Mercersburg Magazine - Winter 2010/2011

Mercersburg A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

Journeys page 10

VOLUME 37 NO. 3 wi nter 2010–2011

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Mercersbu rg magazi n e wi nter 2010–2011

VOLUME 37

NO. 3

WINTER 2010–2011

A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

Mercersburg

Journeys

10

1,020 Words

Taking it outside. Page 8

Global Adventures

Phoebe Moore ’13 on tropical biology in Costa Rica, Marshall Carroll in Ireland, and a look back at Mercersburg’s memorable cold-calling expedition.

Page 10

Mercersburg Profiles

Traveling foodies, thrill-seekers, pilots, and laps across (and around) the country. Page 20

36

Fall Alumni Weekend 2010

Sights and highlights from three days of alumni and friends. Page 36

My Say

The race to visit 50 states (and all 3,142 counties).

Page 53

You Should Know Neb Osman ’10 (left) edged rival and friend Tyler Mueller of Hill in the 1600-meter run at the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Prep League Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which were held at Mercersburg’s Jimmy Curran Track. Osman set a MAPL record of 4:22.56 in the event, and outlasted Mueller by a mere 0.09 seconds. For more athletic season recaps, see page 38. Photo by Dave Keeseman.

Photo credits: p. 2 Chris Crisman; p. 3 courtesy United States Naval Academy; p. 4 Bill Green; p. 5 (Maurer) Green, (Jones) Stacey Talbot Grasa, (Esselstyn) Lindsay Tanton; p. 6 Mercersburg Academy Archives; p. 7 Julia Clark MacInnis ’86; p. 10–13 (all photos) Ray Larson; p. 14 (top/middle) Gonzalo del Real, (bottom) Ray Larson); p. 15 (top left) Derry Mason, (top right) Heather Prescott, (bottom) Peter Kempe; p. 16–18 Marshall Carroll; p. 19 (group) courtesy Tim Rockwell, (headshot) Green; p. 22–24 (all photos) Ryan Smith; p. 25 (top) courtesy Taylor Phillips ’98, (bottom) Derry Mason; p. 26–27 Jeremy Bloom; p. 28 (group) Green, (headshot) Mercersburg Archives; p. 29 Jonathan Doster; p. 31 (top right) courtesy Tom Berry ’67, (bottom left) courtesy Walt Wellinger ’50; p. 32 (top right) courtesy Todd Wells ’82, (bottom left) courtesy Aaron DeLashmutt ’94; p. 33 courtesy Tony Tito ’75; p. 34 courtesy Serge Grynkewich ’66; p. 36–37 (all photos) Green; p. 38–39 (all photos) Dave Keeseman; p. 41 (Stony Batter) Green, (dance) Smith; p. 42 (Chorale) Green, (headshots) Grasa, (studio art) Kristy Higby; p. 57 Wing-chi Poon.

Illustrations: cover: Mick Wiggins

From the Head of School Via Mercersburg Athletics Arts Alumni Notes Mercersburg magazine is published three times annually by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Mercersburg Academy 300 East Seminary Street Mercersburg, Pennsylvania 17236 Magazine correspondence: Lee_Owen@mercersburg.edu Alumni Notes correspondence: NewsNotes@mercersburg.edu Alumni correspondence/ change of address: Leslie_Miller@mercersburg.edu www.mercersburg.edu Read us online: issuu.com/mercersburg

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Editor: Lee Owen Alumni Notes Editor: Lindsay Tanton Contributors: Marshall Carroll, Logan Chace ’01, Shelton Clark, Tom Coccagna, Jack Hawbaker, Tyler Miller, Phoebe Moore ’13, Zally Price, Jay Quinn, Larissa Chace Smith ’97, Ryan Smith Art Direction: Aldrich Design Head of School: Douglas Hale Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications: Wallace Whitworth Assistant Head for Enrollment: Tommy Adams Assistant Head for External Affairs: Mary Carrasco

Mercersburg Academy abides by both the spirit and the letter of the law in all its employment and admission policies. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.

Green Inks

From the Head of School

There’s No Place Like Home W hen you’ve finished reading this column, I hope you will be sufficiently motivated to go to the Admission section of our website. There you will find a captivating new feature, “My Mercersburg Story”—23 stories, to be exact, told in each student’s own words about how he or she came to Mercersburg.

Just two months ago at the November Board of Regents meeting, I overheard one Regent enthusiastically encouraging another to read these stories. As she so energetically put it, “It took me back to when I was a student and the kinds of things that were going on in my head when I was deciding to come here.” But I will tell you in advance that these are not just ordinary stories but rather stories that speak to each student’s own personal journey; the nature of the stories is what makes them both appealing and, in my view, universal.

Journeys of the kind that brought each of these young people to Mercersburg have been much on my mind this term, since I returned to the classroom in the fall to teamteach a section of incredibly engaged and engaging ninth graders with a talented, new, young faculty member. Much of the first term was given over to our reading of Homer’s Odyssey, perhaps the best known of all journeys. As we know, Odysseus’ journey is long, grinding, highly episodic, but ultimately triumphant, as he vanquishes foes, surmounts difficulties, and ultimately makes his way back to home and family.

Being the archetype against which all other journeys are compared, the Odyssey draws a clear connection between one’s personal journey and a longing for home. For all the trials and tribulations that Odysseus faces, his journey is not greatly different from any of ours; the details vary, but the stuff that life journeys are made of remains constant. We all have battles to fight, monsters to confront, and Sirens to silence and avoid. And regardless of how far our respective journeys take us, we find that thoughts of home bring us back to that place where our journey began.

As Mercersburg alumni, you travel the world and scale the heights as your lives and careers—your journeys—progress and unfold. But, like Odysseus, I hope you will find yourself one day yearning not for a new horizon or conquest, but for an “old horizon”—a chance to reconnect and return to the home from which your adult journey sprang: Mercersburg. It doesn’t matter a bit that your journey may have been long in coming; someone will be waiting here when you return to welcome you home.

Douglas Hale Head of School

erc e rm s beum r gb e mra g a z i n e D at e s Mto Re

Jan 31

Hendrickson Organ Recital: Daniel Brinson/

Feb 12

Alumni Council Winter Meeting

Feb 25–Mar 3

Mercersburg A roundup of what’s news, what’s new, and what Mercersburg people are talking about.

winter 2010–2011

Mar 4–21 May 28 Jun 4

Jun 10–12

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Josh Harvey - Irvine Memorial Chapel, 7 p.m.

Irving-Marshall Week

(Declamation: Mar 3, Simon Theatre, 7:15 p.m.)

Spring Break Commencement, 11 a.m.

End of year for undergraduates Reunion Anniversary Weekend

Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu

A Different Shade of Blue Every time the varsity men’s squash team at the U.S. Naval Academy practices or competes this year, the stage is set for a Mercersburg reunion—in large part because of the six players who completed a year in Mercersburg blue and white before moving to Annapolis.

Literally half of the Navy varsity team members are Mercersburg alumni. The list includes team captain Allan Lutz ’07, who won the program’s prestigious Barb

Trophy in October as part of the preseason tournament that determines the team’s ladder.

Other varsity team members include Billy Abrams ’09, Aidan Crofton ’07, John Richey ’09, Emile Toscano ’10, and Clayton Young ’08. Fellow midshipman Clinton Brown ’07, a former Blue Storm baseball player, took up squash for the first time after arriving at Annapolis and plays on the Navy junior varsity.

Mercersburg has a long-standing affiliation with the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, which offers students the opportunity to spend a postgraduate year at a handful of prep schools or junior colleges before moving on to Annapolis.

“We are fortunate to have a very good relationship with the Navy squash program,” says former Mercersburg squash player and current boys’ head coach Chip Vink ’73.

“Clearly, our close proximity to Annapolis, our amazing squash facility in the Davenport Squash Center, and our challenging athletic and academic schedules make for an excellent fit for someone recruited to play squash at Navy. The postgraduates bring a strong work ethic and sterling leadership qualities that certainly have a positive effect on our younger players—so there are immense benefits on both sides.”

Vink’s program has also produced players at several other colleges and universities, i n c l u di n g r e c e n t A m h e r s t C o l l e g e graduate Lee Banta ’06 and Valentin Quan Miranda ’08, who earned all-conference honors as a sophomore at Middlebury College in 2009–2010.

—Jack Hawbaker

Seated (L–R): Aidan Crofton ’07, Allan Lutz ’07, Clinton Brown ’07.

Standing: Emile Toscano ’10, Clayton Young ’08, Billy Abrams ’09, John Richey ’09.

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Announcing New Faculty

Twelve new faculty members were appointed at the beginning of the 2010–2011 academic year.

Pictured (L–R): Alicia Hawk (classical & modern languages), Renee Hicks (science), Margaret Maciulla (learning services), Erin Caretti (history), Steve Slovenski (mathematics), Bruce Rosengrant (alumni & development), Steve Brandwood (English/classical & modern languages), Sarah Mason (residential). Not pictured: Carolyn Bell (mathematics), Anna Crouch (admission), Tim Crouch (summer programs), Emily Geeza (residential).

Mercersburg Adds IPSL Affiliation to MAPL Membership This fall, Mercersburg’s athletic teams joined with their counterparts from St. Maria Goretti High School, St. James School, St. John’s Catholic Prep, and the Maryland School for the Deaf to form the Independent-Parochial School League (IPSL). Mercersburg remains a full member of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL), which includes six schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Though the other four IPSL schools are in Maryland, all are within 50 miles of Mercersburg; St. Maria Goretti and St. James are in the Hagerstown area, while St. John’s Catholic Prep and MSD are located in Frederick.

“We feel good about the formation of this organization, in part because it is a good regional compliment to our membership in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League,” says Rick Hendrickson, Mercersburg’s director

of athletics. “It provides an opportunity for several of our sports teams to revitalize natural rivalries in our area.”

According to the IPSL’s mission statement, the league unites schools that share the objective of fostering good, meaningful competition with a healthy approach that balances the values of sportsmanship and healthy rivalries. The IPSL embraces cohesive cooperation that does not infringe on the autonomy of each school and that does not create conflicts with other organizations with which member schools are aligned.

Mercersburg’s boys’ cross country, boys’ soccer, and girls’ soccer teams captured ISPL titles this fall. The league will also recognize champions in golf, volleyball, girls’ cross country, wrestling, softball, tennis (boys and girls), and track & field (boys and girls) during this academic year.

Since joining the MAPL in 2000, Mercersburg has won league crowns in baseball, football, and boys’ swimming, as well as individual titles in boys’ and girls’ cross country, girls’ golf, girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ track & field (indoor and outdoor), and wrestling.

