BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bill Fassbender, President
Bill Fassbender and his wife RoseMarie moved to Winding River Plantation from Pennington, NJ in 2004 with their son Will who is currently a graduate student at UNCW.  Bill was a Professor of Health Education and Counseling at the College of New Jersey for thirty-three years.  While working in NJ, he was active in SPEBSQSA, singing in barbershop choruses and quartets.  The highlight of his acting career was singing in The Music Man in summer theatre.  His first appearance with the Winding River Players was in the role of "Detective Colombo" in the 2005 Who Dun It? Murder Mystery.  His second appearance was in the lead role of "George Burns" in the 2006 production of "Celebrity Cruisin'."  He is currently a member of "Mixed Doubles" Barbershop Quartet and will appear as "Walter Matthau" in the upcoming spring production, Celebrity Apprentice.  Bill is serving his first term as President of the Winding River Players Board of Directors.

Sue MacCallum, Co-Artistic Director
Sue and her husband Jim moved to Winding River in 2002. She founded the Winding River Players that same year when she gathered a group of 9 ladies to perform for a winter holiday event and for several long-term care communities. The group quickly grew and expanded its repertoire performing in Brunswick and New Hanover Counties. Her background includes an MFA degree in theatre performance with professional training in dance. She has appeared in many acting and singing roles, among her favorites: “Irina” in The Three Sisters, “Elizabeth Proctor” in The Crucible, “Smeraldina” in Servant of Two Masters and “Lady Percy” in Henry IV, Part I. Sue has taught theatre and dance, and has written, directed and choreographed numerous productions over the past 30 years for community theatre, retirement communities and schools. Sue wrote and directed The Flint Stones, I Love Lucy, and the St. Patrick’s Day Playlet. She co-directed with George Shafer the  Who Dun It? Murder Mystery and Celebrity Cruisin’. Sue is directing a USO Musical Revue for Providence home scheduled for March and is currently writing and directing the upcoming performance of Celebrity Apprentice. Sue is preparing to direct the entertainment for an event to be held in August to benefit Brunswick Community College. One of her greatest joys is bringing people together and fostering community spirit through the performing arts. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Thalian Hall Centre for the Performing Arts. In 2007, Sue directed and produced a Musical Revue for a Providence Home Benefit and for a Thalian Hall Gala Fundraiser aboard Wilmington’s famous Riverboat, the Henrietta. Sue is a member of The Tappers Extraordinaire and the Mixed Doubles Barbershop Quartet. She also shares an antique space at the Fancy Flea Market in Shallotte with her sister, Meg.

George Shafer, Co-Artistic Director
George joined The Winding River Players in 2005 and shares the role of Co-Artistic Director with Sue MacCallum.  George and Sue co-directed the I Love Lucy play,  Who Dun It? Murder Mystery in 2005 and a musical comedy, Celebrity Cruisin’, in 2006.  Most recently, George scripted and MC’d the Players very successful improv comedy night. He also performed as Fred Flintstone in a Player  sketch for a charity fundraiser and writes material for the group’s productions.

George directed professionally in Chicago and taught acting at Northwestern University until his wife Gwen made him realize that he couldn’t afford a home and family on a professor’s salary!  He subsequently leveraged his writing skills to launch a career in PR and Marketing.  His work in this field won him numerous national communication awards. George retired as Asst. VP Corporate Communications for Trustmark Insurance Co. in December 2003.  George, who has a Ph.D. in Theatre, has directed over 30 plays and musicals, including A Long Day’s Journey into Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Godspell.  His production of Kennedy’s Children won him Chicago’s coveted Joseph Jefferson Award for stage direction.  He is currently teaching theatre and film at Brunswick Community College.

