MEET OUR TEAM

Alisa L. Webb
Executive Coordinator

Alisa has been a lifelong resident of Cecil County. She earned her Associate Degree from Cecil College and her BS degree in education from Towson University. She has taught science in Cecil County at both public and private schools for the last 28 years. Alisa has been married to her high school sweetheart, Steven, for 27 years and has lived and raised her family in Colora. Alisa has always been involved with her community through church, youth sports, and mentoring. She has had a passion for nature since she was a young child. Alisa embraced the outdoors and agriculture spending many hours on her family’s farm milking and helping keep up with the daily chores. Her enthusiasm and passion for nature has always been contagious. She joined the Cecil Land Trust as the Executive Coordinator in order to broaden the impact of her passion for agriculture and conservation.

Staff

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Board of Directors

Bill Kilby
President

Bill has been with CLT since its inception. He is a dairy farmer in the Colora area. His family farms are under easement with CLT, MET and MALPF.  He has been active in politics and conservation projects. He enjoys reading and minor mountain climbing. “CLT started with the creation of Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program. The Fair Hill Rural Legacy Area seemed to be a real opportunity to fund land preservation in Cecil County so I signed up to help.”

Virginia Kennedy
Vice President

​ Virginia recently retired as Head of School for West Nottingham Academy where she had first served as English Dept. Chair and Director of Sustainability Programs and Curriculum. Previous to her relocation to Cecil County, Virginia was the Executive Director of Otsego Land Trust in Cooperstown, NY. Virginia received a PhD from Cornell University in English and American Studies. Her published writing focuses on environmental ethics in American Indian and Euro-American literatures and on conservation ethics and policy more generally.  Virginia and her husband, Kevin, relocated to Cecil County in 2015 when Kevin joined the U.S. Army's Northern Regional Environmental and Energy Office at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Tom Klenk
Secretary

Tom recently joined the CLT board and thoroughly enjoys working with people who have such an intimate connection to the land that they grew up on. Tom grew up in a military family, so didn’t live in any one place for long. He began exploring Cecil County through his love of cycling, and is very pleased to play a small part in helping to preserve the character of Cecil County, which he has called home for the last 26 years.

Charles Herzog
Treasurer

Charles has been a member of the Cecil Land Trust since 2011 and has been vice-president for the past four years. He is the owner of Stoney Batter Farm in Colora, where he and his wife Deborah have lived for the past 26 years. The farm dates back to the early 1800s and was recently protected through the Cecil County PDR program. Charles and Deborah hope that through placing their farm under conservation easement, they will forever preserve the rural lifestyle that they have come to love.

Sally Warner​

Sally spent her formative years running barefoot through cow pastures and picking bagworms off her family’s Christmas trees. Her love of nature and the outdoors transformed into a desire to conserve the rolling hills of western Cecil County when she returned from college and found the landscape decimated by development. As a member of the Land Trust and a mother of three, Sally hopes to preserve the unique agricultural identity of Cecil County for generations to come.

​Tom Hannum

​Tom grew up on a farm in Chester County, spending summers in Cecil County. After graduating from Wake Forest University, he settled in Cecil County, worked for the Sheriff’s Office and together with his wife Holly, raised 3 children in North East. Tom brings his enjoyment of biking to his work for the Cecil Land Trust. He organizes the annual Cycle for Cecil ride, which raises awareness about, and funds for, the preservation of farm land in the County.

​Sarah Mackie

​Sarah is a life-long resident of Cecil County. She became interested in animals, particularly horses, at a young age. She earned her Bachelors in Animal and Poultry Science from Virginia Tech and completed her degree in veterinary medicine (with an equine emphasis) at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. She currently practices at Winbak Farm in Chesapeake City. Sarah wishes to protect open space and the agricultural character of Cecil County from encroaching development of neighboring counties.

Jeremy Rothwell​

Jeremy is a 12th generation Cecil County native, and grew up on a small Standardbred horse farm outside of Chesapeake City. He holds a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs & Regional Planning from the University of Delaware and is the City Planner and Main Street Manager for Harrington, Delaware. Jeremy is active in a variety of community organizations on the Upper Eastern Shore and is a passionate advocate for the preservation of the County’s agricultural lands and rural economy.

Doug Megee

​Doug is a lifelong resident of Cecil County. He grew up on a farm near Rising Sun and now runs Airlie Farm, a small family operated farm whose lamb is pasture raised and locally processed in a USDA inspected facility. See Airlie Farm lamb at the Havre de Grace farmer’s market. Doug’s family is active in 4-H and many other local organizations.

​Joe Carabetta

​Board Member Joe Carabetta has been active with the Cecil Land Trust from its inception. Joe is a retired Engineer from Aberdeen Proving Ground with a BS degree in AG Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Joe and his wife Diane Carabetta are graduates of the Cecil County Watershed Stewards Academy and reside in Perryville. Joe is active in Cecil County politics and is also active with the Sons of American Legion and is Vice President of Turkey Point Light Station.

Ryan Fisher​
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​Ryan has a Bachelor of Science degree from West Virginia University in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources, as well as a minor in Conservation Ecology, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Natural Resources through Virginia Tech. He currently works at the Cecil Soil Conservation District as an Agricultural Resource Conservation Specialist for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

​Ryan has thoroughly enjoyed working with and serving the agricultural community through his position at Cecil Soil, and his work on various farms during his teenage years. He is a lifelong resident of Cecil County, an avid outdoorsman, and has been active in his community through church, sports, the Mount Pleasant Sports Club, and scouting. Ryan is passionate about land preservation and believes that the proper stewardship of Cecil County’s agricultural and natural resources will benefit generations to come. Ryan, his wife Courtney, and dog Nina reside in Colora.

Edwin Merryman
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Edwin Merryman is the proud father of Louis and Jane and grandfather of Liam, Josephine and Bennie. Edwin and his son Louis together operate a thoroughbred horse breeding operation, the Anchor and Hope Farm, which sits on the cliff above Port Deposit overlooking the scenic Susquehanna River, originally established in the mid-17th century. Edwin trains race horses out of a barn at the Fair Hill Training Center.

George Spence
Member Emeritus

George Spence is lifelong resident of North East and an Army veteran.  He grew up on a dairy farm that transitioned to a hog farm and while he had several jobs off the farm, agriculture has always been very important to him.  George is committed to keeping agriculture alive in Cecil County because access to fresh, local food is important to community health.

Bob Porter
Member Emeritus

Bob Porter was born and raised in Salisbury, Maryland, and has been a Cecil County resident for more than thirty years. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, Bob’s professional experience includes Army service and running his own sheet metal and HVAC companies. Bob has belonged to many community organizations over the years, including the Elk Creeks Preservation Society and the Cecil County Arts Council. Bob’s interest in agriculture comes from part-time farm work he did as a teenager.

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Cycle for Cecil Committee

Tom Hannum
Charles Herzog
Tom Klenk
​Sally Warner

Thank you also to the CLT Board of Directors for helping to secure event sponsors and pitching in during the event.