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’Burg’s EYE VIEW

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CAMPUS NOTES

Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, Mercersburg’s academic dean, was the featured speaker at the school’s 2010 Opening Convocation in September at the start of its 118th academic year. Head of School Douglas Hale and Student Council President Liza Rizzo ’11 also offered remarks.

Hale presented the Michelet Prize to Julie Garlick ’11 o f Wa y n e s b o r o , Pennsylvania, and the Culbertson Prize to Idil Sagdic ’13 of Greenville, North Carolina.

Maurer Maurer, who holds the Walter H. Burgin Jr. ’53 Chair in Mathematics, assumed the role of academic dean in summer 2010 after an announcement by Eugenio Sancho that he would retire following the 2010–2011 academic year. (Sancho is serving as assistant head for emerging academic programs this year.)

Fall speakers in the Monday Evening Lecture Series included Edward Hirsch, a poet, author, and president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and

James McBride, an author, screenwriter, and saxophonist. Hirsch gave the Ammerman Family Lecture in October and McBride delivered a talk and a musical performance during his Jacobs Residency in December.

Hirsch, a MacArthur fellow, authored the national best seller How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry. McBride wrote The Color of Water, a New York Times best seller and a 2010 Mercersburg summer-reading selection for students and faculty.

The National Merit Scholarship Program recognized seven Mercersburg seniors as Commended Students in the fall. The students placed in the top 5 percent of the more than 1.5 million students who took the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The seven Mercersburg honorees are Matt Cook ’11 (Lake Villa, Illinois), William Levangie ’11 (Frederick, Maryland), Angelina Magal ’11 (Greencastle, Pennsylvania), Renee Mao ’11 (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), Paige Pak ’11 (East Lansing, Michigan), Danny Roza ’11 (Hagerstown, Maryland), and Chris Weller ’11 (Montgomery, Alabama).

Blue Review, Mercersburg’s annual studentproduced literary-arts journal, earned a Gold Medalist award in its annual critique by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The 2010 issue, co-edited by Aimee Chase ’10 and Jen Leahey ’10, received 948 out of a possible 1,000 points and will compete in the Crown Awards competition this spring.

The publication traces its origins to the Lit, which was first published in 1901, and is supported by the school’s English and fine arts departments and its Writing Center.

School Minister Lawrence Jones celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination as a Presbyterian minister in November. Jones first served as Mercersburg’s school minster from 1979 to 1990, and served churches in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Marquette, Michigan, before returning to Mercersburg in 2006. In addition to his position as school minister, he teaches history and religion at the Academy.

Jones’ wife, C i n d y, i s di r e c tor of the Burgin Center for the Arts and a fellow faculty member.

Jones

From Pool to Plate

Triathlete and firefighter-turned-author Rip Esselstyn ’82 was a guest on campus and in the borough of Mercersburg on multiple occasions this fall. Esselstyn [Mercersburg, winter 2009–2010], a former Mercersburg and University of Texas swimmer, is traveling the country promoting the “plant-strong” lifestyle espoused in his 2009 book The Engine 2 Diet.

He addressed the student body during a school meeting, met with the Blue Storm swim teams, and promoted an area-wide healthy-eating initiative in partnership with the Mercersburg Area Council for Wellness. More than 100 area residents, including several Academy faculty and staff members, took the 28-day challenge.

Esselstyn (second from right) with Nikki Hyrkas ’11, head swimming coach Pete Williams, and Conor Monaghan ’11.

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Leonard Plantz 1919–2010

Emeritus faculty member Leonard A. Plantz Jr. died September 19, 2010. He taught at Mercersburg from 1943 to 1984 and also served as director of athletics and head basketball coach.

Plantz earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Colorado State University and the University of Colorado, respectively. He began his teaching career at St. John’s Military Academy in Salina, Kansas, where he spent two years—as he described them—as “a horse-wrangler, fly-fisherman, counselor, and teacher.”

He began his 41 years at Mercersburg by teaching seventh- and eighth-graders (known on campus as “spiders”). When the lower grades were discontinued at the end of World War II, Plantz taught European history, English, and economics. But he always had fond memories of his life in Laucks Hall with the younger students. It was “great fun, but you had to do everything but a fan dance to keep their attention,” he said. Plantz fondly recalled undefeated spider baseball and football teams with their “high-top, cleatless black sneakers.”

Plantz became director of athletics in 1958 and coached basketball until 1963. As head of the athletic program, he oversaw the construction of the Jimmy Curran Track, field hockey and soccer fields, and squash courts; the relocation of the baseball diamond from inside the track oval to its current location next to Nolde Gymnasium; and renovations to Nolde for the basketball and swimming programs. The renovations were designed to successfully lead Mercersburg’s athletic programs into the world of coeducation.

(Full-time female students were first admitted in 1969.)

Upon his retirement in 1984, the Academy’s basketball facility was named in Plantz’s honor and a scholarship was endowed in his name.

In retirement, Plantz and his wife of 66 years, Barbara Jean Johnson Plantz, toured the country in their RV; they referred to their travels through Colorado, Arizona, and other points west and south as their “gypsy years.” They returned to Mercersburg each spring, and later settled in State College, Pennsylvania.

His wife preceded him in death. Survivors include four daughters and a son, Leonard ’67; eight grandchildren, including Sara Plantz Brennen ’88, Joshua Plantz ’94, and Noah Plantz ’00; and eight great-grandchildren.

—Jay Quinn

A plaque with the following words hangs in Nolde Gymnasium alongside the Plantz Basketball Courts: Named in honor of Leonard A. Plantz, whose gentle manner and distinguished service epitomized Mercersburg’s commitment to hard work, clean life, and fair play, and served as an outstanding example to his students, his players, and his colleagues on the faculty.

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From the Mailbag As an alumnus who was born and raised in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, I thoroughly enjoyed Wallace Whitworth’s article on Archibald Rutledge [In the Footsteps of Archibald Rutledge, summer 2010]. Growing up, Archibald Rutledge’s name was an icon in my home. When I attended Mercersburg, I often stopped by to view his arrowhead collection in the basement of Traylor on the way to get my mail. Far away from home, it gave me a sense of attachment to my youthful environment.

Several months ago, while I was in McClellanville near Rutledge’s Hampton Plantation, I came across the historical marker signifying Rutledge’s birthplace, which makes reference to his 33 years at Mercersburg. After my own life’s journey, like Rutledge, I have returned to the live oaks and moss of the Lowcountry to ironically live on what was formerly True Blue Plantation in Pawleys Island.

“True Blue” and Rutledge—both signifying a proud and strong Mercersburg tradition in the Lowcountry.

Ross Lenhart ’58

Pawleys Island, South Carolina

As a former football player and Tae Kwon Do pupil of Matthew Caretti, I enjoyed his article in the latest issue of Mercersburg [The Pen and the Sword, summer 2010]. While I stopped practicing the art he taught me, after reading about how the discipline of martial arts influenced the author of Under Siege, I found a dojang where I have been training for a year and a half. I have really enjoyed the practice and frequently think about the first martial-arts lessons I received under Matt’s instruction.

As someone interested in the philosophical as much as the physical teachings, I read The Book of Five Rings last year and frequently equated passages on swordplay to writing as Matt does in his illuminating article. I also read The Art of War with similar comparisons, and a short time later, I stumbled across The Art of War for Writers. That book became one of my favorites for help with rewriting.

While I am still working on my discipline to write every day, I have found it much easier to practice daily discipline in my martial-arts training because I enjoy it so much. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but it’s not quite as much fun as the nunchaku.

Sam Miller ’03

Los Angeles, California The author, who was featured on page 28 of the summer issue, is now a writers’ assistant on the ABC television show Desperate Housewives.

One Last Song More than 90 alumni of the Octet, Mercersburg’s male a cappella group, reunited to perform for a memorial celebration in the Simon Theatre honoring the late Paul Suerken, who died in March at age 71. Suerken was an emeritus faculty member and longtime director of the Octet, whose members at the service and related events over an August weekend represented five decades.

Additional photos can be viewed online at www.juliamacinnisphotography.com/Suerk.

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1,020 Words

Students stroll out of Lenfest Hall and onto the Prentiss-Zimmerman Quadrangle in between classes on a picturesque fall day. Photo by Ryan Smith

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A Stu dent Jou r n ey

Costa Rica

By Phoebe Moore ’13

Mercersbu rg magazi n e wi nter 2010–2011

I remember going to check my mailbox, and I was shaking. For the past two months, I had been part of the application process (meetings, interviews, presentations) for an incredible opportunity— the chance to study tropical biology for 10 days in Nosara, Costa Rica.

Eleven rising 10th- and 11th-grade students would be chosen to go, and I hoped to be one of them.

I was all nerves. I could barely turn the lock on my mailbox. When I finally pulled the letter out, my heart rate shot up; I had been anticipating this day for weeks. And when I finally got the courage to open it and saw “CONGRATULATIONS” at the top, I was ecstatic.

The journey had begun, and June 9 couldn’t come soon enough. Weekly meetings and lectures (with the rest of the students who would be going on the trip) ate up the spring term. The seniors graduated, and then one morning, the vans arrived for us in front of Ford Hall at 2 a.m. Because of the early hour and our heavy luggage, none of us moved very quickly; just getting in the van was a challenge. After all three vans were loaded, it was off to Dulles Airport for six hours of flying. Once we got our tickets

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Moore (right) with Emma Cranston ’13 and a new friend

(and coffee), we boarded the plane, and just like that, we left America behind and made room for the hundreds of memories we would soon form in Costa Rica.

As soon as we landed in the Costa Rican city of Liberia, it was culture shock.

It was 100 degrees with no air-conditioning, and of course I probably looked like an alien to the residents. Though I was nervous about being in a new place, there were pangs of excitement building inside me. Once we made it through customs, we all excitedly ran outside to find our van for the trip to Rancho Rio Montaña (our home during our stay). As if we didn’t already look like tourists with all our cameras and maps, there was a huge “tourismo” sign plastered to the side of our van. (So much for blending in with the culture.) But things were looking up; not only did the van have air-conditioning, but

we could finally start to “document the experience” (which really meant taking pictures without getting in trouble with all the security guards patrolling the airport).

The ranch was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Huge open rooms, beautiful tile mosaics everywhere, trees and oceans that spread across the horizon as far as you could see, and an infinity pool that spilled over onto a small patio; I was in heaven. After we unpacked, it was right to work. For the next two weeks we studied tide pools, went on long hikes to giant waterfalls, and rode horses through the forest, as well as two other things that I will never forget.

