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Meet the Board of Directors

Stewart Pikula
President

Stewart has served as a board member since 2019, and as of 2020 is the FOFC President. A Fernandina Beach native, he has spent most of his life in the area. He retired from Rayonier Advanced Materials after 41 years in operations, technical, and maintenance management.

His community and volunteer involvement has included the Nassau County Economic Development Board, Leadership Nassau, Fernandina Beach High School Business Partners, Amelia Chamber Music Festival, and 20 years with the Fernandina Beach Little League as a board member, coach, and umpire. He also helped develop athletic facilities and programs in Fernandina Beach.

He is an avid outdoorsman and spends his free time fishing, surfing, scuba diving, and staying fit. He enjoys experiencing outdoor activities with his grandchildren. His connection with Ft. Clinch State Park is a family one that goes back approximately 80 years as his father was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corp Company 1420 that worked to restore the fort and develop the park roads, etc., during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.

Rich Reily

Vice President

Rich retired from the City of Fort Lauderdale after working in Public Works for 27 years.  He worked in Environmental Services Division as the Environmental Program Coordinator.  His division was responsible for helping protect ground water, wastewater surface water and stormwater infrastructures and the natural environment. 

Rich also coordinated compliance of city departments with federal and state environmental regulations such as permitting, environmental enforcement actions and implementing mandated federal and state programs.  For 15 years, Rich was involved in the City of Coral Springs youth sports programs.  He coached soccer and baseball.  He also served on the Coral Springs Commission Neighborhood and Environmental Committee.  The committee assisted the City arborist on environmental issues. 

Since moving to Fernandina Beach five years ago, Rich worked as a volunteer to help build the Personal Energy Transportation (P.E.T) Building at Memorial United Methodist Church (MUMC) and served as Head Trustee for one year at MUMC.  He has been a volunteer walker for the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch for the past four years and a member of the Bartram Garden Club for the past two years.   Rich is a lifetime member of the Friends of Fort Clinch and is an active volunteer in events sponsored by the Friends.

Jane Bailey
Secretary

Jane and her husband Doug relocated to Fernandina Beach, from Atlanta in 1999. In addition to assisting her husband start their insurance business in Atlanta in 1992, Jane worked as a freelance graphic designer, and was a volunteer docent at the High Museum.

After relocating to Amelia Island, She became very active in the community. Her volunteer commitments have included membership 

on the steering committee that founded the Fernandina Farmer’s Market and Merchandising Chairman for the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. Jane’s served on the Nassau County Council on Aging Board of Directors, including terms as secretary and president. She was active in the Nassau County Republican Party as a precinct leader, Council of 100 Chairman, and the NCRP Vice Chairman.

She co-chaired numerous galas and golf tournaments for all three of these organizations. She has also volunteered for several other community organizations including Barnabas, Micah’s Place, Amelia Island Museum of History and Friends of the Library, where she was Adult Programs Chair. She is a current board member for Cummer Amelia, Walkin’ Nassau and Meals on Wheels for Pets.

Carrie McCannell-Scruggs
Treasurer

Carrie joined the board in 2019 and currently serves as Treasurer. She moved to Fernandina Beach with her family in 1982. She attended the public schools on the island, graduated from FBHS, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a Master of Communications degree from Florida State University. After college, Carrie moved to Tampa to pursue a career in public relations. Her diverse career includes experience in print and broadcast journalism, non-profit public relations, corporate advertising, and sports marketing. One of her favorite jobs was managing the marketing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, including the season the team won the Stanley Cup.

Carrie and her husband, Steve Scruggs, moved back home, to Fernandina Beach, in 2005. They have a son, Mattie, a daughter, Nola, and a rescue dog named Bayou. Currently, Carrie is the Communications Coordinator at Memorial United Methodist Church, in Fernandina Beach, and also works on freelance projects for GeoView, a geophysical services company based out of St. Petersburg. Carrie and Steve share their passions for protecting domestic animals, wildlife, and the environment with their children. The entire family enjoys running 5Ks and other races, participating in activities with the Amelia Island Runners, and volunteering through their church.

Sandra Baker-Hinton

Sandra grew up in the Southern Appalachian area of Northeast Tennessee in a very rural setting, graduating from East Tennessee State University with a degree in Art.  Art inspired by nature became her theme as she pursued her professional career.

