"I'm not denyin' that women are foolish! God Almighty made 'em to match the men." (Dekker)

	Gina at Seneca Lake   Click to Enlarge

      Following college at SUNY at Geneseo, I taught in Sayville (Art), Seneca Falls (Remedial 6th grade), Waterloo (Special Education) and Romulus (Art).  I then became the Executive Director of Cerebral Palsy Centers in Geneva and Schenectady, operating schools for infants/children with handicapping conditions in a therapeutic setting and programs for adults.  During this time I received an M.A. in Educational Administration and certification as a School Administrator/Supervisor from Syracuse U.  Following an appointment as Real Property Tax Director in Schoharie County, I was tapped as the Republican/Conservative candidate for the New York State Assembly.  An “also-ran”, I was offered a position as a budget analyst for the Ways and Means Committee where I served until I was invited to join the Senate Finance Committee staff.  I was responsible for negotiating several major areas of the NYS budget on behalf of Senate Majority, and moved up the ranks to serve as Executive Assistant to the Secretary.  When George Pataki became Governor, I was one of his appointees to the Department of Labor where I served in various concurrent directorship positions until my retirement from public employment in 2003.  My big career thrill was an invite to work in the White House for a week during the Reagan administration. 
      Even though I enjoyed several careers, I consider my 3 children to be my (and my exes’) greatest achievement and my 5 grandchildren to be my greatest joy!  We also had a foster daughter, Rose, who lives and teaches college in Guatemala.  She and her beautiful family (husband, children and grandchildren) are very close to me, and are frequent visitors.  My oldest daughter, Laura, is a nursing home receptionist/personnel processor in Canajoharie, NY, and is doing a fantastic job raising her three children, Gwen, Emily and Sam.  Son, Rick, has a doctorate in Biology, with a specialty in Ichthyology. The New York State Museum currently has his research on display.  Rick and his wife, Margaret and children, Olivia and Henry reside on Seneca Lake in Geneva, NY.  My daughter, Kristin, is a working artist currently living in Burnaby, British Columbia.  Her art was part of the August-November 2006 “Surge” Show at the Brooklyn Lyceum highlighting New Orleans artists who survived Katrina. Following Katrina, Kris moved to California where she also lost her home in the wildfires!  Her art work is brilliant and she is upbeat about starting over (and over) again. Best of all, my great kids all grew up to be super nice adults!  I am so proud of them all !

Click to Enlarge Gina's Artwork

Lucy & Dinah    Click to Enlarge

play), gourmet cooking, wine and an occasional game of chess.  Even my closest friends will be surprised to learn I enjoy fly fishing.  I volunteer my art talents to help children at a homeless shelter and I’m Co-chairing an international conference for ZONTA in 2007.  I take my turn at running a co-op art gallery and for fun, occasionally sell fine wines in my friend Jim’s Wine Shop.  One great pleasure is keeping in-touch

	Weekend in NYC     Click to Enlarge

and occasional get-togethers with high school gal pals, Eileen, Gail, Patti, Barbara, Heather, Kathy and Dyan. In addition, I’ve had some wonderful travel experiences in Poland, France, England, Guatemala, Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco and most recently, the British Virgin Islands. I’ve also camped extensively in Canada, Maine and New York.   I no longer “rough it”, however I’m looking forward to more traveling – hopefully Italy will be my next destination.  Life is great!