Biographies of the
Newfound Lake Pathway Committee

Jan Collins, Chairperson and Founder of Newfound Lake Pathway was born and raised in Florida and moved to New England as a young adult. The beauty of New England with all the water (lakes, ocean, streams), mountains, seasons, culture, cities and landscapes captured her heart from the very first day. She worked in the Identification Department of the Polaroid Corporation where she designed driver’s license and other identification. In the Quality Control Department, Jan was on the development team that designed and installed SAP as the management system for Polaroid and supported a European division after installation. Jan is an avid skier and former alpine ski instructor. Now retired, she enjoys “heaven on earth” here on Newfound Lake, while watching over children and grandchildren, and leading a very active life.

Les Mills was born and raised in NH and is a retired Licensed Land Surveyor, who owned and operated Granite State Surveying until 2007. In the 1970’s, Les was Chairman of the Merrimack Planning Board. Les has enjoyed a variety of recreational trails activities and has been a member of New England Trail Riders Association, Merrimack Valley Trail Riders, AMA Association and the NH Snowmobile Association. Les worked with the US Corps of Engineers, the State Department of Fish & Game and DRED for the development of the Hopkinton-Everett Recreational Trails Park in the 1980‘s.

Elaine Mills, co-founder,  was born in southern NH and worked in the banking industry until her husband, Les, went into business in 1988. Elaine took care of the bookkeeping for his land surveying company. Elaine enjoys gardening, biking, walking, quilting and traveling.

Travis Austin was born and grew up in northeastern Vermont. Travis moved to New Hampshire to attend Plymouth State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology. Travis is currently a police officer for the Town of Hebron. He is also a member of the Hebron Conservation Commission. In his free time he enjoys jogging, playing basketball and fishing.

Beth Geever, co-founder, has enjoyed the Newfound lake area all of her life. Since early childhood she has commuted to school, appointments, and work by bicycle, and is an avid supporter of non-motorized transportation. During her 25 year career as a software engineer and engineering manager for high tech companies in Oregon she was a member of a company environmental team and participated in numerous environmental cleanup projects.

Eleanor Lonske spent most of her professional career at Wellesley College where she taught computer science and directed Information Technology Services.  In retirement, Ellie has served on the Hebron Planning Board, the Newfound Audubon Steering Committee, and the Newfound Area Energy Group. Her love of the outdoors is expressed through her watercolor landscapes of the Newfound Lake area, and in hiking, biking, kayaking and gardening.

Audrey Hagerman lives in Bridgewater with her husband George. Before retiring from active legal practice, Audrey worked for 12 years representing New Hampshire children. She has served on the Bridgewater Planning Board and is an active member of the Board of the Mayhew Program. Audrey and George are ardent cyclists, and in 1991 cycled from Maine to Florida to raise funds for the Mayhew Program.

Carol LaFontaine lives in Hebron with her husband Roger, a Hebron Conservation member and chair of the Newfound Audubon Committee, of which she is also a member. Both treasure the lake and this beautiful outdoor environment. She has been a recreational biker since childhood. As a teacher, she designed and implemented award winning cultural programs for children with an emphasis on public transportation. She owned her own design business for twenty years prior to retirement. Since then she has chaired a house tour for Audubon and a designer show house for the Friends of the Arts in Plymouth.