Board of Directors

Your 2023 Holly Board of Directors

Martin Wallis-Board Chairman
Martin Sherman Wallis is an experienced general contractor with over 35 years in the construction industry. Since 2010 he has been the owner of Wallis & Sons Consulting, Inc., a firm specializing in Parks, Recreation Facilities and Municipal site work. Over his career Marty has established many, close professional and personal relationships with other business owners in the industry. These relationships have allowed Marty to be a “one stop shop” for many clients seeking a contractor to take control of a project and see it through from planning to completion.

Marty has lived in Georgia his entire life. He spent most of his college years at Agnes Scott Theater building sets, acting and hanging out with professors soaking up all they had to offer with respect to the art of Theater. He later spent time at the Academy Theater in Atlanta as an apprentice. An apprenticeship at the Academy meant you were involved in all aspects of the art, so he acted, built sets, stage managed and cleaned the auditorium.

In 2010 Marty joined a group in Johns Creek known as Performing Arts North. Marty designed and built the Dancing Goat Theatre and was the Operations Manager, Technical Director, and everything else that went into running a small, community theater.

Marty has a diploma from Southwest Dekalb High School, some very enlightening college experience, and a Degree from the Weist-Baron School of Television Acting. As a requirement for maintaining a Georgia Professional Contractor’s license, Marty takes numerous classes in the construction and contracting field. Marty volunteers as Holly's project manager and contractor liaison for the 2020-2021 major stage renovation.

David Robertson—Vice Chairman
David Robertson is the current owner and Financial Consultant of the retail Charles Schwab office in Dawsonville. David has been in the retail investment/brokerage business since 1989 and a manger or owner in the industry since 1993 as well as being part of or running focus groups for previous companies.

David was raised in Michigan and has two degrees from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio. David has been part of, and on the board of the Dahlonega Sunrise Rotary, enrolled in the Leadership Lumpkin class, member of the Dahlonega and Dawsonville Chambers of Commerce, and a volunteer with the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville.
David and his wife Nancy have lived in Dahlonega since 2015 and he enjoys golfing, “trying” to play the guitar, and collecting sports memorabilia.

Judi Cooley-Treasurer
Judi Cooley relocated to Dahlonega in 2018 from Islamorada, Florida, where she practiced as a certified public accountant for thirty-eight years. She provided financial accounting and tax services for businesses and individuals, as well as for various non-profit organizations. Always an active member of her community, she served on the board of directors of VNA & Hospice of the Florida Keys, the Upper Keys Trauma District, and the Upper Keys Rotary Club, among others. Upon moving to Georgia, she joined the Rotary Club of Dahlonega Sunrise and currently serves as treasurer of its Foundation.

Judi loves everything about her new hometown and the friendly people she has met here. She was delighted to discover The Holly Theatre with its variety of professional productions and hopes to enjoy them for many years to come.

Sawyer Henderson—Secretary
Sawyer Henderson has been involved with the Holly Theatre for almost 10
years in various capacities. His most recent production roles were as Director for The Sound of
Music and as the Assistant Director for Bright Star. Sawyer also enjoys acting on-stage at The
Holly; a few of his favorite roles include Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, The Knight of Ni
in Spamalot, and Caleb in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He also enjoys certain technical
aspects of theater, having served as light and sound board operator for several productions.
By day, Sawyer is currently an English teacher and English Department Chair at Woodstock
High School and is the former Assistant Director of the drama program, a position he worked in
for three years. He has also been a trained adjudicator for the Georgia One-Act Play Competition for high schools.

Sawyer holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, a Bachelor of Arts in English
w/Teaching Certifications, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He has spoken at and
presented at several conferences, including the conference for the National Council of Teachers
of English (NCTE) and the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA). Sawyer has
experience working with and leading diverse groups of people, developing standard operating
procedures, leading research projects, managing budgets, and streamlining practices to make
them more efficient.

If given an opportunity to serve on the Holly Board, Sawyer hopes to serve as a voice for the
artistic side of the theatre, while also helping to streamline operational practices to support the
training and retention of future production staff, actors, and volunteers. Lastly, Sawyer hopes his experience in education can be used to help further the mission of the Holly by providing more educational components and programming to community members.

Taylor Cassell Jarrard-Artistic Director
Taylor is proud to call the Holly Theatre her home away from home. She attended the Gainesville Theater Alliance at Brenau University after graduating from Lumpkin County High School in 2011, and she has volunteered as an actor, choreographer, director, stage manager, and acting coach here at the Holly since 2013, though she has been performing since being bitten by the theatre bug in high school. Taylor is heavily involved in the Holly's children's theatre program, the Holly Performance Academy. She truly believes that children are the future and that we must continue to nurture and encourage them as they grow. Taylor lives in Gainesville with her husband, Adam, who is also no stranger to the Holly Theatre's stage. Early in 2022 they added their first-born son Graham to the ever growing Holly family. Taylor is proud to serve in many capacities and would like to thank the Dahlonega community for continuing to encourage, support, and enrich the arts in our small town.

Tammy Clower

Tammy and husband John, have owned Giggle Monkey Toys since 2014. She moved to Dahlonega full time in 2012 after retiring as a Kindergarten teacher from Fernbank Elementary School. Tammy earned a BS in Early Childhood Education from North Georgia and an MEd in ECE from Georgia State University. Professionally, she is a member of ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailing Association) where she earned certifications as Play Expert and Master Retailer. She has also been involved with ASTRA committees. Locally, she is a graduate of the Leadership Lumpkin Class of 2016, has served on the LLC board, and was the LLC Chair for the Class of 2019. She is also a member of Dahlonega United Methodist Church where she plays in the handbell choir. Tammy loves reading, walking, playing and spending time with her family and friends!

