VESTRY

Paul is a cradle Episcopalian and a “preachers’ kid”. He has been a member of Trinity since 2003 and has served as a Vestry member, as well as being Senior Warden at Trinity Collinsville from 2008 to 2011. He currently serves as Junior Warden. Prior to joining Trinity, Paul was also Junior Warden and Senior Warden at St. Michaels, Barrington in the Diocese of Chicago.

In addition to service on the Vestry, Paul has also been an active member of the Stewardship Committee. In 2015, Paul was Chairman of Trinity’s Capital Campaign, which raised over $300,000. Paul’s wife, Jan Atkins, is also a dedicated Trinity member, serving as Directress of the Altar Guild for 13 years. They have both been active in various Trinity events, including the annual (pre-COVID) Holy Smokes BBQ.

Paul retired in 2017 after 47 years in the institutional investment marketing industry.

Lisa Bogush joined Trinity Collinsville in 2016 with her wife of 12 years, Jennifer Roberts. Lisa reflects, “What drew us to Trinity was the sense of community and family that you felt the moment you walked through the door.”

Lisa is currently the Assistant Vice President of Strategy & Optimization at The Hartford, where she has worked in various financial leadership roles for 20 years. Her deep background in accounting, including Six Sigma certification, makes her a great fit for the position of Treasurer. 

She loves spending time with family and friends, and says her happy place is at the beach relaxing with a good book. She also enjoys listening to music, golfing, bike riding, landscaping/gardening and is always a fan of a nice charcuterie board and a great glass of wine!

And this is very important:
Go Boston Red Sox!

Heather Garvin was born into Trinity Collinsville and was fortunate to see the church move to its present location from a quarter of a mile down the road when she was young. She has been the Vestry Clerk since around 2008. Heather has served in many other capacities over the years at Trinity: minister of communion, Sunday school teacher (briefly),  janitorial team, and various outreach activities. Heather is the sort of person you can count on, seeing need and stepping in with kindness and grace. She has also been a steady presence through COVID as one of the camera operators for live-streaming Trinity’s services.

Heather worked for her family’s business, the Canton Golf Course (which was owned by the Lowells from 1932-2002), for many years and still works in the turf industry. In her free time she enjoys golfing, gardening, baking, and spending time with her close-knit family.

Ken Jones is currently serving a one-year term on the Vestry and has been a member of Trinity Collinsville for 21 years. Both of his children (Sarah and Taylor) were confirmed at Trinity and are now grown. He and his wife, Carolyn, have served on the Vestry many times over the years.

In 2021, Ken retired from Travelers Insurance after 35 years, serving for 20 of those years as the Vice President of Investigative Services.

Dawn Lowell is a lifelong member of Trinity Collinsville, being both baptized and confirmed here. She and her mom, Phyllis (who has been a choir member since 1957), serve together in Choir and the Altar Guild. Dawn is a soprano, alto on-call, and a soloist – she is versatile and dedicated!  She is also on her third term as a Vestry member.

Dawn is a massage therapist in her 25th year of practice and still loves her work. In her free time she enjoys singing in South Road, a local rock band; riding her Harley; and gardening. She is also a proud member of a recovery group.

Jim Stapleton and his wife Sally have been members of Trinity for just over 20 years.  They have two children, Reed and Ian, who are both now adults. Reed was confirmed at Trinity and Ian was both baptized and confirmed at Trinity.  Jim is a dedicated Trinity Collinsville member. He has served as an acolyte for many years, and his two sons have also served in this capacity. Jim has served on the Vestry once before, was Treasurer of Trinity for more than 10 years, and is currently the Assistant Treasurer.  He also taught Sunday School at Trinity for many years. 

Jim grew up in New Hampshire, but has resided in Connecticut for more than 38 years, 30 of those in Avon. When his kids were in high school, Jim was active in the Avon Booster Club and the Lights on Avon campaign, raising funds to install lights on the new turf field at Avon High School.  He is employed at The Hartford Financial Services Group, working as a project manager at the Hartford Investment Management Company (HIMCO).

