Year-Round Staff
Sam Arfer, Registrar
Sam has been with Farm & Wilderness since 1979, the year he first attended Timberlake. He was an F&W camper until 1983, and has been on staff since 1984, as a camp counselor, crew member, office staff member, and the cook at Saltash Mountain Camp. 2010 will be Sam's 21st year as SAM cook. Sam grew up in Hastings NY, attended Oakwood School, and has a BA from Marlboro College. He calls his upbringing 'quasi Quaker.' When not at F&W over the past decades, Sam worked as Customer Service Lead at REI, and a cook at the Putney Coop in Putney, Vermont. He is an avid gender-role-free Contra and English Country dancer, and also enjoys Vermont history and architecture.
Chantal Deojay, Farm Manager
Chantal was the F&W Farmer from 2001-06, and we're glad to have her back. She grew up in Putnam, CT, where she showed sheep professionally, raised two teams of oxen, and took vocational ag classes. She has a BA in Sustainable Agriculture from Sterling College. Before rejoining F&W she worked at Upwey Farm in South Woodstock as the Animal Health/Care Coordinator, and she is a NOFA-VT inspector. She runs Macora Farm in Woodstock, VT, with her partner Mike Hewitt and their daughters Mackenzie and Cora (as well as dogs Sawyer, Jake and Sadie, and Cassey the guinea pig).
Melanie Gander, Assistant Program Director
Melanie comes to us from Australia, where she received a BA in Economics and a BA in Asian Studies/ Japanese from Australian National University. Before coming to F&W, Melanie spent several years working in summer camp programs running archery and wilderness trips and seven years working at Kieve Affective Education's Leadership School, teaching experiential and adventure education to school students, teachers and school administrators. Melanie has tons of energy and a store of extraneous knowledge of 1980's pop-culture.
Jack Hunter, Volunteer Archivist
Jack and his wife Ruth founded Saltash Mountain Camp in 1961. Jack directed SAM until 1968, next directed TF for a year, and then was the first Executive Director of the Farm & Wilderness Foundation, from 1968-77. He also served on the Board of Trustees for many years. Jack grew up in Hasings, PA, attending Lycoming College, and then the Boston University School of Theology for a Masters in Divinity and a PhD in Social Ethics. He worked in Quaker schools for many years, as Chair of the Religion Department at Westtown, as Dean of Faculty at Oakwood Friends, and as Head of School at John Woolman. Jack and his wife Ruth have retired to their home in Woodstock, VT. Jack volunteers as F&W archivist, and also as a tutor in the Woodstock schools, and with the Woostock Historical Society Oral History Project. The Hunters' children and grandchildren have all been (or will be!) F&W campers and staff. We are incredibly lucky to have Jack with us in the office every week.
Marianne McGee, Bookkeeper
Marianne grew up in Long Island and attended SUNY at Farmingdale for her AA in Administration. Marianne has lived in Vermont for the past 21 years, working at Killington Training Center and Ski Club. She has a rich and varied worklife, including teaching and creating designer handbags. Marianne has been married 19 years and has a daughter, Anna Colleen.
Courtney Porter, Human Resources Manager
courtney@farmandwilderness.org
Courtney grew up in the Puget Sound area and attended Seattle University for a BA in Philosophy. She moved to Vermont from Seattle in the fall of 2008, and says she knew she wanted to be a part of F&W as soon as she saw Indian Brook campers circle up before lunch. Before joining us, Courtney worked as a Portfolio Adminstrator in the University of Washington Real Estate office, and as a contractor for Stewardship Special Projects at the Cascade Land Conservancy. Courtney and her husband Matt have a young son, Miles, who will be at the Barn Day Camp in 2012. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, snow shoeing, skiing, and back country camping.
Silos Roberts, Forester
Silos grew up in Vermont and graduated with a BS in Agriculture from the University of Massachusetts. Silos was a dairy farmer in VT for 20 years before coming to F&W as staff in 1992. He and his wife, Camille, worked together at F&W for many years as the farmer team, and his two kids, Cody and Molly, were long-time F&W campers. Silos’ interests include alternative energy, backcountry skiing, sustainable forestry, and trail work.
Kyle Watrous, Maintenance Coordinator
Kyle grew up in Niantic, CT, and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science from Southern Vermont College. He has extensive training in plumbing and mechanics. Kyle enjoys living in Vermont, where he can pursue all of his outdoor passions such as fishing, hunting, camping and skiing. Kyle has a son, Connor.
Peggy Whiteneck, Foundation Support Specialist
Peggy grew up on a farm in New Hampshire, and received her BA in English from the University of New Hampshire. She went on to The Catholic University of America, where she earned her MA in Liturgical Studies. She learned Spanish from living 12 years in Miami and later spent almost a year as a missionary in Ecuador. Peggy is a free-lance writer and owns her own business,"All Write, Already" (http://www.allwritealready.com/). Her poetry collection, From These Earthly Parts, was published in April 2009. She began at F&W in 2003 and has become indispensable as a writer, editor, database wizard, and all-around jill-of-all-trades. Peggy loves cats (and other animals) and has the most contagious laugh in the office.