There is a great need to have an active board to oversee the many new activities and the generous donations that are being given to The Village Green. We know everyone has busy and hectic schedules but our organiztion asks each Board member to commit to being a vital part of The Village Green Board.
Board Member Expectations & Responsibilities
Board members have the principal responsibility for fulfilling the mission statement and the legal accountability for our organization's operations. Meeting are held on the second Monday of each month (except for January when there is no meeting) at 4:00 p.m. at the Albert Carlton Cashiers Community Library meeting room. Board members serve a term of three years.
Join The Village Green Board of Directors
Are you interested in becoming an active member of The Village Green Board? Please consider carefully whether or not you can give the time that is needed to help us move forward with plans to improve "The Green". If the answer is yes, please join The Village Green Board of Directors and help make a difference.
Click here to download the Board Member Guidelines and Application.
Current Village Green Board of Directors
Below are the current members of The Village Green Board of Directors. We would like to thank you for your time and dedication you have given to help us fulfill our mission.
Al Balestiere
Founder and Chairman of the Village Green Board, Al moved to Cashiers in the early 1980's. He retired from an engineering career in Rochester, New York. He loved Cashiers and became involved from the beginning. He was on the Highlands Cashiers Hospital Board for 10 years, involved in establishing the Western Carolina Community Foundation in our area, belonged to Cashiers Valley Rotary Club and purchased the original tract for the Village Green. He loves to hunt and fish and his dog, Rowdy. He and his wife, Vesta, love horses and were very involved with steeplechasing. They live in Vero Beach, Florida.
Page Bernstein
Page Bernstein is a native of Raleigh and, after college at UNC Chapel Hill, spent thirty plus years in the US Army retiring in 1988. Page's assignments include 16 1/2 years in Europe and two tours in Viet Nam. He and his wife Sally, a native of Washington DC, have three children and eight grandchildren. They have lived in Cashiers since 1991 and full time residents since 1998.
Mary Palmer Dargan
Mary Palmer Dargan has served on the Village Green Board since 2002. As a registered landscape architect licensed in 8 states and holding national reciprocity, her interests in the Cashiers community are sustainable growth, the Cashiers Corridor Park Project and earth-friendly landscape architecture. Mary Palmer lives at Highcote in High Hampton as a full-time resident, however travels with business and recent book tours continue to take her away from the community far too often. Dargan Landscape Architects' residential projects are regularly featured on The Joy Garden Tour to benefit The Village Green. She and her design-partner and husband, Hugh, are inveterate birders and botanical hikers. The Dargans purchased Highcote, a 1948 High Hampton out-parcel of land with small cottage, in 1997.
Connie Dimling
Connie Dimling leads a life balanced between Cashiers and Atlanta. Although her time is split btween these two places, she still finds the time to volunteer — specifically with projects such as The Village Green here in Cashiers. This beautiful spot in the center of town is a very special place and has become a destination for visitors and residents of all ages. As an artist, Connie is particularly drawn to the new scultpure garden, and as a grandmother, she enjoys watching her grandchildren spend time at the Village Play.
Dan Duckham
Dan Duckham is an architect, a full time resident of Cashiers for the past seven years, and part time since 1983. His architectural career has spanned almost 50 years and 400 plus completed projects. He is the architect for the new Cashiers Recreation Center, to start construction fall 2008, and a member of the Jackson County Planning Board. He and his wife Mary lived previously in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and have six adult children.
Jochen Lucke - President
Jochen has spent nearly two decades building his reputation as an award-winning real estate developer, broker, and builder. Jochen owns and operates a Cashiers based real estate company and is a member of the board of directors for the Cashiers Village Council, the Village Conservancy, and the Greater Cashiers Area Merchant Association. He and his wife, Adrienne, and their collie Winston enjoy all aspects of living in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Marcia McCarley
Marcia is from Asheville, NC. She lived in Atlanta, Georgia for 10 years. She graduated from Georgia State University and worked in the building, development and landscape industry until she realized she wanted to be back in the mountains. She opened the Petal Pusher Florist shop in Cashiers, NC in 1976. She sold it in 1990. She and her first husband Dan Moore raised two daughters and owned and operated Cashiers Printing until his death in 1998. She continued to operate it until early 2007 after having sold it in 2005. In 2006, she and her new husband, John McCarley, started another business called Blaze Enterprises. Marcia specializes in fresh flower arrangements and potted plants for private clubs. She and John also design and install gardens that include vegetables and cutting flowers. They are avid hikers and long distance wilderness adventurers.
Joanie Michaels
"Joanie" MIchaels, a native of Syracuse, NY and a graduate of Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (BA in Romance Languages and minor in education) has lived in Boston,MA, Los Angeles, CA and presently resides in Atlanta, GA. After a teaching career, she became a "Community Volunteer", serving on such boards as the Junior League of Atlanta, Atlanta Speech School Guild, and the Atlanta Olympic Committee and as President of Egleston Hospital Auxiliary, Alzheimer's Association, Teach For America and UNICEF. She chaired the Atlanta Speech School Gala, the Festival of Trees and the Southeastern Flower Show. The force driving her volunteer efforts has revolved mostly around children. Her major concern now is saving the environment and green spaces for her grandchildren. Having enjoyed Cashiers part-time for 17 years, she is thrilled to be "giving back" to this community through her involvement with the Village Green Board, the Joy Garden Tour and the Cashiers Designer Showhouse. She is married to Ed, has 2 children - Katie and Ned and 3 grandchildren.
Sean Ross
Sean Ross has resided in Cashiers since the summer of 2007. Sean and his family moved from Delray Beach and absolutley love the area and the people who make up such a great community. Sean operates a construction management firm here in Cashiers and joined the board to be involved in the structured growth of the community.
E. Clay Shaw, Jr.
Clay, a native Floridian, born in South Florida in 1939. Upon graduation from Stetson University College of Law he opened a law practice in Fort Lauderdale until he was elected to Congress in l981 where he served for 26 years. Prior to going to Washington, Clay served as Fort Lauderdale City Prosecutor and later city Judge. He was elected to the City Commission before being elected Mayor where he served for three terms. Clay grew up in his family's nursery business which he still operates with his brother in Fort Lauderdale. Clay and his wife, Emilie, have four children and 15 grandchildren. They spend their summers in Cashiers. Clay has a BS and JD degree from Stetson University and an MBA in Accounting from the University of Alabama. He was a Fellow at Harvard University in the Kennedy School of Government. He is currently a Board member of the Cashiers Historical Society, Nova Southeast University and is on the Advisory Board of Stetson University College of Law.
Emilie Shaw
A second generation Floridian, has been a visitor to the Cashiers area since she was a small child. As a Florida resident, she spends her summers with her husband, Clay Shaw, in Cashiers. Emilie is the mother of four children and grandmother of 15 grandchildren. She has balanced her life between caring for her family and politics. Having been president of the Republican Congressional Spouses, Chairman of the Republican Women's Federal Forum and on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Club. She chaired the First Ladies Luncheon honoring Hillary Clinton as the First Lady in 1993. Emilie currently serves as a director of the Stranahan House in Fort Lauderdale, and Florida House in Washington D.C. She received her degree from Stetson University.
Wesley Wofford
Wesley Wofford is a figurative sculptor who lives in Cashiers full time with his wife and two children. Originally from Georgia, he lived in Hollywood, Ca. for ten years before making Cashiers his permanent home for both his family and studio. He is an integral part of the sculpture acquisitions and exhibitions in the park and is the Chairman of the Sculpture on the Green committee.