OCT Annual Meeting

Join OCT at the Orleans Yacht Club for our Annual Meeting. Enjoy refreshments and the view of Town Cove while catching up on the Trust’s activities over the last year – we’ve been busy! Cast your vote for the slate of Trustees; you can read their bios below. We’ll also vote on the slate of candidates for OCT’s Nominating Committee, who help us recruit and choose candidates for Trustee election. If you’re unable to attend the meeting, you can VOTE HERE.

This year, we will also have a silent art auction to support an ongoing effort to preserve nearly five acres on Portanimicut Road in South Orleans. You can find photos of the paintings and information about this generous donation HERE!

After the business meeting, stay for a talk by Bob Prescott, Director of Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, who will discuss sea turtles on Cape Cod and give us an update on the latest trends in turtle strandings.

 

Slate of Trustee Candidates 

Rigney Cunningham

Rigney served as Executive Director of the Hospice and Palliative Care Federation for 15 years before retiring in 2010. Prior to that position, she had similar responsibilities at a suburban Boston teaching hospital, a private psychiatric facility in Virginia, and an inner-city hospital in Washington DC. She holds a BA in English and an MSW in Community Organization. Since retiring, Rigney has been an active volunteer in adult literacy, food banks, community education, and several local campaigns but finds the greatest satisfaction in environmental action. She was a board member of Orleans Pond Coalition, where she worked on freshwater pond remediation. She also has been a long-standing volunteer in support of the Orleans wastewater project. Rigney has been an OCT member since 1996, and she is honored to be a candidate for its Board of Trustees. She and her husband, Robert, have owned a home in East Orleans for 27 years and live here year round.

Kevin Galligan

Kevin has been an OCT Trustee since 2015 and a member, active supporter, and volunteer for nearly 30 years. He currently serves as the OCT President and also as a member of the Town of Orleans Select Board. He has served as a public member of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, member of the Orleans Conservation Commission, a Water Commissioner, chair of the Renewable Energy Committee, and member of the Orleans Personnel Advisory Board. Kevin has a BS in accounting from the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth, a BS in mechanical engineering technology from Northeastern University, and an MBA from University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth. With Vince Ollivier he owns and operates a small farm that follows organic growing practices. He taught environmental science—specifically energy efficiency and conservation—at Cape Cod Community College and continues to provide energy consulting services.

Steven Gass

Steve has served as an OCT Trustee since 2016. He earned a BS in political science from MIT and an MLS from Simmons College. He spent his professional career as an academic librarian; he has served as associate director of MIT Libraries, and interim director of libraries. He retired and moved to Orleans in 2015. Steve chairs OCT’s Land Management Committee and volunteers in the field. He is also a trustee of Snow Library in Orleans and on the board of directors of WOMR.

Robert Granger

Bob retired to Orleans in 2014 and is on the Board of the Friends of Pleasant Bay where he is active in the effort to conserve Sipson Island and as a member of FoPB’s education grants committee. He has a BA in economics from Claremont Men’s (now McKenna) College and a doctorate in education from UMASS Amherst. Prior positions include Executive Vice President of Bank Street College of Education, Senior Vice President of MDRC (a  policy research firm created by the Ford Foundation; Bob led its work on the effects of  education and anti-poverty programs on children and youth), and President of the William T. Grant Foundation.

Mefford Runyon

Meff has served as an OCT Trustee since 2014. He currently serves on the Town of Orleans Select Board and formerly chaired the Orleans Open Space Committee. He spent summers in Orleans beginning in 1952 and has lived in town full-time since 1974. He received his BA from Colgate University in 1974 and began working at the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank in 1975. He retired in 2011. Over the years, Meff has served on various town committees, including the town’s Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Peter Van Oot

Pete is the cofounder and principal of a strategic consulting firm that focuses on leadership and board governance, and maintains a law practice in governance and conservation law. Pete previously served as a director and as corporate, strategic, and governance counsel at Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC in Vermont and New Hampshire for three decades before retiring in 2018. Pete has taught environmental law, lectured on governance and leadership, and co-created successful nonprofit leadership summits. In additional to his professional work, Pete has served on numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards and commissions; in 2011 he was named Volunteer of the Year in the eleven Northeast states by the Northeast Vermont Development Association.  He and his wife, Alie, live in Orleans just off Namskaket Marsh and Creek, an OCT conserved property.