Our Staff
Katy Burchett
Historic Harrisville archives
Katy Burchett has lived in Harrisville since 2006. She and her husband live in a cabin on Chesham Pond where they like to tromp through the woods with their puppy and watch the birds come and go. Katy worked for over thirty years as a social worker with non-profits in Seattle, Washington and in New Hampshire before taking the position working in the Archives of Historic Harrisville in 2022. She is enjoying learning more about the Archives and getting to know the warm and interesting group of people working for and volunteering with Historic Harrisville.
LAURA CARDEN
General Store Manager
Raised in Eugene, Oregon and New York City, Laura graduated with a Bachelors from Hunter College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University before moving to New Hampshire. She has a son, Henry, who is a freshman at Conval and her husband, Walter, is a motorcycle designer with a workshop at the Mill. Laura is also an actor, film director, and member of the Firelight Theatre Workshop in Peterborough. She previously managed the store from 2009 to 2015 before returning in 2022.
Rebecca Defusco
Property Manager
A resident of Harrisville for 28 years, Rebecca Defusco has a background in secondary education with a focus on history and political science. Her compassion and experience with teenagers, customer service, and sales gives her an advantage when assisting HHI’s tenants and managing properties. She is unflappable when thrown into the realm of clogged sinks, power outages, and waiting for the phone company to finally show up. When she is not waiting for fiber to be installed, she can be found roaming the hills of Harrisville with her trusty dog, Ducky.
John Knight
Executive Director
John grew up in Greenfield, NH and has lived in Harrisville since 2019. He is a writer and editor who has been involved with HHI since 2020 and became Executive Director in 2024. He is a graduate of Colorado College, holds a PhD in comparative literature, and serves on the Harrisville School Board. John lives in Chesham with his wife and two children.
Fred O’Connor
Project manager
Fred has had over 40 years of experience in interior and exterior painting, wall treatments, and trim work. While he specializes in historic structures, his experience also residential housing, commercial buildings, industrial and production facilities, and museums. From 1993-2003 Fred was a paint and wall-covering specialist for the Society for the Preservation of New Antiquities. His expertise includes custom color mixing and ornamental painting. He has worked for Historic Harrisville since 2002.
Our Board of Trustees
Deborah Abbott
Deborah has lived in Harrisville for 48 years, enjoying several careers including farmer, fabric designer, educator, and now beekeeper. She served on the Harrisville Conservation Committee for 18 years, participated in both Harrisville's Future Searches, and is currently on the board of directors of the Harrisville Community Fund. She is the managing editor of Harrisville's newsletter, Common Threads.
Michelle Aldredge
Michelle is a graphic designer who runs Gwarlingo Studio, located in the Sorting and Picker House in Harrisville. She is also a writer, and the founder of the online arts blog Gwarlingo. In 1999 she traded the sprawl and traffic of Atlanta, Georgia, for a rural life in New Hampshire, where she cared for injured hawks, owls, and eagles at a raptor rehab center and assisted artists at MacDowell, the nation’s oldest artist retreat. Currently she and her business partner, Corwin Levi, help individuals and businesses with branding, print, and web design from Gwarlingo Studio. A love of old photos, books. ephemera, architecture, history, as well as a passion for sustaining quality of life and affordable housing motivated her to join the HHI board. She currently serves as Board Chair, Chair of the Communications Committee, and assists HHI with its archive, website, and newsletters.
Peter Allen
Peter is a retired professor who lives in Providence, Rhode Island where he taught anthropology at Rhode Island College for 42 years. His family has owned a cottage on Silver Lake since 1931 and he has been coming to the area for his entire life. He has been on the board and Executive Committee of HHI for 25 years and has served on many of its committees. He currently chairs the Development Committee. In addition to his membership on the HHI board, Peter serves on the boards of nine other non-profit organizations.
Lisa Anderson
Lisa moved to Harrisville in her mid-20s and has been involved with many local groups and organizations as her children grew up. As an occupational therapist of over 20 years, she worked in local schools and healthcare facilities developing a private practice with an emphasis in helping clients throughout the state remain at home through wheelchair seating and home modifications. Lisa facilitated the creation of a Girl Scout troop in Harrisville with a focus on being pertinent to the girls' interests, explorations, and service to others. Lisa enjoys being outdoors and treasures the time spent swimming in local lakes. Lisa has been co-chair of the Harrisville Planning Board (2018) and volunteers with HHI to facilitate successful communication on topics of mutual interest.