It was midnight, and my group of six students headed down to Playa Ostional, the main turtle beach. People from all over the world dream of going to see the turtles creep up to the shore to lay their continued on page 12

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The ranch was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Huge open rooms, beautiful tile mosaics everywhere, trees and oceans that spread across the horizon as far as you could see. eggs, and here I was doing it. Everything was surreal. We could see nothing but our own feet and turtle tracks, since there were no lights allowed. Once we spotted a track, we would follow it up the beach until we saw a massive turtle flopping around in the sand. We were told she was digging her hole (or body pit) to lay

eggs. After 10 minutes of flopping, she settled down into a trance to lay the eggs.

Immediately, one of the beach workers told me to lay down behind the turtle. For a second, I thought she was crazy; lay on a dark beach covered with sand next to a “tranced” turtle?

But I obeyed, and because of it I was

the luckiest person on the beach; I got to count the turtle’s eggs as she laid them.

I had studied turtles all spring, but never dreamed I would have the chance to count a turtle’s eggs. It was so incredible to actually see it happen with my own eyes.

The other thing I will always remember is the monkeys. I have sort of a soft spot for monkeys as it is; imagine meeting a baby monkey—or three baby monkeys—without a mother. We were visiting a small wooden house on top of a steep, rocky area, when our host told us that her job was to rehabilitate baby monkeys whose mothers had been killed by electrical wires.

The second she opened the door, my heart melted. In front of me were three baby monkeys, all playing with one giant

Mercersbu rg magazi n e wi nter 2010–2011

stuffed monkey. Once again, I was put on the spot, as the woman told me to pick up the stuffed monkey. Not just any stuffed monkey, but the one the monkeys were clinging to—and right after she told us they could bite off a finger if they wanted to.

But I picked up the stuffed animal, and immediately the monkeys flew into my arms. What I felt is impossible to describe.

Their warm little bodies scampered across me, leaping all over the place. They were so innocent and small that I couldn’t help but want one. As they looked up at me, their huge brown eyes commanded immediate attention. When it was time to leave later that day, I couldn’t bear to go. In just that short period of time, I had managed to absolutely fall in love with the monkeys, and they were too precious to let go.

The end of the trip rolled around too quickly, and we boarded the plane home.

As we climbed higher, our new beloved country got smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared. Although the land itself was gone, the memories and bonds I made with the people and country will always remain.

This trip was an incredible experience, and I am so thankful for it. I left a little piece of my heart in Costa Rica, but I know that I’ll be back to get it someday.

Moore, of Skaneateles, New York, was among the 11 students chosen to study tropical biology this summer with seven faculty members in Costa Rica. The group used Rancho Rio Montaña, a working cattle ranch owned by Mercersburg parents Susan and Edward Reilly, as its headquarters.

Wo r l dw i d e D e st i n at i o n s This year, Mercersburg is offering 12 international student trips to nine different countries.

Six students and two faculty members visited Oman in November and December as part of a symposium on human rights and migrant labor hosted by the American British Academy in the Omani capital of Muscat. It marks the third symposium between the two schools and the second trip by a Mercersburg student group to Oman.

Other international trips this spring and summer are planned to Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Malawi, and Spain. Financial aid is available.

Additionally, domestic trips are planned to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Appalachian region of Tennessee and North Carolina (both through Mercersburg Outdoor Education); to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast in a community-service endeavor; and trips for students involved in baseball and dance (respectively) to Orlando, Florida, and the Regional High School Dance Festival in Norfolk, Virginia.

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pac k your bags Groups of Mercersburg students visited Chile, Costa Rica, France, Germany, and the outdoor paradise of Jackson, Wyoming, on official school-sponsored trips over the summer. Those traveling to Chile and Germany participated in exchange programs with the Academy’s sister schools in those countries (Colegio Alemán de San Felipe and the Gauss Gymnasium, respectively). In France, advanced students of French lived the language while staying with host families through the John H. Montgomery Award program, and the Wyoming group explored the backcountry under the auspices of Mercersburg Outdoor Education.

For more on the Costa Rica trip, see the essay by Phoebe Moore ’13 beginning on page 10.

In Costa Rica: planting native fruit trees

Ariel Garofalo ’12, Amanda Hollick ’13, and Linh Ho Tran ’11 in San Felipe, Chile

Some native flora in Chile

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MOE students pose for a high-altitude group photo in Wyoming

Maureen Murray ’10, Olivia Rosser ’12, Armine Garcia Barker ’10, and Harrison Yancey ’11 with certificates; Rosser and Yancey traveled to France in the summer, while Garcia Barker and Murray visited last spring

Kathleen O’Malley ’12, Mackenzie Quinn ’12, Joey Roberts ’11, and Abby Ryland ’12 dress the part in support of German soccer at a World Cup festival

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A facu lty Jou r n ey

ireland By marshall carroll

Ireland, the land of saints and scholars, is the most beautiful place I have ever visited; each stop was more beautiful than the last, and unique in its own way. From Carrick-a-Rede and Giant’s Causeway in the north, to the Aran Islands and Ring of Kerry in the west and south, Ireland amazed me with her mystique and beauty.

I met a people who were some of the most open and interesting I have ever encountered, who also carry the burden of a colonial history. In order to better understand this while I was in Ireland, I immersed myself as deeply as I could in the culture by meeting people, traveling the land, and studying the poetry of W.B. Yeats.

I arrived in Belfast after it had experienced three days of light rioting in response to the Orange Day Parade—a celebration of William of Orange’s claiming of the British crown and the deposition of King James II (a Catholic). The riots were confined to a small neighborhood on the outside of town, so I felt no danger in continuing my travels as planned. My first night in Belfast,

at the famous Crown Liquor Saloon, I met a man who worked for the Port Authority. He explained to me many things about Ireland, from sports I had never experienced such as Gaelic football and hurling, to the reasons why there were riots this summer after many years of peace and quiet. He told me how the parade route had been changed to purposefully go through a Catholic neighborhood. The Catholics held a sit-in on the street in the way of the parade, and the police were sent in to disperse them rather than change the parade route to what it had been in the past.

My friend, in his Northern Irish accent, which is very similar in nature to a Scottish accent, explained the situation fairly elegantly: “’Tis a shame you t’were not here for ’em.”

“Why is that?” I asked, somewhat perplexed.

“You cou’ev taken part in some recreational rioting.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, ’tis a good craic. No one gets hurt in these things anymore. Wat’cha should do is fill a soda bottle wit some paint and throw it at ’em—throw it right at the cops.

They HATE that—and they can’t do anything ’cause ’tis only paint!”

Despite that reassurance, I did not participate in any form of rioting during my stay, but I did have a much clearer perspective of the north and of Ireland in general. One needs to travel through Ireland with an appreciation for tonguein-cheek humor and a wit that is characteristically Irish. I carried that understanding with me to Sligo, where I participated in the 51st International Yeats Summer School.

In Sligo, I spent two weeks studying Irish literature and history through the lens of Yeats. I gained a much greater academic understanding of the Irish people, which complemented well the education I also sought out through my interactions in the pubs. The Irish have an identity deeply rooted in a broken history—one that is defined by political hardships imposed by a colonial power, and a population base scattered across the globe. There are more people of Irish descent living outside of Ireland than living within it. My family’s existence in America, in fact, is a result of that massive emigration and diaspora. This geographic continued on page 18

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Carroll

thewinners Since 2007, the names of four faculty members have been drawn each spring to receive a $7,500 stipend for international travel. The only requirements for winners are that the travel must occur outside the United States and that the winners share their experiences with the school community in a meaningful way upon their return—whether through a presentation, an essay, or even a photography exhibition.

The program is made possible through the generosity of Board of Regents member Pierce Lord ’98. For more information, see the winter 2008–2009 issue of Mercersburg; read it online at issuu.com/mercersburg.

dispersion combined with a colonial influence leans toward the often nebulous, yet somehow definitive classification of what is Irish. Yeats embodied this in poems such as “Easter, 1916” (about the Easter Uprising) and plays like Cathleen ni Hoolihan (about Irish nationalism).

These works, however, are just a part of a much larger canon of Irish literature that expresses and defines Irish culture.

On my trip, I learned of the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland, which are best known for their isolation and their wool sweaters. This isolation has made the islands one of the last bastions of the Irish language. Though there is a movement in the country to revive the speaking of the Irish language, the islanders never stopped speaking the tongue. The only way in or out is by ferry, which is a fitting way to visit this place on the very western edge of Europe. As the saying goes, “Once you take the ferry to the Aran Islands, the next stop is Boston!”

Humorous as it is, there is a great truth to it.

Once I arrived at the island of Inishmore, I rented a bike for the day, and rode to the furthest extremes that I could while still allowing myself time to get back for the evening ferry. As I gazed across this land, I saw a rugged terrain and the stone fences that have become a popular image for Ireland. I thought about the hard labor that went

2007 David Bell Gretchan Frederick Trini Hoffman Tom Thorne

United Kingdom, France, Germany Ireland Thailand Italy

2008 Mark Cubit Eric Hicks John McAfee Richard Rotz

Colombia United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Sweden Indonesia Greece

2009 Mark Flowers David Grady David Holzwarth ’78 Heather Prescott

France France Italy Spain, France, Switzerland

2010 Marshall Carroll Pete Gunkelman Cindy Jones Alysia Oakley

Ireland, United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) Costa Rica (summer 2011) China Brazil

into extracting stones from the earth and constructing the fences so that little plots of land could be farmed or appropriated for grazing. I looked around and could not see a single person. I saw an old graveyard, plush green grass, and, in the far distance, some sheep. I took a deep breath, looked off to the ocean in the west, and, as I exhaled, it all somehow made sense. In coming to Ireland, I hoped to find myself; to define myself in a more concrete way by learning more about my heritage. In coming, I found something I did not expect—comfort. Ireland fit like a glove, a home I always had, though it was a place I had never been.

I am grateful to Pierce Lord ’98 for this opportunity and want to be sure to

share my experience with my students and truly bring it back to Mercersburg.

In that vein, Associate Academic Dean Matthew Kearney and I are scheduled to travel to Ireland with a group of students over Spring Break in March, and I hope the school will offer a term course in Irish literature and history next academic year.

Carroll, a graduate of The Lawrenceville School and Rutgers University, has served on the Mercersburg faculty since 2007.

He teaches history and holds the Marjorie McCrae McCulloh Chair for Library Director, and was one of four faculty winners of a random drawing for a travel grant in spring 2010.

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Left: the group on Pim Island in 1983. Below: Rockwell today.

