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Board of Directors
Pure Professionalism
Ramona Mathis
President
Community Liaison
Ramona is married to Michael S. Mathis, a native of the Centertown area and they have two lovely daughters, Rachel and Abigail. They were joined in union in 1994.
Ramona is originally from Central Louisiana, where she was born and raised in Marksville, Louisiana. She is the daughter of the late Calvin P. Bernard. Her mother is Beverly M. Desselle – Bernard. She has one sister and brother. She joined the United States Air Force in 1987 after graduation and served seven years on active duty. She has been living in McMinnville, TN with her family since 1996.
She believes in the knowledge of history as she conducted a research of her family heritage and submitted her DNA with Ancestry in August of 2013. Her ancestry roots are of East Central Louisiana Acadians, Pointe Coupee, Avoyelles and French Settlers. Her ethnicity estimate results are as follows: France 39%, England & Northwestern Europe 38%, Germanic Europe 9%, Ireland & Scotland 8%, Basque (Spain) 3%, Sweden 2% and Indigenous Americas – North 1%. She has traced a paternal (on her father’s line) 6th great-grandmother, as a slave woman having a daughter with a white man. Her 5th great-grandmother, Lucile “mulatress” born in 1760 in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana. Lucile had a daughter, Suzanne (Suzan) born 1787, with Simon Bouchard, “dit” (called) LaVallee, born 1752. Suzanne is her 4th great-grandmother. Simon wrote a letter of freedom of, mulatress, Lucile on February 12, 1781.
She has been employed by the United States Department of Agriculture since September 2000.
She became an Alderwoman for the City of Centertown, where she resides, since November of 2016. She currently serves as a member of The Power of 100 Warren County and is a blood donor for the American Red Cross. She enjoys the art of painting as she picked it up as a hobby in December of 2014. She is an active member of the Bates Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church, where she serves on the Outreach Committee. She loves spending time with her family and friends. She is a strong believer of volunteer service, as we are all called to be servants.
Dr. Wallace Bigbee Sr. was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas and raised near Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his M.D. degree from the University of Tennessee. He received two years of Post graduate training from Erlanger Hospital and served two years as a physician in the U. S. Army.
With sons, Wally Jr. and Randy, he and wife, Tuck, came to McMinnville, Tennessee.
Wallace opened his office in 1961 as a Family Practitioner and attended the birth of about 800 babies, and treated patients of all ages. He practiced at Faulkner Springs, the Medical Clinic, Warren County and River Park Hospitals. Dr. Bigbee retired in 1998. Another son, Rick was born.
He has been active in maintaining and developing many trails in Middle Tennessee. These include work on the Cumberland Trail, trails in Short Springs Natural Area, Edgar Evans, Old Stone Fort and Rock Island Parks. Dr. Bigbee was one among many who worked to get the Savage Gulf as a State Park. He has maintained the five miles of trails on Cardwell Mountain. He is instrumental in developing, with volunteer workers, a 2.1 mile long hiking trail along the Barren Fork River between Ramsey and Rocket Parks.
The Bigbee Trail is named in his honor.
Wally Bigbee
Building & Grounds Chair
Clarence Curtis is the son of the late L.V. and Georgia (Kate) Curtis. He is also the brother to the late Richard A. Borum Jr. He and his wife Mary Curtis currently reside in Murfreesboro TN, they have four children.
Clarence attended Bernard High from '62-'66. From 1968-1970 Clarence proudly served in the U.S. Army. He also served in the National Guard from '76-'82. Clarence also earned a degree from MTSU in Business Admin, and also attended TN Tech earning degrees as an Electrician and Welder.
Later, Clarence worked for Carrier Manufacturing and Nissan Manufacturing from which he retired after 25 years.
Clarence Curtis
Strategic Planning Chair
Steve grew up in McMinnville, Tennessee born to Fred and Lera Nowlin. He graduated from Warren County Senior High School. He then attended Motlow College in Tullahoma, Tn. and Paine College in Augusta, Ga. He has since divorced and has two sons, one daughter, and four grandchildren.
Steve retired from the U. S. Army after serving 20 years. He also proudly served in Desert Storm. After serving 18 years, he retired from South Carolina Department of Transportation. He has also dedicated time to the Recreation Department (15) years, McCormick County. S. C. Volunteer Fireman (5) years.
Other experiences include Summer Camp Counselor, in charge of Morale Support and Funding (Army) Company Level Member of McCormick County, S. C. He has also coached Recreation Basketball and Baseball and is a member of American Legion Post 208.
Steve Nowlin
Finance Chair
A native of Fentress County, Mary Robbins lived in McMinnville for several years. While here, she served as Director of Magness Library and was on the Board of Main Street McMinnville, Prior to coming to McMinnville, Mary lived in Cookeville, where she worked for WCTE-TY, Channel 22, and later was, for fifteen years, Executive Director of the fourteen-county regional Upper Cumberland Tourism Association. Always a writer, she has contributed to many publications over the years. Currently, she writes two weekly columns, Connecting the Cumberlands and Books and Writers, for the Fentress Courier newspaper. Mary's interests, in addition to writing, include the arts, historic preservation, nature conservancy, animal advocacy and grant writing.
