Meet Your 2026 Board of Directors

I’m Jay Close, I moved to Meadowood in 2021 with my kids. I have worked in financial services and investing for 20 years now. I like to boat, fish, hike, and take my dog for walks and to the dog park.  We spend much of the year outside.  We have enjoyed walking Meadowood, meeting people and dogs. We are big fans of our parks, and found the winter sledding and skating park.  I look forward to being part of the Meadowood Neighborhood Board of Directors, and I am grateful to be able to give back.

Have you seen a mysterious figure picking up other people's garbage in the Huegel Prairie Restoration and/or muttering about the Canadian Football League? Congratulations, you may have just spotted a Jack Nee in the wild.

Hello Meadowood Neighbors! We are Ron Monson and Kara Pezzi, and we moved back to Wisconsin with our kitty, Ko, in December 2021 after retiring from a long, and mostly wonderful, teaching career. We met in Madison, and we lived in the area until 1993. After getting married, we spent the next 20 years in Waushara County where we still own some land. Since 2014, we have lived in Washington, DC, Vermont, and California as I (Kara) explored different teaching opportunities. I currently work as a scientist at Thermo Fisher in Middleton in the Clinical Research Group and Ron is a special

education paraprofessional at Granite Ridge Elementary School in Cottage Grove. Photography, reading,geocaching, and native gardening are some of my favorite things to do. I am looking forward to

representing our neighbors in Area 10 and strengthening the feeling of community among the residents.Please join us in making Meadowood the best place to live in Madison!

I’m Terry Evanson. My husband, Marty, and I moved into our home in May 1980, 4 months after we were married. We raised our daughter in Meadowood. We both worked for the State of Wisconsin, I with the DNR and Marty in the Division of Housing and are now retired. I tell people we never expected that our starter home would become our retirement home! We enjoy the proximity to hiking and biking trails, cross-country skiing at Elver Park, snowshoeing through the greenway, the nearby shopping and restaurant options, while also being able to easily bike downtown. Most of all we enjoy our neighbors and the sense of community we share.

Hi, I’m Lisa Veldran. I retired in 2021 from staffing the Madison City Council for 37 years. I’ve been on the MNA Board since 2007. I served as Secretary from 2007-2008 and President from 2008-2013.

I'm Miguel Benson, and along with my wife, Sammy Benson, we represent Area 2. I've lived in the Meadowood Neighborhood since 2009, and Sammy joined me in 2017. Sammy manages a community services program for a small non-profit, and I work in the research park off of Whitney Way developing cell based therapeutics. I have a 10 year old daughter, Ezzie, and Sammy and I also have a 10 month old daughter, Laura. We own 3 cats: Buster, Adeline, and Moonchild; 4 fish and a snail. We love being active, running, biking, hiking, and doing yoga. Our favorite things about living in Meadowood are the wonderful neighbors we've met and the beautiful wildlife that all the large trees and parks help support.

I recently joined the Board as an “at large” member.  My husband and I have lived in Meadowood since 1999 and raised our daughter here.  I retired from teaching at Madison Community Montessori school in 2021 and now have more time to serve the neighborhood.  I belong to the Baha’i Faith community in the Madison area and through that have become passionate about community building and strengthening neighborhoods.  It wasn’t until we hosted a “donuts in the driveway” activity for our street that we got to meet some of our long-time neighbors.
I am a 3rd-generation Madisonian and appreciate the uniqueness of our city’s geography and easy access to parks.  My husband and I enjoy exploring the many natural areas nearby.  I have lived in various other places, including Alaska and Taiwan, but was drawn to return “home.”  As a Meadowood resident, I appreciate the work that the board has been doing over the years.  I hope to get acquainted with more neighbors and contribute to the betterment of our community by participating on the board.

