
CLASS NOTES
1970
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Doug Arnold
darnold@arnold-co.com
1971
It’s been lonely at the ’71 class secretary desk lately. I contacted Gary Barnes, our class president, to dig up some news, and he reported that he was in Florida studying for the Bar. I asked for clarification, and here’s what he wrote, “I’m now a Florida resident, and I will be here a little more than six months every year. No more cold Vermont winters, and Florida does not admit lawyers on reciprocity. Hence, I study.” For the next issue, I’ll snag Gary and get him to contact both sorority sisters and frat brothers in our class for news. I also heard from Joe Berry, who lives in North Conway, New Hampshire, and works at Attitash Mountain Village Resort. He told me that he enjoyed a fabulous tour of the UVM campus. His stepdaughter, Chelsea Summersall, made UVM her first choice. Joe also has two sons, one at Middlebury and one at Dartmouth. Liz Mead Foster and I are off to a small town on the eastern coast of Honduras for the Rotary Program, Vermont Hands to Honduras. I know I reported this last issue, but since we have both signed up for construction jobs and need to start taking anti-malaria pills, it’s indeed a reality. We will report on our trip in the summer issue. I’ve tried to reach Nina Nadworny; If anyone knows her whereabouts, please let me know. And, of course, a ’71 column would be incomplete without reaching out to Jason Robards. Where is he these days? Please write; the news is always better when we hear from more classmates.
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Sarah Wilbur Sprayregen
Sarah.Sprayregen@uvm.edu
1972
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Debra Koslow Stern
debra.stern@uvm.edu
1973
The important message to all of you is that we are creating a really fun weekend for our local and out-of-state classmates. The weekend actually begins on Thursday, May 29, and if you can come early, bring your dancing shoes because the UVM Lane Series has booked the Spanish Harlem Orchestra to play at the new Davis Student Center to open the weekend. There will be a number of other “all-class” activities throughout the weekend, including UVM professor lectures and a visiting lecture by Dr. Miriam Nelson ’83, author of the book series Strong Women. Friday night there will be a “Taste of Vermont” and on Saturday, we (just ’73!) will venture down to Perkins Pier on the lake for a dockside cocktail reception and a dinner/dancing cruise on Northern Lights (www.lakechamplaincruises.com/). Get ready for a wonderful evening cruise on Lake Champlain where we can listen and dance to 60’s/70’s tunes of our choice throughout the evening. So, come back to Vermont May 29-June 1 for Reunion Weekend and meet up with old friends and discover a new campus and downtown if you haven’t been back to Burlington recently. Sheila Mullen O’Brien and her husband, Tom (St. Mike’s ’72), retired from Connecticut to Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 2006. Sheila has had her own forensic consulting firm providing mitigation investigation to death penalty defense attorneys since 2002. Tom retired from law after twenty-seven years as a Connecticut prosecutor and four years in his own firm. He is now assistant marketing director for Comfort Keepers, a home health care agency. They both work part-time and think that North Carolina’s climate is perfect and that there really is something to Southern hospitality. Sheila would like to find Anne Coughlin Tomasi and MaryEllen Villa. Your Reunion Committee has been meeting by phone throughout the fall, and we hope you will all come back for our 35th Reunion May 29–June 1, 2008. Our 35th Reunion Committee members are Steve Levenson, Pam McDermott, Jennifer Allen (our class president), Wadi Sawabini (vice president), Gene Beaudoin, Kathryn Boardman, Ted Dudley, Joe Fowler, Louise McCormick Sharp, Miles Susskind, and Lynda Darling Waltein, and me.
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Deborah Mesce
d.mesce@verizon.net
1974
Cecilia Elwert is now living on Baldwin Creek in South Starksboro, Vermont, with stunning views of the Green Mountain range. After a twenty-five-year career as a vegetable farmer, Cecilia loves her new job working for Elderly Services in Middlebury. She would love to hear from UVM friends via email at ceciliaelwert@yahoo.com. My husband, Tom, and I attended the UVM-BU hockey game in January along with Irene Kwasnik (’73) Kowalski and her husband, Ken. We tried very hard but were not able to find other members of the UVM Class of ’74 alumni in attendance. Keep in touch and send in your news. We want to hear from all of you!
