Board of Trustees

Dave Hempson

Dave joined the library board in 2017 and is the Skaneateles Library Board President.

Professional Experience: Dave left his original profession as a Skaneateles high school chemistry teacher to take on the challenges of a new and growing business, the Marietta Corporation. Over his 35-year career with Marietta, Dave held many roles with the company starting as its Director of Quality Assurance and also serving as the Chief Operations Officer. Dave has a wealth of experience managing people and budgets, finding creative solutions to intricate problems, and leading projects to completion.

Community: Dave has long been an active participant in the community and currently serves as the John D. Barrow Art Gallery Board President and Spafford Area Historical Society Board President.

Fun Facts: Dave lives on beautiful Skaneateles Lake with his wife Karen, a retired SUNY Cortland Lecturer, with their two daughters and four grandchildren in close proximity. Dave’s main endeavor is to spoil his beautiful grandkids.

Susanne Guske

Susanne joined the library board in 2018 and holds the position of Vice President.

Professional Experience: Worked with Fortune 500 companies as program manager in the defense industry; held staff and line positions in manufacturing operations, international supply chain integration and business strategy at companies such as Allied Signal, Lucas Aerospace and Xerox. Responsibilities included systems implementation, multimillion-dollar contract negotiations, budget and personnel management. Also consulted for small technology start-ups.

Community: Treasurer or President of all three school PTCs, President of the Music Guild, board member of SkARTS, Splash!, and founding member of the Skaneateles school district’s Finance Advisory Committee. 20+ year resident, who has raised two children, two dogs, two guinea pigs and way too many tropical fish while renovating an 1880s Victorian.

Fun Facts: Native German speaker; received full scholarship to study classical ballet; currently learning to sail. Met husband in MBA program’s “Mathematics for Managers” class where, as a former engineer, he ruined the class curve.

Danette Davis

Danette earned a master’s degree in library science from Syracuse University and has worked as a children’s librarian in Orlando (FL) and at Seymour Public Library in Auburn, where she has been the assistant director for the past six years. She has lived in Skaneateles with her family for the past 22 years. In 2012, she served as the interim library director of the Skaneateles Library, assisting with the candidate search for a new director.

Andrew Hagen

Andrew joined the library board in 2016 and is a member of the Finance and Fundraising Committees.

Professional Experience: Originally from Western New York, I graduated from Le Moyne College in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and never left town. I became an Equitable Advisor shortly after college and have continued with the same firm for over 20 years.

Community: We moved from Syracuse to Skaneateles nine years ago where we have seen three of our four children graduate as Lakers with one to go. In addition to being on the board of the library, I have coached youth soccer, and my family and I are parishioners at St. Mary’s of the Lake Church.

Fun Facts: I recently relocated my office to the Village and often walk to work with our Sheepdoodle puppy, Stanley. In warmer months you might find me on the lake on a boat or paddleboard. Friday night is pizza night at our house, and we often use my homemade dough for the crust!

Manuel Arroyo

Manuel brings to the library board an understanding of law and experience in business. He is a former commercial litigator, small business owner and high school history teacher. Manuel lives in Skaneateles with his wife and three children.

Karen Morrissey Bedard

Karen joined the Skaneateles Library Board as a Trustee in 2017 and is a member and former co-chair of the Communications Committee.

Professional Experience: A Skaneateles native, Karen graduated from St. Lawrence University with a Creative Writing degree before spending 20 years in the Boston area working as a copywriter and creative director for a variety of large advertising agencies and corporations. In 2019, Karen co-founded marketing agency, Three Needs Creative, which specializes in branding, creative strategy, and big-idea marketing campaigns.

Community: In true “once a Laker, always a Laker” spirit, Karen moved back to Skaneateles with her husband and two young children in 2016 to be closer to the many local Morrissey family members and enjoy a little lake life. Since returning, Karen has coached youth soccer and has volunteered for the Art Masterpiece program at the elementary schools. Her kids are now in 6th and 3rd grades and are loving being Lakers.

