Board of Directors & Volunteers

Joanne Pellham, President and Chair

Jo LeMont Pellham is a life long resident of Columbia County with wide ranging interests in the history of area including pioneer stories, maps and photographs.

Contact Jo if you have questions about any of the following: History of St. Helens, Pioneer Families, or Schools

Brandon Sundeen, Vice President

Brandon has lived in the St. Helens area most of his life. He is a high school teacher who has deep roots in the community. He manages our Facebook presence, is the editor of our biannual "History of Columbia County," and presents many of our public programs. He has been a Director since 2016.

Contact Brandon if you have questions about any of the following: our Facebook page, Veterans, and Local History.

Erin McCown, Secretary

Erin grew up in New England . She has been a Director since 2017.

Contact Erin if you have questions about Movies and Film.


Tricia Oberndorf, Treasurer

Tricia grew up in Portland. Before retiring 2014, she worked in Computer Science and Software System Management research, first for the Navy for 20 years, then at Carnegie Mellon University for another 20 years. She has been a Director since 2016.

Contact Tricia if you have questions about Genealogy or our Library.

Les Watters, Curator

Les grew up in St. Helens. He worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in Portland. Since 2005 he has acted as curator for the museum.

Contact Les if you have questions about donations, programs and events, and our collection.

David Sprau, Director

David retired after 40 years of railroad service and serves on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Northwest Rail Archives in Seattle.

He has been on the CCMA Board of Directors since 2014.

Contact David if you have questions about Railroads


Dave Parsons, Director

Dave is a 1955 graduate of Canaan Grade School. He served in the U.S. Navy, retired from Boeing and now lives in Canaan.

Dave has been on the CCMA Board of Directors since 2013.

Contact Dave if you have questions about historic Logging Activities.



Jennifer Pugsley, Director

Jennifer has lived in Columbia County since 1994. She has recently completed a restoration/preservation project in the Historic Riverfront District and has a good understanding of the process. In 2020 she was elected to the CCMA Board of Directors.

Contact Jennifer if you have questions about Historic Preservation and the St. Helens Historic Riverfront District.


Alan Holinbeck

Alan grew up in St. Helens and is very familiar with the history of the St. Helens community and sports.

Contact Alan if you have questions about Sports or Film Preservation



Josette grew up in the Warren area and has a lot of knowledge of the Scappoose area. Josette began volunteering with the CCMA in 2020.

Contact Josette if you have questions about Scappoose History

Mark grew up in Columbia City. He and his wife Glorene have a lot of knowledge of the Yankton and Columbia City areas. Mark began volunteering with the CCMA in 2021.

Contact Mark if you have questions about Local and US Military History

Karen grew up in Scappoose and Portland. Karen has been a museum docent since 2014.

Contact Karen if you have questions about Indigenous People