Bob Anderson—Bob retired from a thirty five year international career in manufacturing plant management for General Motors, followed by consulting and ten years teaching at the University of Michigan. He has served in a number of church, community and charity leadership positions, notably as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lansing Community College Foundation; President of the Beaver Island Association; and currently is a member of the Great Lakes Islands Alliance Steering Committee.

Bob was drawn to Beaver Island by his wife, Alana, who vacationed here since childhood. They have owned the harbor vacation rental, Isle Haven, for thirty five years and built their current home on Western Shores in 2002. Bob and Alana have two married children and four grandchildren who love to travel together and vacation on Beaver Island.

Kevin Boyle—Kevin retired as a partner of Latham & Watkins LLP after 31 years of practice as a communications, technology and information security lawyer.  He finished building a home on the Island in 2004 and retired here in 2015. He also serves on the boards of Northern Initiatives (a CDFI with operations throughout the state) and the NMU Foundation, and as the Chair of the Island Township’s  Joint Telecommunications Advisory Committee.  He is a past president and board member of the Beaver Island Association. He is a volunteer programming & robotics teacher at BICS, and is the lead mentor for bIrobot, the BICS robotics team. Kevin is also an owner at Whiskey Point Brewing Company, where you can find him working behind the bar. Kevin helped found and helps to run WVBI where he does news, weather and DJ duties. He serves as our Vice President for Media Operations.

Paul Cole—Paul serves as the Executive Director of the BIC Center.  He was raised on the island and returned after a career on the mainland to retire, but somehow wound up running the Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce.  Paul also serves on the St. James Township Board.

Shirley Gatliff Cole—Shirley is a sixth generation descendant of the Arranmore Irish who emigrated to Beaver Island in the mid-1800’s. Her home atop the post office hill has been in her family for almost a century. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and excelled in her career as a Special Agent for the United States Treasury Department, receiving national honors as Agent of the Year for her achievements. Shirley retired from government service in 2015 and moved home to the island in 2018. She has been married to Paul for over 31 years, and they have three daughters who summered and worked on the island for various businesses. When not planning events for the BIC Center, Shirley loves the beach, her books, and visits with family and friends.

Leila Freijy—Leila Freijy has lived in Michigan most of her life. She retired as an immigration attorney in July 2025 following 25 years of practice, the last 13 of which were owning and operating her own firm employing seven people. She has been listed as one of
the best lawyers in America for immigration law for 19 consecutive years. For about nine years, she also co-owed a combination toy store/art gallery in Lake Orion, Michigan, inspired by the Beaver Island Toy Museum.
She has been a Beaver Island property owner since 2003, has been a half-year resident since about 2018 and a full-time resident as of June 2025.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the Beaver Island Music Festival since about 2024 and was installed as the Chair of the Board in early 2026.

Leila has been volunteered at WVBI as since October 2025, hosting two
music shows: The Underground (Thursdays from 7-9pm) and the Top Ten + Five (Saturdays from 10-11am and Wednesdays from 7-8pm). She also does the weather and community calendar from time to time.
On occasion, Leila has been a guest art instructor at the Beaver Island Community Center. She joined the Trails Club in late 2025 and is looking forward to clearing some trails this Spring. She also volunteers at the Food Bank monthly and is an annual donor to the BIC Center (including WVBI), the Beaver Island Music Festival and the Historical Society. 

Ken McDonald—Ken is a retired executive of Alticor Inc. and managing director of Quixtar. He built an Island home in 1992 and retired here in 2005. Ken was active in local school activities while his son attended and graduated from school here—and now focuses on community improvement efforts. He is a past member of the Beaver Island Association Board where he managed their annual Beach Clean-Up and, as a member of the PABI Board, led its last Capital Campaign. He is an avid outdoorsman, traveler, and hunter. He is chair of our Board. 

Leslee Pearson— Leslee is a fifth-generation Beaver Island summer resident whose family homesteaded at Hidden Valley in the late 1800s. Her ancestors, the Stevens family, owned Mt. Pisgah, with George Stevens working as a cooper for local fishermen.
A retired registered nurse with a BSN and graduate degree, she spent 25 years specializing in open heart surgery before retiring in 2023. She and her husband Woody have three children and four grandchildren—the seventh generation on the island. They divide time between Beaver Island, Costa Rica, and Florida. Now retired, she is eager to give back through increased volunteerism and community involvement on the island.