Gwen Shafer, Secretary
Gwen moved to Winding River in 2004 with her husband George and daughter Meg then 20 from Libertyville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Their son Tom, then 27 stayed in Chicago to work in the family’s insurance business. Gwen joined the Winding River Player in 2005 and serves as Secretary. She has been very active in the Players as a dancer, singer and actor. She played the lead role of “Lucy” in I Love Lucy, a production based on the popular TV series. She performed in Celebrity Cruisin’ and will play the role of “Rose” from the famous Golden Girls TV series in the upcoming production of Celebrity Apprentice. Gwen worked in the Human Resources field for a number of years for All State Insurance Co. and Rotary International. She went on to do nurse and fitness personnel recruitment for a community hospital/fitness center. Following this, Gwen worked as a barrista for Caribou Coffee, a major competitor of Starbuck’s in the Midwest. Because she loved this work so much, you can find her smiling face at Port City Java in Southport where she works part-time. Over the years, Gwen has produced and performed in many musical reviews for philanthropic organizations.

Martha Koletar, Director Public Relations/Communications
Martha is a native of North Carolina.  She lived for 20 years in New York City and Glen Rock, New Jersey before coming “home” to NC.  She joined the Winding River Players in 2005 and now serves on the Board of Directors as Director of Public Relations/Communications.  Martha had a long career in the Human Resources and Labor Negotiations fields.  She was Vice-President of HR for the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC and for several multi-state apparel manufacturing companies in NY/NJ.  Martha grew up performing lead roles in the Greensboro Children’s Theatre and continued her acting in high school where she received the coveted Drama Award and a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse.  Although she chose to stay closer to home, she remained active in the theatre and appearing on local television and radio programs. She also danced in many local and state beauty pageants while studying at East Carolina University and Guilford College.  Martha loves to write children’s stories and poetry.  She brought home the gold in the Literary Arts/Poetry category in the Brunswick County Senior Games and the silver for her short story. She also has a small antique space in Wilmington’s Castle Street Antique Mall where she sells antique handbags, depression glass and other collectors’ items.  Martha is very active in The Players as an actor and dancer.  She appeared as “Chicquitta Benenez” in I Love Lucy; “Ms. Monee Grubber” in Who Dun It? Murder Mystery; “Sweet Irish Rose” in the St. Patrick’s Day Playlet and “Betty” and “Starlett O’Hara” in Celebrity Cruisin’. She continued performing the role of Starlett O’Hara in various area charity benefits. Martha will play the role of “Blanche” (character from the Golden Girls TV series) in the upcoming production of Celebrity Apprentice.

Diane MacQuarrie, Treasurer
Diane and her husband John moved to Winding River from Raleigh, NC in 1999. Diane’s birth took place in Philadelphia, PA in the same room where Grace Kelly was born!  (Two stars born in the same room - a good omen for Diane’s Winding River theatrical experience!). She and John lived in eight states during John’s career with Suburban Propane Gas Corp. Diane focused her energies as a wife and mother. Besides John, the other stars in her life are her daughter, son, daughter-in-law and four grandsons! Diane acted in high school and has always loved “show biz”. She made her acting debut with the Winding River Players as "Cruella DeVille Conman” in the Who Dun It? Murder Mystery. She had a lead role in Celebrity Cruisin’ where she played the lead role of “Gracie Allen”. Diane plays “Leona Helmsley” in the upcoming Celebrity Apprentice production.

Steve Salerno, Director-At-Large
Steve is currently Director-At-Large with the Winding River Players.  He has performed in various Winding River Player productions dating back to 2004.  Steve grew up on Long Island, and was a secondary school teacher there before moving on to a career with the Federal Government, from which he retired in 2003.  Steve and his wife Nancy moved to Winding River Plantation from the Washington, D.C. suburbs in May of that year.  As a mentor and a tutor, Steve served in the Brunswick County Communities-In-Schools program from 2003 to 2007.  He is currently enjoying his third year of volunteer work with Southport-Oak Island Animal Rescue.  Steve will play the role of “Buck Harless” in Celebrity Apprentice.