A Look Back at Mercersburg’s 1983 Arctic Expedition

In

the comforts of his Mercersburg home, faculty emeritus Tim Rockwell, who taught history and served as dean of students at the Academy from 1970 to 1996, still speaks fervently about the expedition he led to the Canadian Arctic in 1983. Faculty members Frank Rutherford ’70, Dan Kunkle, and Brent Gift joined Rockwell and students Kurt Nielsen ’84, Robin Sarner ’84, and Jeff Dailey ’83, along with Rockwell’s daughter, Shawn Rockwell Hardy ’80.

The living-room chair in which Rockwell reclines provides more security than the sleeping bag he once burrowed into for an escape from hypothermia and for precious moments of sleep, and the sun that sets behind his house is much more vivid and warm than the dim haze of sun that never set on the Arctic. But when Rockwell begins to revisit memories of the biggest outdoor adventure of his life, it’s as if he never left.

Armed with packs as heavy as 70 pounds—plus sleeping bags, tents, and a radio antenna flagpole adorned with flags representing the United States, Canada, the National Geographic Society, and Mercersburg—the group traveled in honor of the centennial anniversary of the First International Polar Year and Greely expeditions, and in remembrance of Ross G. Marvin, a former mathematics instructor at Mercersburg who died on Robert Peary’s expedition to the North Pole in 1909. The team’s ultimate goal was to trek to the Greely Camp over the Johan Peninsula, across the ice of Rutherford Bay, and onto Pim Island on the east coast of Ellesmere Island (which today is part of the Canadian territory of Nunavut). Rockwell’s crew remains the first and only team to have made this journey overland.

Memories and artifacts of the trip still linger at Mercersburg; the packs and tents were donated to Mercersburg Outdoor Education, and though the equipment is no longer used, Rockwell hopes a display case showcasing the expedition will one day be erected in the Masinter Outdoor Education Center.

Rockwell continues to garner invitations to address various groups every several months. He has been a member of the prestigious Explorers Club since 1984, when he was selected as a national fellow of the organization for leading the Mercersburg team north. The Explorers Club boasts names like Buzz Aldrin and the late Carl Sagan and Thor Heyerdahl (Rockwell has met all three). One of Rockwell’s proudest moments was when the Explorers Club president mentioned his name at an annual dinner alongside just two other people: Aldrin and a Russian cosmonaut that held the record for most time in space.

Rockwell is also a former editor of The Explorers Journal, which gave him an opportunity to lecture on board the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov as it headed through the Bering Strait to Siberia in 1993. “Very few people get to visit Bering’s grave, so I feel very fortunate to have been given that opportunity,” Rockwell says. He was also on an Explorers Club committee that arranged the 30th-anniversary dinner to commemorate man in space.

Rockwell’s expedition is approaching its own 30th anniversary, and the memories and benefits that he has gained through the experience will stay as solid as the arctic ice that his boots once stepped on. “It changed my life,” Rockwell says.

Little could he have known just how much of an impact this journey would have on the lives of so many others.

—Logan Chace ’01

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Mercersburg Profiles

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Some have come to Mercersburg from, well, Mercersburg. A handful of members of this year’s student body lived in Academy housing as faculty children (before they were students). ¶ Others hail from Moscow, Munich, Miami Beach, and hundreds of points in between. ¶ Each on the map above represents the hometown of one or more members of the current Mercersburg student represents the home of at least one faculty body. Each member. And the flags displayed represent those in the Academy community from outside the United States.¶ Now that you’ve seen where the Mercersburg of today comes from, read on to see where some of Mercersburg’s alumni have been (and where they’re going).

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In the middle of Wisconsin, Larissa and Ryan stopped for lunch in the back of their car, and happened to run into someone from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, just 20 miles from Mercersburg. (Turns out you are never too far from home.)

c r e at i v e h i g h way s

By Larissa Chace Smith ’97 and Ryan Smith

What is Americana? What does this word mean to each of us? Has it been lost in the vast wasteland of strip malls and chain restaurants that now dominate our landscape, or can it be reinvented and re-created continuously? Does that sacred space of nostalgic national identity we each hold in our hearts still have a home?

These were the questions we set out to answer on our 7,414mile road trip across the continental United States in summer 2009, living out of a Honda Fit with our dog and a few belongings for one month. Having lived in Moscow, Idaho, and Austin, Texas, we had already made many a trek across the country (20

times alone to and from Texas and Pennsylvania for holidays). So it was with a dual purpose that we set out again in June 2009: to revisit old haunts and retrace trails once pioneered, and to search for evidence that a new Americana is indeed being constantly reinvented around the country. In essence, we sought and hoped to find a place in which our nostalgia, love, and hopes for our country could still thrive.

We compiled a photo essay of our discoveries and observations in a book titled Creative Highways: Pioneering Old Trails in Search of a New Americana, which we self-published through Blurb. Find it at www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1367858.

The following is a sampling of what we discovered along the way.

(below) Just before a storm interrupts this tranquil scene, Ryan captures a cozy campsite along Crazy Woman Creek in the mountains of Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming.

(top left) Larissa and Ryan pause for an early-morning photograph after camping along the Teton mountain range near Jackson, Wyoming. Hungry bellies were then sated with grilled trout and scrambled eggs. (bottom left) Larissa studies the day’s travel agenda after a picnic in the Badlands of South Dakota. Americana appears in the billboards that span the state heralding the approach of the Corn Palace or the famous Wall Drug.

“Ben Biking” greets motorists just off Interstate 90 in Sparta, Wisconsin (the bicycle capital of the world). This is just one of the “voices of Americana” that the couple discovered along the way—one of those ironic, iconic, and campy artifacts of our lives as humans in this country.

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(below) An unearthly looking storm provides an unexpected photo op along I-86 and the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho.

(above) The aptly named Crooked River winds through Smith Rock State Park near Terrebonne, Oregon. Larissa and Ryan traveled to this rock-climbing mecca during their time living in Idaho.

East from here: A journey is so much more than traveling from point A to point B. Larissa ponders the westernmost point of the trip on the Oregon shore before the couple heads east again with heavy hearts.

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Always an

Adventu re

Taylor Ph i llips ’98 is on an endless outdoor journey

By Logan Chace ’01 So much of the Mercersburg educational experience happens inside the school’s state-of-the-art buildings that make up the campus, but for Taylor Phillips ’98, it is what he learned outside that still remains with him and inspires his life’s work.

Phillips owns and runs his own outdoor tour business, Eco Tour Adventures, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and credits the school for allowing him to find his true passion and calling.

Phillips was one of the first students to participate in Mercersburg’s fledgling outdoor program, then called TREK and led by faculty member Jim Malone, and hasn’t stopped experiencing the wonders of the outside world in every possible way.

“I can’t say enough about TREK and Mr. Malone,” says Phillips. “Without that experience, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. Before TREK I didn’t have much exposure at all to the outdoor world, but through Mr. Malone’s teaching and enthusiasm, I learned how to become an outdoor enthusiast. He actively engaged us in whitewater canoeing, climbing, hiking, and backpacking.

“At this point, the outdoors and the natural world rule my life. I am an avid backcountry skier, climber, fly-fisherman, hiker, backpacker, wildlife photographer, and naturalist.”

Phillips was so inspired by his Mercersburg outdoor experience that he went on to win the Persis F. Ross Award for the student who makes the most signif-

icant contribution to the school’s outdoor program. “It made me realize just how much my life revolved around outdoor recreation, and it inspired me to continue with my outdoor pursuits,” he says. “Maybe I wasn’t the best at English or math, but winning the award made me realize that there are other avenues to pursue. So, very much due to the TREK program and Mr.

ment—kayaks, canoes, bikes, tents, packs, and climbing gear, just to name a few.

“The outdoor program has grown by leaps and bounds from when I attended Mercersburg,” Phillips says. “It seems that more students are engaged in the program and more experiences are offered. I stay updated on its development and am very interested in its direction.”

Malone, I started Eco Tour Adventures.”

A lot has changed with the school’s outdoor program (now known as Mercersburg Outdoor Education, or MOE) since Phillips was a student: the old barn has been renovated and converted into the Masinter Outdoor Education Center, where hay bales have been replaced with climbing walls and more space has been added for an abundance of outdoor equip-

Phillips remains a part of this new program as well. Last summer, MOE faculty members Sue Malone and Derry Mason (the program’s director) brought a group of students to Jackson Hole, where Eco Tour Adventures led them through Grand Teton National Park. “We explored the park and the amazing wildlife habitat and saw bison, elk, moose, bears, and deer,” continued on page 26

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Phillips remembers. “On the tour we learned about the history and geology of the region. It was such a great experience for me working with and exploring the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with current Mercersburg students.”

It’s the same ecosystem, wildlife, and geography that initially lured Phillips to Jackson Hole in the first place. “I chose Jackson Hole eight years ago because of the plethora of protected lands, recreational opportunities, and outdoor job possibilities,” he says. “This area is so different from other regions because of the protected lands [including 97 percent of Teton County, where Jackson is located] and because of the high-quality recreational opportunities. I saved my pennies for five years, and combining that with the dream and motivation, Eco Tour Adventures became a reality.”

Besides starting his own business, Phillips has set out on some of his own extreme adventures, including kayaking 1,700 miles on the Yukon River in Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia (his toughest journey to date), and hiking the Appalachian Trail (his favorite trip).

“Completing [the Appalachian Trail] was the most rewarding thing I have ever done,” he says. “It was ultimate freedom that I have never experienced before or since. I hiked solo, and I was responsible for walking. That was it. I had everything on my back. I walked when I wanted— alone or with a group, slow or fast—I ate when I wanted, I read when I wanted.

After hiking nearly 2,000 miles, I knew that anything was possible as long as I wanted it and put my mind to it.”

What does Phillips have planned for the future? “I do have my sights set on safari in Kenya,” he says. “As a wildlife photographer and wildlife tour operator, I am really interested in seeing other operations in action as well as wildlife from around the world.”

Have Fork (an d Spoon) Wi ll Travel Q&A with Rah de Fran ke ’06 Interview by Lee Owen A native of Harwood, Maryland, Rahde Franke ’06 earned a prestigious Watson Fellowship for a year of international study after graduating from Union College in New York state. Franke is immersing himself in what he calls “the global society of food” by studying outdoor cooking methods in Jamaica, Turkey, India, Vietnam, and Argentina.

During his 11th-grade year at the Academy, Franke founded the highly informal yet popular Mercersburg Grilling Society by lugging his uncle’s barrel-smoker grill to campus and organizing events on Ford Patio. While only a few students initially joined the Grilling Society, the club sold out of its T-shirts—which read, “You can’t spell ‘team’ without ‘meat.’”

Franke participated in this interview from the Turkish capital of Istanbul.

His sister, Nancy ’02, is also abroad as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay (sidebar, page 28).

Mercersburg magazine: How did you become so interested in cooking and the culinary world?

