Meet Your NRG Directors and Officers

[tlevine]

The Board of Directors of the NRG has decided it would be a good idea to let our members know a little about ourselves.  As you will see, your current Directors and Secretary come from diverse backgrounds and have varied interests.  Some of the names you will recognize, others you will not.  Even if a name is unfamiliar to you, please know that this is a hands-on Board and each Director contributes a substantial amount of time and sometimes money to the Guild, time that would otherwise go towards our passion of model ship building.

[tlevine]

Phil Roach

 

I have practiced law since 1988 and have had a private law practice in Bonita Springs since 1994. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 and then attended Campbell University School of Law where I received my Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree in 1988. Following graduation I moved from my hometown of Fayetteville, N.C. to become a full time resident of Southwest Florida. I belong to the Collier County Bar Association and the Florida Bar. I have been married to my wife Marina since 1988 and we have two children, Nicholas and Elizabeth.

 

I am an active member of the Rotary Club of Bonita Springs Noon and am currently serving on the Board of Directors. My prior service to the Club includes holding the position of President, Club Rotary Foundation Committee Chairman and I have served on the Board of Directors for various terms over my more than 20 year membership in the club.

I am also an active member of the Southwest Florida Ship Modelers’ Guild and I currently hold the position of President. I also served as liaison to the Nautical Research Guild for the Regional Conference previously held in Fort Myers, Florida.

 

I enjoy American history and its maritime heritage. My modeling interests are sailing ships and lately, that interest is gravitating backwards in time to vessels of the Revolutionary War period, vessels of the Colonial era, and the vessels of exploration of the North American Continent. Although my full time practice of law forbids me from modeling as much as I would like, I very much enjoy the research.  My MSW screen name is roach101761.

 

[tlevine]

Toni Levine

 

Like so many of us, I started building models when I was a child.  The first model I remember building was a Monogram F6F-5 Hellcat which was originally given to my brother but it seemed that the “girl” had more aptitude for this than he did.  My first ship models were small Scientific carved hull models which I built during high school.  Model building was then shelved for several years while I completed my education (BS and MD from the University of Illinois) and residency training (Northwestern University).  My first plank-on-bulkhead model was Peregrine Galley by Mantua.  It is my only model built with a full coat of sails.  Over the years, my projects progressed from out-of-the-box kits to kit-bashing and finally scratch building.  My current project is Atalanta, a Swan-class sloop built in the fully framed style popularized by David Antscherl. 

 

I have been a physician since 1980 and specialize in otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat).  Like so many of us, my career prevents me from spending much time building ships.  I am a member of the Nautical Research and Model Society of Chicago and have been a member of the NRG since 1989 and a Director since 2013.  I live in the Chicago area with my husband.  My other interests include gardening, water gardening and home brewing.  My MSW screen name is tlevine.

 

[tlevine]

William M. “Mike” Lonnecker. 

 

I am a retired engineer with a degree in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from the University of Kansas. I worked in Texas and California as a Program Manager and Project Engineer in the Defense and Aerospace Industry until retiring in 2002. I currently reside in Poway (San Diego) California with Sandy, my wife of 44 years.

 

My interests have included woodworking, flying sailplanes, sailing, hot rodding and modeling all types of “vehicles”. I have been a student of design, modeling and building projects since completing my first plastic model car at age 6 or 7.  I now prefer to work on 1: 48 scale ship models of the late 18th century and am building my fourth ship model, The FLY, using David Antscherl’s Swan series of books.

 

I am a member of the San Diego Ship Modelers’ Guild and serve as Guild Master (President). I am also an active member of the Ship Modelers Association of Fullerton (SMA) and, of course, am a Director of the NRG where I am also chair of the mentor program and am currently mentoring one member. I enjoy sharing my modeling and machining skills with other modelers and regularly give demonstrations at club meetings and invite other members to my shop to work out difficult problems or aid new modelers with their projects.  My MSW screen name is Mike.

 

[druxey]

Thanks for these bios and mug shots, Toni. Now I understand why Mark's name is 'MarcusBotanicus'!

 

Thank you also to the lady and gents for serving on the Board of the NRG.

[FredSC]

Thank you all.  It looks like NRG is in good hands.

[mtdoramike]

Thank you for the who's who, but that just took the mystery out of it for me.

 

 

Mike

[Canute]

Folks, thanks for all the capsule bios. Screen handles now make more sense.

[Geoff Matson]

Great job Toni. Thanks

Edited February 27, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[Ulises Victoria]

Thank you all. It's nice to put a face in front of the words. We all appreciate your efforts and dedication to our beloved hobby.

[Chuck Seiler]

KURT!  KURT!   KURT!  KURT!

[kurtvd19]

Chuck - next week.  That's a threat !!!

Just so busy I fell way behind.

Kurt

[edmay]

 Being part of a prestigious group of extraordinary folk who give there time ,experience and knowledge for the betterment of all ship modeller's are to be highly praise worthy. Your contributions are certainly appreciated and I thank you all. Edwin

[Trussben]

Always nice to put faces to names, I met a couple of you at last years conference and commend you all for the work you do with the guild.

 

Ben

[riverboat]

Very impressive  group.... to say the least!!

[tlevine]

Mitch Michelson

 

I have been an NRG member since 1989 and a Director for the last 8 years. In my professional life I spent 40 years as a petroleum engineer and part-owner of a family-owned oil & gas business in my home town of San Antonio, Texas.

 

My interest in the nautical world began as a teenager on a visit to the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. As is true of many of us, I was a confirmed model builder in my youth and began to return to the hobby as a young adult. I discovered the NRG on a return visit to San Francisco during a discussion with a park ranger at Hyde Street on my 30th birthday. It took me a few more years to get up the nerve to actually join. My actual model building has been limited due to the usual professional and domestic distractions. I became interested in the early American Navy, primarily the War of 1812, and have spent a lot of time researching the era. In doing this I have accumulated a fairly extensive library along with the requisite must-have volumes on building models of sailing vessels.

 

I have attended almost every annual NRG conference since Boston in 1997 and doing so has really broadened my knowledge and expanded my horizons. Because of conferences I have met and become friends with some really outstanding people. My NRG Board experience has been very rewarding and I am (so far) most proud of how each member of the board has become a fully integrated part of the Guild’s operations.  My user name is “mmichelson”.

[Landlocked123]

Thanks Guys (& Dr.s)

 

Best,

John

[mwb]

Many thanks to you all for your efforts and dedication. Thank you Toni for this post, very interesting to know a bit about the Directors. Makes the NRG more personable knowing whose at the helm. Happy Holidays to all.

 

Mark