Maryellen Prudhomme: I became a member of Trinity Collinsville in 2010.  After many years as a practicing Catholic, I realized that this Episcopal Church was where I truly belong, and my only regret is that I did not make this change earlier.  I was invited to join the Vestry from 2010-2014, and was then honored to serve as Senior Warden from 2015-2018.  I rejoined the Vestry in 2021 and currently serve, once again, as Senior Warden.

I graduated from Providence College and Suffolk University Law School, and enjoyed a long a career as an attorney for The Travelers, retiring in 2020.  My most interesting post-retirement adventure was a trip of a lifetime to South Africa, something I never imagined and thoroughly enjoyed. My more traditional hobbies including reading, baking, and bragging about my new grandson, Rowan.

Trinity is a special place.  We worship together, eat together ( often), work together and have fun together.  Our community is active, dedicated , faithful and resilient and we very much look forward to having a priest to share all of this, and more, with us.

Miriam (Mimi) says her relationship with Trinity Collinsville is a love story. In 1987 she began dating David McGill. They bonded over their shared tradition of going to church on Sundays. At the time, Mimi went to her Congregational church, while David – a “cradle” Episcopalian – was attending Trinity. “The first time we went to Trinity,” Mimi remembers, “I was totally confused by the liturgy – sit, stand, kneel, sit.” But as time went on, she fell in love with David, the liturgy, and the Trinity community. In 1990 they were married at Trinity, and their daughter was baptized there in 1992.

Mimi has served several terms on the Vestry and has also been a Senior Warden. In 2017 Mimi started Miriam’s Closet with a group of parishioners. The Closet’s mission is to provide interview outfits and work clothes for those in need. Mimi has a particular focus on employment and dignity for all, an outgrowth of her work as the director of Transitional Employment Unlimited (TEU), which offers DDS consumers – and high school students through their newer Wrap Around Transition Towards Success Program – the opportunity to learn, participate, and grow, with a particular focus on employment opportunities.

Mimi says she is excited to see where we go and who we become as a loving church community.

Laurie Barnhart: I came to Trinity in 1972. I have been around quite a while. I was born and raised in NYC and then came to Connecticut. I came to Trinity because I was an Episcopalian, and the local church felt like a simple choice. Full disclosure, Trinity’s priest had come from my prior parish in southern Ct. so the choice was simple. My first impression on my first Sunday was excitement. I said to myself, “Oh yes the Holy Spirit is alive and busy in this place.” I am basically a human DOING. Within a month I was teaching Church School and eventually became the volunteer Christian Education Director. I did this for many years, in fact so many years that a Patriarch of the Parish thought I never came to church because I came in late with the children every week. You never know what impression you may be making. I have sung tenor in the choir for twenty-five years and I love music. I have been one of our Diocesan representatives to the Convention many times. I have served on the Vestry numerous times and I was treasurer for nine years. When asked to serve this last time I accepted with the caveat that it was a commitment made on faith, I was already 82.

I attended the four year course of Education for Ministry from the University of the South, Seminary College, in Sawanee, TN. It was the beginning of my nurture my human BEING side. When I completed this course I chose to become an EFM Mentor, got trained and did this for twelve years. Currently I am a participant in the Lay Preaching rota at Trinity and have agreed to be trained as a Lay presider.

Worshiping at Trinity in the company of this faith community is without a doubt one of the three legs on my stool of life. Perhaps two legs. It is my center, my comfort, my protection, and my inspiration and more. I am blessed.

Ann has been married to her husband, Roy, for 31 years and they have 3 children – Erin, Sam and Caitlin – who all grew up at Trinity Collinsville.  They have been active members of Trinity for over 30 years and reflect that vestry service seems to run in their family! This is Ann’s second term on the Vestry, her husband has served one term, and their youngest daughter, Caitlin, served as a youth member of the Vestry for 2 years.

Ann is a registered nurse who works full time at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. The McAdoo’s share their Simsbury home with a dog named Moose and  three cats: Maude, Thelma and Rupert.  In her free time, Ann considers bread baking to be her therapy, as well as just about anything having to do with sewing, quilting, knitting, and crochet. Pre-COVID, Ann ran a knitting/crochet group at the church. The group made shawls for the ill and mini-shawls to go into bags for Lunch in the Park.