The Board of Directors is composed of 10 individuals from four geographic regions along the Trail that are outlined in our Association Bylaws.
Adam Adams A native Texan, Adam graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts and founded One Arm Red in New York. A Ft. Bend County Master Gardener, he also serves on the board of the Houston SPCA, Wildlife Center of Texas, MATCH (Mid-town Arts & Theater Center Houston), and Wonderworks.
Rebecca Blankenbaker has over ten years of experience working with community leaders, heritage attractions, and local stakeholders to create authentic heritage tourism products in the Cane River region. As Director of Communications for Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc., she is responsible for building community relations, tourism and project development, brand management, and promotion. Additionally, she serves as the coordinator of the Cane River National Heritage Trail, a Louisiana Scenic Byway. A native of New Orleans, Rebecca holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in heritage resource management from Northwestern State University of Louisiana. She is a member of the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, The Louisiana Association for Nonprofit Organizations, the Louisiana Travel and Promotion Association and the Southeast Tourism Society.
Frank Briscoe has extensive contracting and project supervision experience for historic preservation projects; restoration carpentry and masonry; construction documents; Historic Structure Reports; National Register nominations, and Historic Preservation Certification Applications. He is also a former senior consultant in architectural conservation at Moenjo-daro World Heritage Site, Pakistan, responsible for implementing recommendations consistent with international standards of historic preservation, providing assistance and supervision for technical conservation treatments, and development of a conservation manual for the site.
Tom Byrd is a Licensed Professional Geologist. He is a graduate of UT Austin (BA Geography) and Texas A&M (MS Geology) and has held positions with the Bureau of Economic Geology (Cartographer) and BP Exploration (Petroleum Geologist -retired 2015). His avocational and academic interests include cartography, geomorphology, soil science, archeology, natural history, and a variety of outdoor interests including caving and wildlife conservation. He claims a life-long fascination with Southwestern Borderlands and Texas History. He grew-up in Austin and now makes his home in Houston and Santa Fe.
Lucinda Freeman is a former Portfolio Manager for high net worth individuals at JP Morgan Private Bank and predecessor banks. She published a book titled Historic Houston: How to See It, a heritage tourism book telling the story of early Texas and describing day trips to see related sites.
John Kisalus and his wife have spent the last five years restoring their historic home, the J. Meredith Tatton House, in the original town site of Victoria, Texas. The home was recently approved as a Registered Texas Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission. John has served on the Board of Directors of two historical organizations in Victoria, taking active roles in all organizations in which he has volunteered to work.
Bob Perkins was born in Laredo, Texas and was raised in Mirando City, Sinton, Carrizo Springs, and Eagle Pass, Texas. He learned Spanish before English and was the first bilingual, bicultural judge elected in Travis County. He graduated high school in Eagle Pass and really considers it to be his home town since he spent more time there than any other when he was growing up. In 1966 he came to the University of Texas (one month after the Whitman rampage from the Tower). He got his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government in 1970 and graduated from U.T. Law School and became a lawyer in 1973. He was elected Justice of the Peace of Precinct 4 in Travis County in 1974, then was appointed and elected Judge of County Court at Law No. 2 in 1980. He became a District Judge of the 331st District Court of Travis County, where he served from 1982 to the end of 2010. He was last opposed in local races in 1980. He has heard many high profile cases and was elected by his colleagues as the first Presiding Criminal Judge of Travis County. As such, he presided over the 13 criminal courts of the county. While serving as a JP Judge Perkins reformed writs and petition forms to use plain English to make legal proceedings more understandable to the public. Judge Perkins was the first District Judge in Travis County to require that the DA consult with victims before making plea bargain offers. The legislature did not require this until years later. See the rest of Bob Perkins’s bio here.
David Regan is a retired professional with wide ranging experiences and interests. His professional career includes 31 years as a commissioned officer of the U. S. Coast Guard, concentrating in ship maintenance and repair management, and culminating with a senior command assignment in New Orleans, LA that was instrumental in the preparation, response, and operational support of Coast Guard forces during hurricane Katrina. David then served 8 years providing operational logistics consultation services to NASA, the U. S. Air Force, the Defense Information Services Agency, and the U. S. Coast Guard as a Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. He concluded his professional career working briefly within the City of New Orleans’ Civil Service office assessing applicants for civil servant positions throughout the city.
Jesús Treviño is a native of Texas, born in Pearsall in Frio County. He served as a speechwriter for President Clinton’s Special Envoy to the Americas at the White House and as chief speechwriter for Secretary Federico Peña at the Department of Energy. In the Obama Administration, he served as an assistant to the Under Secretary of Commerce specializing in globalization. Previously, he was the editorial page editor of The Austin American Statesman and wrote a state-wide political column. His newspaper and media experience includes The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, The Riverside (Ca.) Press-Enterprise and KERA, the PBS station in Dallas, producing a live news program. He managed the Hispanic Caucuses at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Ángeles and conducted market and political research and public polling for Bendixen & Associates in Miami, Florida. He lives in Austin and Laredo, having graduated from the University of Texas and from Central Catholic High School in San Antonio.
Lynn F. Young is a native Houstonian and has been actively engaged in preserving and promoting our nation’s history for decades. She has been an active member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution since 1977. A native of Houston, Texas, Lynn is the fourth of six generations of DAR/SAR/C.A.R members.