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Emily Schnaper Manders
esmanders@gmail.com
1975
After working for years in the asset management group of a large international law firm in New York City, Eve Posner is currently director of Mutual Fund Products for AIG SunAmerica Asset Management Company in Jersey City, New Jersey. When not working, she likes to travel. Her most recent travels included trips to Germany, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Spain, the Canary Islands, and Mexico. Eve lives in New York City with her cat, Barney. It would be great to hear from others from our class, too. I’m sure there are many who are now grandparents, have children getting married, and enjoy travelling and other leisure activities. Send me an email with news I can share with the rest of the class. If anyone is looking for spring skiing, head up Interstate 89 and enjoy some of the best skiing in years and check out things at the University while you are in the area. Hope to have more news in the next Quarterly.
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Dina Dwyer Child
dinachild@aol.com
1976
It was great to receive an email from Susan Boardman Russ after all these years. After retiring from the Federal Government (twenty-five years with Senator Jeffords, the last twenty as his chief of staff) in January of 2004, Susan; husband Jack; and daughter Jacqueline, who turned eleven in January, moved to Houston, Texas. They spend summers in Vermont and enjoy mild winters in the South. Susan has started a small consulting business which keeps her busy part time, and she is addicted to golf, playing as often as she can with Missy Dever (’75) Martin, Linda Boardman Drumheller and Kathryn Boardman ’73. Skip Beitzel was named Outstanding Citizen of 2007 by the Armonk Rotary Club. He was named board president in 2007 after serving for eleven years on the board of directors, on the club’s board development, as well as on numerous committees. He and his wife, Michaela, were honored in 2004 with the Rotary Club’s Humanitarian Award. Skip has enjoyed a long relationship with the Boys & Girls Clubs that began with his sons’ involvement in sports and swimming programs. Skip also has served on the board of the Westchester/Putnam Council of the Boys Scouts of America, The Byram Hills Scholarship Fund, and the Rippowam-Cisqua School as well as on the President’s Advisory Council of Northern Westchester Hospital Center. We’d love to hear from more classmates for the next issue. Please drop me a note or send an email with news to share with your classmates.
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Peter Beekman
pbeekman@clarkson.edu
1977
Rich Levenberg reported that for the past ten years he has been vice president of human resources at TransNet Corporation, a network integrator and VOIP consulting company in central New Jersey. He and Debbie, his wife of twenty-eight years, have two children. Rich also spends time with his “Green Mountain Gifts” company, named in honor of his four “great” years at UVM. Rich specializes in making segmented bowls and vessels, pens, pencils and other gift items, and during the spring summer and early fall, you can find him on the high-end craft show circuit in New Jersey. He welcomes all, especially UVMers.
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Stephen Monroe
monroe@levinassociates.com
1978
We have our 30th Reunion coming up May 29–June 1, 2008. I have been in touch with a number of classmates, many of whom plan to attend, including me. If you have never attended a class reunion before, this is the one for you. If I can travel all the way from Boise, Idaho to Burlington, Vermont, you can get there, too. Please mark your calendars and visit the Reunion web site (www.alumni.uvm.edu/ reunion) for all the details. I hope to see you all on campus! In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at the address below with news you’d like to share with your classmates.
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Audrey Ziss Bath
audreyb2@aol.com
1979
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Beth Nutter Gamache
Class.notes@uvm.edu
1980
Happy Spring! Flowers are blooming, and we now can venture outdoors for fresh air and warm weather activities like hiking, biking, and jogging. (I’m not a die-hard who does these things through the winter.) I hope this edition finds you happy and well. I heard from Mary Sarah Hoffheimer’s brother that she recently earned board certification in veterinary acupunture. She practices veterinary medicine in Dublin, New Hampshire, and she enjoys outdoor activities and spending time with her daughter, Laura, whom she adopted from China several years ago. I look forward to hearing from more of you in the coming months. Keep writing!
