Helen Gibson Uguccioni

President 

Term June 2023 to June 2026

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Helen Gibson Uguccioni has lived in Montague for 37 years. Before retiring, she worked in public education for over 30 years. She was a classroom science teacher in Greenfield for 10 years before going back to college to earn her Doctoral degree in Science Education, after which she became the Science Administrator for the Holyoke Public Schools. Currently, she provides childcare for her grand-daughter.

Helen and her husband Jim volunteered for the Meals-on-Wheels program for over 6 years. Helen is passionate about helping create Montague Villages and has boundless energy devoted to spreading the word throughout the 5 villages of Montague. She enjoys meeting new folks and creating new connections with others. Helen says, “Meaningful relationships with others gives me energy.”

Susan Dorias

Treasurer

Term June 2023 to June 2026

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Susan Dorais lives in Montague Center and worked in Human Resources in nearby towns for most of her professional life. When she retired from Human Resources, she went to work part time for The Literacy Project as an education and career counselor until she retired in May, 2023. She was elected as a town meeting member in 2021 and says, “It’s my way of giving back to the community I live in.”

Her decision to be involved with Montague Villages comes from a place of personal responsibility and interest in helping others, especially the elderly. She says, “Watching my parents become isolated and unable to live on their own any longer made me so aware of the shortcomings of places that don’t have organizations that will reach out and help on the very basic level of needs.”

Susan loves to hike, swim, snowshoe, and until recently biking. Her other interests include travel, cooking, reading, making watercolors, working with pastels, making collages, watching movies, and she loves music. Susan also has a great love of dogs and her most recent companion, a Cockapoo, named Kiki, keeps her entertained and active. She says, “I continue to keep very busy filling my days with friends and walking/hiking and hope to continue to travel.

Kristi A. Bodin

Clerk
Term May 2024 to May 2027

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Kristi A. Bodin, who lives in Turners Falls, says she is interested in supporting her town and community through volunteer service. She has lived in Montague for twenty-two years, is a town meeting member for Precinct 3, and is currently on the Montague Cable Advisory Committee and the Finance Committee. She is the current Vice President and an active member of the Rotary Club of Amherst, and a past president of the Rotary Club of Franklin County. She has served on the Boards of Directors of the Greenfield Community College Foundation and the Franklin County Community Development Corporation.

Kristi recently retired after thirty years as an attorney, and has worked in the areas of small business law, commercial real estate, municipal law, zoning and land use, construction law, and civil litigation. She started her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prior to attending law school, Kristi worked in manufacturing management for several large Massachusetts companies which produced industrial and consumer products for domestic and international markets. She grew up in Amherst, and is a graduate of Greenfield Community College, the University of Massachusetts, and Western New England College School of Law. She lives with her black lab, Marty. She enjoys weightlifting, swimming, and indoor rowing. She also a student of Russian iconography.

Terry Eaklor

Term July 2023 to July 2026

 

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Terry Eaklor was born in Lake Pleasant. Her family moved to Turner’s Falls where she lived until she was nine, and then to Millers Falls where she raised 4 children. Terry was the first woman president of Greater Greenfield area Jaycees in 80's, and worked many years as a health aide and supportive care health aide where she helped clients and their families prepare for end-of-life issues. She has 4 children, 11 grand-children and 6 great grand-children and has a deep faith in God. She is passionate about the well-being of children and the needs of the elderly. Her hobbies include crafts, walking, and crocheting. She says, “My hope for Montague Villages is that more people will get involved. I love working with the elderly and I want to fight to help get them everything they need.”

Roberta Potter

Term May 2024 to May 2027

 

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Roberta Potter who has lived in from Turners Falls for forty-five year is the Director of the Montague Council of Aging and an individual who has supported Montague Villages from the very beginning. She has welcomed Montague Villages to hold its monthly meetings at the Gill Montague Senior Center and also made the center available for informational meetings for those who want to know more about the organization. She is a representative linking the Montague COA and older adults in the community.  

She said, “I joined the Board hoping to contribute whatever I can personally or on behalf of the Montague COA and to help this venture succeed and involve a large number of Montage older adults as members and volunteers.”

She is hoping that that membership grows to include everyone who needs help as well as those who have help to offer. When she is not working, she enjoys gardening, knitting, and hanging out with her dogs.

