FRIENDS
The Friends of the Charlotte Senior Center (Friends of the Walter Irish Senior Community Center, Inc.) or “Friends” is organized to do any and all activities which lead to the support and operation of the Senior Center.
Membership is automatically granted to all adults who volunteer at the Senior Center, participate in Senior Center activities, or contribute funds to the Senior Center. Membership is not limited to senior citizens or to residents of the Town of Charlotte.
The Annual Membership Meeting is held in the month of October or November, on a day and at the time and place determined by the Board of Directors. The members of the Board of Directors are elected to one-year terms by the membership at the Annual Membership Meeting.
SENIOR CENTER BOARD MEMBERS
November 2025 - October 2026
Lane Morrison: Chair 
After receiving an engineering degree from UVM, Lane attended Officer Candidate School and spent active duty on an LST homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, which was deployed most of those four years on the rivers of Viet Nam. He stayed in the Reserves for 25 years and retired as a Navy Captain. Lane had a 40-year career in the defense industry working for General Electric and General Dynamics in Burlington. His last assignments were Director of International Marketing, which included significant world travel and Program Director of defense products.
After retirement Lane focused on volunteer activity, serving on the Charlotte Selectboard for 9 years, then for a couple of years on the Zoning Board and DRB. For the last several years Lane has been the Chair of the Board of the Friends of the Senior Center. In addition Lane has served for many years as the Treasurer and an Officer of the Charlotte Congregational Church.
Carl Herzog: Treasurer
Carl Herzog is the Treasurer of the Friends of the Charlotte Adult Community Center. Carl and Carlanne moved to McNeil Cove in Charlotte in 2003, when Carl retired from a long career with ExxonMobil. In addition to assignments in Colorado, California and Texas, Carl and family lived overseas for twenty years, while Carl worked in the upstream oil business, including new field development planning and economics, partner relations and litigation support. (Ask him about the Exxon Valdez oil spill). He still enjoys annual trekking expeditions to the Himalayas, Andes or Alps.
Carl has been involved in Friends activities since shortly after arriving in Charlotte, originally recruited by Shirley Bean. As treasurer, he keeps accounts, pays bills and deposits revenue, invests surplus income and prepares annual tax forms.
Polly Price: Vice Chair
Brandon Tieso: Secretary
Brandon Tieso is a Wealth Advisor and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with Community Financial Services Group, working with individuals and families across Vermont on investment management and financial planning.
He also teaches AI literacy through UVM’s Professional and Continuing Education program.
Brandon is the incoming president of the CSH Rotary Club and previously served on the Charlotte Development Review Board and the Charlotte Recreation Commission.
Susan Hyde
After college, Susan was in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso where she met her husband, Jim. They lived in Massachusetts for 30 years where Susan was a trainer and project manager for several technology companies that provided software for the publishing industry. She also managed the implementation of the InfoPlease website at Pearson Publishing.
After moving to their retirement home in Charlotte, Susan became involved in the Senior Center: cooking and coordinating Monday meals, organizing kayaking and snowshoeing trips, hosting, editing the website and serving on the Board of Directors. Susan is also a tour guide at Shelburne Farms and hikes and cross-country skis with the Women of UVM.
Ron Ulmer
Ron graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida in 1973 and with an MBA degree from Averett University in 1998. He passed the Virginia Registered Professional Engineer’s exam in 1990. Ron retired to Greenville, South Carolina after working in power generation for 35 years at Dominion Resources in Virginia. In 2016 he moved to Ferrisburgh, Vermont to live near family.
Ron joined the Charlotte Senior Center Board of Directors in 2019 working with Gary Pittman on facility maintenance.
His hobbies are woodworking, woodcarving, reading, working on puzzles with Cindy and international travel. He is a DIYer and works on interior and exterior home maintenance, plumbing and electrical wiring. He also has computer experience in spreadsheets, word processing and database software.
P.S. – Ron has also been known to wrestle a skunk from under the Senior Center deck and send it packing.
Walter Gates: Emeritus
Natalie Kanner – Selectboard Liaison