Leadership Lakes Region holds 21st graduation

MEREDITH — Leadership Lakes Region recently celebrated the group’s 21st annual graduating class, with 24 area professionals completing the course and joining the ranks of Leadership Lakes Alumni, now 385 strong.

Preceding the graduation ceremony at the Chase House in Meredith, the group held its annual “Lakes (Environmental) Day,” hosted by the Squam Lakes Association and sponsored by Meredith Village Savings Bank, which had four students enrolled this year.

SLA Executive Director E.B. James welcomed the group to Squam and then turned the program over to his AmeriCorps team members, Adele Barnes and Alex Reiber. Featured speaker of the day was New Hampshire Environmental Services Commissioner Robert Scott. The day also featured a lengthy pontoon boat tour of Squam Lake.

The leadership class then headed to Meredith for the graduation ceremony where guest speaker Randy Pierce of 2020 VisionQuest inspired the class with his narratives of personal triumphs despite being blind. Pierce’s numerous physical and mental challenges include hiking all of the 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu, running three consecutive Boston marathons and participating in Tough Mudder events with his team, which included his former guide dog, the Mighty Quinn, and his current partner, Autumn.

The graduating class and their guests viewed and discussed a “Year in Review” slide presentation assembled by the alumni planners for the day, Tammie Mahoney, Linda Heney and Willow Furey.

The Leadership Lakes Region Board recognized the organizational efforts by one of the primary founders of the group back in 1996, the late Adrienne Stevens. Stevens, a career educator who died in the Fall of 2018, was a driving force in the establishment of the leadership program. Three of the original board members were there to honor her contributions: Eliza Leadbeater, Bill Seed and Don Morrissey. They were original members of the board, along with Stevens and three other visionaries.

The group formed to foster a spirit of volunteerism through regional information and education, stated Leadbeater, and Stevens was a primary example of that spirit throughout her life.

Seed highlighted Stevens' volunteerism with the local Altrusa Club and her involved mentoring efforts with high school and college students that allowed hundreds of them to achieve their career dreams.

Stevens' family members were invited to participate in the ceremony which culminated with one member of the graduating class selected by the votes of classmates as the person who most embodies the volunteer spirit and community involvement of the late Adrienne Stevens. Nephew Chris Stevens proudly spoke of his aunt’s many community accomplishments and then presented the first Adrienne Stevens Founder’s Award for Leadership to class member Andrea Condodemetraky.

Lakes Day and Graduation were coordinated and planned by Leadership Lakes Coordinator Jennifer McLean, assisted by Furey, Mahoney and Heney. Bank of New Hampshire sponsored the annual graduation program for the 21st year in a row.

Class of 2019 Leadership Lakes Region graduates were Caryl Falvey, Mark Cote, Jeff Sirles, Stacy Trites, Andrea Condodemetracky, Greg Goddard, Jan Kimball, Ann Marie Moynihan, Barbara Laros, Roland Bourque, Emily Ferrer, Jennifer Watson, Larissa Baia, Sara Thielbar, Amy Mavris, Ira Keltz, Jayne Rayno, Kate Luczko, Holly Hiltz-Harrington, Lisa Gloddy, Sara Custance, Samantha Downes, Shelley Carita, Todd Calder and Krista Bouchard.

Anyone interested in joining the next class of Leadership Lakes Region, which will begin in October, may apply on the group’s website at www.leadershiplakesregion.org.