Rahde Franke: I come from a family of food lovers. We’re not “foodies,” but we like to eat and it has always been central to my relationship with my family. I am the youngest of three children, and cooking was a good way for me to get attention. My sisters babysat me a lot when we were young; as the social and physical underdog, I was “encouraged” to cook. It started as a survival tactic; feeding my sisters was a sort of peace offering. As a result, I learned that food was a great social mechanism. In high school and college, I used cooking as a way to meet people—either through dinner parties, or by starting things like the Mercersburg Grilling Society or the Culinary Theme House at Union.

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MM: How much traveling abroad had you done before you started your Watson Fellowship trip?

RF: I went abroad for the first time when I was in college. I was obsessed with the idea of traveling, but I didn’t do it until my junior year in Greece. In the following 18 months, I visited the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Paraguay, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.

MM: What has it been like having to find a place to live and essentially set up shop in completely different places like Jamaica and Turkey? And what does it feel like to be completely on your own?

RF: Surviving abroad is a lot easier than people usually expect. There are all sorts of resources for travelers to find places to live and eat—this is especially easy in cities. In general, though, I have found that the majority of my success comes from talking with others. Although Turkish and Jamaican concepts of hospitality are very different, people are generally willing to help you when you ask.

RF: It is truly bizarre to be traveling by myself, but there is a huge difference between being alone and being lonely. I have met a ton of interesting people and I have made some very good friends—and most of these relationships would never have occurred had I not been traveling alone. Being lonely is an entirely different beast. Overall, it has been constructive, but sometimes spending too much time with yourself is paralyzing. My first few days in Istanbul were overwhelming; I was surprised to find myself feeling lonely in a city of 17 million people.

MM: Do you speak any languages besides English? If not, has it hindered you in any way?

RF: Unfortunately, I don’t know any languages but English (I took Latin at

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Mercersburg). Fortunately, English is a popular language, but I am frequently in places where no one speaks English. I do what I can. I carry a dictionary, a phrase book, and a pen and paper—but mostly, I rely on my limited vocabulary, cognates, and hand gestures.

with local thyme and tomato preserve. The food was delicious and the experience was incredible.

MM: What is the best thing you’ve eaten on the trip so far?

RF: This is a much easier question. I was just getting over an illness in Jamaica and I hadn’t eaten in a couple of days. For some reason, I decided to be adventurous and try a new food: cow skin soup. It is exactly

RF: This is the most difficult question of all. I love good food, but I find a good dining experience to be more fundamental to a good meal. The best meal I had occurred while I was celebrating Kurban Bayram with a family in a small Turkish farming village called Hocakoy. The fourday holiday begins with the sacrifice of an animal (it symbolizes Abraham’s sacrifice in place of his son, Isma’il). The family I stayed with killed a cow and I helped skin and butcher it. I got up at sunrise to witness the slaughter, and by lunch, we were sitting on the floor around a table, eating kavurma (a mixture of liver and beef) on slices of ceviz lokum (traditional walnut bread)

MM: And the opposite—what is the worst or least-appetizing thing you’ve eaten on the trip?

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as it sounds—it’s a mixture of vegetables and cow’s skin boiled in a beef broth with dumplings. I could hardly stomach it. The skin still had hair on it and I’m pretty sure that it had already spoiled.

all i n th e fami ly Nancy Franke ’02 has lived and worked in Paraguay as an urban youth development volunteer in the Peace Corps since February 2009. “It has been a wonderful experience, but it has flown by—I only have a few months left,” she says from Limpio, a city of 87,000 near the Paraguayan capital of Asunción.

MM: What do you hope to do when you get home?

RF: I’m not entirely sure, but right now I am interested in working for food publications. I’ve had a lot of fun with my blog (rahdefranke.com), so I am going to explore the food world a little more. I have also considered applying for some philanthropic groups, whether domestic or in another country. I may even teach English abroad… but really, I have no idea. The past few months have been pretty formative; I wouldn’t be surprised if I change my mind a dozen times in the next year.

Select Company Franke is the second Mercersburg alumnus in as many years to be chosen as a Watson Fellow; Conor Blanchet ’04, who graduated from Colorado College, traveled to South Africa, Ecuador, Australia, and Canada to study wildlife tracking.

Franke, who graduated from Gettysburg College, studied abroad in Mexico as an undergraduate and made three additional visits to Central America, including a Habitat for Humanity trip to Honduras that was the impetus for her decision to join the Peace Corps. “I met a Peace Corps volunteer on that trip, and her work was challenging and interesting,” Franke remembers. “It seemed that she had the freedom to find creative solutions to various prob-

lems—a freedom that I didn’t have at my previous job.”

In Paraguay, Franke works with a freemeal program, a women’s group, and two youth groups; is helping to build a library and working on a community census; and teaches sex education and HIV/AIDS classes for high-school students.

When her service ends in April, she plans to travel north through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia with some Peace Corps friends before making her way back to the U.S. She hopes to begin graduate school in the fall.

“Though I’m really struggling whether to choose criminal justice or international social work as a field of study, I definitely hope to live abroad again at some point,” she says.

For more information, check out her blog, Paraguay Schmaraguay, at ndfparaguay. blogspot.com.

—Lee Owen

Honoring a Mercersburg Pioneer This fall, Mercersburg was recognized by the State of Oklahoma and the Choctaw Indian Nation for embracing a Native American student nearly 100 years ago at a time when prejudice, fear, and indifference stymied opportunities to build such ethnic and cultural bridges in schools across the country.

Wayne and Carolee Maxwell of Purcell, Oklahoma, presented Head of School Douglas Hale with a citation from the State of Oklahoma and the Choctaw Indian Nation in honor of Carolee’s grandfather, Charles McGilberry ’17, who was the first Native American to graduate from Mercersburg.

McGilberry was one of three Native American students brought to Mercersburg by Rodman Wanamaker, a Pennsylvania business magnate whose concern about the plight of Native Americans led him to pay for the trio’s tuition and board at the school.

At Mercersburg, McGilberry was active in athletics and The Lit, the school’s literary m a g a z i n e . H e w e nt o n t o Princeton University and was the first Native American officer in the U.S. Army.

A s p a r t o f Fa l l A l u m n i Weekend, the Maxwells were on campus to share the book Head of School Douglas Hale (center) they wrote about McGilberry’s with Carolee and Wayne Maxwell life, Touched by Greatness. They visited with students in history and American know that he could achieve McGilberry greatness,” Carolee studies classes and met with alumni.

Maxwell said.

The Maxwells used McGilberry’s student To learn more about the Maxwells’ book or records and correspondence between Wanamaker and then Headmaster William Mann to purchase it, visit www.touchedbygreatness Irvine in the school’s archives to fill in the gaps of book.com. that period of McGilberry’s life as they wrote the —Tyler Miller book. “Mercersburg equipped my grandfather to

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The Long Run Du r i ng a 10,000-mi le jou r n ey, C har li e B ell saw th e USA—on foot

By Shelton Clark There are undoubtedly many who would consider that their life’s journeys, in the literal or figurative sense, had their beginnings at Mercersburg. For Charlie Bell ’71, a life-defining journey of 10,000 miles began and ended at his parents’ driveway on Irvine Drive.

Bell, who since 1985 has taught mathematics at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, has a myriad of ties to Mercersburg.

“One time at a Board of Regents meeting at Mercersburg, I introduced myself as a faculty child, a day student, a boarder, an alum, a teacher, and a board member,” Bell says. “I was a faculty child at Hotchkiss from age 1 to age 10.” Bell moved to Mercersburg with his father, Frank, and mother, Rosamund, in 1963, when Frank Bell began the first of his nine years on the mathematics faculty. Rosamund Bell served as the Academy’s first dean of women and as Alumni Secretary, retiring in 1980.

The Bells came to Mercersburg alongside new headmaster William Fowle, who also arrived from Hotchkiss.

(Frank Bell died in 1996; Rosamund Bell lives in Connecticut, not far from the Hotchkiss campus.)

Today, in addition to his classroom duties at Hotchkiss, Bell also coaches cross country and track. So the phrase “take a lap” has a certain resonance for Bell, who in fact took a lap—around the perimeter of the continental United States—running and walking over the course of 560 days, beginning in 1979 and finishing in 1981.

After graduating from Princeton University, Bell sold large computers for IBM in New York City. “For exercise, I’d started running long distances, and within a year I’d run a few marathons, including Boston and New York,” Bell says. “I wasn’t

particularly good, but I loved it and I spent a lot of time wondering how good I could become if I really worked at it. One Sunday evening, after a weekend in Connecticut with my sister and brother-in-law, I was standing on a train platform waiting to go back to the city, and I realized I didn’t want to go to work the next day. Instead of letting the thought pass, I wondered what I’d really like to do—travel the world, become an actor, learn to fly, read the complete works of Shakespeare—that kind of stuff. Pretty soon I’d narrowed down my choices to seeing more of the U.S. and training for marathons. My goal, which I now realize was borderline delusional, was to run in the Olympics.

“I briefly thought about buying a van, traveling around the country, à la John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, and running 100 to 120 miles a week. Then my engineer’s training kicked in, and I realized that if I ran instead of driving, not only would I save money but I’d probably become a better runner faster. Even before the train arrived, I concluded that running around the country would be a lot more interesting than running across it, and from that moment I knew I would give it a try.”

Bell remained at IBM for another 15 months, saved his money, and trained in secret, running with a backpack. “I didn’t tell anyone at work about my plan until the afternoon of my last day,” he says. “I’d been telling them that I intended to go to business school, so they gave me a nice goingaway luncheon. As the meal wound down, I revealed what I was actually planning to do, and they loved it.

“By contrast, my parents understandably weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea,” Bell adds. “They were very supportive, though, and as time passed and they real-

ized how much the adventure meant to me, and how much it intrigued people I met along the way, they gradually came to see it more through my eyes. People regularly invited me into their homes, treated me like family, called or wrote my parents and invited them to visit—and my parents actually did that. I think that when they saw how much my trip seemed to touch strangers—and how much the kindness of strangers touched me—they appreciated the richness of the experience. continued on page 30

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While the trip contained some harrowing encounters—getting shot at inadvertently in Texas, feeling the ice of Lake Champlain (between Vermont and New York state) crack under him when he was a mile away from shore, ash from Mount St. Helens’ third major eruption falling on Portland, Oregon, running through a couple of hurricanes, and injuries which forced him to walk most of the final 4,000 miles of the 10,000-mile trip—Bell insists that the everyday and even mundane interactions with those he met were the most memorable part of the experience.