We are Mark & Janice Bauman and we moved to the Meadowood Neighborhood in 1992 from Indonesia.  At that time, we had 3 children under the age of 10 who grew up in here, but have long since flown the ‘coop’, and now live in NYC, Madison’s east side and Duluth, MN.  During most of our time in Madison, Mark worked in the non-profit sector, primarily at the Community Action Coalition (CAC) and WISCAP, a sister agency of CAC.  Janice worked for 22 years as an RN / Clinical Care Coordinator at Badger Prairie Health Care Center, after graduating from the UW’s nursing school in 1995.  We are now both retired and love having the extra time to work at volunteer opportunities which provide a sense of purpose – including involvement in our church, the Meadowood Neighborhood Association(!), the local chapter of WisDems (Mark) and volunteer work at the Beacon, a day shelter near the capitol (Janice). We also enjoy having the time to pursue other interests, such as travel, hiking, biking, canoeing, gardening, foraging for fruits and mushrooms, shopping at Dig & Save for Janice’s ebay business, learning Spanish (Janice) and brewing wine and beer (Mark).  We are currently hosting 2 international students who attend WESLI, the Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute.  Please let us know if you also have an interest in being a host family!  Our favorite thing about Meadowood is the diverse mix of people and the community spirit.

I am Lisa Schulz.  My husband, Al, and I have lived in the Meadowood Neighborhood since 1973.  Our three children grew up in the Neighborhood, when I was a stay-at-home mom.  We learned to know all the children and most of their parents for at least a block radius of our house.  During the later years I worked in the health care field.  We have five grandchildren ranging in age from lower elementary age to out of college and working as a Journalist.  We have always enjoyed many outdoor activities like gardening and walking outside.  We are retired, though we do continue to sell collectible clothing buttons online and at Button Shows.  We have been involved in many church and community activities.  I have served on the Meadowood Neighborhood Association Board for more than 20 years as an Area Representative and now as the Treasurer.  I don’t remember exactly when I joined the board.  Living in the Neighborhood and being on the board I have learned to know so many people in the Neighborhood and in the City of Madison.  We love our Neighborhood!!

I have lived in the Meadowood Neighborhood with my wife and two dogs since 2020. I am a designer at Wollersheim Winery. We have two sweet, dogs that we've adopted, Lulu and Sash. My wife has lived here since 2006! We absolutely love living here.

Hi Meadowoodians- I'm Tony Smick. I've lived in Madison since 1993. I came from Milwaukee by way of the Twin Cities and Kansas City. Marlys & I have lived at 5717 Bartlett Lane since 1995 always with a German Shepherd Dog. (Pax, Tatzen and currently Béla). The gist of my work life is building-construction engineering. I love Meadowood because it's so easy to live here, and in Madison generally. Meadowood is great. It’s an affordable “in-burban” region of a great little city. It has offered us both great access to denser urban entertainment along the isthmus, and for me to the rolling hills if western Dane County countryside for bike rides. Our decent-sized Meadowood backyard has been great for those German Shepherds, and beyond the backyard, our dog walks continually exhibit the spacious and diverse community that is Meadowood.

I’m Lisa Kass and I have lived in the Meadowood Neighborhood since 1984. My husband, Irwin and I have raised two kids here through the Madison Public Schools.

They have followed in their parents’ footsteps by becoming a lawyer and a teacher. They are also parents raising our 4 grandchildren - 3 boys and 1 girl. I retired from teaching 5 years ago and my husband retired 3 years ago. Once I retired I decided to volunteer my time to help out in the community. It has been very rewarding to get to know my neighbors and have an understanding of what our community needs. 

I’m Ruth Kleban and have lived in Meadowood since 1976. I enjoy the quiet neighborhood and great neighbors. I am retired and spend my time volunteering at the Dane County Humane Society where I adopted my dog Zelda. We walk the neighborhood, go to nearby dog parks and hike together. Zelda is a  great traveler and friendly with all she meets.

We are the Area 1 representatives who are new to the Board since November of 2024. We have lived in the neighborhood since April of 2001 where we raised our 4 daughters. Julie was born in Madison and grew up in the Meadowood neighborhood on Mayhill Drive, graduating from Memorial HS. Our daughters all graduated from Memorial as well. Julie works for the Dane County Department of Human Services in Child Protective Services. Dennis works for UW-Health as an Applications Analyst. We enjoy traveling, hiking, biking, some aspects of yard work and visiting our first and (currently) only grandchild in Milwaukee. We are members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and enjoy volunteer activities we’ve discovered through the church. We have also volunteered at the Good Neighbors Personal Essentials Pantry in Fitchburg since 2012. Meadowood has been a big part of our lives, and we are committed to ensuring that our neighbors can find healthy ways to connect and thrive.