EXECUTIVES:
President – Ivan Cyr
Ivan Cyr has been a part of the Watertown community since childhood. After graduating from Watertown High, he joined the Army to give service to his country. Upon returning to Watertown Ivan worked locally in manufacturing until his retirement. Since retiring, Ivan has been past President of the Crestbrook Retirees Golf league, has volunteered countless hours to the museum and the Watertown Methodist Church. His many talents have ensured that these buildings are well maintained and there is continuing progress of capital improvements. Currently, Ivan is serving as the museum’s President, guiding the museum to collect, preserve and share the many diverse stories that makes Watertown/Oakville a distinctive place, now and over time.
Vice President – Chelsea Marti
Chelsea has a Masters degree in Public History. She has worked with many different museums and historical institutions throughout the state of Connecticut during her short/continuing career doing everything from exhibitions and collections work to marketing and programming. Currently she is employed at the New Britain Museum of American Art.
Secretary – Christine Shields
Treasurer – Janette (Jay) Black
Jay is a lifelong Watertown resident who graduated from Watertown High School and attended local college. She has, over the past 50 years, worked as bookkeeper and/or office manager for several local businesses including St. John School and Rectory before retiring in 2019. On top of her own career, she also assisted her husband with many Watertown Fire Department events for over 4 decades. She is looking forward to using her extensive experience to assist the museum in overseeing their financial records and goals.
Curator – Joann Barthelmess
Joann Barthelmess has made her home in Watertown for more than 50 years. She has had a 32 year teaching career in Watertown, 25 years as an Art Educator and 7 years as a School Library Media Specialist. Mrs. Barthelmess is the co-owner of “Two Czech Girls” a hand-crafted jewelry business and maintains an antiques and appraisal business as well. She attended local schools before receiving her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Southern Connecticut State University. Joann has served on several boards and committees involved with the Arts and History. She welcomes the opportunity to serve on the Board of The Watertown History Museum and supports their Mission Statement whole-heartedly.
Archivist – Sheila Lafferty
Board Members
Jeffrey Grenier
Nancy Maton
Bill Hosking
David W. Jean
Roger J. Spinelli
Roger has established himself in the world of decorating over the past twenty years. He has also worked diligently in his community where, using his styling talents for the past 20+ years, Roger has transformed the Huntington Green into a Holiday Winter Wonderland. Further community work has included 10+ years of chairing the Festival of Trees Celebration and Fundraiser to benefit the Volunteer Caregivers at TEAM. He was proud to be honored with the 2010 Shelton United Way Volunteer of the Year Award, 2013 TEAM Inc. Volunteer of the Year Award, and 2015 TEAM Inc. Festival of Trees Event of the Year Award.
Paul Zasada
Expertise in technology, business innovation and strategy, strategic communications, media production, government affairs.
Founder and CEO of Gov.com, Inc., publisher of government, military and citizen engagement portals. Managing Partner of UU Ventures, early stage VC for internet innovation.
Previously: Cyber-futurist to Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Threat Intelligence Advisor to Deputy Director FBI Cyber. Co-author of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace for the National Security Advisor. Founder and CEO of Synthetic Reality, supercomputing technologies for 3D, VR, AR visualization, simulation and modeling. Founder and CEO of Clipper Publishing, total market saturation (80,000 mailed) advertising magazine. Art Director, Copywriter, Creative Director at Grey, Bloomingdales, ConEd for consumer packaged goods, financial services, corporate communications. Alumnus of Taft School, UCONN, Pratt Institute. Previous local civic boards: Salvation Army of Greater Waterbury, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, InfraGard.