Posted by Bob Wicks on May 09, 2023
Ipswich-Rowley Rotary is happy to announce that Doug Brendel and Stephen Crane have joined the Rotary family. Doug and Stephen bring with them long track records of community engagement and service.
 
Doug Brendel is well known in Ipswich and the North Shore. He truly is a renaissance man – novelist, essayist, actor, speaker and humanitarian. His amusing and highly readable “The Outsidah” column about life in a small New England town is a popular weekly feature in the Ipswich Local News. He is an accomplished actor with numerous theater credits to his name. A former clergyman, Doug and his wife Kristina created a non-profit called NewThing.net in 2002 to provide health and support services in Belarus. They also actively support the Trustees of Reservations. 
 
Stephen Crane came to Ipswich in September when he was hired as our new Town Manager. He brings with him 22 years of municipal job experience, including 14 as a municipal manager. His portfolio includes having served for six years as Town Manager in Longmeadow where he succeeded Robin Crosbie, herself a former Ipswich Town Manager and Rotarian. Stephen tells us that, as a town executive, he really enjoys community involvement and is helped by his sense of humor. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, reading, and the arts. 
 
Ipswich-Rowley Rotary is thrilled to welcome Doug and Stephen to the Rotary family. We know that their energy, skills, creativity, and compassion and will fit very well with our core missions of service and environmental sustainability. 
 
Pictured from left: President Martha Mauser, Stephen Crane, sponsor Nat Pulsifer, Martha and Doug Brendel. Doug was sponsored by Joan Arsenault.