Laurie Appel
Laurie Appel and her husband Ken live in Chesham where Laurie gardens passionately, renovating and restoring the gardens that have been on the property for 100 years. She currently serves as Vice Chair for the Board of Trustees.
Kathy Bollerud
Kathy is a retired psychologist who specialized in leadership development. A former Chair of HHI, she serves on the Governance and Events Committees and led the development of our Strategic Plan. Kathy is on the board of the Himalayan Education Foundation and founded Himalayan Naari, a self-help project for women in the remote mountain villages in India. Kathy lives in Harrisville with her husband, Ray.
Cathy Buffum
Cathy lives on the back of Harrisville Pond. She worked for Kingsbury Corp. for 47 years in different roles. Cathy loves living in Harrisville and takes interest in hearing about the past and enjoys helping to plan for the community’s future. She has served on many committees, and is currently most active in planning events and coordinating volunteers to make sure attendees are always well fed.
Russ Cobb
Russ lives in Harrisville with his wife, Brett, and their two cats, Olive, and Arthur. Moving to town in 2001, Russ has worked as a web developer in the Marketing department at Keene State College since 2007. Having a strong interest in environmental conservation and historical preservation, Russ is excited to join the HHI board. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, traveling, playing squash, and seeing live music.
John J. (Chick) Colony III
Chick grew up in Harrisville and has lived here his whole, long life except for six years away at school and college and three years serving in the US Coast Guard in New Orleans. He has been involved in Historic Harrisville since its inception in 1971 and is active on the Executive Committee. Chick founded Harrisville Designs to try to sustain the textile industry in Harrisville and to offer employment to those who live here. He was the first chairman of Inherit New Hampshire, a statewide preservation organization that grew into the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and is a board member of the state’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), which makes annual, tax-funded investments in conservation and preservation projects throughout the state.
Nick Colony
Nick is the Managing Director of Harrisville Designs and has been working for his family company for nearly 12 years. He lives in town in the Bethuel Harris house, a house he grew up in, and has been on the Board of Trustees of HHI for over a decade.
Doug Gline
Doug lives on Childs Bog and is a semi-retired HVAC design consultant. He is presently Chair of the Building Operation/Energy Committee for Historic Harrisville. Doug took the lead position in the design, selection, and installation of the hydroelectric turbine generator which provides a renewable energy source of electrical power to the Cheshire Mill complex.
Colin Kennard
Colin grew up in Harrisville where his family has owned property for over 100 years. He currently lives part-time in Chesham where he co-owns and operates his family’s agricultural business Wellscroft Fence Systems, which employs local residents. In addition, he helps run Wellscroft Farm, one of Harrisville’s few working farms, providing residents with lamb, pork, eggs, hay, and other products and services. Colin serves on the boards of the Silver Lake Land Trust as well as HHI and volunteers with the Harrisville Trails Committee when time allows.
Bryanne Kingsbury
Bry lives in Harrisville village with her husband and two daughters. She also works in Harrisville, managing the business operations for Harrisville Designs. Her affection for small town life is balanced equally by a love of travel the and the great outdoors. She serves on the Executive Committee as the Board Chair as well as on the Governance, Store, Safety, and Events Committees
Jennifer Kramer
Jen lives in Chesham with her husband David in an 18th century cape that was once part of historic Pottersville. She has been an educator in southern Vermont for many years, connecting students and teachers with the local histories and landscapes of their communities. Since retiring from the classroom, she works as the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union’s social studies curriculum coordinator. She loves living in Harrisville and looks forward to being part of an organization that contributes so much to the vitality of our community. She can be seen biking through town, swimming in our local ponds and lakes, and digging in her garden.
Les LaMois
Les is a retired woodworker. Since moving to Harrisville in 2011, he has answered many calls to help make things happen in the community. Currently, he is a member of the Conservation Commission, a Library Trustee alternate, and an HHI Trustee, where he volunteers with the Archives and Store Committees. He lives on Main Street with his wife, Andrea Hodson.
Drew Landry
Drew is currently a tax principal with John G. Burk and Company, CPAs, P.C. where his primary duties include tax compliance and representation for closely-held businesses and estates. In addition, he renders forensic accounting services for a wide variety of clients. He has assisted state and federal authorities in the prosecution of complex financial crimes. Previously, Mr. Landry was employed as a revenue agent with the Internal Revenue Service from 1974 to 1984. His duties included lengthy assignments in the Examination Division, the Criminal Investigation Division, and the Regional Training Division and the Office of District Counsel. Mr. Landry has testified as an expert witness in United States District Court, United States Tax Court, Cheshire County Superior Court, Hillsborough County Superior Court, Cheshire County Probate Court, Hillsborough County Probate Court, and Windham County (VT) Superior Court. He currently serves as Treasurer for the Board of Trustees.
