VHA Advisory Board
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There are many autobiographies that are long and frankly boring. I intend to take the long part of that equation out of play. I was born and raised in northern Maine near the City of Caribou. As with all fortunate young people, I attended local schools. My parents were successful farmers and community leaders. Those attributes were passed down.
After attending New England College in Henniker, NH it became necessary for me to attend basic training at Fort Dix, NJ. I spent my required six years in the NH National Guard. New Hampshire seemed a wonderful place to live and raise a family. We lived in Contoocook Village, part of the Town of Hopkinton, for 47 years. While in Hopkinton I was fortunate to be appointed to many boards and elected to others. During those years, we also cleared land and created a certified organic blueberry farm. That endeavor was one of the most satisfying. Having your hands in clean living soil is good for the soul.
Victoria and I live in the Village of Pine Hills where we are fortunate to enjoy the many available benefits of living in The Villages. Here we continue to Live the Dream. -
Al Arnold
Helping Hands - President
Bio
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A native of Ohio. Bachelor's Degree from Defiance College in Ohio and a Masters Degree in Public Address from Eastern Michigan University. Taught Speech, English and Journalism 30 years at Napoleon High School in Ohio. Coached football, girls basketball, and boys and girls tennis at Napoleon High School for a total of 75 seasons. Has taught Speech at several colleges in Ohio and continues to teach at The College of Central Florida in Ocala. Was a member of the Parks and Recreation Board in Napoleon, Ohio for 14 years. Member of The Defiance College Athletic Hall of Fame, The Lorain Sports Hall of Fame, The Ohio High School Speech League Hall of Fame, and the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Author of three published books. A resident of The Villages since 2004, full-time resident since 2011. Wife Jane (44 years) and two grown sons.
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Mike Cullipher
Golf Cart Safety
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Shawn and his wife Stephanie found their perfect retirement haven in The Villages after relocating from the Philadelphia area. They were drawn to the vibrant community, exceptional amenities, and commitment to a high quality of life.
A proud Army Veteran, Shawn spent 33 years in law enforcement, retiring as a Lieutenant from the Radnor Police Department. He currently does consulting work focusing on policy and accreditation matters.
Shawn and Stephanie are involved with the VHA because they are passionate about preserving the unique spirit of The Villages and ensuring it thrives for future generations. -
I am from Western NY, spent my entire real-life career in government accounting/management. (Sounds like an oxymoron but western NY had been doing quite well until the last decade)
Professionally, in reverse order, I was
A) A town manager for 12 years until retirement.
B) The Chief of Accounting for a county
C) An accountant/auditor strictly in the municipal field. From this I developed a reputation for helping troubled units get out of fiscal stress and turning around units that had "run off the rails"
I also had a second career, I was licensed as an EMT/EMT-A for 34 years, originally as a part time volunteer. When volunteerism began to disappear I worked for municipal and commercial firms. After a benevolent early retirement I did it full time for several years until we came here. My claim to fame here is that I delivered 9 babies. -
Dave and his wife Cyndi live in the Village of Hawkins. They moved here from Buffalo NY and also had a home in Bradenton Florida for seven years. They gave up both to be full time residents for the wonderful lifestyle of The Villages.
Dave had a varied career with 23 years of active/reserve duty as a U.S. Army Officer. After leaving active duty, Dave spent a significant time as a municipal manager in New York. A second career developed as a performance improvement consultant after he obtained his PhD in training and performance improvement.
In addition to helping organizations achieve success, Dave served as a Senior Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award program. This is a presidential award administered by the Department of Commerce and is the highest level of recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive.
Dave is an online professor teaching a variety of organizational leadership and human resource management courses for masters level students. He is also active as the co-coordinator for the Village of Hawkins AED program. -
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Mike Mihalik and his wife Deb moved to The Villages from Oregon in October 2019 after 40+ years working in High-tech industry at the dawn of the microprocessor age. Deb had 40 years at Intel, and Mike had 40 years at Tektronix, Seagate, and a few other companies like LaCie. They traveled the world for business and pleasure. You'll find many of the roducts Mike was responsible for at LaCie in Apple Stores, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and many other places that support the Microsoft and Apple platforms.
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Bj hails from Pennsylvania, having been the youngest of six kids on a small dairy farm wherein all children labored in the barn and in the fields. Bj spent her working career in the areas secretarial, contract management, and office administration; she prides herself in organization and communication efficiency. She and her husband Ron raised a daughter and a son in NorthEast Philadelphia; they are blessed with three grandchildren. They retired to the Village of McClure in 2019. In addition to her involvement in The VHA, she enjoys reading books and magazines; she relishes the hours spent in the pool; and, she performs litter patrol while walking on the trails and parks throughout Central Florida.
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Sandra was raised, worked, and married while living in various suburban cities of Detroit. Much of her career was spent as a legal secretary working for attorneys who practiced corporate law. In Sandra’s last position, she worked for the same attorney for 14 years, the last three of which were spent with RGIS, where he became its first general counsel and she was his executive assistant. At RGIS, a global inventory company, Sandra worked with attorneys in England, France, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, and Israel. After retiring, Sandra and her husband moved full time to their vacation home in Traverse City. From there, they sold our house in the Detroit suburbs in 2009, after which they moved to The Villages.
Since moving to The Villages, Sandra became a Master Gardener and began volunteering as coordinator lead with The VHA Helping Hands and as the assistant to the membership chair of The VHA. Most recently, Sandra was honored to have been invited to join the Board of Directors of the VHA and chair the committee responsible for organizing The VHA’s organizational and functional documentation.
Sandra and her husband look forward to many more wonderful years living in The Villages. It was the best decision we ever made!
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Why Join The VHA?
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Communication
Bring YOUR voice to our community
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Education
News and courses to enlighten and inform
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Volunteering
Because we can’t do our job without you!
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Social Opportunities
Spend time with fellow residents and create friendships along the way
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Philanthropy
Providing for those in need through our VHA Foundation and Helping Hands
