Salzman ’14, and Katie Downey ’11. Investopedia is part of the IAC family of companies, which also employs several other Colgate grads, including Greg Blatt ’90, CEO and chairman of the Match Group, and Tori Brangham ’91, who runs the lifestyle division of About.com. Caleb is in touch with a lot of class of ’92ers, including Chris St Pierre; Shasheen Shah, who can be found skiing and exec-coaching in Telluride; Michael Grossman, who lives in Kansas City and works with PJ Piper at QM Power; David Ganz, whom Caleb married to Dina Cagliostro ’91 three years ago; the aforementioned Marshall Bergmann; Hy Schwartz; John Hewson ’91; Pat Shaw; and Jon Glickstein, among others. John Gridley wrote in with the oft-neglected pet update. He and wife, Jeanette ’91, got a 2nd dog. “We are nearing the local village limit for the # of pets in a single family home (8 … no, wait, 7, because the fish died).” He’s also happy to report that John Friberg has joined the ranks of dog owners. John also has 2 lovely daughters (one is starting to look at colleges). Brian Estrada is engaged to be married to a woman named Jennelyn. Next spring, he plans to retire from the NYPD and relocate to Hamilton. Julie Moran Strehle met up with Alyssa Bennett Harrigan, Cici Clark, and Alison Wallace Donnelly for a night out in Boston in Jan. They visited old stomping grounds and enjoyed the time to catch up and laugh. Alyssa lives outside Charlotte, NC, with her husband and 5-year-old son. She is a language arts teacher at a middle school. Julie lives in Hingham, MA, with her husband, Andy, and their 2 teenagers. She has kept busy in recent years serving on local boards and is currently the PTO pres at her son’s middle school. She recently attended the Colgate-Harvard hockey game (“exciting game, but Colgate lost, too bad!”) and enjoyed catching up with Elissa Liebman Lunder ’91 and Andy Wig. Cici lives with her family outside Boston and works for a company that makes media exhibits in museums. Outside of work, she’s hoping to help raise egg-laying chickens through a local conservation project and is looking forward to visiting her sister Anne Clark Amodeo and Pasquale Amodeo ’91 during spring break. Alison works in finance at Harvard U and lives west of Boston with her husband and 2 children. Susan Krutt Promislo left her job as sr communications officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation after 13 years to take on the role of dir of communications strategy at Princeton U. “It’s been great to get back into the world of higher ed.” For a work-related assignment, I spent 2 days in LA meeting up with some Colgate alums to discuss their career paths. It was great to see Ken Baker after 20 years (gasp!) at his E! office. He is busy writing books, doing a daily news update for E!, and shuttling his kids to hockey tournaments. Plus, he still finds time to get out on the ice himself. Next up was Rob Stone ’91. Rob, his lovely wife, Lynn, and 4 children are residents of Manhattan Beach now. Stoner and I actually chatted on the beach, which is not a bad way to start the day. He is also doing really well at Fox Sports, covering the world of soccer and other live events. And, finally, I met with Eric Berger ’89 at his office on the Sony lot. (Full disclosure, I just like saying that I took a meeting on the Sony lot.) Eric and his wife, Dee Dee ’89, also live in Manhattan Beach with their children. I suspect Rob and Eric are establishing a Sigma Chi western outpost there; rumor has it that Mike Gitlin has also been known to make an appearance at the Stone family beach house. Many thanks to those who wrote in, especially my first-timers. Always appreciate hearing 64
scene: Summer 2016
from all of you. Hope you all have a wonderful summer and get a chance to reconnect with your Colgate friends. Until next time… Crissy: 914-864-1387; cshrop@optonline.net
1993 Kaori Nakamura DiChiara 61 Mustato Road Katonah, NY 10536-3725 Hello, sexy ’93s, and happy summer! After a relatively calm winter (and getting away with not buying a new set of tires before the holidays), I am writing this in the midst of a random polar vortex that decided to pass through the NE — IN APRIL. This wouldn’t bother me so much if I didn’t lose so much of my tolerance of cold weather. I remember the days of feeling excited when the temps reached close to 50 in Hamilton, NY; it meant it was warm enough to wear shorts and throw on a sweater! According to NICHE, Colgate is the #1 liberal arts college in NY and #6 in the nation; however, Matt Crosston strongly stated that #3, 4, and 5 are no match for Colgate; therefore, Colgate is really #3 ... and I agree! As we