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MaryBeth Pinard-Brace
marybethpinard_brace@alumni.uvm.eduu
1981
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Mardie Trask Sorensen
mardie@uta.edu
1982
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John Scambos
Class.notes@uvm.edu
1983
Please mark your calendars for our upcoming 25th reunion slated for May 29–June 1, 2008. Grant Allendorf, Matthew Baratz, Robert Brennan, Julie Bressor, John Handy, Julie Howell Hehir, Patricia Donze Larrabee, Donald McCree, Russell Shappy, Edward Witte, and I are making plans for a special weekend that we hope everyone will enjoy. Chris Shyer wrote that his firm, Zyloware Corporation, launched a collection of stylish men’s eyeglasses he designed with Randy Jackson of “American Idol.” Randy has been wearing the glasses on each show since January. Classmates can see the collection at www.RandyJacksonEye wear.com. For the past eleven years, Peter Klinck has been working with the International Committee of the Red Cross in war conflict zones around the world providing assistance in agriculture. He has been the Red Cross’s top cereal seed program specialist, and he worked with international humanitarian agencies in many African countries. Peter and his wife, Irma, married in 2000 and in 2001 they purchased a run-down, seventy-five acre Vermont homestead in Tunbridge, Vermont. They produce their own vegetable, fruit and poultry products for their home needs and for barter. Irma is a nurse at Gifford Hospital in Randolph, and Peter has a forest management plan on his land, and he is milling his own lumber for an addition to their house. Peter would love to hear from classmates via email at pkblue grass@surfglobal.net. He sent special greetings to Dr. Fred Magdoff, retired chairman of the UVM plant and soil science department; Andrea Moss, John and JoAnne Dewhal; Anthony LaRosa; Julie Cole; Carol Moran; Debbie Wursch; Gretchen Mikeska; and Dave Gibson. See you all at our reunion. Don’t forget to write me. Your news is very important to me and all of our classmates.
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Sharon Morrissey Young
sm.young@comcast.net
1984
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Laurie Angle
Class.notes@uvm.edu
1985
Dear classmates, I have some very sad news. Karen Hall ’86 let me know that her husband, Steve Hall, passed away in October. Steve and Karen have been living in Atlanta, Georgia, since 1990. They have two children, Brian and Tori. Steve completed law school a year ago at Georgia State Law School and was working at King & Spalding for the past year. He was a great husband, father, and friend, and he will be missed by all who know him. Amy Sieger Daniels wrote from Valencia, California, that she and Craig Mabie got together in Chico, California, for the wedding of Ross Nayduch and his wife, Elaine. Amy and Craig spent the rest of the weekend catching up and climbing a snowy Mount Lassen volcano. She wrote that a ten-day Alaskan backpacking trip with Roddy Lewis and Josh Powers is being planned for August.
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Barbara Roth
rothb@eightoclock.com
1986
Lisa Brest Daley was featured in the January 21 issue of Business Week magazine. She is an attorney who left law firm life and opened a bakery. The Business Week story was about second careers and how people make the switch from a more traditional job to following a passion or hobby. Lori Beaumont Martin wrote in to say how close many of the alumni have remained. Most were “Pi Phi’s” and proud of it! She added that they were close in college, and despite the fact that many of them live apart they have made the effort each year to vacation together. She added that Dan Faryniarz ’86 has hosted an annual New Year’s Eve Party at their home in Greenwich, Connecticut, which most of them have attended many times over the past couple of decades. The group of alumni has also traveled to the UK, Florida, Vermont, New York, Maine and many places in between. The group includes Amy Nostrand, Alice Stifter Bartram, Evelyn Fleisher Katz, Beth Mitchell Guiliano, Lisa Brest Daley, Francis Moore Eddy, Gail M. Welch, Tammy Campbell and Jennifer Gullickson Heiser. Ted Laskaris and Susan Bourne Laskaris ’81 reported that they now live in Waitsfield, Vermont. They moved onto an abandoned dairy farm with three children: Nik, Ben and Emma. Susan is busy as a full-time mom and as the active partner in their farm operations, while Ted continues his work in investment technology as the chief technology officer at Dwight Asset Management in Burlington. Always looking for more news for future issues. Please get in touch and let us know what you’ve been up to.
