Board of Directors

Jane Barry, President

Jane Barry was born and raised in the Sunset District of San Francisco and spent all her summers in Cazadero then moved to the Russian River Area in 1989. Jane’s passion for family and local histories led her to join the Monte Rio Area Historical Society, and later, to become President in 2003. She has been actively involved in the community of the lower Russian River for over 20 years collecting and restoring historical photographs.

Chris Pattillo, Vice-President

Chris Pattillo is a 4^th generation native Californian who grew up in the Bay Area. She purchased a home in Guerneville in 2021 and immediately joined our Russian River Historical Society. A few months later she volunteered to write for Yesterday & Yesteryear and after completing her first article she offered to be editor of the newsletter. She is a retired landscape architect. Much of her professional work involved historic landscapes – both design and documenting them for the Historic American Landscape Survey. She is also chair of the Library Committee of the California Genealogical Society. Now Chris is using the research skills she learned from doing genealogical research to do research on articles for our newsletter.

Brendan Coen, Treasurer

Brendan Coen was born in San Francisco in 1976.  He moved to Guerneville at the age of 5 and attended school at Guerneville Elementary School and graduated from El Molino High School in 1994.  He went on to SRJC and Sonoma State earning a BS in Computer Science.  Since 2004 he has been working as a local Realtor, real estate broker, and Notary Public.  He enjoys hiking, running, and volunteering for local non-profits including Russian River Rotary, River to Coast Children’s Services and now the Russian River Historical Society.

Paul Barry, Cemetery Clean-up Chair

Paul Barry has been a member of the Monte Rio Area Historical Society since 1985, member of the Russian River Historical Society since 2002, Past President of the San Francisco Fire Department Historical Society, founding member and director of Guardians of the City Historical Society. Member of the Society of Automotive Historians, North Western Pacific Railroad Historical Society, Chairman of the Guerneville Pioneer Cemetery clean-up and published author of multiple car historical publications.

Matthew Galvin

Matthew Galvin was born and raised in California, and has been visiting the amazing Russian River area since the 1970s. He’s a volunteer for a variety of arts and cultural organizations in the Russian River area and throughout Northern California, and is passionate about preserving our natural and cultural environment for the enjoyment of future generations. He lives in Rio Nido and also in Berkeley, and joined the RRHS board in 2026.

Historical Society Volunteers

Meredith Morris, Social Media

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I raised two children there and built a successful career in the wholesale gift industry. My daughter moved to San Francisco to go to college, then she married and had a baby. Not wanting to be an absentee grandma, I took a deep breath and moved to Northern CA where I landed a job in Santa Rosa. I bought a house in Guerneville in 2002 and have loved living here since. I appreciate the sense of community I found here and grew to appreciate the small town life I could never have envisioned for myself. I am fascinated by history and look forward to being a member of the Russian River Historical Society; to learn more about and to more actively participate in this wonderful community.

Colin Mutchler, Artist in Residence

Colin Mutchler has been part of the Russian River community since 2014, and fell in love with the history after moving full time to Villa Grande with his family in 2020. As the first Artist in Residence, he produced and hosted The River Remembers, a sold-out event series that brings local history to life through archival media, live music, and stories from longtime residents. A musician, producer, and civic entrepreneur, Colin has spent his career building platforms that amplify underrepresented voices, most recently as a product leader at Change.org. He is passionate about using his technology experience to help the Historical Society experiment with new forms of engagement and reach new audiences for generations to come.

Patty Thayer

Patty Thayer lives in Villa Grande and is involved with multiple community groups. She chairs the Archive Committee for the Russian River Historical Society, overseeing the work that is done there by a group of committed volunteers. Typically, she is assisted by her dog Charlotte, who comes along on Tuesday workdays.

Archive Volunteers

The current team of volunteers at the archive includes Patty Thayer, Chair, Fran Levy, Roberto Esteves, Chris Pattillo, and Jane Barry. The group meets at the archive on Moscow Road every Tuesday morning. They work on processing the material that members and other organizations donate to the archive. Items are put in archival sleeves or boxes, and are entered in Past Perfect – a program used by other archives and libraries. Soon, this material will be accessible online to society members and other researchers.