ST. JOHNSVILLE — All profile information was provided by the candidates, who are listed as they will appear on the ballot. Ballot order was decided by lottery. Voting will take place on Tuesday, March 19, from 12 Noon to 8 p.m. Voters must have lived in the district for 30 days, be a U.S. citizen and 18 years of age.

In a referendum on Jan. 29, Oppenheim-Ephratah and St. Johnsville voters authorized the establishment of a seven-member board of education with members serving full terms of three years.

In order to stagger the number of seats up for election each year on the new board, the candidates elected with the most votes on March 19 will serve the longest terms, while those elected with the fewest votes will serve shorter terms. Based on the number of votes received, three members will receive three-year terms, two members will receive two-year terms and two members will receive one-year terms. Winners in all subsequent elections will receive full three-year terms.

Darren Bellen has served on the St. Johnsville Board of Education since 2008. A St. Johnsville graduate, he attended Herkimer County Community College and worked for the state Department of Transportation Bridge Maintenance Department for 22 years. He currently owns the St. Johnsville business Bellen’s Archery and Recreation. A past chairman of the St. Johnsville Village Planning Board, Bellen is a Mason, a volunteer for the St. Johnsville American Legion and has coached Little League and Babe Ruth baseball. A resident of the village of St. Johnsville, he has a daughter at the D. H. Robbins Elementary School.

Renee Swartz has served two years on the St. Johnsville Board of Education. She is a registered nurse and director of nursing at the Wells Nursing Home in Johnstown. A St. Johnsville High School graduate, she earned Associate of Applied Science degrees from Herkimer County Community College and Fulton-Montgomery Community College. Swartz served on the Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville Merger Study Committee and has been active with the St. Johnsville Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary. She has two children attending St. Johnsville schools. She lives in the village of St. Johnsville.

Bruce Carpenter is a town of Oppenheim resident, and is currently serving his first year on the Oppenheim-Ephratah Board of Education. He worked for the Oppenheim-Ephratah district for 30 years as a custodian, bus driver and head of the buildings and grounds department. He ran the Dolgeville Bowling Alleys from 1991-93 and currently is a delivery person for Utica and Little Falls newspapers. A graduate of Dolgeville High School, Carpenter is a former Oppenheim Town Council member, a former volunteer firefighter and a former Oppenheim-Ephratah bowling coach.

Cindy Breh is a town of Oppenheim resident, and is currently serving her first year on the Oppenheim-Ephratah Board of Education. A graduate of West Canada Valley Central School, Breh has lived in the Oppenheim-Ephratah district for 43 years. She served three years on the Oppenheim Town Planning Board and has been active with Relay for Life, the PTA, 4-H, the American Heart Association, Parents as Reading Partners and the Girl Scouts. She is self employed.

Ben Conte began serving on the Oppenheim-Ephratah Board of Education this year and is currently serving as board president. A town of Ephratah resident, Conte is an instructor at Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES and Fulton-Montgomery Community College. He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Utica, earned his Associate’s degree at the State University of New York at Cobleskill and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Arizona. Conte has been active with the Future Farmers of America (New York State FFA district trustee), the Ephratah Rod and Gun Club, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Search and Rescue Team and the New York State Hunter Safety Education program. He has two grandchildren attending Oppenheim-Ephratah. His wife, Deborah, is a special education teacher in St. Johnsville.

Susanne Sammons is currently serving her sixth year on the Oppenheim-Ephratah Board of Education. A graduate of St. Johnsville High School, she earned an associate of applied science degree from Fulton-Montgomery Community College. She works at F-MCC as a technical assistant with the Student Development Center and has been the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award of Excellence in Classified Service. She’s been active with various F-MCC committees including the Student Outreach Intervention and Referral Team, the Safety Committee, the Alumni Steering Committee and the Presidential Search Committee. She has also been active with Oppenheim-Ephratah PTA events.

