Lin Brehmer ’76, on stage in Chicago, [was] privileged to emcee at Soldier Field’s record-breaking Grateful Dead final concert series.
1 97 9 Kimi de Murga Apt 1A 227 E 66th Street New York, NY 10021-6413 Colgate was well represented at this year’s 19th annual Books for a Better Life Awards. Since its inception in 1996, the awards have recognized more than 700 self-improvement authors and raised more than $2.1 million for the New York City/Southern NY Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The funds go toward comprehensive support services and educational programs for people living with MS, their friends and families, as well as the society’s critical research initiatives. The awards recognize self-improvement authors whose messages are aligned with the chapter’s mission of inspiring people to live their best lives. At the ceremony on March 23, Books for a Better Life Founder and Chairman Scott Manning was joined by classmates Mitch Markson (who serves on the awards executive committee) and Melissa Coley. Other Colgate alumni included bestselling author Lee Woodruff ’82, and Betsy Hulsebosch ’83, a member of the event’s executive committee. Greg Brodsky has launched a new business, Best Classic Bands, devoted to following, covering, and promoting the music of our generation, and my personal favorite, classic rock. It is an idea Greg has had for more than 2 years, and about a year ago, he started interviewing editors in earnest. He couldn’t find the right one, but kept asking friends for recommendations. In November, he finally spoke to someone in Austin who immediately understood what Greg was trying to achieve. During their first telephone conversation, Greg causally mentioned he went to a “small liberal arts college in upstate NY.” The candidate asked which one, and when Greg told him, Rob Paterson blew Greg away by saying, “I was Class of 1975!” Rob is the new editor of Best Classic Bands, although he and Greg have never met in person! They have developed a great website, www.bestclassicbands.com — check it out or like their Facebook page under the publication name. Greg’s knowledge of the music industry is amazing, and he has done a very impressive job with the site and the launch. In April, Kim Duff Selby co-hosted an evening titled NExT — Navigating Exciting Transitions for women in NYC. They moderated a panel of women — of a certain age — who had all made significant changes in their lives. One of our panelists was Ivy Austin! Each panelist gave her change story, from marketing exec to cookbook author, advertising exec to newsletter writer. Ivy talked about how she has morphed her theatrical career to reflect the changes in her life — from successful actor to learning the ropes of production, event planning, teaching, and still performing. Sally Desslock, Celia Flynn, and Terry Egler ’77 attended. In West Virginia, on Mother’s Day weekend, there was a mini–class reunion. The 17 classmates who got together were: Andrea Nazar, Vida Hackell, Nancy Teumer, Anne Duke Reach, Sue Siegel, Kerry Inman, Mary Jo Ashenfelter, Claudia Dricott, Patti Spindel, Lisa Hillenbrand, Karen Fell, Goldie Blumenstyk, Ivy Austin,
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Cindy Briggs, Gary Hughes Bender, Mary Gately, and Tammy Payne. Kimi: 212-517-6776; Gate79@aol.com
1980 Scott Williams Apt 1010 5325 Westbard Avenue Bethesda, MD 20816-4422 The Class of 1980 continued its strong tradition of Colgate spirit with a record-breaking turnout for our 40th Reunion as well as another memorable weekend for all. Huge kudos goes to Carrie Hays and Sue Ann Christensen for fantastic organizational skills and good taste, filling the weekend with great 1980 touches. Many thanks go to the Colgate alumni staff for executing another great reunion celebration. We enjoyed many highlights, from torchlight to our banquet, held under the watchful eyes of a thousand Murray Decock bobbleheads. Anchoring the weekend was the return of 1980’s nowfamous “151,” rocking the tent Friday evening. The talk of the reunion, this perhaps was one of the best performances of the band, which featured David “Ace” Case, Mike White, Steve “Serpico” Lesniak, Jim “Jimbo” Goldenberg, Mark “Duke” Diorio, Dave Dinardo, and Doug Watt. There was a special guest appearance by Murray, and an earth-shattering performance by Mark “Earth” Tully. The Class of 1980 continued to be honored with our own Marianne Crosley receiving the prestigious William Brian Little Award for Distinguished Service to Colgate, the highest award bestowed by the Alumni Council. Three amazing young alumni from the Class of 2010 received the Ann Yao Award for service to Colgate. How wonderful to honor Ann’s spirit each year. Images of the weekend from classmates can be seen at https://colgateclassof80.shutterfly. com/. Additional images are posted at http:// www.colgate.edu/alumni/reunion. If you could not make it back for reunion, I hope you do try to return to campus again soon. The campus continues to be a magical place energized by the spirit that is Colgate that runs strong in the Class of 1980. I will be reaching out to classmates in the months ahead to collect reports for this column. I look forward to talking with you soon. Or simply drop me a line to share news here. Scott: colgate1980classnotes@gmail.com
1981 Nancy Horwitz 77 Islington Road Auburndale, MA 02466-1009 Nancy: 617-558-9781; nhorwitz@nlhcoaching.com
Reunion June 2–5, 2016
1982 Margie Jiampietro Palladino 37 Boulder Road Wellesley, MA 02481-1502 While many of us have children who are now back in school, others have successfully moved
