Board of Directors
SLYC's 2023/24 Board of Directors is a “working board,” made up of 16 volunteers:
ASLC Liaison - Kelly Kennedy
Commodore - Greg Plant
Communications - John (JC) Craig
Fundraising - Dave Bart
Membership - Andrew Parker
Member at Large: Amy Jacobs
Member at Large: Kevin O’Callaghan
Operations: Tom Pitfield
Past Commodore: David Newton
Property (with subcommittee support) - Jason Colbert
Junior Sailing - Dave Anderson
Secretary - Beckie Bart
Social - Jackie Hubbs
Tennis & Pickleball - Alex Brooks-Hill and Jody Scotchmer (co-Directors)
Treasurer - Michele Macpherson (shadowing in a non-voting role is Kelly Wells)
To reach any of our Board members, please email slycinfo@gmail.com
Following is the “Stony Lake Bio” for some of our board members to help you get to know us a little better.
Amy Jacobs - Member at Large
Growing up, our family of six and our dog packed into a station wagon and drove ten hours to spend July at our family cottage on Eaglemount. “The kids” - my brother Ron, my sisters Katie and Meg, and I - would spend hours swimming, playing cards, and roaming our property. We watched no TV at the cottage, and we never missed it. Our imaginations would flow from one activity to the next.
When we weren’t on Eaglemount, we were on Juniper. Swimming lessons, movie nights, square dances, tennis round robins, and, once we were old enough, sailing. Sailing was new friends, cool instructors, a fun, new skill, and lots of laughs. When I was a teen, I was lucky enough to have summer jobs - instructing sailing, running weekend races, and delivering papers - that kept me busy and coming back to Stony.
I married a “non-laker” and thanks to an inclusive Stony community and men’s tennis, Stony is as much his as it is mine. We moved into our own cottage in 2014 so that we could spend more of our summer at Stony. Now our kids - Jack (16), Cate (14), and Anna (13) - love Stony as much as we do. We are all our best selves at Stony - carefree, active, and grounded. We spend our Stony summers soaking up as much friend-and-family time, tennis, sailing, swimming, and cards, as we can. And, we all spend a lot of time on Juniper!
I’m honored to be serving as a Member at Large for the SLYC, following two terms as SLYC/ASLC liaison. Both organizations have played an integral part in our family’s summers, and it is my pleasure to give back. The Stony Lakers who serve on these boards are dedicated, smart, and care deeply about Juniper and Stony Lake. I feel fortunate to be working with them.
Beckie Bart - Secretary
My summers on Stony Lake began in utero, when my mom Marty Welsh was 9 months pregnant with me and still running the Juniper Island Store with my Dad, Rob Welsh. The day before I was born, she (well, we...) took a little canoe trip up to Eel's Creek. So it's safe to say that Stony Lake is in my blood! As a child I enjoyed playing tennis and sailing at the SLYC and eventually became a Sailing Instructor and then Race Coach. Subsequently, I followed in my parent's footsteps and ran the store with Hilary Zimmermann in 1992 and 1993.
Dave and I got married in the Pavillion in 1997 on a night when there was record rainfall across the country! We were lucky enough to find our own cottage on Dodworth Island several years later. We are still in the same amazing bay and now enjoy watching Bobby, Johnny and Annie experiencing life as a carefree kid on Stony Lake. There is nowhere else any of us would rather be.
This will be my second tenure as SLYC Secretary with the first being in the mid 90's under the commodore-ship of Phil Walton. I look forward to contributing to a fantastic organization with a competent board.
Dave Anderson - Junior Sailing Director
About a decade ago, my wife Heather and I purchased a cottage on Clear Lake with our twin daughters Charlotte and Rachael. We quickly fell in love with Juniper Island movie nights, square dances, tennis, yoga, sailing and all the amazing people we’ve met along the way. In 2018, we were lucky to find a special piece of land on Eagle Mount Island and we got to work building the cottage we’re in today.
I grew up on the St Lawrence River and spent every summer sailing at the Brockville Yacht Club. From racing to instructing, I developed a lifelong love of sailing and I’ve been to more dingy and keelboat regattas than I care to admit. I’m thrilled that Stony has such a strong sailing history and that my love of the sport can continue with friends and family here on the lake.