Lita Popke—Lita is the daughter of Kay McDonough Masini who was born and raised on Beaver Island and has been a significant contributor to the art community here. Lita is an attorney and former judge. She sat in the Wayne County Circuit Court from 2000-2021 where she served as a Judge in the Family, Civil and Business divisions of the Court. She held numerous leadership roles including Chief Judge Pro Tem, Presiding Judge, and as a member on various committees. She is also a past-President and officer of the Michigan Judges Association. In 2021, she began working for JAMS, a national alternative dispute resolution company, doing private Mediations, Arbitrations and other court reference work.

Steven Scott—Steve is a retired CPA, with 38 years of experience in taxation and a specialty in trust & estate planning, compliance and settlement. He was a shareholder in the tax department of Maner Costerisan PC in Lansing, MI. Steve has served on a number of not-for-profit boards including: past treasurer of the Lansing Area AIDS Network, past president of the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council, past treasurer of the Listening Ear of East Lansing, and most recently the past treasurer of the Beaver Island Music Festival.

He grew up in Plymouth, MI and graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Michigan State University, where he met his wife, Patricia “Trish” Scott. They currently reside in the Lansing area and built a second home on Cable’s Bay in 1997/1998. Steve & Trish discovered Beaver Island on a one-week vacation in the summer of 1990. They were both attracted to the natural beauty of the island and its tight-knit community.

Steve’s personal interests include a love of music, photography, and birding. He’s a drummer and has been playing the drums for a Lansing area church for more than ten years. He can be seen behind a drum kit on the island from time to time. Steve is our Treasurer.

Kevin Stipp—Kevin has more than forty years of connection to Beaver Island—first as a seasonal resident, and now, since retiring in 2018, as a full time member of the community. As owner and operator of Beaver Island Gallery, Kevin brings practical insight and creative stewardship to the Center’s mission. A retired high school administrator, he has long been committed to education and youth development. He continues that work as Treasurer of the Beaver Island Community School Board,

Kevin’s governance experience strengthens his role at the BIC Center as our Vice President for Facilities, especially in facility planning, capital priorities, and operational resilience. Known for his calm judgment and collaborative approach, he works closely with staff, volunteers, and fellow board members to keep the Center safe, welcoming, and responsive to community needs.

Lois Stipp—Lois is a retired registered nurse and art educator who has spent her career supporting others through creativity, care, and community involvement. A sixth generation member of a Beaver Island family, Lois has deep roots on the island and a strong appreciation for its history and people. She has continued to teach art for more than 20 years, encouraging students to explore their abilities in a supportive, student centered environment.

For over 15 years, Lois has operated the Beaver Island Gallery, offering a welcoming space for local artists to share their work and provides art education. She has also helped sustain island art by managing the Museum Week Art Show for more than 35 years. Before returning full time to Beaver Island, Lois served as President of the Diamond Valley Arts Council in Southern California for 15 years.

Lois is grateful to contribute to the life of Beaver Island and volunteers through several local nonprofits. She strives to work quietly behind the scenes to support the island’s cultural, educational, and community well being. Lois serves as our President.

Barry Sullivan—Barry is an electrical engineer with a career spanning more than forty years in academia and industry, including positions at Ameritech, Northwestern University, and Bell Laboratories. Most recently, he has worked for several non-profits supporting education at all levels. In addition to the Beaver Island Community Center, he has served on the board of his children’s grade school and Horizons for Youth, an organization dedicated to helping students from low-resource areas in Chicago realize their full potential through education.

Barry and his wife Alison Drumm first visited Beaver Island in with their family in 1991. They continued to visit annually as summer renters until building their vacation home on Little Iron Ore Bay in 2020. They support the Community Center personally and through the Declan Drumm Sullivan Memorial Fund, which they established after their son’s death in 2010 from an accident while working as a videographer for the University of Notre Dame football team.

Cindy Ricksgers–Cindy was raised in Lapeer, Michigan, but always dreamed of living on Beaver Island, where her father grew up, and where the family spent a precious week or two each summer. It seemed like a magical place!

Cindy first moved here in 1978. Since then, though jobs, education and other conflicts sometimes pulled her away, she has considered Beaver Island her home. After finishing a Master of Fine Arts Degree at Michigan State University, and with both of her daughters grown, in 1993, she came back here to live year-round.

Cindy worked for more than 20 years as the morning waitress at the Shamrock. She followed  that with brief stints at the Beaver Island Lodge, the Old Rectory, Dalwhinnie and McDonough’s Market before settling in as a clerk at Powers Hardware Store, where she spent another 20 years. For a few years, Cindy and her sister, Sheila, ran Seven Sisters, their own business featuring “earth friendly products for kitchen, garden and bath.” She also held the position of Phragmites Coordinator for the two townships, and served as editor of the Beaver Beacon. 

