Along with working in Mount Olive, Tatarenko lives in the township with his wife, Colette, and their daughters, Brooke, 5, and Alexa, 3. Tatarenko hopes that he is as good a father to his daughters as Stefan was to him. Although the pandemic has created challenges, Tatarenko said that their time spent together is invaluable. “I’m learning a lot about myself, both good and bad, during this time,” he said. “It comes with its challenges, but it definitely is more rewarding. I like spending time with them laughing.” “The hardest part of my career is to work through this and be home for my family,” continued Tatarenko. “But just like everyone else … we’re all in this together.”
Andrew and Colette Tatarenko with Brooke and Alexa. Below, Colin, Kimberly Langstaff, and Moira Van Horn on Thanksgiving, 2018.
Setting The Stage Colin Van Horn may work today as the Technical Director at the Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University, but he got his taste for stage production at CHS. The Class of 2000 grad’s parents were involved in school musicals before he entered CHS. However, they made the Stage Craft Club official by his freshman year and Van Horn was heavily involved for his four years at the high school. “It was during this time, working with my parents at CHS, that I developed a love for the technical side of theater,” said Van Horn, 37. One of the best parts of his work is meeting and working with creators from around the world, as well as working with and teaching theater students.
24
July 2020 • Cliftonmagazine.com
His primary joy, though, is when a show is successful. “When you’ve worked with a team for hours, weeks, or sometimes months on a project, [you’re] sometimes loving it and sometimes cursing it,” said Van Horn. “But when the lights come down after the show and I hear the audience applauding and I see the performers smiling, I know we did our jobs well.” Now living in Lyndhurst. he and Kimberly Langstaff, have a daughter, Moira Grace, 2. The “giggles and smiles” are what he enjoys most about fatherhood, as well as watching as his daughter “discovers the world around her.” “What I look forward to the most is watching and helping her grow and find her place in this world,” he said. The ‘Golden Moment’ When Adrian Jachens (CHS ’00) considers his life today, he acknowledges that support at home and at CHS helped make it all possible. Jachens, who grew up in the Richfield section, expressed gratitude for the support that he received from his parents, Richard and Maria. He is also grateful to his science teachers at CHS who helped solidify his passion for science. Two of those teachers were James St. Clair, Sr. and
William Smith. “They really knew how to capture a class,” said Jachens, 38. “They made formulas and calculations of projectiles and molecules really entertaining and engaging and fun.” Jachens, now an ophthalmologist, always