Rhonda was born in Watertown, NY and is a life-long resident of the North Country. She graduated from nursing school in 1981, along with marrying her husband, Calvin, the same year. After their son was born, Rhonda joined Calvin in his business. She soon learned that she really enjoyed dealing with people. Rhonda also has two daughters and nine grandchildren, which is where she loves spending time.

Since the early days, Rhonda has owned and operated over 30 businesses, start-ups and acquisitions, with many successes... most notably, as co-founder and partner in the Hi-Lite group of companies.

Rhonda retired from Hi-Lite in September of 2016 and moved to Wellesley Island. She was a year-round resident and lived just down the street from Densmore Church. Rhonda serves on the board of Densmore Church, Inc. as President because of her joy in giving back to the community.

Rhonda and her husband now reside in Tampa, FL and summer on Wellesley Island.

AnnMarie was born and raised in the North Country. She spent her childhood and early adulthood in the Adams/Adams Center area, and she graduated from South Jeff in 2008.

In 2012, she married her husband, Kurt, in Lake Placid, NY. Kurt and AnnMarie have 3 children, ages 6,8 and 11.

AnnMarie and her husband were searching for their forever home in 2018, and they were determined to stay within the South Jeff school district...  That was until they looked at a house on Wellesley Island and fell in love with it!!! It also helps that her parents live just 2 miles up the road.  They are loving the island life and raising their children to be true river rats.

AnnMarie helped out with setting up for the annual Densmore dinner in 2021, and that's when she starting thinking that being part of the Densmore board would be a great fit for her to get more involved within the Wellesley Island community.

Vera came to Westminster Park on Wellesley Island by way of marriage.   She and Gary met as undergraduates at Cornell and were married in 1966.   They moved to Florida after Gary graduated from law school and lived there for over 40 years.

 She taught English before their daughters were born, then got involved in the usual "Mom" things -- PTA, Girl Scouts, Sunday School, various positions in the South Orlando Rowing Association (her daughters rowed; she did not!), on the board of a local Furniture Bank and as treasurer of the Orange County League of Women Voters.

Vera and Gary now live in Ocean City, NJ, and are happy to be just a block from their two younger grandchildren and a few hours from their older two. Vera has spent part of every summer at the river since 1966 and now, in retirement, she finds serving on the Densmore Church board an enjoyable way to connect with the river community.

Manny was born in Watertown, NY, and raised in Sackets Harbor, NY. All of his summers have been in Fineview on Wellesley Island. He and his wife, Vicki, have three children - Rene, Rob and Russell. Manny was president and owner of Jerome Fire Equipment Co., Inc. from 1967-2002, and is now retired. Presently he lives on Wellesley Island for eight months of the year, and winters are spent in Marco Island, FL.

Dick was born in Syracuse, NY and moved to Watertown, NY at the age of 12. His father, William Thomas, was foundry superintendent for the New York Air Brake Company. Dick obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1975 from Cornell University.

Dick married Linda in September of 1978 and they moved to Clinton, NY to raise a family of three children. He was a professor of biology at Mohawk Valley Community College for forty years. During this time, he served the community in a variety of ways. He was on the Library Board for quite a few years and volunteered on the Board of the local community pool. His largest commitment was as a member on the Clinton Central School Board for seven years.

Dick's great-grandfather first bought a family cottage on Thousand Island Park in the middle 1920's. His family has summered here since. His father bought his current house in Fineview in 1971, and Dick and Linda took over the home in 2010. They are now retired and live in Fineview from early May until the middle of October.

A few years ago, Dick's younger daughter asked him to officiate at her wedding ceremony. He became ordained as a clergyman in the Universal Life Church on the internet to make it a bit more official. He has only performed one other marriage ceremony -- at Densmore Church.

Martha has lived at the River in Hammond since 2012, except for a brief hiatus to Minnesota (the weather here is much better!).

She is a quilter and also enjoys reading, walking the north country trails, communing with her dog, and learning the Hammer Dulcimer again.

Her career in nonprofit management and fund raising started in Iowa, where she was born, and involved moves to Utica, New York City, Washington D.C., Iowa, Montana, Minnesota and of course the River.

Cindy Simmons Kennedy was born and raised in LaFargeville and from an early age always loved being on “The River.” She graduated from LaFargeville Central School in 1971 and from SUNY Brockport in 1974 with a degree in elementary education.  During her college summers, she was employed in the landscaping and flowers department of the Thousand Island Bridge Authority.

After college, Cindy returned to her LaFargeville alma mater, where she launched a novel reading program, earning Jefferson County’s Business Woman of the Year award. She moved to Ogdensburg in 1977, after her marriage to James Kennedy of Watertown, and taught in the Ogdensburg school system. She worked summers running the St. Lawrence State Park golf concession and was also active in the Ogdensburg Community Players theater group.

