Dave Topham, President
Dave is the founder of the Bike-Walk Alliance of NH, our NHRTC fiscal sponsor, and co-founder of the Granite State Wheelers bicycling club. Dave has been actively involved in group cycling and bicycling education since 1971. He lives in Salem, NH and is currently a volunteer Board member for five NH bike-ped/rail trail organizations and three state committees. Dave uses his background in computer systems to help keep the wheels rolling and the feet walking all over NH. He is one of the first League of American Bicyclists Master Certified Instructors in the country.
Marianne Borowski, Vice President
Marianne is a retired biochemist and lifelong biker. She has ridden cross country and on rail trails all over the country. In 2017, she developed the Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail and has been collaborating with the New Hampshire Rails Coalition since 2018.
Rich Westhoff, Treasurer
Rich Westhoff is a scientist/engineer who lives in Hudson, NH. He and his wife Cindy have ridden and walked rail trails, canal trails, and beaches along the east coast and are some of the first finishers of the New Hampshire Rail Trails Challenge. He has used this experience to learn more about New Hampshire’s Rail Trails, and write articles to promote them. He is also a board member of the Friends of the Souhegan Valley Rail Trail (FSVRT), working on the Advancement Committee to spread the word about this exciting opportunity to build a Rail-With-Trail (RWT) from Nashua to Wilton next to the Hillsborough railroad. Because of the FSVRT’s interest in building a RWT, he has joined the NHRTC committee working to advance RWT in New Hampshire.
Abby Evankow, Secretary
Abby Evankow lives in Gorham a mile from the beautiful Presidential Rail Trail. When Off Highway Recreational Vehicles (OHRVs) were allowed onto part of the rail trail, despite the management plan explicitly prohibiting them, she realized that citizens need to be actively involved in preserving and promoting low impact use of rail trails. These vital trails need a strong state-wide voice, so she joined the newly reforming NHRTC. Abby is also the Bike-Walk Alliance of NH representative on the Statewide Trails Advisory Committee.
Charles Martin, Founder, Director Emeritus
Charles is the author of two editions of the New Hampshire Rail Trails Guidebook. He found that there was little coordination among the state’s rail trail groups, so he started the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition in 2008. He has been on the Board of the Friends of the Northern Rail Trail in Merrimack County since 2005, and has helped with trail construction to the Boscawen cornfield and a 6/10 mile extension to the Concord border.
Chuck Redfern, Board Member
In 1994, Chuck was the co-founder of Pathways for Keene, a rail trail fundraising organization for the City of Keene’s trail system. He also serves on the Keene Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which advises the Keene City Council on several matters pertaining to active transportation projects for the city. This committee is also responsible for setting priorities in the development of the ten-year Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan.
For 12 years, Chuck served as a member of the Keene City Council, where he assisted in the advancement of the community’s rail trail infrastructure. In addition, Chuck has served as a director for the Bike/Walk Alliance of New Hampshire.
In 2019/2020, Chuck served as the president of the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition. Currently, he also represents the NHRTC as a member of the Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation, which is based in Keene at the offices of the Southwest Region Planning Commission.
Tom Christensen, Board Member
Tom Christensen, NHRTC Director: Cycling has been his interest for over 50 years. First as a young dad joining his family out for cycle club touring rides to days on one of the America’s earliest rail trails the Minuteman Bikeway near Boston. His commitment to cycling inspired him to become an original member of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. As often happens in life, Tom stopped cycling as time constraints “got in the way” but recently his passion has returned!
His professional background as a teacher and program manager has provided him with specific skills needed both for our NHRTC and the newly established Friends of Souhegan Valley Rail Trail. Tom is one of our Board members promoting the “Knowledge Nugget” idea of sharing short burst of specific information that others can use in building/maintaining their Rail Trail.
Mike Kowalczyk, Board Member
Mike moved to the Monadnock Region in 2001 and for 17 years bicycled to work on a regular basis. After retiring in 2017 and moving to Swanzey, Mike helped establish the Swanzey Rail Trail Advisory Committee which improves and maintains the 11 miles of rail trail in Swanzey. In 2019 Mike founded the Monadnock Region Rail Trail Collaborative whose mission is to promote the reconstruction, rehabilitation, maintenance, and use of the Monadnock Region’s ~80-mile rail trail network. In 2020 Mike joined the New Hampshire Rail Trail Coalition board helping to advocate for the rail trails at the state level. Mike is a member of the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy.
Jim Feleen, Board Member
Jim was born in suburban Chicago, went to college and law school in Minnesota and has lived and practiced law in Claremont since 1984. His wife is a school teacher and they have three grown children. Both of them are avid runners and casual cyclists. They frequent the Sugar River Rail Trail.