All neighbors are invited to attend the TPNA Annual Meeting on Wednesday, January 12, at 7 pm via Zoom (link given through the Trinity Park listserv, Facebook group, or by direct request). We have a fantastic slate of board candidates for the coming year. Come show your support, ask your questions, meet the TPNA board members, and learn about neighborhood plans for 2022. On the agenda:
Welcome and introductions
Election of board members and officers (must be a TPNA member to vote)
President’s report – TPNA activities of 2021 and plans for 2022
Treasurer’s report – TPNA finances for 2021 and budget for 2022
Questions and comments
There are 4 open seats for Board members, each with a 3-year term. We will also elect 2 new board officers – Secretary and Treasurer – as our current Secretary and Treasurer have both completed their current terms and reached their term limits. Our 6 candidates for these positions are:
Annie Ambrose, for Board member, 3-year term
Bill Brown, for Board Treasurer, 2-year term
Missy Crawford-Smith, for Board Secretary, 2-year term
Tiffany Florestal, for Board member, 3-year term
Mimi Kessler, for Board member, 3-year term
Waugh Wright, for Board member, 3-year term
Annie Ambrose has lived in Durham since 2001, first in Watts-Hillandale and now in Trinity Park for the past 11 years, with her husband Jarrod and two kids. Their kids are at DSA and George Watts, and Annie loves that they can both walk to school. They recently got a new and very energetic goldendoodle puppy, Maisie. Annie grew up in Chicago, went to Cornell for college and then made her way south via a two-year stint in D.C. followed by graduate school at UNC for a master’s in city and regional planning. She works at Self-Help Credit Union with a national affordable housing mortgage program. She love walks throughout Trinity Park, Durham restaurants, and in-person school.
Bill Brown and his wife Jane met at Duke in the 90s, moved away after graduation, and then moved back to Durham in 2004. They wanted to live in a walkable neighborhood and found a place in Trinity Park on Dollar Avenue. They have three daughters, two out of high school and the youngest at Riverside High School. Jane works for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC, and Bill is an entrepreneur. He has helped spin several technologies out of Duke’s biomedical engineering department, including his current company that is focused on reducing the cost of retinal imaging. Bill and his family have enjoyed Trinity Park for the past 18 years, forming many happy memories of days in the park on the swings and jungle gym, of Halloween parades and luminaries, and much more. Now that he has some extra time, he’s looking to pay back the work that was done by others before him to help make Trinity Park a great place to live.
Missy Crawford-Smith has called Trinity Park home for the last 7+ years. Born and raised a Buckeye, with a stint in DC Metro prior to settling in Durham in Trinity Park. Missy is a social worker and works with people with disabilities. You will find her walking my goldendoodle Gromit most days in the Park. She loves hiking and traveling.
Tiffany Florestal (she/her) grew up on Long Island, spent a decade in Chicago, and finally settled on Watts Street when her son started at George Watts in 2014. She is a member of Durham Friends Meeting (silent shout out to all Quakers), drinks a lot of coffee, likes getting her hands dirty, exercises sometimes, supports childhood education always, and loves when friends drop by unannounced to say hello: all of which can happen right here in Trinity Park! After several years at the JB Duke Hotel she has relocated to a new work home at CIMG Residential Mortgage; she can often be found around Durham representing the Holt Mortgage Team.
Mimi Kessler was born in Boston, MA and came to Duke in 1974. After graduating from the nursing program, she worked as a staff nurse and progressed in nursing management positions in North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Georgia. She lived in Atlanta for 25 yrs, where she got married, earned an MBA, and worked in project management and IT related to healthcare. She also owned a restaurant (“Mimi’s in a Minute” gourmet food to go) for several years, which she ascribes to her “first midlife crisis.” She has one son, who is a computer programmer and lives in Atlanta. She returned to Durham in 2011. She is now “retired” from her career jobs and works part-time as the personal assistant to an older couple.
Waugh Wright has been TPNA secretary for four years and a TPNA resident for twice that. He was a public school science teacher for 14 years, the last two at DSA. He is currently the Bicycle & Pedestrian Program Manager at the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NC State, where he also works on transit and pupil transportation issues. Pre-pandemic he went to lots of concerts in the Triangle. He makes excellent guacamole and often has fresh cuts on his hands from shucking oysters. He has published two young adult science fiction books and is the editor of the Music That Doesn’t Suck trivia quiz book series (first books out in Spring 2022!).