Mary Robbins
Fund Raiser Chair
Grant writer
Marvin Taylor Lusk Junior (aka M. T.) was born January 20, 1947, to the late Mollie (Paige) and Marvin Taylor Lusk Sr., Warren County natives. M.T. is the oldest for four children, Yvonne, Joyce, and Beverly.
Marvin attended Tennessee State University in 1965 to 1969, graduating with a B. A. in History and a minor in Political Science. After graduation he joined the Air Force and was released from duty after 16 months due to family hardship. In the fall of 1974, he attended Tennessee State University again. In 1977, Marvin received his Master Degree in History and a minor in Administrative and Supervision.
He was appointed by Gov. McWherter to serve on the State Council on Vocational Technical-Education.
In addition to working at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, he manages the family farm raising beef cattle, horses and hogs, hay, soybeans and corn. His hobbies are hunting and fishing.
Marvin’s wife is Henrietta, is the retired Assistant Director of the College of Applied Technology Crump in West Tennessee. Marvin has a daughter, Paige and a son Taylor (Twins), and a granddaughter Kaleesi.
Marvin T. Lusk
Director of Development & Nominating
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Rachel Killebrew
Grant Writer
Rachel was born and raised in McMinnville and earned a B.S. in Mathematics and German from Tennessee Tech and an M.B.A. from Rockhurst University in Finance and Management. She worked her entire career in Aerospace and Aviation Computer Software Design and Development working at Kennedy Space Center for IBM on the Saturn/Apollo and Moon Checkout and Launch. Later, she worked for Transworld Airlines as Director of Software Development for Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Division. Then she retired from AEDC (Arnold Engineering Development Center) as a Computer Scientist and Manager of Strategic Planning for Computer and Communications.
Post retirement, Rachel has devoted her life in service to her community. Rachel was one of the founding members of Main Street McMinnville and still serves on the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Design Committee. Rachel also serves on the Historic Zoning Commission and serves on the Board of Trustees of Magness Library and is Building Chairman. She is also a member of Friends of South Cumberland, and is proud to be a “Tree Hugger,” active environmentalist, animal lover and protector.
She has a son and two grandchildren. and is a member of Friends of South Cumberland. She loves spending time with family and friends and her 8 cats and volunteering to serve humanity.
Erin Wolford
Public Relations Chair
Erin Wolford is the daughter of Wayne and Mary Wolford. She currently lives in Memphis, Tn. Her father is a well-known community advocate, and Curator of the BHMWC. Her mother is a successful Entrepreneur with her own massage practice. She also previously worked with the WC Drug Court helping to change lives.
Erin holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Memphis. While earning her degree, she utilized her marketing skills and was able to improve key metrics for a couple local businesses. She found a passion for other cultures and how other cultures do business. This led her to take up Japanese as a second language.
Post University, Erin worked in the financial sector and then at a multinational commodities trading company. She was a Logistics Coordinator at Pure Dairy INC, U.S. division. After that she has been honing her skills in supply chain and is presently a Supply Chain Costing Analyst for Louis Dreyfus Commodities. They are a globally recognized company which she helps to optimize costs to various customers all over the world. Specifically in their Cotton Platform.
When not working, you can easily find her with her furry companion, Grizzly Bear. She is also quite the foodie and loves to try all the local eateries Memphis has to offer. Don’t get her started on who has the best BBQ!
Mary Mason
Project Coordinator
I was born in Chattanooga, TN, to James and Louise Mason. I am their only child. Before my senior year in high school, my parents decided to move back to their original hometown, McMinnville. TN. I enjoyed my senior year at McMinnville City High School, and made many long-time friends. I then went to college; however, I quit after three years for financial reasons and the desire to work instead. Fifteen years later, I went to night school at the University of Texas, Dallas and earned a BS Degree in Business and public Administration. My first jobs for a few years were in Atlanta, GA, doing office work. Then I went to work for NCR Corp. I was part of a team programming applications for accounting machines and installing them at customer sites. After 13 years, I went to work for IBM Corp, as they were looking for people experienced with accounting applications on smaller computers. I worked at IBM for 23 years doing programming/planning projects. When my parents needed care, IBM let me transfer back to McMinnville and work for three years before retiring. I never married and don't have children. I worked and transferred to various cities, including Charlotte NC, Dallas TX, Santa Clara, CA, San Jose CA, Tampa FL and back to Atlanta GA three times. I went to William Holland School of Lapidary Arts for classes once a year, over the course of 15 years. I made and sold wire wrapped jewelry. After retiring in McMinnville, I volunteered for a time at Riverpark Hospital, Magness Library, The Hope Center of Warren County, and the First Presbyterian Church office. I was previously on the Board of the Heritage Alliance Museum. Currently, I am a member of Breakfast Rotary, Main Street McMinnville, The Power of 100 Warren County, and volunteer as Clerk-of-Session for First Presbyterian Church. I am proud to be involved with the Black History Museum of Warren County as a Board Member.
Michael Harris
Advisor
Rev Michael Harris is the Pastor at North Hills Church of God of Prophecy. He and his wife, Munice Harris, spend countless hours helping their community of McMinnville, TN.