Inez Peaslee with her students in front of the Puddledock School, ca. 1909
Photo courtesy of Ann Barry
Our Mission
The Fund to Support Historic Alna is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit corporation whose purpose is to help fund the preservation, maintenance, and restoration of historic sites located in the Town of Alna. The Fund to Support Historic Alna neither owns nor manages historic properties. Rather, it has been created as a means to supplement maintenance obligations and to leverage donations and grant funding in a way that will encourage greater investment in the preservation, maintenance, and restoration of important remnants of Alna’s local historic heritage.
See bylaws here.
Board of Directors
The directors of the Fund to Support Historic Alna include members of the community who appreciate the important role that Alna’s historic sites play in defining the character and beauty of the community, and who are committed to retaining these sites for current and future residents and visitors.
Christine Anderson, Secretary (Term Expires September 2026), and
Albert Monaco, President (Term Expires September 2023)
Having lived and worked in the Mid-Coast area for decades, Albert and Christine retired to Alna. Living across from the Meeting House on the Walker property which dates back to the 1700's inspired an interest in historic buildings of Alna. Their proximity to the Meeting House led to their appointment as caretakers and docents of the Meeting House.
Michael Chaney (Term Expires September 2025)
Michael Chaney was born in Alna and now lives at his family's ancestral land on Golden Ridge Road in Alna. Great grandfather Eben Chaney first arrived there in the 1870s. Michael is the former Executive Director of the Frances Perkins Center in Damariscotta, Maine which owns the Frances Perkins Homestead, a National Historic Landmark in Newcastle. His work in history and historic preservation includes working for several non-profits in New Hampshire between 1985 and 2010, including serving as COO of New Hampshire Historical Society and president of the New Hampshire Political Library. He returned to Maine in 2010 to direct the Yarmouth History Center and developed a new exhibit facility there. He joined the Frances Perkins Center in 2014. He holds degrees in history from the University of Maine and the University of Connecticut.
Alice Smith-Duncan, Vice President (Term Expires September, 2024)
An independent researcher and writer, Alice has curated exhibitions of folk art, regional writers, and historic preservation for the Lincoln County Historical Association and in upstate New York venues. A former executive director of the Hyde Hall national historic landmark (hydehall.org), she studied history and museum studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. She and her husband, a sculptor, live in an old family house on the West Alna Road.
Ed Pentaleri, Treasurer (Term Expires September 2027)
Ed has been involved in local historic preservation for 20 years, including terms as an officer of the Washington Township Historical Society, and nearly 8 years as a member of the Historical Architectural Review Board for the City of Fremont, CA, where he and his wife restored a pioneer farmhouse. Ed currently serves on Alna’s select board. He and his wife live in Alna’s Head Tide Historic District.
Advisor/Respected Colleague
Doreen Conboy
Doreen Conboy began her own business of restoration paintwork in 1984 and worked on National Register buildings and Historic New England properties throughout northern New England. As former caretaker of the Alna Meetinghouse and Village School at Puddle Dock, and current caretaker of Center School, she has applied her own skills, advocated and personally fundraised for all three buildings. Since 2010 she has worked with various select boards in securing grants and as liaison between the town and the many contractors involved in maintaining the buildings. Longtime chair of the Committee for Alna History, she now serves as Alna’s archivist/historian having researched, written, lectured and created documentary films on many aspects of Alna and regional history.