Sanibel Historical Village Adds Board Members

February 25, 2016 – Four new members were elected to the board of the Sanibel  Historical Museum and Village: William Bachman, Gail Garlinghouse, Peter Halliday,  and Gayle Pence.

Bill Bachman retired as a World Wide Senior Partner of William M. Mercer in 1996  and has been on Sanibel since 1998. He served six years on the historical village board before getting a mandated one-year break. For the first four years, he served as treasurer of the board, and chaired the Personnel Committee the last two years of his six years on the board. He has been active with the recruitment, training of new docents as well as ongoing training of existing docents. Bill spends about seven months each year on Sanibel. A resident of Sanibel, he has homes in Maine and Maryland. He has three children and eight grandchildren and has been married to his wife, Gail, for more than 50 years.

Gail Garlinghouse was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. She attended Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, and received her B.A. degree from Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. She taught art in the Alcoa, Tennessee schools, and later served as corporate secretary of Gar-Bro Manufacturing Company. She has served on the board of directors of the American Association of University Women in Southern California, the Cleburne County School for the Developmentally Disabled, and the Cleburne County Arts Council in Heber Springs, Arkansas, and served as the state president for the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Arkansas. She and her husband, Roland, are members of the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ. They have two sons and four grandchildren and have had a home on Sanibel since 1988. She first visited the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village when there was only one building: Rutland House. She has been a docent for nine years.

Pete Halliday spent more than 35 years in the investment business with the Columbus firm of Vercoe & Company, where he served as president and major stockholder. He negotiated the sale of Vercoe & Company to Advest, Inc. in 1984 and served on Advest’s board for 10 years. A career advisor for Denison students and alumni, Pete has also been a volunteer for multiple Denison fundraising projects, including the Annual Fund, capital campaigns, and Beta Theta Pi House renovation. Pete has served on over 14 boards of directors and has been responsible for funding over 30 corporations in his investment career. Among these were The Limited Inc., and Wendy’s International. Peter, with his wife Janet, founded the Bexley Heritage Fund, which later became the Bexley Community Foundation. The Hallidays have left major legacy gifts with The Columbus Foundation to benefit Denison University, Bexley Community Foundation, The Bexley Education

Foundation, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Sanibel United Church of Christ, and the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village.

Gayle Pence spent 31 years as an educator. She spent the last 12 years of her career as principal of Bunker Hill Elementary, a National Blue Ribbon School in the Memorial Villages of Houston, Texas. While in Houston, Gayle served as an active volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House along with chairing and serving on many local and state education committees. She received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University and her graduate degrees from the University of Houston. Since coming to Sanibel, she has been a volunteer at the Sanibel Historical Village since 2003. During this time, Gayle has served as chair of the Docent Council, served on the board as vice president from 2007 to 2012, chaired the docent training committee, and chaired several of the village’s fundraising events. She and her husband Wayne have lived on the island since 2002.

These additions bring the number of board members to 13.

Leaving the board due to term limits are Janet Halliday, who served for six years as secretary; and Paula Newton.

The historical village is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The village is located at 950 Dunlop Road (next to BIG ARTS). Admission is $10 for adults 18 and older; those under 18 and members are free. Docent-guided tours are available at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at no extra charge, based upon docent availability. There is handicap access to all buildings. For information, call 472-4648 during business hours or visit www.sanibelmuseum.org.