I’m looking forward to sitting on the SLYC board and working with this great group of volunteers to build on existing programs and to bring new and exciting activities to Stony Lake.
Dave Bart - Fundraising Director
I was introduced to Stony through my wife Beckie, whose father is Rob Welsh, a.k.a, the Mayor of Stony. I feel very fortunate that each summer we are able to raise our children Bobby, Johnny and Annie through the wholly unique and comforting confines of Stony Lake. Simply put, it is my “happy” place.
This is my third go-round as an SLYC Board member. Previously I served as the Tennis director and member at large. In my current role as head fundraiser, I can’t wait to ask you all to consider giving generously to help maintain and enhance this amazing community and the SLYC experience!
David Newton - Past Commodore
Stony Lake is in my blood and holds a very special place in my heart. My grandfather, Ken Slater helped establish SLYC and he and my dad were both Commodores while my mom was the first Junior Sailing Head Instructor. When my father was Commodore he was the main push behind the building of Courts 1 & 2 in 1972.
Growing up on the lake, I went through the Sailing program and raced Lasers off lake for SLYC. I didn’t teach sailing mostly because my Mom was still running the program and she was already my boss at home. She also grew up on the lake, was a very strong sailor and had my dad as her crew. They were a force and show up on club trophies several times over.
I got my entrepreneurial start on Stony delivery the newspaper, running a garbage pick-up service and odd jobs around the lake. One interesting project was helping tear down Fox marina from Juniper Island (right beside the pavilion). Some of the wood from the marina is still part of the deck at our original family cottage.
In 1992 I married the love of my life Michelle Hauswirth on Stony Lake. Our vows took place at St Peters on the Rock followed by dinner at SLYC and a live band dance party in the pavilion. Despite some crazy weather even for Stony it was a very special day.
Our kids Jenna, Blake and Dillon all went through the programs and worked in various summer jobs on the Lake. In 1999 we purchased our own family cottage from a friend of my Grandfather’s Paige Wadsworth. It is safe to say that the fifth generation of our family will likely spend summers on Stony.
Greg Plant - Commodore
Back in 1997, Sandra and I discovered Stony Lake on our first camping trip together as newlyweds. We navigated the Trent in our 12' Zodiak from Peterborough to Georgian Bay and back, camping at the lock stations. Cruising up from Clear into Hell's Gate, we immediately fell in love with Stony, for me because it reminded me of some of my favorite spots in my birth province of BC.
When the kids came along, we started renting on the lake for one-week summer breaks and later in 2011 purchased our place on Davis Island. We began primarily as weekend cottagers but the kids participated in the Regatta, got their Can Sail 1's and 2's and later both worked on Juniper. Jacquie did registration for the ASLC for two seasons and Chris worked his way up on on the tennis court from Junior Pro to Head Pro over six summers.
We are so grateful for the Stony Lake community and what it has done for our family in the short time we've been on the lake and I'm proud to have the opportunity to give back as a volunteer.
Jackie Hubbs - Social
Our family is relatively new to the lake. We began by renting in Upper Stoney for three years and then in 2012 we ended up buying our now 135-year-old cottage just off the southern tip of Juniper.
Our kids Vanessa, Addison and Spencer have all grown up loving the fabulous activities Juniper offers every year. It's such a wonderful community — they are making friends and learning lifelong skills.
I grew up in St. Vincent in the Caribbean. After my husband David and I met, we lived in the US for some years and then eventually moved back to Canada. Who knew I would end up spending my summers on a tiny island on an Ontario lake?
In my past life, I worked at the resort on Palm Island, one of the smaller Grenadine islands, where I organized weddings and social events, so I thought it would be fun to help out with some of the summer events on Juniper. I am very open to suggestions and input to help make these fun for everyone.
Jason Colbert - Property
Lisa, Elora and I have been on the lake for five years now and have enjoyed every minute of it. We're always asked how we heard or found out about Stony Lake like it's some best kept secret, which it is. Lisa worked in Peterborough after University and also vacationed at her family at their cottage just outside of Buckhorn. I on the other hand when in high school travelled the Trent in one of the iconic houseboats we see season after season, making it all the way to Stony Lake.