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Lawrence Gorkun
Class.notes@uvm.edu
1987
Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing well, and you survived the winter cold. My family and I spent a lot of time in Vermont skiing at Okemo. We had a great time being back in Vermont. Last November, I had a mini-reunion with many of our classmates. I met Mia McLean Hitchcock, Ellen Berkowitz, Jane Bernholz Maltby, Cathy Selinka Levison, Michelle Pinter Howe and Lisa Macrae Coughlin for dinner in New York City. It’s always great to see everyone and always lots of laughs. Thank you to Jeanette Beer Becker for sending me an email with lots of news. It was great hearing from you! Jeanette and her husband, Matt, attended Dara Levine’s wedding in New York City last fall. Dara married Brad Hillis, and the couple lives and works in the city. They were joined by fellow UVMers Nancy Hacohen Slavkin, Sara Prineas Wurzer, Bill and Carolyn Beatty Murphy, Sharmy Buechner Altshuler, Tammy Hart Duggan, Lori Reuschel Choinier, Eileen LaRochelle Ramer, Evan and Louise Norton Jackson, Meg Servais Mangan and Kees Goudsmit. Jeannette wrote, “We had a lot of fun together, and I hope that we all can attend our 25th reunion since most of us missed the 20th.” Keith Hanssen wrote that he and his wife Vee “live a blessed life in Texas.” They have three children, Ava, Faith and Lars, who attend Christian School in Graham, Texas. Keith lives and works at Possum Kingdom Lake Resort, where he and his wife manage Remax Possum Kingdom. Keith would like to hear from Mike Christiansen and other UVM friends via email at keith@possumkingdom.com. I loved Eric Lipton’s note. Eloquent as only a writer be, he wrote, “‘Once a Cynic, always a Cynic,’ that was the logo that Josh Prince, ’86, came up with for the twenty-year anniversary t-shirt commemorating the last time we gathered in Billings for the insane all-nighters we had each Wednesday to finish writing, editing, and producing The Vermont Cynic. More than twenty-five former Cynic editors, writers, photographers along with their significant others gathered in New York City last November to mark/mourn the passage of two decades. We were the missing link between the typewriter and the computer—the pre-Internet kids who somehow graduated without email or text messages or, dare I say it, Instant Messaging. Back then, the fax machine was a revolution. Those in attendance included Josh, Amos Kamil ’86, Andrew Cook ’84, Bill Penrose ’86, Chris Fontecchio, Daniel Seff, Liz Weir, Eric Lipton, Eric Werner, John Chaisson ’91, John Elmore, Joanne Scheinman ’86 Weisman, Jonah Houston ’88, Kim DuMond ’88 Werner, Kyra Saulnier ’86, Liz Anklow, Molly Wickes, Ron Ehrlich, Rob Cox ’89, Sean Mehegan ’86, Steve Mount ’89, Tal Cohen Shore, Victoria Doyle ’88, and Warren Dibble ’89. Folks flew to New York City for the event from all over the county.” I hope that the next time all of these great people get together they can join us in Burlington!
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Sarah Reynolds
ssrey2@verizon.net
1988
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our 20th reunion. I can’t really believe that it has been twenty years! I hope many of you come. No excuses! Recently I have been lucky enough to see many of my UVM buddies. I met Ellen Berkowitz ’87, Jane Bernholz (’87) Maltby, and Elizabeth Horman for lunch. It was great seeing them. I also met Ellen, Jane, Sarah Vaden (’87) Reynolds, Lisa Macrea (’87) Coughlin, Michelle Pinter (’87) Howe, and Mia McLean (’87) Hitchcock in New York City for a night of fun. We had so many laughs reminiscing and catching up. Over Thanksgiving weekend, Lori Tull Bass visited my family with her three kids, Adam, Drew, and Carly. I bumped into David Nadell ’87 at a camp reunion for our children. Bliss Broyard has published another book, One Drop– My Father’s Hidden Life–A Story of Race and Family Secrets. (See story in this issue.) Todd Tyrrell is the proud father of Ethan Edward Hargraves Tyrrell who celebrated his second birthday on January 11, 2008. Todd and his wife, Kim, live and work in Denver, Colorado, where Todd still plays basketball and composes music. Todd occasionally visits Lee Brooks in Atlanta, and he continues to give Lee lessons in basketball and tennis. Lee and his lovely wife, Edita, have two children, Richard and Jacqueline.
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Cathy Selinka Levison
crlevison@comcast.net
1989
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Kate Barker Swindell
katebs@comcast.net