

Board of Directors
Wayne Hobson
Wayne Hobson
President
Wayne Hobson is a retired academic who moved to Rockland from southern California in 2005 and has been a year-round Maine resident since his full retirement in 2010. He has been active in the Rockland Shakespeare Society and currently serves as its president. He served his entire academic career in the American Studies Department at California State University, Fullerton, which he joined after earning his PhD from Stanford University in American History, with a secondary field in African History. During his thirty-seven years at Cal State Fullerton he taught both undergraduate and graduate-level courses. His research and writing interests shifted over the years. Much of his research and writing was on aspects of the history of American legal culture, with a particular interest in celebrated criminal trials. That interest ultimately evolved into the broader study of public memory. Wayne was very active in the California American Studies Association, serving a term as its president as well as many years as that organization’s secretary-treasurer. He also served six years as chair of his academic department, four years as the director of the university’s honors program, and one year as the university’s director of academic advisement.
Rendle A. Jones
Rendle A. Jones
Treasurer & Finance ChairRendle A. Jones graduated from the University of Maine (B.A., Hist. & Gov.) ’63 and the University of Maine, School of Law (J.D.) ’67 where he was the managing editor of the Maine Law Review. He joined Gilbert Harmon, Esquire (1910-1998) the founder of Harmon, Jones & Sanford, LLP, in 1968 after helping establish a statewide legal services agency. Since that time, he has been instrumental in maintaining the law firm as a highly regarded legal services provider and counselor in Knox County and the State of Maine.
Rendle lives in Camden with his wife, Pat, a retired local real estate agent. He is active in numerous community organizations and boards, and has been involved with the Camden Conference for more than a decade. Currently the treasurer, Rendle is also serving his second stint on the Conference Board of Directors.
Viola Sheehan
Viola Sheehan
SecretaryVee Sheehan began her career as a staff writer for daily newspapers in Louisville, KY and Exeter, England. She has also served as an editorial assistant for The American Scholar quarterly and public information specialist for the New Orleans PBS affiliate, which produced programs on local culture that were distributed nationally.
In the early ‘80s, Vee worked in marketing for financial institutions in Louisiana, first in-house then with an advertising agency.
She and her husband Fred, a former city planner, have lived full-time in Maine in the ‘70s and since 1986. They have deep roots in Tenants Harbor but now live in Portland. They have close relatives in Sweden, Germany and France and been fortunate to have internationally experienced friends who have assisted with extensive travel in Turkey and Syria.
Vee has been active on Boards of the Saco River Corridor Association, Greater Portland Landmarks and Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. She holds a B.A. in English and French from Bryn Mawr College.
Don Abbott
Don Abbott
Director
Don Abbott has been coming to Camden in the summers since childhood. He has a degree from Kenyon College in chemistry and earned his MBA from Wharton. He has had a career working with international corporations on the financial side and he and his wife, Penny lived in Brazil, Spain and Mexico over the course of his career. They have two married sons who live on the northwest coast.
Don and Penny moved to Camden full time for retirement. Don served on the town development committee for several years as well as being treasurer on the YMCA board. He is an active fly fisher and served as Chair of the Maine State Trout Unlimited organization. And in the summer there is boating on Penobscot Bay.
Dwight Blue
Dwight Blue
Education ChairDwight Blue, a longtime fan of the Conference and the student volunteer coordinator at The Strand, has been teaching English at Oceanside High School in Rockland for 20 years. Originally from Lincoln, NE, he moved to Maine in 2000 after graduating from the University of Nebraska. Prior to that, Dwight spent three years in the U.S. Army, including a one-year deployment to Bosnia in 1996. Dwight resides in Warren with his wife, Maggi, and their son, Atticus.
George A. Cooke
George A. Cooke
Director
George Cooke has spent summers in Maine since childhood and, along with his wife Laura, became a permanent resident of Lincolnville in 2019 following his retirement from an active legal practice in the media and entertainment business. After graduation from Dartmouth on an NROTC scholarship, George served on destroyers tracking Russian submarines in the Med and did an in-country tour north of Danang as an advisor to the South Vietnamese coastal patrol force. The GI Bill enabled him to continue his studies at Cambridge University and Harvard Law School. Between stints at Boston and LA law firms, he had the good fortune to work for 20 years at HBO, where he had a front row seat to the burgeoning of pay television and the internet. George continues his involvement with film as a Board member of the Points North Institute, organizer of the Camden International Film Festival.
James Hengerer
James Hengerer
Development Chair
Jim Hengerer grew up in Albany, NY. After medical school, he served in U.S. Navy for nine years while training in Ear, Nose and Throat. He practiced in Lynchburg, VA for 35 years and retired to Rockland four years ago with his wife, Judy. They have spent summers in Maine on Echo Lake for many years. Jim also serves on the United Midcoast Charities Board of Directors and is a member of UMC’s Development Committee and Grants Committee.
Wendy A. Laidlaw
Wendy A. Laidlaw
Director
Wendy A. Laidlaw, CFP® is involved in many aspects of R.M. Davis, from portfolio management to heading up the Finance Department, from compliance assistance to human resource leadership. Wendy is the firm's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Her care and commitment toward her clients and their circumstances are genuine and valued. She is a Certified Financial Planner™ and an Investment Advisor Certified Compliance Professional. Wendy is a member of the Management Committee.
