Belfast Maskers – 2011
Board of Directors and Artistic Director

Matt McDonald, holds a degree in Theology. A native of Maine, Matt was involved in theater in both high school and college and a community theater in Bangor. He is currently serving  as a minister at a local church in the community of Belfast. He is married to Linnea Flanzala and together they have one son.

Penny Squibb, Secretary, is a graduate of Bennington College where she majored in dance. She has always been a supporter of both visual and performing arts. Before retiring to Belfast, Penny had the job of librarian and Associate Dean of Students at Storm King School in New York. Pen has won New England awards for her stitching which has been displayed in galleries and museums throughout the New England area. Working with Maskers gives her yet another interest to share with her husband.

Joanne McNally, Treasurer, is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1999 Joanne retired from the Harris Bank, Chicago as Senior Vice President of Systems and Operations.  She moved to Searsport in 1999 and, with a friend, created and operated Shamrock, Thistle & Rose in Belfast. In 2002 Joanne purchased Garden Cottage and operated it until 2008. She entered full retirement in 2009 and now cares for her 100 year old mother, Anne who lives with her.

Pat Hustus, Board Member, is originally from Mississippi. After her husband, Ed, a pilot for Eastern Air Lines retired, they settled in Belfast, Ed’s home town, and ran a boat building business for 10 years. After retiring again, Ed now works part time at Hamilton Marine in Searsport, and Pat enjoys volunteer work, giving time and energy to Meals on Wheels, Belfast’s Park and Recreation Commission, the Chamber’s Visitor Center, and GreenStreets! as well as the Maskers. Between meetings and trips to the Y, she enjoys gardening, reading, bicycling, figuring out the computer and trying to stay with just 10 games of Free Cell at a time. Pat has been gathering props for the Maskers for 8 years and in the process has met some wonderful people within the acting community as well as merchants and individuals who gladly lend a prop or two.

Ina Hollins, Board Member,grew up in Unity, Maine, where she and her sister and parents lived in a log cabin in the woods. Stories and make-believe were and are a big part of her life. Though never participating in theater at school, one night during college she went to see Verdi’s Aida at the Met. She was the only one of her group to stay awake all the way through, and is still confused about it to this day as the opera is very exciting!  Friends with several active Maskers people, she began volunteering in 2010. Ina and her husband Lawrence (a fine actor who once played “Slave” in a Maskers production of Medea) have a toddler named Thomas. The birth of their daughter is imminent.

Nanette Gionfriddo, Board Member

Aynne Ames, Artistic and Managing Director

After co-founding and managing for over 20 years Castine’s Cold Comfort Summer Theater and Cold Comfort Theater Camp, Aynne returned to college where she finished her BA in Theater with a minor in Classical Studies. The following fall (1993) she attended a one-year program at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece, working on her Master’s Degree. That one year turned into five. Although she came home summers, she returned to Athens every fall to teach at the TASIS International School and continue her studies in Ancient Theater. Along with her work in Greece she also worked in England through the TASIS School there which gave her an opportunity to do some on site work in Elizabethan Theater.

Aynne has been the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Educational Impact Award from the Helen Hayes organization which acknowledged her outstanding contributions in educating and nurturing youth through theater. She has served on the Maine Arts Council, as an Adjudicator for High School and College Theater Competitions, and as the Maine State Chair for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Next to her family, Aynne loves theater best and continues to take great pleasure in working as Artistic Director of Belfast Maskers.