Through the years, Cindy has continued to nurture and develop her creative tendencies. She publishes a blog about many and any things (cindyricksgers.wordpress.com) that has expanded to become her Island Reflections radio show on WVBI. Cindy is an accomplished artist, working mainly in painting, collage and print-making. Her work is held in many private collections, and featured in three Michigan galleries, including right here at the Beaver Island Studio and Gallery.

Now at the Beaver Island Community Center, Cindy has experienced the culmination of many of her passions: customer service; an ability to interact with interesting people; the chance to bring art to the community; and, from the front windows, the heart-stopping view of our harbor. Living the dream! 

Vince Ebersoldt—Vince has been a regular visitor to the island with his wife Meg and their sons Campbell and Levi for 21 years, and the past 9 years as a homeowner. The Owner and President of Ebersoldt + Associates Architecture in St. Louis, Missouri, Vince is active throughout the country specializing in multi-family housing, historic tax credit consulting, historic architecture, and real estate development.  He is involved in several philanthropical activities. On the island, he has been active with both PABI and the Beaver Island Historical Society, where his firm provided architectural services for the addition to the Print Shop Museum.  

Dr. Donald Fix—Practiced Emergency Medicine in West Michigan for 36 years. Married to Barb for 42 years, they continue to enjoy their 3 children, 5 grandchildren, boating, cooking, reading, and travel. Sailing to the Island in the early ‘90s, they built their home here before retiring here in 2012. An avid techno-geek/handy-man—Don enjoys computing, home theater, photography, carpentry, plumbing, electrical and HVAC work. He has served on the board of the Beaver Island Association and is a past Vice President of PABI.

Judy Lanier Gallagher—Respected educator, professor, and dean emeritus from MSU. Visiting the Island in 1972, her family became seasonal residents in 1974. She retired here in 2000, ran a local business, served on the school board, township board, PABI board, and as BICS Superintendent and Principal. She enjoys her large family who visit often—as well as cooking, entertaining, and nature walks with Splash, her black lab. She served as PABI’s President during the initial fund-raising for, and the construction of, the BIC Center and then for the initial years of its operation.

Eric Hodgson—Once a pilot for the local airlines, he now owns and operates the landmark Shamrock Bar & Restaurant, Harbor Market, Daddy Franks, Beaver Island Lodge, Stoney Acres, and Beachcomber—while making a little time for the Great Lakes boating he enjoys with Dana (his Island-born wife) and their son, Liam. Eric participates in many community activities and serves on the Board of the Charlevoix State Bank.  He is the immediate past chair of PABI’s Board.

Erin Martin-Holmes—Erin was born and raised on Beaver Island. She moved to North Carolina and resided there for 25 years spending some of her time working in Early Childhood Education. She moved back to the island in 2019 and now works at Island Energies and, during the summer, at the Circle M. Things she enjoys most are spending time with family and friends (including her son Zander Holmes), hiking, traveling, reading, and cross stitching.

Deborah Robert—Deb was born and raised on Beaver Island and has taught for 30 years at Beaver Island Community School. She is a wife and a mother of three–ages 25, 20, and 18 all raised on the Island. Deb is a Grand Valley graduate and is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher. Deb believes in volunteerism and tries to spend her summer months helping our community thrive. She has served as the co-chair for Vacation Bible School and is a past president of the Holy Cross Altar Society. She organizes funeral luncheons and fundraisers, the Homecoming Dinner and for many years organized the July 4th Carnival. She has been a regular volunteer at the BIC Center. Says Deb, “I am deeply committed to Beaver Island and believe very strongly in giving back to a community that has given me so much!”

Audrey Vandyke—Audrey spent 20 years as a government contracts trial attorney with Navy Office of General Counsel, and another ten years supervising the litigation office for her command. She also represented the federal government in rate hearings before state public utilities commissions. While living in Northern Virginia she volunteered in various capacities for the Potomac River Jazz Club and the Northern Virginia Ragtime society, including president, vice president, and newsletter editor. She notes that some of these volunteer positions were more by default than approbation.

Audrey retired in June 2011 and by August 2011 had moved with her furniture, her books, and her early jazz sheet music collection, to Beaver Island. The island had been the site of many summer family vacations, but as with many local transplants, she has grown to love all seasons on the Island.

Audrey greatly appreciates the sense of community extended to her and her housemate since moving here, and hopes to contribute to that sense of community with service on the Beaver Island Community Center Board.