. Her children are active in many sports. Elizabeth and her family enjoy traveling, and they spend most summer weekends at Lakeside.
Jack Allen
Jack Allen is a graduate of Ashland University and the Ohio State University College of Law. Professionally, Jack was a partner in the firm of Mitchell, Allen Catalano and Boda, with offices in Columbus and Mansfield, Ohio. After 33 years in private practice, Jack accepted an appointment as a U.S. Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration in 2008. Jack served in that position in Columbus initially. In 2012, He was appointed Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge for SSA, serving in Falls Church, VA. There, he worked on national disability policy issues for SSA and with the Chief Judge, provided oversight for hearing offices across the country. After retirement from his judicial position, Jack and Pam returned to Lakeside and became full time residents in 2018. Jack and his wife, Pam have been Lakeside property owners since 1985. Their two daughters grew up enjoying many Lakeside summers and they have now shared their love of lakeside with Jack and Pam’s five grandchildren.
Greg Buehler
Greg Buehler — (Wooster, OH) joined the board in 2021. He serves on the Guest Experience and Enterprise Committees. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.A. in Communication. He served as a Trustee for several years at Wooster United Methodist Church and The United Way of Wayne and Holmes County and is currently serving on the board of The Wayne Insurance Group. He has seventeen plus years in food service management and additional seventeen plus years in Human Resources and Training & Development with E&H Family Group. Currently he continues to be involved with the Buehler Family business (E&H Family Group) as an owner and board member. He recalls fond memories visiting Lakeside as a child, teenager and college student with his grandmother, parents, aunt & uncle and his House Mother while at BGSU, Mom Douglas. Greg and his spouse, Darby, purchased a cottage in Lakeside in 2017. They have two grown children and one grandchild.
Cindy Mahl
Cindy Mahl — (Lakeside, OH) has been on the Board for three years. She is a CPA and spent her career in banking, most recently as Chief Financial Officer at Westfield Bank. Prior to that, she was a founding officer and CFO of Western Reserve Bank in Medina, Ohio. Cindy has previously served on several nonprofit boards, including United Way of Medina County and Alternative Paths (a behavioral health agency). She is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University and Leadership Medina County. She and her husband, Tim, moved from Avon to Lakeside full time in 2018. You can often spot them walking their Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Mollie and Grace.
Kay Panovec
Kay Panovec — (Columbus, OH) joined the Board of Directors in January 2023. She is the Director of Communications for the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, where she has a very active role. She provided more than $120,000 in grants to local churches within the conference, produced videos and podcasts, maintained positive media relations, and designed and implemented crisis communication plans. She also has extensive experience in magazine editing and writing, event planning, website design and management. She won the Religion Communicators Council Interfaith Association Best of Class Audio/Video Production and the Platinum Aurora Award for “A Killer in the Dark,” a documentary about malaria awareness. She has also earned several awards for website design. Kay is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and United Methodist Association of Communicators. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in business administration from the University of Mount Union. Kay spends at least two weeks in Lakeside each summer, enjoying time with her husband, Ron, and family. Her favorite activities are walking the grounds, Hoover Auditorium programming, shuffleboard, mini golf and relaxing.
Rev. Karen Burtner Graham
Rev. Karen Burtner Graham — (Lakeside, OH) joined the board in 2018 when she was became pastor of the Lakeside United Methodist Church. She is currently the chairperson of the Board’s Hospitality and Guest Experience Committee as well as a member of the Religious Life Advisory Task Group. She also served on the Four Pillars Strategic Planning Committee. She led Lakeside Chautauqua’s Thursday Vespers the last three summers. Karen graduated from Earlham College (Richmond, IN) with a B.A. in Religious Studies, and received her Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School (Nashville, TN). Lakeside UMC is her sixth pastoral appointment since she began full-time ministry in 1984. She is a member of the 2019 class of Leadership Ottawa County, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Portage Resale Center in Port Clinton. She has 3 adult children and 4 young grandchildren.
Jim Hackbarth
Jim Hackbarth – (Columbus, OH) joins the board in May 2022. He has extensive executive management experience across several industries including technology, executive recruiting, insurance. He most recently retired after 18 years as CEO of Assurex Global, the world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage group with over 100 offices around the globe. He has served on several profit and non-profit boards and continues to be very active serving as a board member to technology firms and an advisor to investment bankers / venture capital funds. He is passionate about leadership development and helping organizations execute their business plans while being socially responsible. He has both a BSBA and MBA from The Ohio State University. Jim, his wife Susan and four adult children and four young grandchildren have made Lakeside a part of their lives for the past 30 years. They purchased a cottage on Oak St in 2010 and due to their growing family purchased an additional home outside the west Second St. gates in 2019.
Paul Hubbard
Paul R. Hubbard, Foundation Chair – (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) – joined the Lakeside Foundation Board in 2020. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Accounting and Finance. He was the Founder and CO-CEO of Plum Healthcare Group, a rehabilitative, high acuity skilled nursing facility operator serving the elderly in the western United States. He was a founding member of the Callaway Sharp Institute; a management consulting firm serving integrated healthcare systems across the United States, and was a senior auditor and CPA with KPMG Peat Marwick. He has previously served on the Boards of Baybridge Capital Partners, LLC, and the California Association of Healthcare Facilities. He is currently on the Board of Encore Capital Ventures, and is one of the principle owners of Saucy Brew Works, a Cleveland based brewery enterprise. Paul and his wife Christine started coming to Lakeside in 2000 and purchased a cottage in 2008. They have three children, Riley, Meryl and Piper, who are fifth generation Lakesiders.
