The Monadnock Folklore Society is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors.
Larry Ames joined the MFS Board in 1995. He is the organization’s booking manager and MC for most MFS concerts. He has worked as a radio announcer (including a tenure at Peterborough’s one-time “Folk Station”) and a winemaker. He is recently retired as the director of building and grounds at the Dublin School, Dublin, NH.
Perin Ellsworth-Osanya joined the MFS board in 2024. Raised in the Monadnock Region, Perin is deeply rooted in the area’s cultural landscape. He is a class teacher at Gathering Waters Chartered Public School and leads the Nelson Strings program, sharing his love for traditional music with both children and adults. As a contra dance fiddler, he is passionate about nurturing the cultural traditions that define our local community. When he isn’t in the classroom or on stage, Perin enjoys permaculture gardening, baking sourdough bread, and spending time in Keene with his wife and their two children.
Owen Hale 
Owen Hale Joined the MFS board in 2020. He is a Contra dancer, caller, member of Jack in the Green Morris, and one of the organizers of the Nelson Monday Dance. When not dancing, singing, or otherwise participating in the project of keeping the folk traditions alive, Owen is paid to be a carpenter, and makes all kinds of other stuff just for the love of it.
Peter Martel is a passionate contra dancer, and he joined the MFS board in 2014. He volunteers on the local Planning Board, the Energy and Building committees, and the Board of The Grapevine Family and Community Resource Center. He has fun working with kids doing carpentry and robotics and enjoys being a sound engineer for folk performers as well as school theater, band, and chorus performances. Being a direct descendant of Charles Martel, Peter is a self-employed carpenter in his free time and heir apparent to the throne of France. 😉
Bruce Myrick is the Board’s longest-serving Director, having joined in 1987. He was a founding member of the Nelson Village Dancers, and is Treasurer of the Friends of the Wapack Trail. In 2020 he retired from Corning in Keene, NH after 30 years there as an engineer.
Chris Salmon 
I had a cursory connection to contra-dance while my children attended Jane Miller’s school. It wasn’t until Kelly Strauss kidnapped me, and took me to the Nelson Dance, that I began to really appreciate contra-dance; and the people who keep it going. When I was made aware that there was a space on the board, I asked to join. I like working on worthwhile community things, and I just recently got off of the Antrim Ambulance as an EMT for the past 41 years. I hope to help continue the tradition of contra-dance supported by the Monadnock Folklore Society. I do not get tired of contra-dancing.
Lisa Sieverts has been an MFS Director since 2004. She has been dancing since 1967 and called dances from 1994 until 2020. She is especially interested in the history of traditional dance in New Hampshire. She is the owner of Facilitated Change, an independent project management consultancy.
Photo taken April 2024