Dan Langille
Dan is the Director of the Assessing Department for the City of Keene. To the HHI board he brings his municipal government experience, real estate expertise, and management skills. Dan also serves on the Board for the Harris Center for Conservation Education. He can often be found enjoying the outdoors in a variety of ways and even uses the places he visits as inspiration for his work as an artist. Dan lives in Harrisville with his wife Erin.
Shane Long
Shane is a small business owner (Aldworth Manor) and lives in Harrisville. Prior to moving to New England, he taught music and was a choral conductor in Arkansas, the Kansas City area, and Asheville, before moving to Boston in 2010. It was there where he ventured into the small business world and began searching for a historic property in New England. In late 2014, he and his family began restoring the Aldworth Manor estate and currently offers venue and lodging rentals, along with other service and private/public events. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and getting outdoors.
Lenny Matczynski
With a career in the performing arts spanning over 40 years, Leonard Matczynski has worked as a concert violist, teacher, and arts administrator. As the former Director of Apple Hill (2007-2022), he made decisions that shaped Apple Hill’s performance and administrative structure, its concert and touring programs, the Playing for Peace initiative, its long-range plans, and the development of new programs, while serving as the spokesperson for Apple Hill’s mission and its representative to the music community, patrons, and audiences. As a concert violist, he studied with Martha Strongin Katz, Heidi Castleman, and Karen Tuttle, participated in chamber music studies with members of the Budapest, Cleveland, and Guarneri Quartets, and pursued advanced studies at the International Musician’s Seminar in Prussia Cove, England, with Sandor Vegh. He has been on the faculty of Walnut Hill School for the Arts, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and the Tanglewood Music Center. He received the 2021 Ewing Arts Lifetime Achievement award for artistic excellence in the Monadnock region; was one of the founders and past chairs of Arts Alive, an organization that promotes arts and culture in the Monadnock region of NH; and was chosen to participate in the 2016 Leadership NH program, a program that increases civic involvement in communities by educating and connecting leaders from throughout the state of NH.
Alison Weber
Alison is the owner-operator of ALRAN Books, an indie book company selling to schools, educators, and students. Alison’s work as a former history teacher and in the educational field for over 30 years has influenced her interest in HHI's preservation efforts and educational outreach to the community. Alison lives with her family in Harrisville.
Larry White
Larry White is a retired lawyer. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1971 and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. He worked for more than forty years as a higher education lawyer and administrator. At the time of his retirement in 2019, he was Senior Counsel in the General Counsel’s office of the University System of New Hampshire. Larry has been married for more than fifty years to Wendy White, currently Senior Vice President and General Counsel at the University of Pennsylvania. Wendy and Larry have two children and four grandchildren. All three generations of their family live in Philadelphia and enjoy a home in Harrisville on the hill behind the General Store.
Harry Wolhandler
Harry Wolhandler chairs the Harrisville Conservation Commission and is the 2024-2025 president of Grand Monadnock Rotary in Peterborough. He and his wife moved to Harrisville in 2001 and love the warmth and historic feeling of this town. He retired from 35 years in Marketing Research, working to guide new product development, increase customer satisfaction, and improve how companies serve their customers. He has a degree in Biology from Boston University, graduate study in Environmental Management from Antioch NE Graduate School, and an MBA from the Whittemore School at UNH.
2024 Trustees
Deborah Abbott
Michelle Aldredge,* Chair
Peter Allen*
Lisa Anderson*
Laurie Appel,* Vice Chair
Kathleen Bollerud*
Cathy Buffum*
Russ Cobb
John J. Colony III*
Nick Colony
Doug Gline
Colin Kennard
Bryanne Kingsbury*
John Knight*
Jennifer Kramer
Les LaMois
Drew Landry,* Treasurer
Dan Langille*
Shane Long*
Lenny Matczynski
Kathy Scott*
Alison Weber
Larry White
Harry Wolhandler
* Denotes Executive Committee Members
Our Incorporators
Historic Harrisville has over 600 incorporators. Incorporators are supporters of HHI and meet twice yearly to learn of progress on current projects, to help guide to Board of Trustees, and to socialize. All members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings and to become an incorporator. If you would like to support our organization by becoming an incorporator, please drop us a note!