Our Staff
Chris Malmgren - Director
Caleb Mihill - Digital Media Specialist
Jenni McGrew - Museum Visitor Service Representative
Our Board
Perry Babcock - Co-President
Perry retired in 2022 after nearly forty years in the nonprofit sector. He brings two decades of fundraising experience to the Historical Society, along with his passion for the Adirondacks. Perry and his wife, Susan (a Lake Placid native), have been full time residents for thirty years. They share a commitment to the area’s unique history and hope to see the former railyard property and museum become a vibrant addition to the community.
Betsy Hlavacek - Co-President
Betsy’s connection to Lake Placid is multi-generational and meaningful. Now retired from a career in education, she and her husband Rusty moved here from New Jersey in 2017. She is grateful to finally call Lake Placid her home. Betsy has been involved in schools and programming for her entire professional career. She began her career as an elementary school teacher, later earned a counseling degree and moved into a role providing academic support to high school students. Betsy joined the Historical Society board because she is eager to preserve area history by telling the stories of Lake Placid.
Steve Sama - Vice-President
Secretary - Erin Perkins
John B Huttlinger, Jr. - Treasurer
John is a Lake Placid native who pursued a career in public accounting and in the forest products industry in New York City before returning to Lake Placid to partner with his father in a CPA practice. He is currently President of Adirondack Audit Co/Accounting Associates of Lake Placid, a full-service accounting and tax preparation CPA firm, located in Lake Placid. John is also past Vice-president of the NYS Society of Certified Public Accountants and has served on the NYSSCPA Board for seven years. John is active with several local nonprofit organizations and serves as treasurer for several organizations, including the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society.
Mike Butler
Keith Clark
Karen Fountain - Town Historian
Karen and her twin sister, Susan, were born in Lake Placid in 1949. She graduated from Lake Placid High School in 1967, received her BA degree in English at SUCP Potsdam and finished her post graduate work at SUNY Plattsburgh and Potsdam. Karen returned to Lake Placid High School to teach English in 1972 and remained teaching there for 31 years. In addition to her board service at the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society, Karen also serves as the Historian for the Town of North Elba and the Village of Lake Placid. Karen also served for 8 years as a volunteer for the Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance Service and the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department for over 30 years. Currently Karen also volunteers at the Lake Placid Thrive and Thrift Shop.
Margie Grout Gallagher
Margie is a North Country native who grew up in Gouverneur, NY and has lived in Lake Placid since graduating from St.Lawrence University in the early 1980s. She and her husband raised their daughter here. Margie retired in 2019 after thirty fulfilling and busy years at Lake Placid Middle/High School. She has many family members in the area with ties to the Adirondacks going back to their ancestor, Archibald McIntyre, founder of the Adirondack Iron Works in Tahawus and the man for whom the McIntyre Range was named. She is active in sports including skiing, paddling, biking, and hiking, while also keeping busy volunteering for various organizations.
Georgia Jones
Georgia’s family has owned a camp on Buck Island on Placid Lake since 1894. The camp is much loved and has been used by seven generations and counting. She asserts that the health, beauty, and vitality of the local community has always been a part of her life in Lake Placid and hopes that her time on the board has helped to preserve those qualities for future generations. Over the years, Georgia has been a member of many nonprofit organizations in Lake Placid and she is of the opinion that the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society is made up of a group of very special people.
Doug Lansing
Ashleah Mayberry
Ashleah Hoffman Mayberry is a native of Lake Placid. She is a 4th generation graduate of Lake Placid High School. To keep herself busy, she is currently helping with the management of her family’s rental properties. She lives in Lake Placid with her husband, Dan, and their two boys Brooklyn & Jacob. Ashleah joined the board in 2021 with a desire to help preserve the history of Lake Placid. She also served as the Executive Director at the Lake Placid Institute for the Arts for 11 years from 2013-2024.
Heather Perkins
Heather is a 4th generation Placidian, born and raised in this community. Heather started her career at the Bank of Lake Placid. She eventually moved on to the insurance industry, purchasing her father’s business, Gordon W Pratt Agency, Inc, with her brother-in-law, Peter Lynch. They ran the business for over 30 years. Heather is very involved with the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, serving as co-president in 2021/2022. She is currently the treasurer of the club. She also volunteers with several other local organizations. She loves this community and believes in giving back. As a new board member, Heather looks forward to working with the staff and board of LPNEHS to preserve and share the history of Lake Placid.
Peter Roland
Peter Roland’s family was in the hotel business in Lake Placid for 76 years, operating the Homestead Inn, Lakeside Motor Inn and Lake Placid Hilton Resort. Following the sale of the hotel Peter served on the faculty at Paul Smith’s College, teaching Hotel and Restaurant Management and Business Courses. He has been a Trustee of the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society since 2002. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, hiking, paddling, fishing, golf, tennis and anything outdoors.
Cindy Smith
Originally from the Utica area, Cindy has lived in Lake Placid for the past 30 years. She is currently the Assistant General Manager at the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort where she has been employed for 27 years. In addition to her service as a trustee at the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical society, Cindy also runs Digital Abraham, a nonprofit 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization focused on linking the historical past of the Town of North Elba, village of Lake Placid and the North Elba Cemetery with the new digital era. Besides her love of history, Cindy also enjoys traveling, hiking, sewing, cross-stitching and Legos.
Parmelee Tolkan
Parmelee has served on the Historical Society board for the past ten years. As a fourth-generation summer resident and a full-time resident since 1986, she believes she brings a unique perspective to her role as a member of the Society’s Board of Trustees. Parmelee’s interest in theatrical design and curiosity about history have blended to make her incredibly interested in telling Lake Placid’s stories through the development and installation of numerous museum exhibits.
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