Fun Facts: Karen is the youngest of ten Morrissey children, all born and raised in Skaneateles. Her mom, Judy, still lives in the village and her siblings Tom, Jerry, and Mary are all raising their families here as well. A couple of years ago, there was at least one Morrissey cousin in nearly every grade in Skaneateles schools.

Patti Carey

Patricia, “Patti” Carey joined the board in 2020 and serves on the fundraising committee. She has been a Skaneateles resident for over twenty years.  

Professional Experience:   Patti was a teacher in Beverly Hills, CA, teaching English, before moving back and forth from Chicago, Los Angeles and NY/CT areas due to her husband’s broadcasting career.  As a result, she became the family “anchor” and a “professional” volunteer. Before moving to Skaneateles, her family settled in Chappaqua in Westchester, NY where she became president of the over 3000 member PTA for five schools and served on the PTA District Objectives Committee.

Patti won two three-year contested elections to be Trustee on the Chappaqua Board of Education serving as Vice President, President and Chair of Policy/Organization Development. She assisted with and helped write a Strategic Plan for Continual School Improvement, served on the curriculum committee, superintendent selection committee and recruited volunteers as advisors to the Board. 

Community:  Patti is a founder of the Skaneateles Education Foundation and served multiple terms as well as President.  She continues to support the foundation and loves volunteering in the Art Masterpiece program. She enjoyed two six-year terms on the board of the Skaneateles Festival, organized committee chairs and continues to help with musician housing. Fourteen years on what is now the Skaneateles Music Guild led to many friendships. She wrote promotional articles for The Press and maintained the historical archives.  As a member of The American Association of University Women, Patti initiated, chaired and organized “Celebrating Women in Art,” an annual fundraising art show that attracted over 500 people each year and over 50 participating artists from 2002 to 2007.  

 Fun Facts:  In college, Patti was offered a work grant. She quickly endeared herself to the head librarian jumping right in to help with reorganizing shelves and manning the desk at night, all in order to avoid working in the cafeteria, which she later learned was her actual assigned job; the librarian insisted she stay in the library – Whew!

Dave Lee

Dave joined the library board in 2007 and is a member of the Building & Grounds, Book Sale and 49 East Genesee Street Committees.

Professional Experience: Dave has been in the construction business for more than 50 years and was the owner of David B. Lee & Company, Inc before his recent retirement. Great craftsmanship and attention to detail made his general contracting business successful and garnered him high praise from his Skaneateles clients.

Community: Not one to stay idle, Dave currently serves on the Town Zoning Board and as President of the Evening Rotary Club. He joined the Fire Department at 18 and served as an active member for 25 years. He is also one of the longest-serving Library Board members. Due to his skill set, Dave has become the de facto caretaker of the 1890’s library building with all its eccentricities. For the many contributions he has made to so many people and organizations in this community, he was honored as one of the Skaneateles Citizens of the Year in 2019.

Fun Facts: Dave and his wife Anne live on the farm that has been in the Lee family since the 1860s. They have four grown children and are now happily enjoying their role as grandparents. Dave enjoys skiing, cycling, flying airplanes and making his own maple syrup and hard cider. He supported the ALS Therapy Development Institute by fundraising and biking the 270-mile Tri-State Trek in 2019 and the modified Trek in 2020. He’s also taken more than 200 youngsters for their first experience flying in a small plane through the Young Eagles Program!

Scott Elia

Ralph DeMasi

Bob Lotkowictz

Maura Molnar

Maura joined the library board in 2020 (one of the bright spots in the year!) and is a member of the Barrow Management Committee and the Finance Committee serving as Assistant Treasurer.

Professional Experience: Originally from the Hudson Valley of NY, Maura graduated from LeMoyne College with a BS in Accounting, becoming a CPA and spending over a decade as a Senior Audit Manager with PwC. Most recently she has been the Catechetical Leader at St. Mary’s of the Lake creating and running all their family and youth programs.

