Board of Directors

Jim Promo – President

Jim has managed Four-Diamond, Four Star hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., always located in places of great natural beauty. Whether living in the Virgin Islands, Vermont, Hilton Head Island, Jackson Hole, Vail, or Lake Tahoe, Jim has enjoyed camping and particularly kayaking on the beautiful lakes that are part of the pristine wilderness areas of the country. Jim is a graduate of NMC and MSU. He has served on the Board of the Woodstock, VT Chamber of Commerce, and later, the Wyoming State Travel and Tourism Board of Directors. Jim and his wife Anne moved back to his home state of Michigan in 2017. Since then, Jim has become a member of the OVPA Board and now serves as Co-Grounds Chairperson of the Omena Traverse Yacht Club.

Rob Tubbs – Vice President

A resident of Traverse City since 1984, Rob moved to Omena in 2020. Rob received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1980 and his law degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1983. Rob retired from the full time practice of law in 2022, having specialized in family law, and medical malpractice and motor vehicle liability defense work.

Rob previously served on the Board of Directors of Child & Family Services of Northwest Michigan for nine years, board president for two, and on the East Bay Township Planning Commission for 15 years, chairperson for ten. He currently serves on the Child & Family Services Foundation Board.

Ann Mason – Secretary

A native Michigander, Ann ventured to New York City and Los Angeles to work in international banking before returning to the Midwest in 1994.  During 20 years in the Chicago suburbs, Ann raised two children, continued her banking work, and volunteered in support of her children’s school fund raising efforts, sporting, and band activities.  On one of her trips “north” from Chicago, Ann met Bill Mason – of Saginaw and Omena – and in time moved back to Michigan.

Ann and Bill relocated to the beautiful village of Omena in June of 2023.  Over the years, Ann has come to cherish the area as much as her spouse does, and she is looking forward to getting more connected within the community and spending time on the water and in the woods.

Ann hopes to apply the skills she acquired over the course of 40 years in banking and business to help keep the OVPA running well.

Bob Jacobson – Treasurer

Bob has been a life-time seasonal resident of Leelanau Township. In 1969 his family bought a cherry farm and summer home in Northport. In the early 70s, they planted grapes for wine and by 1978, they were producing wine as Leelanau Wine Cellars, Ltd. Bob has been president of the winery for over ten years and employed full-time since graduating from the University of Michigan in 1993. Leelanau Wine Cellars is the largest winery in Michigan, producing and selling almost 200,000 cases of wine annually. When not at LWC, Bob develops, builds, and operates affordable rental housing around the State of Michigan. His company has over 1,500 apartments that rent to individuals earning below 60% of the area’s median income. In addition, he serves as the Treasurer of the Michigan Wine Producers Association and is a Director of the Shelter America Association, a Seattle-based affordable-housing nonprofit focused on building and preserving affordable housing with ownership of over 2,000 rental units.

Mike Biskupski – Member

Mike and Marcia have been seasonal residents of Omena since 1978. Their daughter, Allison, has been coming to Omena since she was born. They named their cottage “Tree House.”

Michael has been a Psychotherapist and Therapeutic Educator both in private practice and public and private schools his entire career. Currently he is CEO of private therapeutic day schools in the Chicago area. As one of the founders of OVPA, he has served actively on the Board for numerous terms. When not sitting on the Board he acts as an advisor in his capacity of ex-officio for life. Mike has a passion to preserve and protect the cherished Village of Omena.

Kathy Bosco has been coming to Omena annually since she was 9 years old. After raising four children in Phoenix, Kathy worked as a school teacher for 21 years including serving as Director of Sex Health Education for the Madison school district, earning runner up for Teacher of the Year for the state of Arizona. She represented sexual education for the health and safety commission for the state.

During this time she also served as Commodore of the Omena Traverse Yacht Club for two separate terms. Her passion for HIV/AIDS education, led her to four medical missions to Kenya and Honduras. She has served as the Director of the Grandparents Group for the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center advancing support for families with autism and helping to raise millions of dollars in funding for the organization.

As one of the founding members of the OVPA organization, Kathy also served as President and played an integral role in many of the improvement and refurbishment of OVPA properties. With her husband Mike, Kathy has traveled seven continents and always returns to Omena invigorated to preserve the history and legacy of the village for her five grandchildren and the cherished community.

Laurie Remter – Member

Laurie is a member of the Clark family, one of the original families to settle on Ingall’s Bay as summer residents in the early 20th Century.  She and her sister own the Pioneer on Ingall’s Bay and, like their mother, have been summering up here their whole lives.  She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and its law school, and spent most of her career as a litigation attorney in the Social Security Administration’s regional office in Atlanta, Georgia.  As such, she defended disability claims when they were appealed by claimants to the federal district courts and the US Courts of Appeal.  She also handled employment law cases. 

Laurie has served on the Omena Historical Society’s board, and served as a docent at the historical museums in both Omena and Northport.

Joe Varley – Member – Grounds Committee, Chair

Joe Varley is fully retired from a lifetime of service to our country, the international community and finally, to Leelanau County. He has a BA in Psychology/English Literature and an MS in Management and Organizational Development, which helped him throughout his wide-ranging career.

He was a Peace Corps volunteer working in agriculture when a major earthquake devastated the country in which he was serving. He was assigned to work with the US Embassy, USAID and the US military in disaster relief and reconstruction. Later, he became a Project Director for CARE, building rural water systems. He entered the Foreign Service in 1980 and retired from active duty in 1996. As a Foreign Service Officer and later as a consultant, Joe managed USAID overseas operations in over 20 countries worldwide. He is fluent in Spanish and French, in addition, of course, to English.

He first came to Leelanau County in 1978 and has had a residence here since then. He returned to Leelanau County to initiate and direct the Shady Trails Camp program in 1997 (8?). He managed Shady Trails for four years before beginning overseas consulting work.

As a Special Services coordinator at the Leelanau County Department of Social Services, Joe directed Migrant Services, operated resale stores, managed contracts and coordinated Native American and Senior programs.

Joe also served on the Leelanau Township Board and Planning Commission. With his unique background and career, Joe would like to assist with the management of OVPA’s properties. He would also be well-equipped to help with new projects for OVPA.

Meg Wilkes – Member

Meg Wilkes was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but has been a full-time resident of greater Omena for the past 25 years.  Meg attended both the University of Cincinnati and Northwestern Michigan College.  She previously served five years on the Board of Directors of the Omena Historical Society.  Meg enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and fur babies; and also enjoys gardening, traveling, cooking and just being in Omena.  Meg, and her husband, Matt, have two children, Peyton, 19, and Ella, 17.  Meg is also a realtor with Keller Williams Northern Michigan.