“I realized fairly quickly that my ego or my ambition got me started, but that wasn’t what was keeping me going,” Bell says. “It was the richness in what I was seeing. I had some scary and bizarre adventures, but to me, the accumulation of a lot of small things day after day was just what made it. People would be so kind to me, taking me into their homes, feeding me, calling the local newspaper; I’d be showand-tell for their kids at school. The next day I’d be hugging these moms goodbye and they’d be sort of like, weepy, and I’d

whenever it comes up, people just sort of gulp and say, ‘Wow, slow down here. You ran a lap around the country?’ I’m always very sensitive about ‘around’ versus ‘across,’ because it’s ‘pi’ times as long when you go around the perimeter.” (Spoken like a true math teacher.)

Bell has spent much of the past 29 years putting the experience on paper, building a 1,200-page manuscript. “In writing about the trip, one of the problems I’ve had is that I’m very ambitious about trying to capture the essence of it and not simply to dwell on the adventures and the things that stand out that don’t happen in ordinary life,” he says, “but to try to make the case, if you will, for what really mattered and the way my internal landscape was altered. And the internal landscape of the trip was shaped not by the unusual things but by the common everyday things in profusion. That’s probably why the manuscript didn’t have immediate appeal, because everybody wanted the simple thumbnail version of what happened.” He adds that Sports Illustrated and Reader’s Digest did publish excerpts of his writings about the journey.

“It really was an extraordinary thing, and whenever it comes up, people just sort of gulp and say, ‘Wow, slow down here.

You ran a lap around the country?’”

—Charlie Bell ’71 say, ‘But don’t worry,’ and they’d say, ‘But what’s going to happen today? I mean, we could take care of you here,’ and they’d sort of feel like my mother. ‘Something horrible could happen. When you’re under our wing, you know, we can take care of you.’

And I could look them in the eye and say, ‘You know, there’s going to be somebody tonight—maybe several people tonight— who are going to be just as kind as you.’ I could count on it, just like the sun goes up and the sun comes down. There are kind and generous people everywhere.

“I met thousands of people—I estimate about 20,000—with whom I had some sort of exchange along the way,” Bell says.

“It really was an extraordinary thing, and

“I have something to look forward to in retirement,” Bell says of finishing off the manuscript, “to try to—I won’t say to perfect it, but make it really what I want it to be, a lasting record of the whole thing.

“I could never do anything that remotely compared with that as an experience.”

Naturally, his parents were there to welcome him at Mercersburg when his long run finally ended in 1981. “They were awfully relieved when I finally came running along Irvine Drive again, about an hour later than I’d promised,” he says.

“I’d planned to finish during Bryan Barker’s Sunday-afternoon carillon recital, to the strains of [Beethoven’s] “Ode to Joy.” I stopped on the outskirts of town, only a

couple of miles from the Chapel as the crow flies, and listened for the start of the recital to begin my final leg of the trip. Alas, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. I never heard the bells, and I’d waited so long—in silence—that I arrived embarrassingly late.”

While earning an engineering degree at Princeton, Bell played soccer (“badly, but long enough to earn a letter,” he says) and only took up running his senior year. “At Princeton, I majored in engineering, but I was one of two engineers that went through teacher prep,” he says. “So I am, or at least I was, a rarity in the private-school world of being certified to teach. In the fall of 1984, I was living in a mountain cabin near Mercersburg and offered to help coach the girls’ cross country team. [Headmaster] Walter Burgin ’53 asked me to fill in for Bo Burbank as a math teacher for the winter and spring of 1985. Hotchkiss hired me the next fall. I was planning to stay at Hotchkiss for a couple of years, and here I am, still.

When the time was right, I proposed to Kay [Lindsay, now his wife] in the Academy Chapel, and we were married there.” The couple has two daughters, Amelia Bell and Eliza Lindsay.

“What I like about coaching is seeing students become so palpably self-reliant,” Bell says. “From the beginning to the end of a season, and especially over the course of several seasons, students morph from utter beginners into disciplined, mature athletes—regardless of how talented they are. By the end of their careers, they have learned how to coach themselves, and they are often better at coaching their teammates than I am.”

His perspective as an educator at a sister school is valuable in Bell’s role as a member of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents. “The other members of the Board have been generous about soliciting my opinion on what we call ‘school-keeping’—the day-to-day, year-to-year life of students, teachers, and staff,” Bell says. “Mercersburg’s Regents are an incredibly devoted, wise, and caring group. They truly love the Academy, and they work very hard to help Doug Hale and everyone else try to make Mercersburg even better tomorrow than it is today.”

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This Is Your Captain Speaking Straight from the flight deck: vital statistics from a sampling of Mercersburg alumni who have worked in the sky as commercial airline pilots

John Lake ’73 Park City, Utah

Current airline: Delta Air Lines Aircraft: Boeing 727/737/757/767 Approximate number of flight hours: 16,000 Approximate number of miles flown: 56 million U.S. states flown to: 49 (all but North Dakota) Other countries flown to include: Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Jackson, Wyoming (JAC), Salt Lake City (SLC), Los Angeles (LAX) Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: WashingtonReagan (DCA), Mexico City (MEX), New York-Kennedy (JFK)

Bob Mast ’50

Sarasota, Florida

Formerly with: Eastern Airlines Types of aircraft flown: Martin 404, McDonnell-Douglas DC-8/DC-9, Airbus A300, Boeing 727, Lockheed L-1011 Approximate number of flight hours: More than 20,000 U.S. states flown to: at least 40 Other countries flown to include: Barbados, Haiti, St. Lucia, Grenada, Mexico Favorite airports to fly into/take off from: San Francisco (SFO), Miami (MIA), Boston (BOS) Least favorite airports to fly into/take off from: MEX due to altitude, New York-LaGuardia (LGA) due to traffic

Tom Berry ’67

Collierville, Tennessee

Formerly with: FedEx, Northeastern International, Challenge International Airlines Aircraft: Airbus A300/A310, Boeing 727/737, DC-3, others U.S. states flown to: 49 (all but Hawaii) Other countries flown to include: All countries in Western Hemisphere, plus Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Turkey, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Thailand Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Memphis (MEM) Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Tegucigalpa, Honduras (TGU)

Walt Wellinger ’50 Kihei, Hawaii

Formerly with: Pacific Air Lines, Air West/Hughes Airwest, Republic Airlines, Northwest Airlines Types of aircraft flown: McDonnell-Douglas DC-3/DC-9/MD-80, Martin 202-204, Fokker F27, Boeing 727 Approximate number of flight hours: 17,000 U.S. states flown to: 25 Other countries flown to include: Canada, Mexico

Russell Blaisdell ’37 Naples, Florida

Formerly with: Pan American Airways, North Central Airlines Approximate number of flight hours: 28,500 Approximate number of miles flown: 5.7 million U.S. states flown to: 25 Other countries flown to include: Ireland, Spain, Turkey, Syria, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Senegal, Liberia

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Tony Tito ’75

Saline, Michigan

Current airline: Delta Formerly with: Northwest, Republic Aircraft: Airbus A320, McDonnellDouglas DC-9, Convair 580 Approximate number of flight hours: 21,000 U.S. states flown to: 49 (all but Hawaii) Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Fort Myers, Florida (RSW)—the weather’s always good and it’s a long runway (easy to get in and out) Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: MEX—due to a combination of elevation and the facilities

Rick Baldwin ’77 Honolulu, Hawaii

Current airline: Hawaiian Airlines Types of aircraft flown: Airbus A330, McDonnell-Douglas DC-3/DC-9/ DC-10, Boeing 717/767, Beechcraft Model 18 Approximate number of miles flown: 5 million Approximate number of flight hours: 15,000 Other countries flown to include: Australia, Samoa, Tahiti, Japan, Korea, Philippines Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Kaluapapa, Hawaii (LUP)—a 2,700-foot strip on the island of Molokai Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: I don’t mind flying into any of the airports we go to, but some of them are horrible to get in and out of due to traffic and security—so, in that regard, LAX

Parker Ward ’82 Palm Bay, Florida

Formerly with: US Airways Aircraft: Boeing 727/737, Fokker 100, Learjet 60, Falcon 10, Approximate number of flight hours: 10,000 Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: LGA—because it is surrounded by the city and very challenging due to congestion and short runway Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Washington-Dulles (IAD)—because it is really too far out from D.C. to be able to venture out after arrival and, to me, didn’t seem as efficient as other airports Editor’s note: Ward flew for US Airways until he was partially paralyzed in a snowmobiling accident in 2004. He now teaches math and science at Melbourne Central Catholic High School. For more, see the summer 2010 issue of Mercersburg.

Todd Wells ’82

Fayetteville, New York

Current airline: JetBlue Formerly with: Spirit Airlines, Mohawk Airlines Aircraft: Airbus A320, SA227 Metroliner, Beech 1900/300, others Approximate number of flight hours: 15,000 U.S. states flown to: 48 (all but Alaska, Hawaii) Other countries flown to include: Mexico, most in Caribbean Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: San Diego (SAN) Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: JFK when the weather is bad

Eli Swetland ’94

Hoboken, New Jersey

Aaron DeLashmutt ’94 Atlanta, Georgia

Current airline: AirTran Airways Formerly with: Air Wisconsin Airlines (US Airways Express) Aircraft: Canadair Regional Jet, Boeing 717 Approximate number of flight hours: 5,500 Approximate number of miles flown: 1.5 million U.S. states flown to: 41 Favorite airport to fly into/take off from: DCA Least favorite airport to fly into/take off from: Newark (EWR)

Current airline: Delta Aircraft: Boeing 737/757/767 Approximate number of flight hours: 1,200 Approximate number of miles flown: 1.5–2 million U.S. states flown to: 27 Other countries flown to include: Dominican Republic, Haiti, Colombia, Brazil, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Jordan, Israel, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa Favorite airports to fly into/take off from: St. Martin (SXM), Diego Garcia (NKW) Least favorite airports to fly into/take off from: JFK, Detroit (DTW)—though the terminal is very nice

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Pilot Spotlight: Tony Tito ’75 Like all commercial airline pilots, Tony Tito ’75 transports precious cargo every day. The difference is that now he doesn’t have to climb over the cargo to get into the cockpit.

Tito, who today flies the Airbus A320 for Delta Air Lines, began his career in aviation flying overnight mail between the Washington, D.C., area and New York City.

“We would load a twin-engine Beechcraft up to the ceiling with mail, and then crawl over the mail and into the pilot seat headfirst,” he says. “It’s the kind of thing a 20-year-old would do.”

After he accumulated the required number of flying hours to move up, Tito landed a position with Pittsburgh-based Corporate Jets. It was in this role that he handled what he calls “the most rewarding flying I’ve done” via a connection with renowned Pittsburgh surgeon Dr. Thomas Starzl, who hired Tito and the company to transport human organs for transplantation at Allegheny General Hospital. Starzl is one of the pioneers of human organ transplantation and performed the first human liver transplant as well as the first simultaneous heart and liver transplant.

