Who’s Who – Our Board of Directors

Donna Lewis and her family bought their summer house in Ogunquit in 1969 and soon became Ogunquit Playhouse season ticket holders. Their love of Ogunquit quickly led to the purchase of an Inn and ever-increasing involvement within the community.

Today they own a number of businesses throughout Ogunquit, York and Wells, with Donna at the helm as General Manager. The Lewis Family was instrumental in saving the old Methodist Church on Shore Road which is now home to Revelations, a quaint gift shop, and Genesis Day Spa.

Proud mother and grandmother, Donna has always been involved in youth programs, and has been very active in the York School System where she was a classroom volunteer and a vital contributor to their mentoring program. 

She was on the Admissions Staff at Wellesley College for several years, and served on the Board of Trustees at Bay Path College from 1999 to 2006. She also served as Christian Education Director of the First Parish Church in York from 2000 to 2005.

Donna joined the Board of Directors of the Ogunquit Playhouse in 1999, and has served as Assistant Treasurer and is currently First Vice President. She holds particular interest in furthering the outreach of the Playhouse to the youth in Southern Maine and beyond.

Cathy J. Brown

Cathy currently resides in Kennebunkport, Maine and has served on the Board of Directors for the Ogunquit Playhouse Foundation since 2000 and also works within the Board Development Committee. With an extensive background within the international arena focusing on new market development and finance, Cathy has lived and worked within Hungary and Switzerland. Her company, Horizon Partnerships LLC, was created in 1990 and focused on assisting companies emerging from an Eastern Bloc economy to a market-based environment. Support within the import-export trade process incorporated trade within Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Russia.

Presently, Cathy is Sales Manager for Countrywide, a national Direct Lenders in the US. Spearheading sales and staff development through consumer awareness programs, Realtor focus groups, Affinity Partnerships and ongoing business to business networking are among her many duties and she is currently recognized as one of the Top Producing loan officers within the country.

With a passion for life, laughter and international travel, she speaks Italian and French and also owns her dream home in Italy! 

Stephen R. Eberle

Steve Eberle was born in Teaneck, New Jersey and grew up in the suburban town of Upper Saddle River, a fitting background for his deep and diverse interest in outdoor sports and photography. Attending college in Maine proved to be a fortunate choice. While pursuing his B.A. in Business Administration at Nasson College, Steve was able to indulge his avocation of competitive skiing serving as Captain of the ski team.

Upon graduation, Steve accepted a position with Hart Ski Company as Sales Representative and Eastern Technical Representative. During this time, Steve also worked in conjunction with Americana Ski Bindings, traveling with Skiing Magazine as an educator on the technology and safety of alpine ski bindings. Steve later held the position of National Sales Manager of Americana International and developed an international distribution company of downhill ski bindings and winter ski related products. In addition, he successfully assumed these same responsibilities for Cool-Ray Ski/Sport Glasses, Snow-Life Brakes and Sportitalia

Fashion Ski and Tennis Apparel. Returning to New England, Steve became Sales Manager for Kemco Office Products of Portsmouth, New Hampshire successfully building sales volume through a variety of key company responsibilities.

Steve also includes a successful real estate career among his credentials. He established Sun Harbor Realty. The agency specialized in commercial and residential high-end island waterfront properties. Sun Harbor became number one off-site sales broker for Isla Del Sol, General Electric’s top Florida development. Returning to the corporate sector, Steve became Senior Account Executive for Allegiant Management in New Hampshire making a major contribution to the growth of the company.

Combining his extensive sales and marketing background with an entrepreneurial desire Steve founded Canvasworks, Inc. in Ogunquit in 1980 and today serves as owner and President of the company. Canvasworks is a leading marine canvas and full range awning company with ever expending design and fabricating expertise. Successful growth necessitated the move to its present, larger facility in Kennebunk, Maine in the ‘90’s.

