Susan McCarty, President

Susan moved to the Village in 2011. She's a graphic designer and photographer and has worked with the Miss Mississippi Corporation for about 30 years, producing books and taking thousands of photos during the Competition weeks. She is a Rotarian and is also a member of the Human Trafficking Task Force of Garland County. She has enjoyed being involved with the Ouachita Speaker Series since 2014, and has been enriched by every program and is excited about future speakers.

She was the Village Voice’s Citizen of the Year in 2018.

Carolyn Bowers, Vice President

Carolyn and her husband, Rob, moved to the Village in 2000. For the past 24 years, she has been active in this community serving on the boards of the HS/HSV Symphony Guild and the HSV Community Foundation. She also serves on the Finance Committee of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Co-Chair of the Annual Village Walk for Cancer Research.  She also enjoys singing at her church and with her gospel group, Rejoice. She has served on this board of for several years and in 2017 Carolyn was recognized for her volunteerism as Hot Springs Village’s "Citizen of the Year".  

Audrey Findlen, Secretary

Audrey moved to Hot Springs Village in 2014 and has been a part of many organizations within the village including HSV Morning Lions, HSV Players, and Cedar Mountain Singers.  Currently she is the Founder /President of The Entertainment Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.    Audrey is a retired educator, having graduated from the University of Southern Maine, and the University of New England, and completed coursework in non-profit Professional Development at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.

Clif Haygood

Clif and Betty purchased their Village lot in 2000 and built their home in January 2014 when they retired. Clif retired after many years in the airline industry with the last 33 as a dispatcher with Southwest Airlines. Clif is a member of HSV Rotary and has served as chair of the Rotary Keep the Village Beautiful effort and currently is on the Rotary Grants Committee.  He served on the POA Lakes Committee from 2020 - 2022 and is a member of the Balboa Yacht Club board.  He is a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and is currently completing his second term as a Vestry member.

Jim Dixon

Jim and his wife, Pookie, purchased their house in the Village in 2014 and then moved the next year when he retired.  Jim is currently a board member of the HS/HSV Symphony Guild and is vice president of membership recruitment.  Jim also serves as a board member and assistant treasurer of Arkansas Learning Through The Arts (ALTTA).  He is a member of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church where, until recently, he was Council Director of the Knights of Columbus council. Jim retired as a purchasing executive from the hospitality industry where he  worked and lived in Memphis, TN and the Dallas/Ft Worth, TX metroplex.

Russ Allen

Russ and his wife Amanda moved to the Village from the Atlanta area where he felt he would spend the rest of his life until Amanda said, “I want to live closer to my family.” In addition to the Ouachita Speakers Series, Mr. Allen is an officer in the village American Legion and VFW posts and is also an active member of the HSV History club. In his spare time Mr. Allen likes to read; mostly history, sometimes business or economics and one or two novels a year.  He walks and plays with their dog Duke and does just about anything his wife suggests.

Jim Gifford

Jim retired from an aerospace career in 2000, when he and his late wife Becky moved from Los Angeles to HSV.  Jim has been involved in a range of activity since, including the community, the arts, and hiking / trails. He currently serves on the boards of the HSV Community Foundation, the HS/HSV Symphony Guild (past President), the Hot Springs Music Festival, and the Arkansas Repertory Theater in Little Rock.  An avid hiker, he is still active in Ouachita Mountain Hikers, Friends of the Ouachita Trail (Founder, Past President), and the Arkansas Trails Council.  He served on the POA Trails Committee (2003-2009), including two years as Chairman.

Martha Smither

Martha and her husband Wilbur moved to HSV in 2000 and enjoyed many years of participating in the community.  Wilbur was the founding President of Ouachita Speaker Series in 2012. He based the mission on the SMU Tate Lecture Series in Dallas which presented many thought-provoking speakers in 40 years.  And Wilbur was a behind-the scenes advocate for many POA initiatives.  They both earned the POA Board President’s Award in 2012 for their extensive volunteerism supporting the community.  Martha’s current volunteerism includes Arkansas Learning Through The Arts, which she founded and is Board President, HSV Community Foundation as former chair, Hot Springs/Hot Springs Village Symphony Guild Board and chair of the ASO Children’s Concert in Hot Springs, Altrusa Board member, DAR member, PEO Chapter DE. She received the HSV Voice Citizen of the Year Award in 2013.  Her interests are playing the piano, random golf, organizing things, and reading.

Jeff Meek

Jeff was a founding Ouachita Speakers Series board member and has returned this year.  Jeff spent 30 years in education in Illinois before moving to Hot Springs Village in June 2005.  Jeff and his wife Jeanne were Village property owners for 37 years before moving to Texas in October 2019 to live near family.  Jeff is the former managing editor of the Hot Springs Village Voice and is currently on their staff as assignment editor/correspondent.