Giggle Monkey Toys is dedicated to supporting local organizations that focus on children and families; groups include CHP, NOA, Rainbow Children’s Home, ConnectAbility, Family Connection, Old Fashion Christmas, Lumpkin Literacy, and the wonderful Holly Theatre children’s program (Holly Performance Academy season sponsor).

Morgan Copeland
Morgan Copeland has been involved in the arts her whole life, but has been volunteering at the Holly since 2014. In her time volunteering, she has served in many roles including, performer, director, artistic committee member, and marketing committee member. She also served on the Board of Directors for a short period of time in 2017. Her volunteering doesn't end with the Holly. She has performed with and directed for other community theaters, and is always happy to lend her voice to a community choir.

Morgan graduated from Brenau University in 2016 with a BFA in Musical Theater. She has held many different jobs since graduating; she has completed a marketing internship in Atlanta at Actor's Express Theater Company and went on to work there, as well as Synchronicity Theater, as a box office associate. Most recently she worked with a small digital marketing company. She acted as the Head of Content of Development and is proud of the work she did and the digital marketing knowledge she has gained.

Ben English
Ben English is a native of Valdosta, Ga. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Business and spent his long and successful career in Jacksonville in sales and as a Restaurant owner. Ben and his wife Pud have been avid theater goers and supporters of the performing arts while living in Jacksonville. Since moving back to Georgia and retiring in Dahlonega, where Pud's family has roots, they have seldom missed a play or concert unless UGA is playing.

Ben brings extensive sales and management experience to his many community activities including membership chairman of Dahlonega Sunrise Rotary, Lumpkin County Board of Elections, and Community Helping Place. Ben is particularly fond of Holly's concerts and looks forward to assisting and scheduling outstanding bands for our great audiences.

Carla McWhorter
Carla McWhorter is a Georgia native who has been volunteering at the Holly Theater since 2009. While she can primarily be found on the stage, she has also spent a fair share of time directing, assistant directing, set building, and serving on the Holly Theater Artistic Committee.

Carla has a BA in Theatre from Georgia Southern University and has been in the theatre world for almost 30 years. She has volunteered with several other theaters in the area but has always felt that the Holly was her ‘Home Theater’ and is proud to serve on the board.

By day, Carla works as a Senior Technical Account Manager for Yardi Systems. She lives in Gainesville with her husband Jesse, whom she met while they were both performing in a Holly production, and their 2 dogs, Belle and Luna.

Marlin Nelson
Marlin Nelson is a global sales executive, international business-expansion consultant and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of Management, Sales and Marketing experience in the technology field. Before returning to the USA in 1996 Marlin and his family lived in Europe for 15 years. Marlin has made Dahlonega his part-time home in 2002 and a full-time residence since 2019. In 2020, he founded NG-Benefits LLC, helping to provide 65+ Seniors, the Disabled and Veterans life and health care insurance products. Married to Vernice Velez, a public-school teacher of French and Spanish, their combined family has 6 children and 8 grandchildren.

Marlin is an avid lover of the theatre since high school and he has been volunteering at the Holly Theatre, including his recent role of Admiral Schreiber in “The Sound of Music.” He is interested in the technical aspects of theatre and pleased to offer his time and experience to serving on the Board of Directors.

Bud Stumbaugh
An entrepreneur, corporate executive, and a former eight-term state senator, Bud recently moved to Dahlonega with his wife, Tania. He wants to help the Holly Theatre thrive. Bud's interest in working for the Holly is motivated by two primary things:

1) The theatre is a terrific way to enhance the skills, courage, and even the personality of children and adults in our community. Very few things are more noble than helping people step up and step out! As he and Tania saw in the many performances they attended while building their house here, the Holly does that extremely well.

2) The Holly adds fun in the lives of people in its community. There are many opportunities to frown in the sometimes stressful world in which we live. The programs at the Holly decrease frowns by providing smiles. He wants to ensure the Holly continues to do that long into the future.

Bud is responding to the need for directors with fundraising, marketing and management experience. He helps the theater secure a stable future as a dynamic communicator of the Holly’s attributes both one-on-one and as an accomplished public speaker before small and large groups. He also has a lot of experience fundraising for the university on whose board he serves as well as for the Epilepsy Foundation and political campaigns. He will be happy to ask others to give to the Holly just as he will be doing.

Hal Williams-Chairman Emeritus

Hal's family roots run to the original settling families in the 1828 gold rush. Dahlonega has been home to Hal and his wife Carol since the mid 1960’s. As students at NGC they began their married life here and raised their children and grandchildren here. They retired here in 2008, after owning several successful businesses, working for the Chamber of Commerce and the US Army.

As a member of the original Holly Theater Board, Hal has enjoyed over 25 years of experience both on stage and as a board member at the theater. Since 1948 the Holly has been the cultural center for Dahlonega and proudly continues as a leading performing and education center for Georgia. Hal is honored to continue to be associated with this exemplary theater community.

Ivana Pelnar-Zaiko-Chairman Emerita
Ivana joined the Holly Theatre as a volunteer immediately upon establishing her and her husband’s home in Dahlonega in 2010. Her roles on and off stage included 9 years as a board member, the last 5 of which she served as chairman. Ivana and the leadership team oversaw the Holly Theatre’s growth both in the quality of shows and financial security. Her repeated success in securing grants made possible the preservation of the historic building and many physical and technical improvements. Ivana is proud of the Holly Theatre’s board of directors achieving long-term stability during her tenure.

Ivana retired from a career as non-profit executive that included positions as vice president of leading private colleges and senior consultant with an international consulting company. She has been active as a volunteer with several local organizations, graduated from Leadership Lumpkin County 2018, and serves on the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.