are living in the fabulous decade of endless responsibilities and possibilities, I have been heavily involved with family affairs since the new year, and it was taking up an exorbitant amount of energy. It was a late night in Feb, and I (begrudgingly) sat in front of my laptop to take care of some overdue work after having an exhausting day. My spirits were lifted when I saw that Dan Rhynhart had sent me an e-mail. With 2 photos attached, it was an e-mail full of love that simply said: “Kay — we are talking about you, and everyone loves you. D.” Seeing the smiling faces of Dan, Chris Linquist, Keith Marasia, Matt Schinabeck, Dave Tyler, Mike Wisser, and Ari Zentner brought a smile to my face and I was filled with gratitude. It was such a gift. Thank you gentlemen!! Your love is reciprocated! Another mini reunion photo that made me smile was one of Courtney Bent, Jocelyn Gecker, Amy Hannes, and Amanda Seltzer Yale — perhaps they all got together to meet Amy’s daughter, Ruby Blu? It was lovely and they all looked happy and fabulous! Dan Glusker wrote in about a mini reunion in NYC as a result of Eric Scuderi’s engagement party on 3/25/16. Eric is now a corporate financial solutions adviser at Merrill Lynch and engaged to Natasha Wolff (Brown ’03), who very graciously embraced the ’gate crew. Those in attendance were Greg Blatt ’90, Dan, Steve Kuppenheimer, Jeff Clarke, Jan Frouman (in absentia), Bob Morgan, Doug Ryder, Scott Hague ’96, Andy Antrobus ’94, Alan Schwartz ’96, and Marc Banziger ’96. The soirée took place on the Upper East Side at the home of Agnes Gund, the famous philanthropist and art collector. It was also no surprise that it was within 3 blocks from where Eric has lived his whole life, including now! A wedding date has not yet been set, but I’m sure I will hear about this one! I love that I heard from Doug Goldberg! He continues to live in the Bay Area with his family. He reports that, aside from continuing to work for a trading shop in Marin County and reliving the ’80s through his namesake TV show The Goldbergs (which he describes as having a striking and uncanny resemblance to his own family), he spends most of his time trying to figure out how exactly to parent his teenage children! Doug described it as “quite a challenging endeavor” and added: “And like the infamous Mr Hand from Fast Times, I’m often left in incredulity about what our kids are on and the direction of our youth.” He keeps in contact with many of
the old Colgate crew and runs into Joe Raymond, Mike Mabardy, and Travis Reed from time to time as they all live in the area. “In fact, a number of golf outings between the 4 of us have often been threatened, but have yet to materialize, most likely due to Joe and Travis’ fear of losing to Mike and me.” Joe Raymond recently purchased a ski house in Soda Springs, CA, where the snow reminds him of Colgate. In Oct, Doug was in NJ for Tim Mingle’s ’91 wedding. Other Colgate attendees included Keith Vanderzee ’90, Mike Chiappetta ’92, Scott Cooke ’92, and Andrew Kupinse ’92, as well as Christopher “Topher” ’97 and Evan Mingle Brooke ’97. Needless to say, they all represented the alma mater well and carried on many a famous tradition! I always love hearing from Brooke Baker Fox, who continues to live in VA Beach with husband Jesse (Auburn ’89), daughter Brayden (12), and son Reed (8). She’s in her 23rd year teaching HS Spanish and coaching soccer at Norfolk Academy. There have been a few children of Colgate alums who were taught by Brooke, such as the children of Richard Rosenblum ’88. In addition to that, she has been the coordinator of the Spanish exchange program there for the past 6 years. During the school’s summer reading program last year, she sponsored a book by Ken Baker ’92, How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love. Brooke’s students were texting Ken as they were discussing his book. She was so proud, and it was an incredible experience for the kids! Brooke’s husband, Jesse, flew F-14 jets when in the Navy. Five years ago, he started a company called Fox-2 Flightgear, which makes mini-replica flight helmets that look similar to the 1/2 sized mini-helmets used for football teams. These helmets are sold at airshows, and adult/children customers enjoy having them autographed by the Blue Angels (US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron). In addition, the Blue Angels have used them when they visit children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation! Brayden is in 7th grade and loves playing field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse (favorite). Brooke believes she ruined Brayden’s interest in