So it’s not surprising that Tito immediately found himself flying all over the country—sometimes at not much more than a moment’s notice.

“They would get a call that an organ had become available, they would fly out immediately, and then they’d call us to pick them up,” Tito says. “We’d land and sometimes we’d hear the ambulance coming.

We’d have the Learjet engines running, and they’d have an Igloo cooler with a heart or a lung inside.

“And in addition to it being really important, it was a lot of fun. Organ transplantation was big news back then.”

In 1985, Tito joined Republic Airways, which became part of Northwest Airlines the next year. He moved over to Delta when that airline merged with Northwest. Today, he lives in Saline, Michigan, approximately

a half hour west of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, where he is based.

Celebrities Bob Seger, John Denver, and Willard Scott all flew with Tito in the early days; more recently, Carrie Underwood, The Rock (“he was a big guy”), and Matt Lauer have been passengers on his planes. (Presumably, all fly first-class.)

Tito has been through five engine failures in 33 years working in commercial aviation. The flying public might be surprised to learn that to a seasoned pilot, a single engine failure is a non-event. “Airplanes fly with one engine,” he adds. “It’s essentially a normal landing.”

Just before Christmas in 2000, Tito landed a Northwest DC-9 at O’Hare International Airport outside Chicago. He was stopped on the taxiway awaiting clearance to pull to the arrival gate when the wing of a Turkish Airlines Airbus A340 passed behind the Northwest plane and bumped the DC-9’s tail. There were no injuries, and both planes sustained only minimal damage.

“It was a weird feeling wondering why we were moving,” Tito remembers. “We were stopped, and then all of a sudden we were turning into the grass. I thought [the Turkish aircraft] had passed us and a jet blast had blown us onto a snow-covered taxiway. Instead, we actually connected with them. But that’s my only claim to fame, fortunately, with ‘bent metal.’”

Almost three years ago, Tito took a voluntary medical leave of absence to seek treatment for a lifelong addiction to alcohol. He completed a 28-day stay at a Minnesota treatment center, plus a lengthy recovery program mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Airline Pilots Association, and Delta. In September 2009, after 18 months away from the cockpit, Tito returned to his familiar skies; 2011 marks his 34th year in commercial aviation.

—Lee Owen

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Safety Fi rst

Keeping travelers and expats safe away from home

By Tom Coccagna Many people who travel abroad have no doubt tossed around this unsettling question in their minds: What if something happens?

That “something” most often fits into the annoying range: lost luggage, mixed-up hotel reservations, cash problems, a minor accident. The list could stretch from here to forever. But when “something” does reach the extreme, Serge Grynkewich ’66 and International SOS spring to a traveler’s assistance.

Grynkewich, who lives in Manila, is president of the Philippines division of International SOS, a company that helps travelers in distress. The company may not deal with every trivial or bothersome

situation that occurs, but when dangerous circumstances arise, Grynkewich and his team are poised to act.

Some may envision a Chuck Norris–like strike team bounding into action, sliding down ropes and eliminating threats with lightning swiftness. Real life, however, seldom resembles a scenario crafted in Hollywood.

“I want to take care that people do not get the impression that we are the white knights in shining armor who rescue all in distress,” Grynkewich says.

In other words, there are no fancy T-shirts embroidered with clever “Serge Protection” slogans or sultry James Bond music wafting through stereo speakers in

the company’s 69 worldwide offices. The company is not AAA with a license to kill.

International SOS bills itself as the world’s leading international healthcare, medical-assistance, and security-services company. Its purpose, simply, is to offer a layer of protection and peace of mind to those who find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings.

But the company has been much more to Ruben Cabrera.

In February 2001, Cabrera was in the Philippines working for General Electric as a director of commercial contracts. While in Manila, he developed unstable angina, often a precursor to a serious heart attack,

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“When you come through and the patient has his life back or can get on with his life, there’s no reward that can compensate that passion.”

—Serge Grynkewich ’66

and was not permitted to fly home to the United States.

Fortunately for Cabrera, General Electric had contracted International SOS to assist its itinerant businesspeople if they suddenly needed help. Cabrera certainly did, and although Grynkewich’s knights may not have been wearing shining armor, they came dressed in medical garb.

“The service was really impressive,” Cabrera recalls. “Serge and his staff of doctors did everything they could to personalize the service. In my case, it was not only with me as a patient but with my wife.”

Cabrera underwent cardiac bypass surgery that same month and flew home on St. Patrick’s Day 2001. He lives in Cincinnati today.

“I’ve traveled to Indonesia, Vietnam, and other places, and no matter where I was, I always had that sense of security knowing they [International SOS] were there,” Cabrera says. “Not only that, but Serge and I became great friends.”

The two stay in frequent contact, and Grynkewich realizes the personal attention he paid to Cabrera and his wife earned him a lifelong friendship as well as the satisfaction of knowing he helped restore someone to a normal lifestyle.

“I cannot say that I feel gratified—to me that has a connotation of smugness about it, which is not the case at all,” Grynkewich maintains. “It’s more a feeling of joy and fulfillment that I’ve been part of a team effort to help restore a person to his or her life so they can get on with it.”

Grynkewich has followed many intriguing routes himself since growing up in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, a small town about 25 miles from Allentown. One of

his first important choices concerned his secondary education, when his family gave him the choice of attending either Valley Forge Military Academy or Mercersburg.

He opted for the latter because he considered it “the easier, softer way out.” It didn’t quite turn out that way. In fact, he emphatically reflects, “How wrong I was!”

In subsequent years, Grynkewich put together a remarkable resume. He attended medical school, moved to the Philippines in 1973, became an airline manager for Middle East Airlines of Lebanon, then returned to the Philippines to help found the first addictions treatment center there, and became executive director of a community mental-health service. In 1998, he joined International SOS. He labels himself “an American by passport only—an outsider looking in.”

Cabrera calls Grynkewich “a true man of the world” and adds, “He knows the landscape [in the Philippines] better than any U.S. ambassador.”

The landscape has drastically changed over Grynkewich’s lifetime.

“I came here in very early 1973 when globalization and interconnectedness almost didn’t exist,” he says. “There was no CNN, there was no International Direct Dialing, and flying times were much longer. In fact, some people still sailed between San Francisco and Manila. It took four to six hours to get a call through to the States in those days and cost about $3.50 a minute.”

Radical changes, of course, have not been restricted only to communication and travel. The political environment has also been rearranged in the post-9/11 world, with heightened terrorism awareness and

security concerns, particularly in volatile parts of the world. Although International SOS is heavily involved in medical assistance and evacuations, it also helps people escape from devastation caused by terrorism, war, or natural disasters.

International SOS personnel, Grynkewich says, have performed medical and security evacuations during the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005, the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006, in Nigeria, and in “several places that cannot be mentioned.”

And Grynkewich is not immune to finding himself in precarious situations.

“My life has been threatened and I’ve had to engage in discussions with terrorists,” he says. But despite the danger, his passion for helping others retains its vitality.

“I wouldn’t want my paymasters to know this, but they could have gotten me to do a lot of it without any paycheck,” Grynkewich says, perhaps only half-joking.

“When you come through and the patient has his life back or can get on with his life, there’s no reward that can compensate that passion.”

Honor Roll

Grynkewich, who received Mercersburg’s Alumni Council Achievement Award in 2006, was selected as a finalist in November for the Asia CEO Awards’ Expatriate Executive of the Year honor. He was chosen as one of six finalists out of 147 nominees.

Fall Alumni Weekend October 22–24, 2010

Step Songs

Olympians Rich Saeger ’82, Betsy Mitchell ’83, Lee Yoder ’50, and Charles Moore ’47

Sheaffer Reese ’82 with legendary former head swim coach John Trembley

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(left) Seniors prepare to light the bonfire (below) Alumni participants with classmates during the Blue-White Swim Meet

(left) Architect Bill Gridley ’69 and Director of Athletics Rick Hendrickson give a presentation on renovations to Nolde Gymnasium A key moment for the crowd

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Athletics Dates to Remember

Feb 11–12

Feb 11–13

Feb 19

Boys’/girls’ basketball hosts MAPL Tournament Boys’/girls’ squash at National High School Team Championships (at New Haven, Connecticut)

Feb 24–26

National Prep Wrestling Championships (at Lehigh University, Bethlehem)

Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming Championships (at La Salle University, Philadelphia)

Feb 25–26

MAPL Winter Track & Field Championships (at Lawrenceville, New Jersey) Schedules are subject to change; for updates and results, visit www.mercersburg.edu

Spring Varsity Athletics Roundup Baseball

Captain: Cesar Wong Siu ’10 Baseball Award (most outstanding player): Wong Brent Gift Baseball Award (most improved player): Sam Rodgers ’11 Swoope Baseball Trophy (sportsmanship/good fellowship): Josh Muller ’10 Head coach: Karl Reisner (19th season) Record: 15–6–1 (5–1–1 MAPL) Highlights: The Storm has finished first or second in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League in seven of the last 10 seasons… Wong, Rodgers, and Matt Timoney ’11 earned first-team All-MAPL honors, while Chris Thorsen ’10 was an honorable-mention selection… Wong and Timoney were first-team [Chambersburg] Public Opinion All-Star picks, and Rodgers was a second-team honoree (all three hit above .400)… the team swept a season-opening doubleheader with Lawrenceville, beat Blair twice (including in the semifinals of the MAPL Tournament), won a single game with Hill, tied Peddie in a 10-inning contest, and split a regularseason doubleheader with Hun before falling to the host Raiders in the MAPL title game… the

team beat Episcopal Academy and Malvern Prep to advance to the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools State Tournament, where Perkiomen ended the Storm’s season… Timoney, an infielder/pitcher, led the team in victories (7–0), and struck out 53 hitters while yielding just eight walks in 40.2 innings of work.

Golf

Golf Award (most outstanding player): Harrison Brink ’11 Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Anson Guo ’11 Head coach: Paul Galey (11th season) MAPL finish: 5th Highlights: Brink earned first-team All-MAPL honors, while Chuck Mellott ’11 garnered honorablemention recognition… Brink captured medalist honors in a head-to-head match with Bullis by shooting an even-par 36 over nine holes; he was also the medalist in the Storm’s match at Woodberry Forest… the MAPL championships at Pottstown, Pennsylvania (where the team of Brink and Mellott were the Storm’s top finishers), took place in what Galey described as “about the toughest wind any of my teams have played in”…

Brink was the low scorer a team-leading five times, while Mellott posted the low score twice, including a personal-best 38 over nine holes against Georgetown Prep.