Robert H. Huntington
Robert H. Huntington — (Tiffin, OH) joined the Board of Directors in April 2020. He serves on the Governance Committee. He became president of Heidelberg University in 2009. Prior to his appointment, Rob worked in the corporate sector, including 22 years in executive management at Dunkin’ Brands Inc. in Boston. He also served on the Lasell College Board of Trustees for 11 years. In the Tiffin community, Rob is an active trustee on the boards of the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership, the Tiffin Community Foundation, and the East Green Foundation. Rob was born in Minnesota and raised in Oregon. He earned his B.A. degree in Political Science and German from Middlebury College. He received his M.A. degree in German literature from Middlebury’s University of Mainz program in Germany, his M.B.A. degree from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and his Ed.D. degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Rob is married to Susan McCafferty, an attorney and clinical psychologist. They got engaged at a great Who concert in Toronto many years ago. After several hotel and rental experiences, they purchased their Lakeside cottage in 2012. Their daughter Ashley has finished graduate school in England and their son Aidan attends college in Pennsylvania.
Rev. Scott Low
Scott Low – (Tallmadge, OH) joined the board in 2022. He loves Lakeside and has vacationed in Lakeside all but one year of his life. He met his wife, Kay (Althouse), in 1985 in Lakeside where she worked with children and youth recreation during her college summers. He proposed to her on the dock in April 1988. As an avid cyclist, Scott has ridden in both “Lakeside 120” rides (120 miles from Delaware to Lakeside). Winters include downhill and cross-country skiing. He’s also a big OSU Buckeyes fan. Kay (Althouse) is a teacher at the LeBron James I Promise School in Akron. They have three grown and married children. Scott has been in full-time ministry since 1994, and pastor at Tallmadge United Methodist Church since 2016, after having served in Solon, Cambridge, and Wooster. He holds degrees from Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MDiv.) and Ohio Northern University (BSBA).
Greg Moore
Greg Moore (Upper Arlington, OH) joined the Board in 2020 and serves on the Municipal Services and Audit Committees. He is a lifelong Lakeside fan and married his wife Barbie (Luebcke), a Lakeside native, in the Steele Memorial Bandstand. Their three wonderful daughters are also Lakeside faithfuls, the eldest of whom was also married at the Steele Memorial Bandstand. Greg’s business experience spans information technology, communications and manufacturing with a focus on growing, funding and leading businesses from start-ups to billion-dollar companies. He serves on several corporate & non-profit boards of directors, church councils/committees, and served on an advisor panel to the US government on accelerated destruction of our chemical weapons. Greg is an electrical engineering graduate of The Ohio State University and earned his MBA from Washington University (St. Louis). He and Barbie enjoy spending time with their family at Lakeside and actively supporting several church and charitable organizations.
Gwen Swigart Nichols
Gwen Swigart Nichols from Westerville, OH, is President and CEO of Nichols & Company, CPAs. The firm coaches growing businesses and families through tax and accounting challenges from compliance to strategic tax planning. Gwen has held active roles in the Westerville Chamber of Commerce, Church of the Messiah United Methodist, Westerville Rotary Club, AAUW, Sigma Alpha Tau Alumnae Chapter, Calusa Club Cooperative Treasurer (Naples, FL). Raised in New Philadelphia, Ohio, Gwen fell in love with Lakeside on her first visit in 1986 as a member of Youth Musicale, a music ministry of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is a 1993 graduate of Otterbein College where she met her husband Brian and quickly identified a shared love of Lakeside. As a child, Brian visited regularly with his family including his grandfather, a United Methodist minister. Their dream to purchase a cottage was realized in 2011. Their children, Carson and Mabry, have savored summers living and working in Lakeside. Their first cottage is now a rental shared with many families during the summer months and home base at Lakeside is in what was once a bicycle shop. The entire family enjoys the Lakeside atmosphere and sharing worship, fellowship, and recreation with frequent guests.
Michael Angelo Peterson
Michael Angelo Peterson is a graduate of Youngstown State University, and Wharton Business School Executive Leadership Program. He is currently the Managing Partner for a global background screening and risk management company, The Orsus Group, and an HR consulting firm, Cello HR. Mike is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Youngstown State University and has served on several federal, state, and local boards and committees. Mike is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and is heavily involved with sports in his community, including coaching the girls varsity lacrosse program at Jackson High School. Mike and his family Julie, Ava, and Estelle have been coming to Lakeside for the past 15 years. They currently reside in Jackson Twp., Massillon, Ohio.
Rev. Douglas Winner
Douglas Winner — Currently living in Jefferson Ohio where he serves as pastor for Jefferson United Methodist Church. He first came to Lakeside with his wife and three children 38 years ago as a lay member of the East Ohio United Methodist Annual Conference. He and the family which now includes five grandchildren have been coming every year since then. Doug joined the Lakeside Board in the spring of 2021 and serves on the Board’s Nominating Committee and Religious Life Advisory Team. He formally served as chairperson of the Religious Life Advisory Team for several years while serving as pastor at Sandusky Trinity UMC. Doug also led Thursday evening vespers at Lakeside for three summers. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the East Ohio Conference Board of Ministry. Prior to becoming a United Methodist pastor 27 years ago, he was a public education teacher, coach, middle school principal, and Ohio University adjunct education professor. He graduated from Iowa Wesleyan University with a BA degree in education and earned an M.S. degree in Education Administration from the University of Dayton. He completed ministry course work at Methodist Theological School of Ohio in Delaware, Ohio. Doug has served on numerous boards in various communities and counties which includes: Muskingum County Children Services Board, Starfish Project Board, Huron County Library Board, Abigail Pregnancy Center Board, New Concord Board of Trade, and president of the Ohio Association for Pupil Transportation and the East Ohio Fellowship of Local Pastors and Associate Members