Something about the Kawarthas has been with Lisa and I for years and when the time came to look for another place to build memories, Kawartha was front of mind. It just so happened that the first cottage we seriously looked at was on Stony in Hamilton Bay and that was it, one and done. Some spend years looking and we found our piece of paradise right then and there. We have such great neighbors and friends on the lake which makes those five years feel like a lifetime.
From getting the keys to the cottage and launching the boat for the first time to joining the committee and closing up the club this year and all the regattas in between my family and I look forward to the years we will spend at the lake
John (JC) Craig - Communications
My first Stony Lake experience was in 1999, when I visited the cottage of my now wife, Liz Eustace, whose family had been on the lake for generations. Liz and I were married at St. Peter’s on the Rock in 2002 and I’m pretty confident we may be the only couple in the history of the Lake who have had a live disco band blow out the cottage electrical panel at their wedding reception — on the first note.
Even though we lived in New York for 10 years, it’s a point of pride with our kids, Lillie and Jasper, that they’ve never missed a summer on Stony, even if it was just a brief visit. We moved back to Toronto for good in 2015, and were beyond thrilled to purchase our own cottage in 2016. Although you may not hear the sounds of a live band reverberating from our island, you might hear some guitars beyond strummed, ping pong balls being whacked, a singing golden retriever or a boat leaving the dock to head over to the tennis courts on Juniper.
I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to give back to a community that has given us so much.
Kelly Kennedy - ASLC Liaison
I have been fortunate to spend my childhood summers on Stony Lake doing all things Juniper: swimming, paddling, tennis, sailing, racing, teaching sailing and even becoming the head instructor. In 2010, my husband (Joel) and I were married at St. Peter’s-on-the-Rock and I am pretty certain our vows had something to do with “all summers will be spent at Stony.” We now have three children, Gwen, Sam, and Maddy, who are running around Juniper just as I once did.
When we are not on Juniper, you can find us on our island property, Boscobel Villa, in the Boschink Narrows. You may recognize it by the little yellow boathouse where kids frequently jump from the roof to the lake for the boats passing by.
My family has been part of the Stony Lake community for five generations, helping in various capacities with both the SLYC and ASLC boards over the many years. I feel honoured to continue the family tradition by joining the SLYC board. I hope to help continue the growth of our amazing club.
Kevin O’Callaghan - Member at Large
My first introduction to Stony was in 1996 in the fall, through my wife Joanna (Sloane). We married in 1999 at St. Peter’s, with our reception in the Pavilion. After the wedding, I took Joanna out west to Vancouver (for which the Sloane’s still haven’t forgiven me) — but the deal was that every summer must include a pilgrimage to Stony Lake. We usually stay at the Sloane’s island (near Ronnie Hawkins’, just before Black Rock), but have rented all over the lake as well.
Our kids have never missed a summer and are avid members of the Juniper Island community — Bronwen was Race Coach for a number of years, Finlay was on the race team and worked at SLYC during deep COVID, and William had his second year on the race team this past summer. They all come by it honestly, as Joanna in her day was Head Instructor.
For myself, I came into my own on the tennis court (or perhaps more aptly in the après-tennis festivities) and was an early convert to the Men’s Tennis Clinic not long after it started. Even in years where knee surgery prevented playing, I still came for the beer. The lake is gorgeous, no one could argue, but it is the connections to people that my family has made on Juniper that keep us coming back.
Michele Macpherson - Treasurer
I grew up spending summers and Thanksgiving on the lake with my grandparents at their place in Burleigh. I learned how to do a front somersault into the lake off a diving board with something that looked like a styrofoam football strapped to my back.
I have enjoyed the last few decades at the lake making so many friends, playing tennis, helping our kids participate in off lake sailing and regattas, square dancing and enjoying this very special community and place.
I was previously on the SLYC Board as Director of Membership/Operations and on both SLYC and ASLC boards as the ASLC Liaison.
