Community leaders come in all forms. There’s the business leader that works to perfect his or her craft or product, there’s the politician that works to represent, there’s the community activist that supports a cause or takes action to solve a problem and many more types. Lake Anna is blessed to have many of the above.
After retiring from Fairfax County Public Schools Jean McCormick moved to the lake in 1993 and has been involved ever since. She has served the Lake Anna community for over two decades as part of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, one of the founders of Lake Anna Rescue Group (LARG) and one of the initiators of the Lake Anna Positional Marker Sign program that codes landmarks so that 911 operators can tell where many calls come from. As past chair of the Lake Anna Advisory Committee’s Navigation & Safety Subcommittee she has tirelessly coordinated the management of Lake Anna’s hazard buoy system, storing the materials on her dock, donating personal funds and spending hundreds of hours tending to the never-ending reports of damaged or missing buoys.
Some years back realtor Matthew Custer joined the LABP where he quickly rose to Director status and was elected Treasurer. He was then tasked with bringing all the financials up to date and into Quickbooks. He did that in less than a year and even financed some the auditing process personally. He was then tasked with overseeing the LABP Young Leader Scholarship Program, which awards three $2,500 scholarships to college or tech school-bound seniors in Louisa, Orange and Spotsylvania Counties. Not only did he assist with the fund-raising but also the reviewing of the applications and even presented one of the scholarships himself.
A retired Army veteran, Harry Looney serves as the Water Quality Project Officer for the Lake Anna Civic Association (LACA) and was appointed in 2024 to the LAAC as a Louisa County Citizen Representative. He also chairs the Water Quality & Environmental Subcommittee for LAAC. His volunteer actions show a dedication not often found. Looney has spearheaded a number of efforts to monitor water quality on Lake Anna and most recently has overseen a $1 million project to mitigate algae blooms using a variety of methods to reduce phosphorus in the lake. He was recently featured as one of LKA’s Special People in Lake Anna Life & Times.
Gary Jacobs of TowBoat Lake Anna is the guy that shows up when your boat doesn’t go. He or a member of his team arrive on the scene in their bright red boats to save the day. They’ve performed hundreds of tows, assistance and even full salvages over the years as the lake has become a haven for boating. Starting in 2024 Jacobs is also in charge of maintaining the LABP hazard buoy system – a massive volunteer service to the lake community.
Jody Korman is a past president of LABP and has begun a Lake Anna beautification movement officially known as Louisa Clean with a dedicated group of local volunteers that pick up litter along lake roads. Her crews have collected hundreds of bags of trash in the lake region. When she’s not wearing her hi-vis vest she’s wearing her PFD as she is an avid slalom water skier.
Ronda Guill is the 2024 president of LABP, in charge of the lake’s dynamic chamber of commerce-like group that meets once a month at a different lake venue for a Business After Hours. LABP not only holds these networking/fellowship dinners, the 160+ member group also holds Lake Anna Restaurant Week, Lakefest, awards the Young Leaders Scholarship Fund, raises funds for various community charities and more to promote Lake Anna as a great place to live, work and play. She also operates a printing company that has probably helped 75% of the businesses at the lake. She is enthusiastic and dedicated in everything she does.
Suzie Squiers operates The Cove at LKA restaurant on the Pamunkey Branch of the lake. She continues to be one of the hardest-working, big-hearted businesspersons at the lake. She held Covid prom nights for locals, employs many young folks and has donated thousands to local charities like the Belmont Foundation and the Foundation for 24/7 EMS at Lake Anna.
Pat and Jane Gallagher are a husband-and-wife team that saw a need for the lake community and organized to address it. The Gallaghers formed the Residents for 24/7 EMS at LKA foundation and worked tirelessly to raise over $175,000 to seed Louisa County’s efforts to build a fire and EMS station on Rt. 208 near Food Lion (New Bridge Station 8). The station was declared operational in the spring of 2023 and started responding to calls. To date they have raised over $450K for Station 8 with a new fire/rescue boat their latest accomplishment.
Duane Adams is a businessman that has been living at the lake for the past 25 years. He is the owner of LKA™ Watersports, a popular pontoon and personal watercraft rental business headquartered at The Boardwalk on Lake Anna in the North Anna River branch of the lake. His district has much of the upper end of the lake in it and he has served on the Lake Anna Advisory Committee as Louisa County Supervisor Representative and been instrumental in helping with litter clean ups. He is very tuned into lake residents’ needs.
Sarah Marshall is Manager of External Affairs for Dominion Energy. What that means exactly is that she does so many things it would be difficult to list them, but many are Lake Anna related. She serves as the Dominion Energy representative on LAAC, has helped write and formulate many policies that affect Lake Anna residents, advocated for algae mitigation funding, served countless volunteer hours on various lake and regional projects all the while conducting herself in an inspiring, professional manner that makes her admired by all who meet her.
Lindsey McClellan, is realtor, board member of the Lake Anna Business Partnership (LABP) and the LABP 2023 Business Person of the Year. McClellan operates Sunset Properties at Lake Anna with her partner (Jimmy Snyder) and serves as Secretary of LABP. She has been instrumental in holding the online LABP Community Forums and many of LABP’s community projects as well as serving as a small group leader with her church. She’s a tireless worker and volunteer that sets a high standard.
Brian Gilbreth doesn’t appear to ever stop working. He opened Lake Anna Taphouse four years ago at Lake Anna Plaza, followed by Cream & Caffeine; a coffee and soft serve shop, and last year opened Lake Anna Brewing Co. He’s on the board of Residents For 24/7 EMS at Lake Anna that has astoundingly raised over $175,000 to build the mid lake’s first fire and EMS station and received the Lake Anna Business Partnership’s Businessperson of the Year Award for 2020. This year he began another new venture – the Lake Anna Candy Co!
Lake Anna Life thanks each of these community leaders for their standard-setting efforts and inspiration to others. Thank you for making LKA a better place to live, work and play! We look forward to seeing next year’s batch of community leaders.
