LIVERMORE – A woman who grew up volunteering at Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore has been named its acting site director and comptroller.
Mary Castonguay, 27, a farmer who co-manages her family’s farm, Castonguay Ayrshires, said she is “excited to help Norlands move forward.”
The center’s board of trustees accepted Executive Director George Lyons’ resignation at a special board meeting March 10, trustees President Mitchell Clyde Thomas said Monday.
“George submitted his letter of resignation in mid-February, but the board has been reluctant to take action regarding his letter for weeks until we had time to make contingency plans,” Thomas said.
George Lyons resigned under very good terms, Thomas said.
No replacement for Lyons has been planned for the immediate future, he said.
However, board member and treasurer Mary Castonguay has agreed to represent the board as acting site director and comptroller on a part-time basis.
“We are indeed sorry to lose George as our executive director and we owe him much for his devoted service,” Thomas said. “We are thrilled and grateful that Mary has offered to step up and lead our group of talented and dedicated staff and volunteers through this time of transition.”
Lyons became executive director in 2003 and helped the center survive a financial crisis after a former bookkeeper stole thousands of dollars from the center and masked $200,000 in operating losses between 2000 and 2002.
Thomas credited Lyons for doing a lot of hard work to help the center turn a corner and bounce back.
Lyons, formerly of New York, introduced several new ideas to put the center on the right track, which included theme dinners, barn dances and an art contest.
“I felt it is time,” Lyons said, “and the organization is at a good, strong point now.”
He has taken the center as far as he can, he said, and it needs a different kind of energy to keep it moving forward.
Lyons said he will be around to help guide the center for a while.
“I’m really hopeful of the direction it’s going to go in,” Lyons said.
Thomas said Lyons’ last day is April 1.
Castonguay is a 1996 graduate of Livermore Falls High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness and resource economics and a master’s degree in business administration, both at the University of Maine in Orono.
Castonguay volunteered with her family at Norlands when she was growing up, helping in any way she could, she said, including milking cows.
“They’re our real close neighbors and we want to see them successful and to keep going,” said Castonguay, who lives down the road from the center. “We’re going to keep Norlands moving forward and keep offering services to the public.”
Comments are no longer available on this story