Jill Ingham

Term August 2024 to August 2027

 

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Jill Ingham who moved with her husband from Greenfield to Turners Falls in 2014, said that her interest began with an article in the Montague Reporter. Then she met some of the people who were already involved at a Town Meeting in 2023 and decided t get involved in helping seniors in her community. She has deep roots in Montague.  Her grandfather Carl Sauter was born in Turners Falls and she spent many summers with her cousins at her a cottage on Lake Pleasant that belonged to her maternal great grandfather, Frank C. Bryant. She said, “MY family names were placed on the Bridge of Names when it was first built, including my Great Great Grandmother Almina Bede and Bryant Bishop.” Her other volunteer activities include being a Town Meeting member for precinct 2 and a member of the Ritual Committee at her place of worship.

Mary Kay Mattiace

Term September 2024 to September 2027

 

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Mary Kay Mattiace has lived in the Town of Montague since 2007, choosing this spectacular area and this exceptional town for her post employment epoch.  Her 50 years as a practicing nurse came-to-a-close in the ER at Baystate Franklin Hospital in 2010.  She figures she has enough on her agenda for about five lifetimes, though being given only one, a priority right now is dedicating quality time building a strong foundation in the development of Montague Villages. Our community is in need, and it is a joy to serve.

Eileen Mariani

Board Member from June 2023 to August 2024

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Eileen Mariani has lived, with her husband Paul, in Montague Center for fifty-four years. It is where they raised their three, now adult sons, (Paul, Mark, and John). Eileen became active in the community almost immediately. She established a pre-school in Montague Center with a close friend, was a member of the Montague School Committee (before it joined with the town of Gill), and joined the former St. Mary’s Church, now Our Lady of Peace.

For twenty-six years Eileen taught Preschool and Kindergarten at Erving Elementary School. Education has always been a passion for Eileen, and she ended her teaching career at the Greenfield Center School. For the next twelve years she was a consultant for the Responsive Classroom and traveled to small and large cities on the East Coast to bring this approach to teaching to other school communities. Eileen was a founding member of Montague Catholic Social Ministries, which is based in downtown Turners Falls.

Now in her 80’s, Eileen is a Town Meeting member and she contributed to the statewide Mass in Motion initiative this past year. That involvement ignited her concern about the issues of our senior citizens and how a community can help elders age in place. Working on the board of Montague Villages seemed the natural place to make the vision of Mass in Motion come to practical reality.

Lee Wicks

Board Member from June 2023 to July 2024

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Lee Wicks is a writer who has lived in Montague Center since 1986. She is deeply committed to her community of friends and neighbors. Her interest in Montague Villages stems from her desire to age in place near people she has known for more than thirty years and to help others do the same.

Before retiring she worked in communications at nearby independent schools. She has been a contributing writer to the Montague Reporter for many years, and now writes a monthly column called Elders Connect. In addition to her work with Montague Villages, she has served on the Greenfield Community College Foundation Board and volunteered at the Amherst Survival Center. For recreation and exercise she enjoys swimming and walking, and she appreciates Montague’s natural beauty. She is also an avid reader and a great fan of the library. Lee lives with her husband Roy Rosenblatt and Ziggy, a mischievous Great Pyrenees who tests her patience daily. She says, “I am lucky to have family nearby, and spend as much time as I can with my daughter and grandchildren.”

Paula Graffius

Term November 2023 to June 2024

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Paula Graffius grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts and moved to Turners Falls in 1987. She and her husband Danny raised 5 children, three girls and two boys all of whom went to school in Turners except for her youngest who graduated from Frontier. Now Paula and Danny enjoy six grandchildren and are ready to welcome another in March. Her favorite saying is, “Never take yourself too seriously.”

Paula worked at Franklin Medical Center for 27 years, mainly in Patient Registration on the night shift in the Emergency Room. She retired in 2015 and now enjoys a few hobbies that include reading, knitting, crocheting, hiking, biking and spending summers at Wells Beach Maine. She’s also a big animal lover, especially any kind of dog.

Paula said, “I found out about Montague Villages from my friend Mary Kay. I have been looking for a way to give back and become more involved in my community, and I am looking forward to the future with this endeavor.”