Upon moving to Amelia island in 2002, Sandra Baker-Hinton, called Fort Clinch State Park to volunteer for work with Sea Turtles. Besides opening her art studio, working as a volunteer with Sea Turtles was her most important goal.  Since then she has served as a Sea Turtle Volunteer each year and more recently on the Board of the Friends of Fort Clinch as Membership Chairman.

She enjoys all kinds of creative directions with her painting and glass work and has expanded her involvement with nature in not only working with the Sea Turtles and growing and providing habitat for native butterflies which she raises indoors for release into the wild. She also developed an interesting in fostering orphaned baby squirrels and other local wildlife, which she also raises for release often taking them to work in her studio. Lately she has become involved with a Horseshoe Crab monitoring program sponsored by FWC and the University of Florida.

Robby Hair

Robby was born and raised in the low country of South Carolina an avid outdoorsman and an accomplished football player. He attended the Citadel – the Military College of South Carolina, on a football scholarship. After graduation Robby came to Fernandina Beach in 1986 as one of the initial teams to set up the Lockheed Martin D5 missile program at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Upon retirement in 2018 and after 32 years as a manager in buildings with no windows, he vowed to only volunteer in the beautiful outdoors of northeast Florida. Robby has been a permitted volunteer for the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch for 4 years. He is also a member of the Fort Clinch Wednesday Road crew, where he enjoys not only the work of keeping the fort trimmed and healthy, but the wonderful camaraderie. On Saturday’s Robby and his wife Sherri lead the nature walks at Willow Pond and enjoy sharing the natural beauty and history of the park with the many visitors and children’s groups.

Deb Kienle

Deb has been a full-time resident of Amelia Island for the last 2 years.  She has been a dedicated spouse and mother to her family as they moved through 15 homes throughout six states and 4 countries.  She volunteered extensively in support of her daughters’ schools through fundraising, grant writing, and teaching.  She also taught English in rural South Korea.  Professionally, Deb worked for 10 years in the auto industry as a manufacturing Quality Engineer. She holds a BS in Material Science Engineering and an MBA in Finance.  She is an outdoors enthusiast, walking daily on the beach at sunrise, and has now caught the pickle ball “bug”, frequently visiting the courts at Central Park.  

Tom Linley

Tom grew up in Michigan spending time camping with his scout troop and his family. These childhood experiences gave him a love for the outdoors and enjoying state parks.  As a high schooler, Tom’s family relocated to Florida where Tom later attended Florida International University earning a bachelor’s degree in Parks and Recreation. He then started a thirty-five year career serving the State of Florida. This included twenty-six years with the Florida Park Service starting as a park ranger at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park and then retiring as a program administrator in the Director’s Office. He spent nine years with Volunteer Florida serving as their Chief of Staff and later the Director of Emergency Management and Volunteer Services. 

In 2016 and 2017, Tom and his wife Stacie spent 500 days traveling North America in a motorhome driving 40,000 miles and visiting 37 states and 9 provinces. It was a road trip of a lifetime and affirmed their love for America and its beautiful national and state parks. Tom is active with the Florida Park Service Ranger Association and serves as their Executive Director. He is currently the owner of TomStar Services that provides information technology and business services, association and event management services to individuals, small businesses, and non-profit associations.

Dustin Nemati

Attorney Dustin Nemati is a native of Orange Park and practices in Duval, Clay, Nassau, Baker, St. Johns, Flagler, Volusia, Alachua, Orange, Putnam and Seminole Counties. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and the Florida Coastal School of Law.

Dustin previously served as an Assistant State Attorney Prosecutor with the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville, Florida. During his time as a prosecutor, he handled thousands of hearings and gained invaluable trial experience through numerous jury trials. He has trained and mentored new prosecutors and has also lectured and served as a mock trial judge for aspiring attorneys. Mr. Nemati is committed to securing positive results for local residents in need of proven legal representation.

He is active in the community through his participation in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and as a driver for the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery. Dustin volunteers at Fort Clinch as a Living Historian and spends one weekend each month his role as a Civil War soldier. Dustin and his wife are very active members of the Lake Forest Church of Christ.

Friends of Fort Clinch - 2601 Atlantic Avenue - Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034

Friends of Fort Clinch, Inc., established in 1992, is a Florida Not For Profit corporation (EIN 59-3126070) and has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. All or part of your gift may be tax-deductible as a charitable contribution.  Please check with your tax advisor. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling toll-free 800-435-7352 within the state. Registration does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the state.

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