Holly Christiana
Holly is a lifelong Ulster County resident who moved recently to Saugerties from the Town of Rochester. She has been involved in various capacities with the non-profit world for 15 years, both in volunteer and paid positions. Holly has written and received grants for several local organizations. In addition, she founded a non-profit soup kitchen and food pantry in the Town of Wawarsing in 2008. She served on the board of the Town of Rochester’s Historic Preservation Commission as well.
Ms. Christiana would like to serve on the Library Board simply because she has always loved libraries, and would be happy to help ours in any way possible. She looks forward to brainstorming with the board to find new ways to make the library an even more integral part of our community. Particularly impressed with the programming for youth, she would like to see it expanded still more.
Holly loves music, museums, and reading, is a member of NPR and PBS and is a past President of the Parent Teachers Association at Rondout Valley Middle School. She is the proud mother of a 14 year old boy.
Kathy Gordon
Since Horton Hatches an Egg sixty years ago in the tiny library in Moose Lake, Minnesota, I have been a constant and enthusiastic library patron. In Minnesota, California, Australia, Warwick (NY) and now Saugerties, frequent library outings have been a vital part of my life. Dave and I raised two library –loving daughters who worked in the Warwick library until they moved away for college.
I recently retired and now want to give something back to this institution I love. My work experience provides skills to serve as a library trustee and the versatility to learn additional skills. In eight years as Executive Director of a community center in Warwick, I worked closely with a board of directors. Like the library, we had multiple programs serving varied ages and interests. In my most recent job with Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University, I administered a research grant from the National Institutes of Health. Each of these positions required development of budgets and monitoring of expenditures. I wrote grant proposals, either solely or as part of a team, ranging from two thousand dollars to over a million.
Our beautiful expanded library can serve as a wonderful resource to everyone in the community. Unfortunately, the needs of our library must be balanced by the ability of ratepayers to support it. I see this balancing act as the overarching duty of each library trustee. I pledge to work hard and do this to the best of my ability.
Cecelia Ruby Karashay
I have lived in Saugerties most of my life. I am married to Mike Karashay and we have a son Kevin and daughter Rachel. I am employed with the USDA-FSA in Ghent, NY and have been with them 33 years. I have served on the Board for Little Sawyer Aftercare which ran an afterschool childcare prior to the Saugerties Boys and Girls Club. I have served on the USDA-FSA ‘s CO employees Association ‘s Board of Directors including serving as their President for 2 years and also served as the Membership Chair for the National Association. I have participated in Lead Columbia County. I live down the street from our reconstructed new library and wish to support their growth and viability for years to come. I have been coming to the library for approximately 50 years even attending Kindergarten in what was the Children’s room. I am thrilled to see the library’s growth and hope you see fit to elect me to the Board of Trustees. Thank you.