Chad Eggleston is currently serving his first year on the St. Johnsville Board of Education. He is a third-grade teacher in Canajoharie. A graduate of Indian River Central, he earned a Bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and a Master’s degree from SUNY Albany. He served on the Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville Merger Study Committee and is a board member, and former vice president, of the St. Johnsville Little League and a member of the Holy Family Church in Little Falls. He has four children attending St. Johnsville schools. His wife, Karin, is a fourth-grade teacher at the D.H. Robbins Elementary School.

Neil Clark is a hydro-electric maintenance mechanic for Brookfield Renewable Power, which has a plant located on the East Canada Creek, the district’s western border. Prior to joining the power industry, he worked as an estimator/project manager for commercial construction handling many public-funded jobs, including St. Johnsville schools. Most recently he has been volunteering at a local ice rink, which is provided for the public. A Little Falls High School graduate, he earned his Associate’s degree at Herkimer County Community College. A lifelong St. Johnsville resident, he has three children in the district.

Glen Blanchard is currently serving his 12th year on the Oppenheim-Ephratah Board of Education. He is a retired transportation director for the Canajoharie Central School District. He’s currently a school bus driving instructor for the state Education Department and a senior bus driver for the Little Falls City School District handling its transportation requests. A retired Army National Guard first sergeant, Blanchard has volunteered to chaperone post-prom parties and has grandchildren attending Oppenheim-Ephratah. He lives in the town of Ephratah, where he is a member of the Town Planning Board.

Patricia “Tish” Christensen is a four-year veteran of the St. Johnsville Board of Education, including two years as vice president. Christensen is a registered nurse at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica. A graduate of St. Johnsville High School, she earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from St. Elizabeth School of Nursing. She serves on the board of the H.C. Smith Benefit Club and is on the St. Johnsville school district’s Employee Policy Review Committee. A resident of the town of St. Johnsville, she has two children at D.H. Robbins Elementary School.

Keith Handy is a dairy and crop farmer who served on the St. Johnsville Board of Education from 1990- 2005, holding the office of board president and vice president during his tenure. A graduate of St. Johnsville High School, Handy earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from the State University of New York at Cobleskill. A resident of the town of St. Johnsville, he has 11 years of experience as a youth group leader, is an elder in his home church and presently leads church services. He has seven grandchildren living in the St. Johnsville Central School District.

William Lints is an Oppenheim resident who works as an environmental scientist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. A graduate of Proctor High School, he earned an Associate of Science degree from Mohawk Valley Community College, a Bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, a Master’s degree from Oklahoma State University, and is currently pursuing a  Master’s degree in Science Education at Utica College. The town of Oppenheim’s dog control officer since 2010, Lints is a Utica Zoological Society Board of Trustees member and is a former president of the New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame. Lints is a former instructor with the State University of New York, where he gained experience as an Honor Society advisor, bowling and baseball coach, outdoor club advisor and a faculty senator. Lints has two children who will begin kindergarten in 2015.

Lee Quackenbush is a town of Oppenheim resident, who retired after serving 33 years in public education. During his tenure, he served 21 years as a school administrator including 10 years as a school superintendent. He graduated Oppenheim-Ephratah High School and earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from Fulton-Montgomery Community College, a Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from the State University of New York at Cortland and Albany. He has been active with the Rotary Club.

David Christopher Mosher is a civil engineer (P.E.) with the State Department of Transportation. He has served eight years on the St. Johnsville Board of Education, and currently serves as the board’s president. He graduated St. Johnsville High School and earned an Associate’s degree from the State University of New York at Delhi and a Bachelor’s degree from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He has been active in the St. Johnsville American Youth Soccer Organization (regional commissioner), the St. Johnsville Little League and the St. Johnsville Youth Center basketball program. He lives in the Village of St. Johnsville with his wife, who is a teaching assistant in St. Johnsville and their two children who attend St. Johnsville school.