Meet some of the Makers who will be at Dover Mini Maker Faire on August 24, 2013! New Makers are being approved and added weekly.
Roe Cole III
Roe Cole III is an adventurer whose enthusiasm and confidence are contagious. Born in Ogden, Utah, raised in Pennsylvania and settled in Kittery, Maine, Roe has been tinkering with tools and machines since he was little. At the ripe young age of four, he discovered a few of his dad’s tools and disassembled his mom’s bicycle. Since then, he’s been tearing apart anything he could get his hands on to see and understand how it works. Small-scale projects eventually led to the GTR Kit Car he will be showing off at the Dover Mini Maker Faire. Roe attended Penn State University, where he studied Automated Engineering. He also worked as a mechanic in the military and served during Desert Shield in ’91. Roe’s impressive Kit Car makes a perfect showcase at the Maker Faire, as it incorporates many custom upgrades that were designed and fabricated in-house rather than factory made. Roe hopes that the Dover Maker Faire shows kids and attendees that anything is possible with a little confidence and persistence. He often gets frustrated when developing a new idea, and has discovered that the Internet and youtube are a great reference to explore your ideas. Never be afraid to jump in and give it a go! Read more about Roe on his website!
Marissa Vitolo
Marissa Vitolo hails from Katy, Texas and attended Texas State University. 
Marissa taught studio art to children for ten years in Texas before moving to Exeter, NH. Marissa’s medium of choice is clay; she loves the feel and malleability of the medium when she works with it. Glass comes in as a close second; she favors glass for its bright colors and smooth texture. Both of these artistic mediums can be altered, reformed, layered, pushed and pulled allowing for an array of artistic expression. Marissa first became inspired to participate in Maker Faire through a friend from Austin, Texas who had previously participated in several Maker Faires. When she saw the post for a Maker Faire coming to New Hampshire, she knew she had to become involved. Marissa is hoping that the Maker Faire will inspire people to understand that no matter what you think you can or cannot do, each person can find some creative outlet… and that it is important to try new things! To check out Marissa’s work, click here.
Rick Cecchetti
Richard Cecchetti is a Portsmouth native. He enrolled in the Navy Submarine Service and graduated from Franklin Pierce University. His interest in the STEM subjects began early, and at Franklin Pierce, he studied Computer Information Systems. Recognizing the potential of our community event, Richard became a part of our Dover Maker Faire early and is an advisor on our steering committee. Richard’s favorite part of being in Portsmouth in the summer is the wonderful weather and being outside to enjoy it. He’s hoping that the kids and attendees at Maker Faire can discover how cool STEM careers are.
Emily Drouin
Emily Drouin is an artist from Manchester, New Hampshire. She studied at the Currier Gallery of Art School and graduated from Keene State College with a degree in Graphic Design. Emily has been drawing and painting her whole life — she’s always enjoyed drawing cartoon illustrations and reading fantasy, sci-fi, and adventure books. Emily used to write and illustrate books as a kid, and it has always been a dream of hers to be a children’s book author and illustrator. Emily has recently published her first comic book, Eplis-Segment 01, in collaboration with her husband, Jeremy Drouin. Eplis-Segment 01 is the first book in a series and is available in print in comic book stores and available for digital download online at her website. In the summer, Emily loves visiting the seacoast and the adventurous sport of whitewater rafting. At Dover Mini Maker Faire, Emily is planning on having art supplies and cards available for people to draw and create robots and other fun creatures. She will also have her comic book available for sale at her booth along with coloring and activity books.
Susan Adams
Susan Adams is a local from Kittery, Maine. She made the trip all the way down the coast to study at East Carolina University, where she graduated with a degree in Education and Broadcast Communications. After working as an educational specialist at Northern Carolina University, she moved back to New England to work for New Hampshire Public Television. Susan first heard about Dover Maker Faire from our very own Children’s Museum and thought it would be fun! NHPTV will be highlighting an engineering site for kids from PBS, Design Squad Nation, and will have kids build a tabletop marshmallow catapult at their booth!
Tim Taber
Tim Taber is a NH native, a 2007 graduate of Goffstown High School, and 2011 graduate of Vassar College. His degrees are in astronomy and physics but he has found himself in informal education as Education Coordinator of Exhibits at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord. As a reader of Lifehacker, the Make Magazine blog, and many exhibit design websites, he has been familiar with Make Magazine and Maker Faire for many years but has never attended a Maker Faire. In his free time Tim enjoys digital photography, snowmobiling, hiking, fishing, and golf. The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is excited to participate in the first Maker Faire in NH and we hope the maker movement can continue to spread throughout the state to help inspire future generations of scientists and engineers.
Nathan Walker
Nathan Walker was born and raised in the wilds of New Hampshire. He grew up with a strong spark of imagination, a fiery bundle of creativity, and a warm winter jacket. Bound by a never ending curiosity, Nathan found his way across the street, across the country, and eventually across the world. He studied sculpture at the University of New Hampshire, pursued animation with the Associates of Art, in California, discovered environmental art in Queensland, Australia, and finished his degree in illustration at Montserrat College of Art, in Massachusetts. Nathan is now a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, public artist/metal sculptor, animator and visiting artist. He is a frequent contributor to Highlights for Children and other children’s magazines. Nathan has illustrated several educational and children’s books, including his most recent story, Monster Soup. As the current artist-in-residence at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, Nathan has lots of giants metal beasts in their basement…some more finished then others. His metal sculptures can be found throughout New England, in backyards, public spaces, private galleries and in schools. And he is always on the hunt for new pieces of old scrap metal with which to design his latest creations.