on to their next phase of life. It’s hard to believe that so many years have passed since our own graduation on Whitnall Field. Join me in congratulating a few of our next-generation graduates this year: Seth Greenberg’s daughter, Alexis, graduated from UVA and is pursuing a career in media and entertainment. Seth lives in Virginia Beach and practices pulmonary and critical care medicine. He enjoyed a mini–Colgate reunion last summer with Scottie and Chris Scannell Giaccone at James Madison U, where both their children attend. He also keeps in touch with Tom and Diane Camelo Didio. Seth misses Colgate and hopes to make it back for our next reunion in 2017. Larry Grossman’s daughter Zoe graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in environmental engineering and is working for the LiRo Group in NYC. After spending the spring semester in Florence, Larry’s younger daughter, Ellie, returned to Boston to begin her 4th year of a joint program at Northeastern U and the Museum of Fine Arts. Larry is an attorney and resides in Trumball, CT, with his wife, Jill. He enjoys an annual Florida spring trip with Stew Karr, David Underhill, Gary Henderson, Mark Behan, and Tim Maisonet ’83, and, thanks to the invitation by Mark and his wife, Tara, a (hope-to-be annual!) summer trip to the races in Saratoga with their wives, including Chris Imgram Henderson and Kathleen Dunn Underhill ’83. Robert Mercorella, a financial adviser with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, had 2 graduates this year: daughters Julia (Elon U) and Hannah (Ridgefield High School in CT; now a first-year at Tulane U). Robert’s oldest son graduated from Lafayette College last year. Robert writes, “From a full house of 6, we are down to just 1 child at home — my son Andrew. The years have flown, but otherwise all is well. I am playing lots of tennis and trying to keep active.” Sue Pohanka’s daughter, Melissa, graduated from U Penn with a degree in chemical engineering. (“She obviously didn’t get her math skills from me,” claims Sue.) Sue splits her time between Bryn Mawr, PA, and Long Beach Island, NJ. She writes, “When I’m not working in the studio with clay, I’m volunteering at the Philly Zoo as a docent. Life is good!” It was a big transition year for Tom and Carol Tucci Barber and their family with 3 consecutive weeks of graduations/promotions! Their oldest, TJ, graduated from Harvard; their daughter, Cate, graduated from high school; and their youngest son, Christopher, had a middle school promotion ceremony. TJ is working in LA, pursuing his passion in film. Their second oldest, Matthew, will be graduating from college next year, and Carol and Tom are thrilled that Cate is a first-year at Colgate! Carol writes, “Christopher will be our only one home, so we have plenty of room for visitors. Please call if you are in the Bay Area!” Speaking of empty nests, Michael and Cindy Russo Dougherty have returned to where it all began. After 30 good years on the West Coast and North Carolina, where they raised their 3 daughters, they have returned to where they started out. They relocated this summer to NYC where Michael accepted the position to head up Pencils of Promise, a for-purpose NGO that builds schools and supports teachers in the developing world. At this writing, they are both in rural Guatemala, meeting with students and teachers connected with the organization. They are excited to be “back home” – closer to where their
girls are and, of course, to Colgate friends. I am sure there are many more classmates experiencing transitions, professionally or personally. Please share your stories. I am just an e-mail away! Margie: 781-235-9386; mjpalladino@comcast.net
19 83 Gwen Tutun 24 Fairfield Ave Westport, CT 06880 Hello, classmates! Big spring at Susie and Ted Aldrich’s home in Westport, CT. They celebrated their son Ben’s graduation from Colgate, followed quickly by Jack Aldrich getting married. Jack and his wife dated at NYU. The wedding was a civil wedding at City Hall in NYC and the “big” celebration will be next year in Provence. They live in New York. Congrats to the newlyweds and to you all! Hoping to hear more good news from you for next time. Until then, have a happy and healthy fall. Gwen: 203-856-2922 (C); gwentutun@gmail.com
19 84 Diane Munzer Fisher 4356 Stilson Circle Norcross, GA 30092-1648 It was 35 years this fall that we began our relationship with Colgate as members of the Class of ’84. In those intervening years, we have been impacted both personally and professionally by our time in Hamilton. Pam Gasek wrote to share news including her recent get-away to Newport, RI, in June for a 1-year-post-reunion reunion with Julia Wilcox Rathkey, Jill Barnard Draper, Shawn Fetzer Ouweleen, Karina Thomas, and Kris Hammer Klein. Many laughs were had recounting the ol’ glory days at Colgate. In July, while making her annual summer trip from her home in San Francisco to the East Coast to visit her family, Holly Hoyt Posner visited with Julia and Pam. Pam also frequently sees Deborah Sloan, Bob Barnshaw, Heather Stearns and recently had dinner with her old Dodge first-year dorm-mate Tobi Goldberg in Waltham, MA. Pam recently met David Fort ’94 and joined his start-up consulting and venture firm Fort Strategic. They are hoping to recruit other Colgate alumni to this business venture. Pam also spent time with Bernie Haffey at a Colgate Club of Boston Health Professionals Networking event and learned about his startup H2 Medical Technologies LLC. A year ago, the Scene featured a profile of Matt Davies and his Center for Rehabilitation and Exercise (CORE), a highly specialized facility that serves clients with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological conditions who want to improve their health and ability to be more independent. Matt not only founded the Center in Longwood, FL, but he is one of its clients. Matt is a quadriplegic as the result of a car accident in 2005. CORE will open a new 12,000-square-foot center in the fall, which will integrate activity-based training, non-surgical spine care, and neurological specialty practices. CORE is home to one of the few Rewalk Personal Exoskeletons in the country, which is used for client mobility training. Two of Matt’s children graduated from college this year and a third graduated from high school. If your travels bring you to the Orlando area, Matt invites you to drop in and see the great work