Steve McCarthy
Steve McCarthy founded Friends of Rapid City Parks in 2004 to defend the greenway along Rapid Creek from development. He has led citizens in actions to stop proposed developments at Braeburn Park and other sites along Rapid Creek. He served on a citizens committee to revise floodplain development policy for Rapid City. A supporter of the arts, historic preservation and other civic organizations, Steve is on the board of the Red Cloud School, served on the Rapid City Regional Hospital board, is a member of the Scenic Rapid City Committee, and is active in preservation and restoration of historic buildings downtown. He is the owner of McCarthy Properties, Inc. of Rapid City, and started MAC Construction of Rapid City. He received his Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s University in New York, and a Master of Arts degree from City University in New York. He came to Red Cloud in 1968 as a Red Cloud Volunteer teacher. In 1999 he was named a Bush Fellow and obtained his Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Public Policy at Harvard University.
Don Frankenfeld
Don Frankenfeld has lived most of his 63 years in Rapid City. The 1972 flood killed some of his friends and neighbors, and destroyed most of the homes along what had been his newspaper delivery route a decade before. Don is a founding board member of Friends of Rapid City Parks and an ardent advocate for preservation of the memorial greenway along Rapid Creek.
Hillary Dobbs Davis
Hillary Dobbs-Davis has served on the Friends of Rapid City Parks board since mid-2009. As a walker, bicyclist, disc golfer, kayaker, hiker and rock climber, Hillary is committed to maintaining Rapid City’s parks and expanding the resources devoted to them. To support her outdoor habit, Hillary works for Black Hills Corporation as a senior communications coordinator, handling various community and media outreach initiatives and administering the company’s charitable giving through the BHC Foundation.
Aaron Costello
Aaron Costello was born and raised in the Midwest and moved to Rapid City in 1997. He is a graduate of SDSMT and holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He has worked as a research scientist at the School of Mines, in the R&D department for a mid-sized corporation, and as an engineering consultant. In addition to establishing a public speaking career, he and his wife Rebekah currently operate their own health and wellness business. Aaron served on the Rapid City Common Council from 2008-2011. An avid outdoorsman and adventurer, he is committed to maintaining and preserving the park system as an asset to enhance the quality of life in Rapid City. He joined the Friends board in fall 2012.
Jennifer Eaton
Jennifer Eaton was named to the Friends board in February 2013. A native of Minneapolis, she enjoys running, biking, and, in the winter cross country as well as downhill skiing. In 1997 she moved to Rapid City with her husband, Bruce. “It is because of the beauty of the parks, bike path, trails, and roads around Rapid City that I still enjoy my time outdoors. As I grew up in an active, outdoorsy city, I have found it important to raise my family in an area that values green space. It is a privilege to live here, and I am committed to doing what I can to preserve and protect the parks in Rapid City.” Jennifer has engaged more young people in the work of Friends.
Chris Stover
Chris Stover, an assistant fire management officer for fuels with the Forest Service’s Mystic Ranger District, is an avid outdoorsman, cyclist, hiker and dog walker. He is a frequent speaker at events to educate students and the public about the role of fire in the forest, as well as fire management policy and prevention. Chris has supported and participated in Friends events over the years and we welcome his voice on the board.
Former Board Members
Board member Jim Olson, who was with Friends since we began, resigned in 2013 to pursue other community activities. We thank Jim for his service, wish him well, and know we will see him on the bike path somewhere.
Even though she has lived in the Black Hills nearly all her life, Kerri Severson Stover can’t imagine being anywhere other than here. As children, she and her sister spent hours running, playing, ice skating, and swimming in Rapid City’s parks. Her love for green spaces never left her, and Kerri still enjoys walking, splashing with her dogs in the creek, and even practicing yoga in the park. After several years teaching high school English and leading a non-profit mentoring agency, Kerri is currently a high school guidance counselor. Occasionally she will teach a yoga class or two at the Yoga Studio in Rapid City, and logs miles on her road bike, particularly to raise pledges for the fight against Multiple Sclerosis. Kerri retired from the board in 2014 after serving on the Friends board since its inception.
Sandra McNeely balances her time between Milwaukee and Rapid City, whether it is on the bike paths of both places, or serving clients of The Abbey Group, a management and planning company she and her husband, Michael McNeely, operate in Milwaukee and in Rapid City. Sandra’s expertise is in planning, management and board development, skills she has brought not only to clients in the upper Midwest, but also to numerous Rapid City non-profits. Sandra joined the board of Friends of Rapid City Parks in 2012, and also chairs the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce Business and Education Services Committee. She previously served as board chair for the Rapid City Public Library Board of Trustees, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills. She received an MBA in Finance from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Social Science in Public Administration from Pennsylvania State University. Sandra left the board in 2014 after guiding Friends through a strategic planning exercise and helping us implement organizational improvements.
David Miller has made both a career and avocation of understanding, teaching, and advocating for the conservation of renewable natural resources. He has been a history teacher at both high school and college levels, including Rapid City areas schools, Black Hills State University and Oglala Lakota College. He is an active member of the Norbeck Society and participated on the South Dakota Wild Grasslands Committee. David served 2015 through 2016, when he resigned from the Friends board to fight attempts to take public land from Spearfish Canyon and Bismark Lake.