Lindsey Wright
Lindsey Wright is an Americorps*VISTA member engaged in full-time volunteer service with a non-profit called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology). In her service, she has focused on building community around robotics as a way of solving problems. Early on in her service, Lindsey noticed that local robotic teams tended to be isolated from other teams. In September 2012, Lindsey started holding informal “meet-ups” at Port City Makerspace and helped organize Seacoast Robotics to connect people interested in robotics. Through these initiatives, Lindsey was able to connect with one of the most rewarding experiences of her Americorps service—mentoring the FIRST Robotics team “Shockwave” at Dover High School.
Tom Williams
Tom Williams hails from Barre, Massachusetts and has been residing in Kittery for the past four years. After attending school in Barre, Tom joined the United States Marine Corps. He went on to co-found GraniteSec, an information security “meet-up” and the Southern Maine chapter of Open Organization of Lockpickers (TOOOL PWM). Tom became interested in lock picking in association with his day job; information security and physical security tend to go hand in hand. Tom appreciates the complexities of lock picking and is intrigued by the puzzle of opening a lock. Tom first became interested in Maker Faire through Port City Makerspace and is excited to be joining us at our first annual Maker Faire.
Susan Schwake
Susan Schwake is a gifted artist, author, arts instructor, gallery owner, and curator living and working in NH. Her passion for art, creativity and teaching has her juggling a multitude of projects including writing children’s books, creating a range of artworks, and teaching art camps and retreats. Her first book, Art Lab for Kids, was released in February 2012 and Susan is looking forward to the release of two more books in 2013. She co-owns her Dover gallery, artstream, LLC with Rainer Schwake. This business offers graphic, media, photographic, and web design, hosts art classes dabbling in many mediums, features a continually changing gallery that Susan herself curates 6-8 times a year, and it also happens to be celebrating ten years of success this year. To read more about Susan, check out her blog or website.
John Herman
John Herman radiates creativity and passion. How else could he teach high school kids, write award- winning plays, direct award-winning films, shoot his own web series and also be one of the top finalists for the 2012 Space Race? John Herman is passionate about art, media, and storytelling. His presence in the world of media has helped him facilitate an innovative community through creative collaboration. His most recent music venture, Giants in the Wood, combines traditional instruments with electronic, touchscreen devices, primarily cell phones and tablets to generate complex, abstract electronic music. To learn more about John, visit his website.
Ann Thompson
Anne Thompson is a studio metalsmith from Biddeford, Maine. She is interested in creating curriculum development for children and youth that relates to hands-on workshops with both traditional and new materials. Since metalsmithing is not a common class in our primary education systems, Ann partnered with the Community Bicycle Center in her hometown to create a pilot after-school program where children could explore self expression while becoming familiar with hand tools, cold connection techniques and the properties of metal. Her program grew and expanded to include workshops in surrounding communities and artist in residence programs. Ann has a special interest in art and science collaborations and creating eco art experiences through community art projects, which makes her a perfect participant in our Maker Faire. Her specialties include Bike Part Art, pewtersmithing and pewter casting. She also participates in a range of artistic and educational organizations including: Maine Crafts Association, Art Ed Connections, and Maine Alliance for Art Education Coalition for Creative Culture.
New Heights Adventures for Teens
Since 1987, New Heights has been offering experiential learning and adventure programming for greater Seacoast Youth after school and during the summer. A highly qualified and experienced staff works to help youth explore, discover new interests, and build the skills they need to become adults. The mission of New Heights is to assist Seacoast youth to develop the competence, character, confidence, and resiliency necessary for a healthy and successful adulthood. They accomplish this by providing hundreds of youth each year with adventure programs, culture programs, STEM programs, and sports programs. Some of the adventures include: rock-climbing, hiking, surfing, canoeing, camping, Stilting and Circus Arts, Visual Arts with Recycled Materials, robotics, geocaching, board game design, digital film making, tennis, skiing, and snow boarding. Becca Pawling, the Arts & Culture Coordinator, has worked to get the New Heights Stilt Troupe, a highly anticipated performance spot at our Maker Faire. To learn more about New Heights, click here!
Kevin Craine
Kevin grew up in Ohio, where he attended Bowling Green State University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Computer Art. Since moving to Nottingham, Kevin has pursued his interest in board games and game design by organizing a Seacoast Game Designers “meet-up” group. While still relatively new to the design process, Kevin loves the idea of creating his own games and expanding his game knowledge and interest with other board gaming enthusiasts. He became involved in Maker Faire through his friend, Wayne Moulton’s involvement and excitement with getting their gaming group involved in the creativity focused event. Kevin hopes Maker Faire will help people realize that anyone can make their own game as long as they enjoy the process and develop their ideas.