soccer, since she was surrounded by it constantly. Brayden was often on Brooke’s hip while she coached varsity soccer! Reed is a 2nd grader, and he loves playing soccer, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey (favorite). The Fox family got to meet former Colgate ice hockey player Chris Wagner ’14 when he played for the Norfolk Admirals (AHL affiliate to the Anaheim Ducks). Reed loves everything about ice hockey, and his favorite team is the NY Rangers. Between the love of the sport and NY, he may be a natural Colgate Raider! Brooke would love to see more Colgate folk in VA, and when referring to those who do move, she added: “I already have the vanity plate colg8u so you’ll need to come up with something else!” John Less wrote in, and it was wonderful to hear from him! He and wife Laurie’s 2-year stint in South Africa somehow grew to become 9 years. Oldest daughter Josephine (5) refuses to admit she’s American and doesn’t want to ever leave. Youngest daughter Vivienne is now 3. John describes SA as much slower and routine. Laurie works for a public health consultancy, and he continues to do green-energy work. He had a wonderful work experience in Uganda last year and got a chance to trek with gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest on the Congo/Rwanda border and whitewater raft the Nile. Although he admits that he has not kept up with many old friends, he did get a chance to see Chris Olivier and Mike Gray ’94 and their families in Asheville, NC, over the holidays — a rare treat. Another long distance gathering took place in Melbourne, Australia. Fitz De Smet ’92, with wife Caroline
and daughter Callie (2), vacationed in Melbourne and coordinated plans with Sally Burnett Wilson, her husband, Chris, and their boys (Dexter, 6, Everett, 3). It was so fun to see them all in 1 photo! Enjoy your summer, and please write in — always love hearing from you! Kaori: 914-523-5180; KaoriOTRL@optonline.net
19 9 4 Allison Good #8 319 West 88th Street New York, NY 10024-2271 Two pieces of exciting news from 2 of my favorite people. Offered in no particular order: Eric Scuderi is engaged to the lovely and brilliant Natasha Wolff. A large crew of Colgate friends celebrated in March at an engagement party thrown by the bride-to-be’s godmother, Agnes Gund. Among the ’gate crew toasting the happy couple: Bob Morgan, Ashley Chapman, Doug and Lauren Ryder, Greg Blatt, Marc Banziger, Scott Hague, Steve Kuppenheimer, Al Schwartz, Dan Glusker, Andy Antrobus, and me (and possibly others I missed, apologies!). It was such a fun night and great to see lots of faces around the room celebrating Eric and Natasha. It was just like the Jug, but with much, much, much better art. Eric Levy has hatched a brilliant game show, hosted by Michael Ian Black, called Easiest Game Show Ever. He’s the executive producer and creator of the show, which offers a new twist on the old true-or-false format and gives contestants a chance to win $100,000 in cash. In each episode, a pair of contestants work together to answer 20 true or false pop culture facts. These statements test their instinctual knowledge of entertainment, food, fashion, and culture. (Ex: True or false: Betty White is older than sliced bread; in the US, there are more McDonald’s than Starbucks; according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Madonna is the best-selling female artist of all time.) It’s on the Pop Network at 11 PM on Tuesdays or poptv.com. Be sure to check it out and congratulate Levy on a job well done! Allison: agood@email.com
19 9 5 David A Schreiber 1458 West Byron Street Chicago, IL 60613 Greetings, classmates! I hope everyone’s having a fantastic summer. Sadly, we’re still sluggish on the class news front, so please drop me a note when you can, or I may need to resort to just making stuff up. Stan got a haircut; Rod bought a car; Mary had a baby; Sue sold her bar. You get the idea. Without further ado, here’s the latest news from our 1 gracious and truly heroic classmate who dared exposing his life to the Colgate community. Gary Martenson visited Africa for the 1st time in 2015, visiting the island countries and territories of Mauritius, Reunion, and Madagascar. He had to utilize French 24/7, which was a challenge, but fun! He enjoyed all the locations, although spent the bulk of his time in Madagascar, with visits to the Andasibe, Ranomafana, and Andringitra national parks while on “the 8th Continent.” Gary commented that the wildlife and plant life were mesmerizing, with colonies of boisterous weaverbirds and their telltale nests, shrieking Indris whose voices echoed through the forests, shy chameleons that would