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NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council, Inc. (UDC) board elected Berlin Township, PA Representative Alan F. Henry to serve as its 2015 chairperson at the non-profit organization’s annual meeting held Jan. 8.

UDC Representatives Susan Sullivan, Town of Tusten, NY, and Jeffrey R. Dexter, Damascus Township, PA, were elected vice-chairperson and secretary-treasurer, respectively.

All three officers will be sworn in by Magisterial District Judge Ronald J. Edwards at the UDC’s next monthly meeting on Feb. 5, which will include a public reception with cake and coffee.

Chairperson

Al Henry was appointed by the Berlin Township Board of Supervisors as its UDC delegate on Jan. 3, 2012. He served as the Council’s secretary-treasurer from Aug. 1, 2013 through the end of 2014, and was vice-chair of the Water Use/Resource Management Committee.

Henry, 60, is a native of Beach Lake, PA. He was employed by the National Park Service (NPS) for 32 years before retiring on June 1, 2009 as Chief Ranger of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.

He spent all but two years of his NPS career working in the Upper Delaware unit, where he was responsible for setting up the law enforcement program starting in the fall of 1979 and helped the first assigned Superintendent John Hutzky to establish the Congressionally-designated federal presence in the five-county, bi-state region.

The Honesdale High School graduate earned a Bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Parks from Penn State University in 1976 and studied Outdoor Education at the University of Northern Colorado before joining the NPS ranks in 1977.

He initially worked as a seasonal ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and served as a combat medic with the U.S. Army Reserve from 1983-1989.

In addition to extensive law enforcement credentials, Henry earned certification as an NAUI Divemaster, served as a volunteer firefighter, and coached baseball and soccer locally.

Following Henry’s retirement, he worked as a state constable, guest teacher for the Wayne-Highlands School District, and a security guard at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

He continues to guide river and hiking trips for Northeast Wilderness Experience, helps maintain his family’s 300-acre Village View Farm property in Beach Lake, and is a member of the Beach Lake Hunting and Fishing Club.
Al and his wife of 31 years, Karen Carlson, who recently retired as Food Service Director at Wayne Highlands School District, are the parents of Dr. Alana Rickard, who is in her final year of Pediatric residency at Geisinger in Danville, PA, and Dylan Henry, an attorney practicing general law in King of Prussia, PA.

Vice-Chairperson

Susan Sullivan was elected to her first UDC office since the Tusten Town Board appointed her as alternate on Oct. 13, 2009, then as its UDC representative in Jan. 2010.

The new vice-chairperson settled in the Upper Delaware River Valley in 1987 after working as a radio marketing consultant in Florida for 15 years.

She went back to school at Sullivan County Community College and Empire State College to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Counseling and Human Services in 1995. Sullivan worked for the CMP Drug and Alcohol Commission in Wayne County, PA through 2007, specializing in substance abuse counseling.

A certified practitioner of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, Sullivan is a registered yoga instructor who currently teaches at The Lodge at Woodloch.

In addition to her UDC role, she has served on the Town of Tusten Conservation Council, Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Committees.

Sullivan and her husband, Chris Holden, share a 104-year-old home in Lava. Her son, Michael Duffy, lives in Las Vegas, NV and is a circus performance artist with Cirque du Soleil.

Secretary-Treasurer

Jeff Dexter, who was instrumental in Damascus Township’s July 21, 2008 decision to join the UDC as a member of the Board of Supervisors, will be the Council’s secretary-treasurer in 2015.

Dexter started as a first alternate on the UDC in January 2010 before assuming the representative position in 2012. That same year, he served as the Council’s vice-chair then was elected as the board’s chairperson in 2013.

The Cochecton, NY native graduated from Narrowsburg Central School in 1967, earned a 1971 Bachelor’s degree in Resources Management from the College of Forestry at Syracuse University, and had a 31-year career working in the Arizona State Parks System before returning to the Upper Delaware River Valley after his 2003 retirement.

Dexter was elected as a Damascus supervisor in 2006 and has chaired that board for the past six years. He is the Volunteers-in-Mission Team Leader for disaster recovery projects through the Damascus Methodist Church, the sponsor’s representative to the Northeast Council of the Boy Scouts of America for Troop 122 in Damascus, a member of the Penn State Extension Agricultural Board for Wayne County, is active with the Damascus Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and belongs to numerous local historical societies.

Jeff and his wife, Linda, built their log home in Damascus. They have three children, Kari, a physical therapist in Tucson, AZ; Bethany, a teacher in Schenectady, NY; and Jonathan, an officer with the Arizona Highway Patrol.

The Upper Delaware Council has worked in partnership with the National Park Service since 1988 to oversee implementation of the River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Its members are 13 local governments (eight NY towns and five PA townships), the State of New York, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Delaware River Basin Commission.

For more information on the UDC and its activities, please call the Narrowsburg business office at (845) 252-3022 or visit the website at www.upperdelawarecouncil.org.