Community: Maura and husband Scott’s third and youngest just graduated from Skaneateles this June. Over their 19 years in Skaneateles, she has served as an officer of many nonprofits including the Skaneateles Music Guild, Skaneateles Music Boosters, Skaneateles Football Boosters, all three PTCs, the LeMoyne College Alumni board, and several Syracuse area agencies.

Fun Facts: Maura is most likely to be found around water: our beautiful lake, the beach, hiking by a stream…or reading a book, of course.

Meghann Sandak

Larry Palmieri

Larry joined the library board in 2019 and is a member of the Finance, Communications, and Fundraising Committees.

Professional Experience: Originally trained as a cytotechnologist and worked eight years in hospital Anatomical Pathology labs. Subsequently managed physician group private practices for the rest of career, retiring from Retina-Vitreous Surgeons of CNY in 2017.

Community: Regularly donated platelets to the Red Cross for decades, Board member of Samaritan Center for 3+ plus terms, Skaneateles resident 30+ years and coached Lakeshore baseball.

Fun Facts: Have been repeatedly told I would not have a social life if Kathy did not marry me, am too old to play tennis and squash, but now am addicted to pickleball, love live music but can not carry a tune in my briefcase, came in second in a Mick Jagger dance contest at Nectars in Burlington, Vermont.

Amy Rolleri

Amy joined the Library Board in 2019. She is a native of Skaneateles and graduated from Skaneateles High School.

Professional Experience: Amy earned college degrees in art, reading, and school administration. She taught in public schools for 35 years, including 6 years at State Street Elementary School. Amy has taught grades 3-12, on the West Coast and in Georgia. She ended her professional career as a teacher educator at the University of Georgia, just prior to moving back to Skaneateles.

Community: Amy serves on the YMCA Board and the John D. Barrow Art Gallery Trust, and is active in fund-raising for both groups. She is the Membership Chair for the Skaneateles Garden Club and the lead organizer for the Skaneateles Transfer Station Swap-Shop.

Fun Facts: As a fitness nut, she works out at the Y – Yoga, Spinning, weights — “all the time.”  Her daughter was a competitive runner throughout high school and at college; two of Amy’s grandchildren are following in their mother’s and grandmother’s footsteps as runners.

Laurie Spencer

Laurie joined the Board in 2014 and is a member of the Nomination Committee. She previously held the position of Secretary.

Professional Experience – Laurie has worked in the field of education for over 25 years as a teacher, school counselor, and school administrator.

Community – Laurie has been a Skaneateles resident for over 30 years.

Fun Facts – She is a lifelong reader who loves nothing better than to curl up with a good book!

Katrina Zepp

Katrina joined the library board in 2019 and is a member of the Finance and Fundraising Committees.

Professional Experience: Katrina graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Chemical Engineering and worked for several well-known consumer product corporations in R&D and manufacturing. When the opportunity arose, she moved to a Management Consultant role for hospitals, partnering with large-scale healthcare organizations nationwide to redesign internal processes and produce lasting financial results. She has never regretted her move to the healthcare industry and continues to keep active in it, working as a consultant for several startup companies over the years.

Community: Katrina has welcomed many opportunities to participate in the Skaneateles community since moving here 8 years ago, especially any involving the Skaneateles schools and her 2 elementary-aged daughters. She currently serves as the John D. Barrow Art Gallery Board Secretary and SEF Art Masterpiece Organizer.

Fun Facts: Katrina is originally from Rochester, NY but spent 2 separate years living in England, once in high school and again in 2017 with her husband’s job. While there, she and her family took every opportunity to travel throughout the UK and Europe and she even had a lucky, chance encounter with the Queen! Katrina enjoys being out on the lake as much as possible and is currently trying to cultivate a green thumb, much to the delight of her two cats who assume her plants are snack offerings.