Add Board Member
| Name | Position | Bio | Bio Pic | Website | Priority Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Cipollone | President | Nick is the owner and operator of Barthel's Farm and Farm Stand in Ellenville. After graduating from Ellenville High School in 1996, he decided to explore life elsewhere and spent the next decade immersed into college and then into the world of banking and finance. In 2008, Nick returned to the Hudson Valley to begin his career as a fourth-generation farmer at his family's farm. Because the farm is only part of the overall operation at Barthel’s, Nick also oversees sourcing crops from other farms or planning with his parents for their farm market in Connecticut. Nick has served as the president of RVGA's board since 2013. | barthelsfarm.com | 1 | |
| Samuel Ullman | Advisor | Sam Ullman is an Ulster County native and alum of Rondout Valley High School. After several years working in restaurants throughout the East Coast, Sam returned to Ulster County in 2006 and opened the Bywater Bistro in Rosendale. After developing a program of working with local farms and producers in the area, Sam saw a need for a hub to purchase and distribute these products. In 2011 Sam became a co-founder of Hudson Valley Harvest, the first business of its kind in the Hudson Valley, bringing together local farms and producers in one place. Sam retired from HVH in 2019. Sam served on the Rondout Valley Growers Association's Board of Directors from 2014 - 2023 before transitioning into an advisory position. Sam still enjoys supporting the local food and farm scene and remains dedicated to our community’s agricultural heritage. |  | 8 | |
| Bruce Davenport | Emeritus Director | Bruce is the co-owner and operator of Davenport Farms in Stone Ridge. They grow many of the same crops his grandfather and great grandfather grew, and sell to the 21st century version of the same markets they sold to. Bruce and his brother, like many other farmers in the Rondout Valley, are continuing a long-standing tradition of raising crops in the same soil our forefathers farmed. And when he finds an arrowhead in the field, he's reminded that the soils have been the cornerstone of cultures for millennia. | davenportfarms.com | 9 | |
| Maren Lindstrom | Treasurer | Maren has worked in the finance industry for over 35 years--in capital markets, portfolio management, and commercial lending. She currently advises private clients as a Registered Investment Advisor. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and a MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. She is a longtime supporter of the RVGA, as well as farming and agriculture in the Rondout Valley, and is a member and former Chair of the Town of Rochester Planning Board and Zoning Review Committee. | 2 | ||
| Bob Fade | Director | Bob grew up on Long Island and moved into the Rondout Valley area in 1999. He worked in construction for 25 years before starting Fiddlehead Farm In 2016. He grows a wide variety of vegetables along with some flowers on the two acre farm, the majority of which are sold at the local farmers market. Fiddlehead Farm is a four season farm producing fresh greens in unheated high tunnels all winter long. Bob is also the President of the Rosendale Farmers Market and was recently elected to the Rosendale Town Council. He joined the RVGA’s Board of Directors in 2025. | thefiddleheadway.com | 3 | |
| Dylan Thuras | Director | Dylan Thuras is the co-founder of AtlasObscura.com, the collaborative guide to the world's hidden wonders. He is the co-author of three New York Times bestsellers: Atlas Obscura, Gastro Obscura, and The Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid. Dylan hosted Brand USA's Small Town Big Story TV series as well as the number one travel podcast in the US, The Atlas Obscura Podcast. Dylan lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Michelle and two kids, Phineas and Jean. | 4 | ||
| Name | Position | Bio | Bio Pic | Website | Priority Order |