Chris Donaldson Vice President

Chris and Lisa always dreamed of moving to a quaint neighborhood with a classic corner store. So when an abode in the York neighborhood became available, they jumped on it. Now they saunter into town (Mallard’s is a favorite), try their best to garden, and work extra hard to keep their dogs and kids out of trouble.

Chris is partner in Moment Films and enjoys playing beach volleyball, analyzing the production design in Downton Abbey, and eating. He looks forward to meeting more of his neighbors.

Colin Beazley President

Colin, his partner Kristin, and two young boys Charlie and Wesley moved into the York neighborhood in August 2021. They remodeled a Victorian home on Humboldt where Kristin lived during her time at Western. The family enjoys listening to music, frequenting local parks, and cooking. Colin has his MBA from the University of Washington and leads the Professional Services teams at Smartsheet, a Bellevue-based technology company. Colin and Kristin spend their philanthropic time giving back to educational causes. Colin spent 10 years on Seattle-based YMCA boards, and Kristin is a school psychologist for elementary-school children.

Colin is currently the Board President and appointee to the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission. Colin looks forward to working with the Board on improving quality of life for all friends, families, and neighbors of the York neighborhood. He is particularly interested in maintaining the historic charm of the neighborhood, improving Rock Hill Park (for which he is the YNA’s Steward), and giving the York community a voice in broader Bellingham conversations. He enjoys meeting new neighbors and listening to their York stories. Say hello if you see him around the neighborhood!

Élan Engel

After living in the York Neighborhood off and on for the last two decades, in 2014 Élan and his wife Ashley returned from traveling abroad on their sailboat to the York neighborhood, where they purchased and fully restored their 1900-built home. They now live there with their children Reed and Stella, fish “Blue Blue,” and dog Zephyr. The Engel family continues to enjoy boating on Lake Whatcom and in the San Juan Islands.

Élan works for a local financial-services firm helping to manage technology risk and looks forward to helping make the York neighborhood the best community in Bellingham. If you see them around, say hello; they know many of you and look forward to meeting folks they don’t. Bellingham and the York neighborhood are home.

Erin Vonnahme

A thing you need to know about Erin is she is going to ask you questions almost immediately upon meeting you. Maybe she could help it, but she’s probably not going to change. She’s a curious person, and humanity is chockablock with wacky folks just hiding in plain sight. It stands to reason she loves a stop ’n’ chat, so if you see her around York, say hello! Here are some conversation starter suggestions, in no particular order:

• road trips
• bike rides
• parks and libraries as national treasures
• how awesome your grandparents probably were
• soup
• potlucks
• soup potlucks
• and more!

Erin will always be a Midwesterner in her heart, despite loving her chosen home here in Washington state. She and her husband, Lindy, moved west almost 20 years ago and settled in Bellingham, just a few blocks from Nelson’s Market, in 2018. She is thrilled to be a part of this community.

Jeremy Ferrera

Hello Yorkers! I am happy to be serving you as an at-large board member. I grew up in Snohomish and went to school at Western and graduated in 1999 with a BA in Elementary Education and Spanish. After teaching for three years in the Burlington School District, I moved to Japan in 2001, where I met my wife, Junko. In July of 2014, we got married, and she moved with me back to Bellingham. We bought our house at 1717 Humboldt Street three years later in 2017 (yes, the one with the cute smiling-frog statue in the front yard, just off of Meador).

I am a financial advisor with Edward Jones, and the Bellingham community is very important to me. I am serving on the board for the Whatcom Maritime Association. I am very active with various organizations around the harbor where my office is located. I’m also a member of the Bellingham Sister Cities Association, where I am able to stay connected with the ex-pat and international community in Bellingham. I volunteer teaching relaxation, meditation, and Reiki at Unity Spiritual Center on Telegraph Road and at the Center for Spiritual Living on Yew Street Road once a week. Junko and I enjoy gardening and hiking around our beautiful Northwest Mountains during the summer months and cooking ethnic foods year-round.

Feel free to get in touch anytime with any concerns or comments about our wonderful neighborhood.

John DeOrio

John moved to Bellingham to join close friends and family in the summer of 2021. He and his family left NYC behind and settled in York because of the tight-knit community and proximity to all B’ham has to offer. Currently, John works for a global recruitment firm and hopes one day to set up a physical office within walking distance of York! When he’s not working, he enjoys cooking vegan food, biking, hiking, watching football, and discovering new music.

John was appointed to the Board in August 2021.

Mark Ellis Walker Secretary

I’m a 12-year renting resident of northern Iron Street (recently transported to Sunnyland, just across the creek) since fleeing Seattle in 2007 after 20 years. Professionally I’m a freelance graphic designer and editor by trade who wears a variety of other hats as situations call for them.

Before joining the board in late 2018, I took on the layout of The Yorker newssletter in fall 2016 and have enjoyed working with the YNA to help keep neighbors up to date on York’s status and activities.

And oh boy am I a cat person. I don’t drive, and thus I’ve earned the nickname of The Cat Whisperer from some neighbors along my grocery-run route between home and Fred Meyer, as I visit with (and know by name) nearly all outdoor kitties along the way. I grow catnip, so on summer afternoons it’s not unusual to see a trail of blissed-out cats lying on the sidewalk in my wake.

…By the way, Mark is also Co-Webmaster for this website and produces our quarterly Yorker newsletter!

Opie Knechtel Treasurer

Opie has had a 35-year goal to move back to the York neighborhood, but life keeps getting in the way! Recently escaped from a 24-year stint out in the county on acreage, she can now be found living and working out of a fixer-upper apartment in the downtown section of York neighborhood on Champion Street.

Someday she’ll retire, life willing, to her “granny” house on Humboldt Street. Until then, ERP software programming, several small-fry home businesses, food-lab projects, and camping with her husband and provincial one-eyed cat in the wilds of Eastern Washington keep her busy and out of trouble.

Paul D’Agnolo

I grew up in Minnesota and worked on conservation efforts in Alaska, Vermont, Wisconsin, and California before falling in love with the North Cascades in 2010. I moved to Whatcom County to start a farm after managing farms, with my wife Sadie, on Bainbridge Island. After six years of farming in Acme and Everson we moved to town and now live on the northern end of York with two kids. I work to preserve farmland across the state and develop community land trusts for permanently affordable homes and farms. We love taking walks around the neighborhood, cultivating our garden, and spending our time on the beaches or in the woods whenever possible.

Thomas R. Scott

Tom has been active in the YNA for almost all of the 30+ years he has lived in the neighborhood. He is a computer consultant and network engineer with On-Site Computer Services. His family includes wife Dondena, adult son Kelix (daughter-in-law Ali), and adult twins Sierra and Kyle. He is active in scouting and can often be seen out on a local field kicking a soccer ball when not “playing” with computers.