At our NC High Peaks Annual Meeting on October 15 we will be electing four new members to the Board of Directors.  We are very excited to nominate two former board members and two brand new members!  Please review their biographies and be prepared to vote for the candidate(s) of your choice.  Each High Peaks individual or family member can vote for up to four nominees including writing in anyone nominated from the floor of the meeting.  Because of Covid once again we are providing a mail-in ballot.  If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to vote please drop an e-mail to trails@nchighpeaks.org to request a ballot.

Jimmie Bowen
I am a newcomer to the Burnsville area having bought a house here in 2020 and making it our forever home in February 2021. For the previous 31 years I was an anesthesiologist at Nash UNC Hospital in Rocky Mount, NC. During that time I served as department chairman, member of the hospital Board of Directors and President of the
Medical Staff. With a lifelong interest in sports and fitness I coached a boys youth soccer team for 12 years as well as boys and girls middle school soccer for four years. 

I then opened and ran a CrossFit gym for six years. My wife Tracy and I moved to  Burnsville to enjoy all the things the mountains have to offer. We quickly found and joined NCHPTA, going on numerous hikes and finally joining the Monday trail maintenance crew. I hope to bring to the Board my experience as a board member, my love of the mountains, an eagerness to learn and be an ambassador for the trails of the Blacks from the perspective of a newcomer.

Kay Coleman
I recently retired from working at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, a non-traditional hunger relief organization located in Raleigh, NC.  As a native North Carolinian and NCSU graduate in horticulture and animal science I have spent most of my career working in agriculture. As a Farm Manager and Ag Educator, I taught sustainable, environmentally responsible growing methods and the importance of being good stewards of our environment. As the Urban Agriculture Manager, I started gardens in urban, lower income communities that had been designated “food deserts” by the USDA. These community
gardens provided space and education for community members to grow their own fresh, healthy food, learn beekeeping, plant native pollinator gardens and enjoy fellowship with other gardeners.
 
I have lived in Wad Medani -  Sudan, Athens - Greece and Geneva - Switzerland. After retirement, I moved to Burnsville in the Cattail Community where access to hiking trails are right down my driveway. As a horticulturist, I enjoy learning the names of all the mountain plants so hiking with me can have many stops and starts as I explore the woods. ��  I have backpacked many places in the NC and Virginia mountains in preparation for my big backpacking trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

Nancy Fitzgibbon
I moved to Burnsville in 2010 and became a member of the NC High Peaks Trail Association that same year. I was elected to the Board 7 years ago and served three terms. I currently serve as Secretary to the Board. The mountains are my passion and the stewardship of them a priority. I look forward to hopefully continuing my work on the Board as we find ways to increase our membership, as well as involve more groups of
people who have never experienced the majesty of the beautiful place we live in.

Dennis Smith
I have been hiking the Black Mountains for more than 50 years – my family bought a vacation cabin in the Cattail community in the 1960s. I love these mountains and fully
support High Peak’s efforts to promote and conserve them. I have served two terms previously on the High Peaks Board and one term as President. I have been the club’s most active hike leader since High Peaks was founded, and would be honored to serve another term on the Board.