Born in Michigan and now residing in Portland, Maine with Mike, her husband, Wendy has two step-sons and eight grandchildren. Wendy enjoys reading, travel, keeping fit, and classical music.
Karin Look
Karin Look
Director
Karin Look is a retired national security professional. Following education at Sweet Briar College, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and UVA Law School, Karin held positions at the Central Intelligence Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and Department of State. During her career, she wrote and negotiated treaties controlling nuclear weapons, led the removal of nuclear and chemical materials from Libya, led consultations with NATO on conventional forces, and led for the State Department renewed U.S. thinking about controlling biological weapons. Since arriving in Maine in 2012, Karin and her husband, George, have immersed themselves in the restoration of their 1813 federal house and barn and created extensive herb and vegetable gardens. They embrace the use of natural methods, emphasize native plants and are ever-conscious of the needs of bees and butterflies. While in Maine they have supported Maine Preservation and local land trusts, team-taught classes at the Belfast Senior College, presented at Pecha Kucha, started a lunch-time discussion group on global issues, and adopted two cats. In addition to her work on the Program Committee, Karin serves on the Town of Montville’s Planning Board, and the Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations’ Speakers Committee.
Nick Mills
Nick Mills
Marketing ChairNick B. Mills taught journalism at Boston University for 26 years. In the 1980s he trained dozens of Afghan journalists in Peshawar, Pakistan and founded the Afghan Media Resource Center, a full-service news agency. In 2004 and 2005 he worked in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and collaborated with Karzai on a book, "KARZAI - The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle for Afghanistan."
- Profession Digital Marketing
- Experience 8 Years
- Email robert.gates@domain.com
- Phone 567.123.9008
- Company MiExpo Business
- Website www.miexpoconf.com
Jane Nyce
Jane Nyce
Community Events ChairJane Nyce retired to Cushing, ME in the summer of 2014. She was co-President of the Board in 2015 for Village to Village Network, a national non-profit supporting community programs to keep seniors safe in their homes and connected in their communities. Additionally, she is working with Methodist Conference Home in Knox County, ME to establish a village model program for Knox County. She was the founding Executive Director for Staying Put in New Canaan in Connecticut, one of the early “village” models, now in its ninth year of operation. She came to the program when it was in development in the summer of 2007 for her last internship in a Masters of Health Advocacy at Sarah Lawrence College. Before that, her professional work for over twenty years was in consumer insights and market research. She worked for Kraft Foods, Tropicana and Information Resources, a national research firm for clients such as P&G, Unilever, Quaker, Coca Cola, etc. Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Smith College and work in the doctoral program in Psychology at Cornell University.
John S. Reed
John S. Reed
DirectorCharlotte Singleton
Charlotte Singleton
In MemoriamCharlotte Singleton worked as a director of nonprofit organizations at home and abroad for more than 30 years. She was a member of the Camden Conference Program Committee 2013 - 2023.
Sadly, in October 2023 Charlotte passed away. She is and will continue to be sorely missed. Read more about her remarkable life here.
Advisory Council
Our Advisory Council serves in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors. We are extremely thankful for their support.
David Babski
Ann Beaudry
John Bird
Bruce Cole
John Davidson
Mac Deford
John Doughty
Leslie Fillnow
Will Galloway
Charlie Graham
Kathleen Hirsch
Robert G. Hirsch
Peter Imber
David P. Jackson
Elaine Keyes
Emily Lusher
James Matlack
Sarah Miller
Merlin Miller
Jane Monhart
Cynthia Reed
Sandra Ruch
Matthew Storin
Judy Stein
Susan Thornton
Ward Wickwire
Michael Wygant


Staff
Kimberly Scott
Director
Kimberly Scott
ExecutiveDirector
Kimberly Scott (Executive Director)
Kim has been with the Conference since 2008, becoming its first Executive Director in 2018. She formerly held positions in legal, non-profit, and consensus building arenas, leading local communities, advocacy groups, and public agencies at all levels of government. She is a member of the Bar in both Maine and Massachusetts, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo College of Law. When not working, Kim enjoys traveling to the far reaches of the world to trek in Nepal, Peru, and Tanzania, as well as closer to home in the Camden Hills.
Peter Mattox
Coordinator
Peter Mattox
AdministrativeCoordinator
After attending multiple Camden Conferences over the years, Peter Mattox began working for the Conference in 2023. His interests range widely, as does he himself. Mattox has an undergraduate degree in geography from New Mexico State University, has studied Mandarin Chinese at Middlebury Language Schools and Tsinghua University, and is currently completing master’s degrees in history at New Mexico State, as well as cartography and geographic information systems (GIS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mattox lives in the Midcoast with his wife and daughter.
Eva McVicar
Coordinator
Eva McVicar
Development & CommunicationsCoordinator
After her German studies in Prague and Berlin, Eva was a staff writer in an Austrian political weekly in Prague before landing an editorial job in an international publishing house in Hamburg, Germany. She ended her two-year-old stint after meeting her future American husband in recently freed Central Europe. Following a move to Portland Maine as a newlywed and a mother, Eva worked as a high school German teacher. Her lifelong interest in international understanding and global affairs led to positions in the international education field at Colby and Unity colleges in Maine.