Board Members
From left to right: Former Board Member Mel Morris, Theresa Dilworth, Chris Shashkin, Bill Flinter, and Katie Girandola at Bailie Beach, Mattituck on June 30, 2025. Not pictured: Aaron Bokros, MaryGrace Finora.
Chris Shashkin, President
Chris Shashkin was elected President of the MLCA in June of 2024. Previously he served as Vice-President, and before that as Secretary, concentrating on MLCA social media platforms, as well as doing the layout for the quarterly newsletter. He has served as Secretary of the Captain Kidd Estates Civic Association and now serves as Board Member-at-Large of same. He has a background in office management, serving for over three decades as Department Administrator at Columbia University and is currently working for the Mattituck Park District.
Mel Morris, Director
Aaron Bokros, Vice-President
Originally hailing from Atlanta, GA, Aaron Bokros received a BA in Theatre from Wake Forest University. After working as a carpenter for several regional theaters in the Midwest, he settled in Houston TX to teach technical theatre to middle and high school students. Three years later saw a move to New York, where he was an adjunct faculty member and technical director at a university in New Jersey.
A sideways career move into luxury brand event and store planning logistics precipitated the move to Long Island, and eventually the North Fork. Aaron has been politically active his entire adult life, with race and LGBTQ+ issues being a primary focus for activism. Aaron lives in Mattituck with his wife, Alison Delaney, and their two cats, Scout and Minna.
Katie Girandola. Secretary
Katie Girandola recently joined the Mattituck-Laurel community as a full-time resident after moving here from West Windsor, New Jersey, and having been a part-time resident of the North Fork since 2008.
Over the past 30 years, she has been an active member in many organizations and community affairs in West Windsor. Katie is a certified Master Gardener, former Vice Chairwoman of West Windsor’s Shade Tree Commission, former Vice-President of GME Homeowner’s Association for 25 years, and a religious education teacher. She enjoys spending time with her husband and four children, sailing, gardening, and raising oysters at the Cornell Extension in Southold.
Katie spent her childhood summers with her grandparents here on the North Fork, admiring its bucolic beauty, vibrance, and American spirit. She is delighted to be part of MCLA and plans to devote her love of community and robust civic values to Mattituck/Laurel.
Theresa Dilworth, Treasurer
Theresa Dilworth. J.D., LL.M. has lived in Mattituck for over 30 years, since the early 1990's, and full-time since 2020 when COVID offered the opportunity to work remotely. She has spent her career as an international tax attorney in NYC working for Ernst & Young, Pfizer, MasterCard, and currently Marsh & McLennan. For the last 20+ years she is also the majority owner of a vineyard in Aquebogue, growing four varieties of wine grapes.
She is a Board Member, Vice-President and Co-Treasurer of the North Fork Audubon Society, and responsible for trail maintenance at the 55-acre Inlet Pond County Park in Greenport, Audubon headquarters. She volunteers with the children's after-school reading program at CAST in Southold, and plays 5-string banjo with the Eastern Long Island Old Time Jam at Hallockville Farm in Laurel.
Bill Flinter, Director
William Flinter grew up in Mattituck and attended Mattituck High School, where he met his wife, Danielle. They attended Siena College together, where William earned his degree in finance. After graduating, they returned home to Mattituck, where they now reside with their two children.
William has worked for a variety of financial institutions including American Portfolios, Farm Credit East and currently works at the M&T Bank in Cutchogue. His knowledge of the local community, along with his diverse background in a variety of financial and banking institutions, has given him a unique perspective on local finance. In fall of 2023, he was elected to the position of Southold Town Tax Assessor.
Quote:
“As a lifelong Southold resident and local banker, I appreciate the unique character and rich history of Southold Town. I am excited for the opportunity to serve as a member of the Mattituck Laurel Civic Association, bringing my passion for helping my local community to continue to thrive and evolve while maintaining its natural beauty.”
MaryGrace Finora, Director
MaryGrace has lived on the North Fork for the past 26 years with her husband Joe and their three children (all graduates of Mattituck High School). Originally from Westchester County, she is a graduate of Fordham University and earned a master’s degree in Special Education from Hunter College. She also attended Stony Brook
University, earning a certificate in Behavior Analysis. Before moving to the “East End,” MaryGrace taught Junior High science in the New York City public school system and was a member of her condominium board.
After moving to the North Fork, she took time to raise her family and became involved with the Mattituck-Cutchogue PTA where she served a term as president and chaired the Cutchogue East Science Fair for several years, helping many students to participate in the Brookhaven National Laboratory Science Fair. She was also co-president of the
committee which raised funds and helped design the playground at Cutchogue East Elementary School.
In recent years, MaryGrace has been a substitute teacher at Riverhead Middle School and reading teacher for CAST’s Summer Rise program which provides a camp experience for at-risk students on the North Fork. She feels especially fortunate to have her three grandchildren also living nearby.
While grateful to be living in such a special community, MaryGrace is a believer in responsible growth with an eye on conserving the area’s natural beauty while wisely managing its resources for future generations. With this as her motivation, she is enthusiastic about serving on the board of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association.