The couple moved to Lakeland, FL, in 1981, where Cindy worked as the director of a program for handicapped adults, and in 1983, to Tampa, where she taught in a local elementary school. While living in Florida, Cindy’s vacations were always to the Thousand Islands, where she stayed with her parents in Arcadia Park.

With two daughters both born in Florida, she and her husband moved in 1987 to Westchester County, NY, where they have lived ever since. Cindy continued teaching, leading her Pleasantville elementary school to National Blue Ribbon status and earning Teacher of Excellence honors from the New York State English Council. She retired from teaching in 2011.

Outside of school, Cindy has been a volunteer leader in her community, working with the non-profit Pleasantville Fund for Learning, co-founding a youth organization to raise money for victims of natural disasters and managing youth basketball and swimming programs.

She and her husband, a retired news executive, purchased a summer place on Wellesley Island in 2011, fulfilling her dream to someday return to her North Country roots. In her spare time, she enjoys walking, golfing, biking, knitting and babysitting her grandchildren.

Claudia was raised in Rochester, NY, graduating from Pittsford Sutherland High School, and then attending and graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in Communications in 1979.

She started her career in marketing with Xerox, and moved into marketing with Giltspur (a trade show company) and then enjoyed a career in pharmaceutical sales with Sandoz.

In 1990 she and John were blessed with twin girls, one requiring 23 surgeries , so at that point she became a full time caregiver. In her spare time, she created a home-organizing business, and also started running sports leagues for a local club in Rochester.

In 2008 she started working in the Pittsford School District; in 2016 she took over as main caregiver for her elderly mother.

In 2015, Claudia and her husband (John)  purchased land on Wellesley Island and began building their dream home. John has been coming to the River since birth (66 years) and Claudia has accompanied him for the past 48 years, spending most of their time on Grenell Island and Maple Island.  

In 2019, when Claudia's mother passed away, she became a full time caregiver for a friend who fell and became a quadriplegic. In 2021, Claudia and John moved permanently to Wellesley Island, and Claudia was honored to be one of Sandy Holcombe’s caregivers until she passed away.

She now enjoys working a few days a week at the local Price Chopper, but will be switching over to help at the Wellesley Island Market in June. Claudia and John also enjoy walking, biking, boating, snowshoeing, playing pickle ball and being involved in their church in Alexandria Bay. And of course, entertaining family and friends in their new home that they call “Island Grace.”

John was born in Ithaca NY and moved to Rochester at at young age, living there most of his life.  His summers were spent on Grenell Island from age 1 until 21, from the day school was out until the day before school in the fall. The cottage on Grenell Island has been in the family since 1919. There was nothing better than growing up on the River. John's cousins still own the family cottage on Grenell,  his parents and sister own a cottage on Maple Island and his brother and his wife are on the mainland.  

John graduated from Pittsford-Mendon HS in 1975, Monroe Community College and then Rochester Institute of Technology in 1981 with a degree in Engineering. John played multiple sports, including swimming, football and track.  

After graduating, he joined a small Engineering firm (MRB Group); after 4 years there, he joined the Engineering Dept at the city of Rochester. In 1987 he joined the Dolomite Group’s (a material supply company) Concrete Division, where he spent the next 34 years. John began in sales, was promoted to sales manager in 1993, then General Manager in 2006 until 2021 when he retired.  

John is  an alumnus of the National Ski Patrol, beginning in 1993 and actively patrolling until 2018. He was very active and an instructor in first aid, ski and toboggan, an assistant patrol director, the patrol director, an assistant region director and the region director and a board member of the Eastern division. John enjoys most sports, especially pickleball, golf, paddle tennis, boating and swimming.  

John says he is blessed to be married to his best friend for the past 42 years, and to have 4 wonderful children, three of them married and one grandchild so far. They moved to the River permanently 2 years ago, a dream of his forever.  They purchased the land in 2015 and came up to build every weekend until completion in 2019.  

John is currently employed on a part time basis at Wellesley Island Building supply,  on the board of Westminster Park Association and on the board of the Riverside Cemetery.  

Irene was raised in Syracuse, attended Syracuse University, and graduated from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy with a BS in Pharmacy degree.  As a pharmacist she has worked in retail pharmacies and health care institutions, but most of her career was as a Consultant Pharmacist in Long Term Care in the Southern Tier, Central NY, and the North Country.  While she has lived in Boston, Staten Island, Cortland, and Watertown, home is now on Wellesley Island.

She has been fundraising for over 30 years for many different NFP organizations, in many areas of the US and in Canada.  She has always been involved in a Ukrainian community near to where she has lived, from teaching Ukrainian school, church services, religious education and programs, as well as fundraising for the orphans in Ukraine and other causes.   

Many summer vacations, when the children were young, were spent cruising with her husband, Tom, and their four children from their home port on Cayuga Lake across Lake Ontario to Ottawa, Montreal, or up the Trent- Severn Waterway to Georgian Bay. Besides her family, work, and fundraising, a couple of her passions are bicycling, kayaking, skiing, outdoor activities in all seasons, and just spending time on the water.