Steve served on the Board of Directors of the Marine Fabricators Association and presently sits on the Board of Directors of the Ogunquit Playhouse Foundation. He holds membership in the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce, IFAI (Industrial Fabric Association International) and Marine Fabricators Association.

Karen M. Maxwell, Chair-Advisory Council

Karen M. Maxwell began her affiliation with the Playhouse in 1994 with a small core of individuals who accepted Mr. Lane’s challenge to establish a $500K permanent endowment to which he would then entrust this historical facility. In 1996, the formal Foundation was formed as a 501©3 Non-Profit, with Ms. Maxwell as one of its original Directors. Since 2005, she has served the Foundation Board as its President.

Ms. Maxwell also owns and operates Ogunquit River Properties, a full service real estate office for sales, development and rental and motel management.

Born in Boston and raised in Medfield, Ms. Maxwell is a graduate of Medfield High School and Boston College. She spent eight years in the commercial real estate industry in Boston before settling in the Ogunquit area to raise her family and start her business. Ms. Maxwell was elected for three terms to the Ogunquit Board of Selectmen, serving her last year as its Chairman; she is a past member, director and President of the Ogunquit Rotary Club, and an Incorporator of the Visiting Nurse Association.

She is the mother of Ian and Olivia. In addition to her love of theatre and business, her interests include travel, collecting everything Monopoly, Boston College Football and following all the Boston sports teams. She credits her success to the support and closeness of her large family and many close and wonderful friends and is especially grateful to work with the tremendously talented, generous and dedicated Board of Directors of the Ogunquit Playhouse Foundation.

Ron is a member of the firm’s litigation department, specializing in health, employment, education and ERISA law. He routinely advises health care professionals on practice issues and represents health care professionals before Maine’s licensing boards. He also advises employers and independent schools on issues involving employees and students.  Ron also represents health care professionals and other individuals charged with crimes. 

Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Ron clerked in the Maine Superior Court in Portland, serving Justices Arthur Brennan, Susan Calkins, Roland Cole, Nancy Mills, and Leigh Saufley.

Ron speaks on litigation procedure, as well as issues facing health care providers, schools, and employers. In 1996, Ron authored "A Measure of Our Justice System: A Look at Maine’s Indigent Criminal Defense Delivery System" published in the Maine Law Review.

Ron is a graduation of The University of Maine School of Law, 1996, cum laude; Bates College, 1988 and The Roxbury Latin School, 1984. His is a member and author of Maine Law Review.

He is admitted to practice in the States of Maine and New Hampshire and a member of Maine State Bar Association, New Hampshire Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He serves on the board of the Ogunquit Playhouse  and the University of Maine School of Law Alumni Association Board.

Larry A. Smith

Larry A. Smith began his art career at an early age in Pennsylvania. He had his own darkroom and was a yearbook and school photographer throughout his high school and college years. He worked for the Coatesville Record during those early times. After graduating from Northeastern University with a degree in biochemistry, Larry pursued a scientific career. During those years, his photography was mainly scientific and technical. Several of his photographs were published on the cover of IV Therapy Magazine and he illustrated Preparation of Sterile Particle Free Solutions in the Hospital Pharmacy. In 1986, Larry and his wife Marcy purchased the Ogunquit Camera Shop and moved to Maine. In 1991, the family opened Ocean Exposure in Kennebunk.

In addition to his technical training, Larry has studied painting and photography at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art and at the Maine College of Art. One of his paintings has exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Today, Larry’s passion for art is expressed through photography. Since 1991, Larry has found inspiration in photographing places as he travels here and abroad. He has taught beginning and intermediate photography since 1987. He also expresses his creative skills by custom framing for Ogunquit Camera Shop, Ocean Exposure Editions and Village Framing. Larry is a member of the Photo Marketing Association and the Professional Picture Framers Association. He also serves as a trustee for The Heartwood College of Art, Kennebunk, Maine and is on the Board of Directors and past president of the Ogunquit Playhouse Foundation, Ogunquit, Maine.