Boys’ Lacrosse

Captains: Chris Atkinson ’10, Bill Flanagan ’10, David Whyel ’10 Boys’ Lacrosse Award (most outstanding player): Alex Kelly ’12 Lacrosse Alumni Award (most improved player): Nathaniel Bachtell ’11 Nelson T. Shields ’70 Lacrosse Award (spirit/ teamwork/sportsmanship): Whyel Head coach: Mike Mitchell (1st season) Record: 0–12 (0–5 MAPL) Highlights: Flanagan was a first-team All-MAPL selection; he is now a member of the soccer team

at Norwich University in Vermont… Kelly made 16 saves in back-to-back games against conference rivals Peddie and Lawrenceville… Alex Curtis ’11, Giovanni DeSantis ’11, and Peter Flanagan ’11 were other top goal scorers in addition to Bill Flanagan.

Girls’ Lacrosse

Captain: Lauren Davis ’10, Paige Harry ’10 Girls’ Lacrosse Award (most outstanding player): Harry Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Phoebe Moore ’13 Head coach: Sarah Mason (2nd season) Record: 0–13 (0–5 MAPL) Highlights: Harry earned first-team All-MAPL honors, while Davis was voted to the league’s honorable-mention squad… Davis lettered all four years of her Mercersburg career… Harry led the team in scoring with 24 goals; Shelley LaMotte ’12 scored 10 goals to rank second on the squad… Cammie Reilly ’10 was tops on the team in assists… Harry led the squad in ground-ball possessions… Jane Banta ’11 averaged nine saves per contest in goal… the Storm scored in doublefigures in back-to-back games against Blair (14–10) and Wyoming Seminary (16–12); Harry had four goals in each game, and LaMotte also scored four in the Blair game.

Softball

Captains: Sarah Duda ’10, Sara Erlichman ’10, Leigh Saner ’10, Kate Vary ’10 Softball Award (most outstanding player): Julie Garlick ’11 Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Nikki Rhyne ’12

Head coach: John David Bennett (1st season) Record: 8–8 (1–7 MAPL) Highlights: Vary became the 19th Mercersburg athlete to earn 12 varsity letters in four years (in softball, basketball, and soccer)… Vary and Saner earned their fourth softball varsity letters… Garlick, who led the team in batting average (.468), hits (22), runs batted in (17), and stolen bases (eight), was a first-team All-MAPL selection; Erlichman was an honorable-mention choice after going 5-3 on the mound with a team-best 2.63 earned-run average and posting a .326 average at the plate while scoring a team-high 14 runs… Rhyne hit .390 and was second on the team in hits (16) and RBI (12)… after an 0–3 start, the team rattled off four straight wins (including a dramatic victory at Hill, where the Storm rallied from a five-run deficit in the final frame to win 12–10)… the team finished the year with three straight victories.

Boys’ Tennis

Boys’ Tennis Award (most outstanding player): Jason Lee ’12 Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Eli Littlefield ’11 Head coach: Eric Hicks (16th season) Dual match record: 0–9 (0–5 MAPL) MAPL finish: 6th Highlights: Chris Shie ’10 earned Academic AllMAPL honors… Ben Bunjapamai ’11 finished fifth in the No. 1 singles flight at the MAPL Tournament…

Bunjapamai also won the squad’s annual Teigelack Tiebreaker Tennis Tournament (TTTT) and Short Court event… Julian Eisner ’11 captured singles matches against both Lawrenceville and Hill…

Bunjapamai and Littlefield earned both singles

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and doubles wins against John Handley High School of Winchester, Virginia… the team will welcome a number of new players for the 2011 season.

Boys’ Track & Field

Boys’ Track & Field Award (most outstanding athlete): Neb Osman ’10 Edward J. Powers ’37 Award (most improved athlete): Charlie Fitzmaurice ’10 Robert Fager Black ’07/’45 Trophy (sportsmanship/ loyalty): Michael Lorentsen ’10 Head coach: Frank Rutherford ’70 (10th season) MAPL/state finish: 5th/6th Highlights: Osman set a MAPL record in the 1600m (4:22.56) in dramatic fashion over Hill’s Tyler Mueller at the MAPL Championships… Lorentsen won the MAPL pole-vault crown (12’0”)… other top MAPL finishers included Osman (2nd/3200m), Charlie Fitzmaurice ’10 (3rd/javelin, 4th/discus, 5th/shot put), Carlos Garcia ’10 (4th/triple jump), and Zack Holzwarth ’13 (5th/pole vault)… the 4x800m relay team of Osman, Garcia, Ellis Mays ’10, and Tyler Mulloy ’10 won the PAISAA state championship and set a school record in the event (8:08.85)… other notable state finishers were Garcia (2nd/triple jump), Matt Cook ’11 (3rd/3200m), Fitzmaurice (4th/shot put, 4th/javelin, 5th/discus), and Lorentsen (4th/ pole vault)… Osman earned National Silver Standard status in the 3200m… the 4x400m relay team of Garcia, Mays, Osman, and Simeon Daniels ’10 took fourth in the prep-school independent division at the Penn Relays… Osman and Mays lettered all four years.

Girls’ Track & Field

Girls’ Track & Field Award (most outstanding athlete): Deborah Adjibaba ’11 Edward J. Powers ’37 Award (most improved athlete): Julianna Dahbura ’10 Robert Fager Black ’07/’45 Trophy (sportsmanship/ loyalty): Sarah Kolanowski ’10 Head coach: Nikki Walker (1st season) MAPL/state finish: 2nd/3rd Highlights: Adjibaba (100m) and Kolanowski (high jump) won PAISAA individual state titles…

Adjibaba swept the 100m, 200m, and 400m at the MAPL championships; Dahbura (triple jump) and Mackenzie Riford ’11 (3200m) joined her as individual MAPL champions… other top MAPL

finishers included Abby Colby ’12 (2nd/3200m, 5th/1600m), Kolanowski (3rd/100m high hurdles, 3rd/long jump, 5th/triple jump, 5th/400m hurdles), Paige Summers ’11 (3rd/discus, 5th/ javelin), Dahbura (3rd/triple jump), Ashley Heisey ’12 (3rd/ pole vault), Kearsten Cubit ’10 (3rd/800m), and Melody Gomez ’13 (4th/400m hurdles)… Adjibaba (100m), Dahbura, and Heisey set school records in their events… the 4x400m relay team of Adjibaba, Cubit, Riford, and Laura Rahauser ‘12 and the 4x100m team of Adjibaba, Cubit, Rahauser, and Kiersten Sydnor ‘12 each earned a third-place finish in the prep-school independent division at the Penn Relays… Brookke Mahaffey ’10 was a four-year letterwinner.

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Arts

D at e s to Re m e m b e r

Feb 11–13

Stony Batter Players: The Sound of Music (8 p.m. Fri/Sat, 2 p.m. Sun)

Feb 26

Winter Pops Concert, 8 p.m.

Apr 15

Percussion Blast 2011, 8 p.m.

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Apr 29-30 May 7

May 8

Spring Pops Concert, 8 p.m.

Spring Dance Concert, 8 p.m.

Stony Batter Players: Classical Scenes Boys’ Garden, 1:30 p.m.

Events in Simon Theatre unless otherwise noted. Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu.

Stony Batter Players directors: Laurie Mufson, Matt Maurer

(above) Susan Durnford ’11 and Mark Merritt ’11 in Arms and the Man (right) Caitlin Cremins ’14 in The Dining Room

Dance

director: Denise Dalton Kaboom!, a Daltonchoreographed piece at the Fall Dance Concert

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Vocal Music directors: Richard Rotz, Jim Brinson

Chorale members Ciero Wang ’11, Ryan Ma ’11, and Robert Price ’12 at Opening Convocation

ARTS NOTE Bethany Pasierb ’11 (soprano I) and Stephanie Stine ’11 (alto II) were selected as members of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s district chorus in November.

Pasierb

Visual Art

faculty: Mark Flowers, Kristy Higby, Wells Gray Linh Ho Tran ’11, acrylic

James Firestein ’11, mixed media

Stine

Alumni Notes Submit alumni notes by visiting the Alumni Online Community at www.mercersburg.edu/ podium or by contacting your class agent. Submissions may appear online or in print.

Mercersburg reserves the right to edit submissions for space or content, and is not responsible for more than reasonable editing or fact-checking.

When sending or uploading photos, please submit images of the highest quality possible; some images captured by cell phones or other cameras may not be suitable for print.

’44

Patricia D. Hughes, wife of former Maryland Governor Harry Hughes, passed away January 20, 2010.

u Dick Hoffman 859-846-5512

u Bill Alexander III 740-282-5810

’46

Johanna Wirtz-Woodworth, mother of Eli Woodworth ’13, presents a portrait she painted of Mercersburg alumnus Stan Smoyer ’30 to Head of School Douglas Hale.

The portrait will hang in the Smoyer Tennis Center on campus. Smoyer died December 15 at his home in Princeton, New Jersey; look for an obituary in the next issue of Mercersburg.

’49

’57

’50

u Alex Burgin burgin-enterprises@sbcglobal.net u Bob Walton waltonrr@comcast.net

Beverly Carol Shipley Lahr, wife of David Lahr and sister-in-law of Stanley Lahr, died June 11, 2010.

u Bert McGann thmcgann@aol.com u Joe Silverman jsspks@atlanticbb.net

’56

Ken Steigelman and his wife, Carol, live in Cooperstown, New York, and Lighthouse Point, Florida. In September, Ken climbed Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in New York state (5,344 feet above sea level, in the Adirondacks). “It wasn’t pretty, but I got the job done and completed one of my ‘bucket list’ objectives,” he writes. “Life is good and we send greetings to all those ’56ers still taking nourishment.”

Tim Bercovitz is still working and serves as staff commodore of the American Legion Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California, as well as sergeant-at-arms of the Newport Harbor American Legion Post 291. “Fair winds to you from ‘Skipper Tim,’” he says.

u Ed Hager edward.t.hager@gmail.com

u Dave Ulsh ducu1960@comcast.net

’51 Ken Steigelman ’56 at the summit of Mount Marcy in New York state.

Norm Macartney and his 8-year-old yellow Lab, Sadie, spent six weeks in May and June driving across the country visiting animal shelters and distributing copies of Silent Partner, a manuscript Norm wrote following the death three years ago of Starr, his beloved black Lab. Norm and Sadie visited shelters in 12 states from North Carolina to Idaho; stops along the way included Dallas,

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San Francisco, Boise, and Louisville. Proceeds from the sale of each manuscript support the shelters.

50th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’61

◆◆Bill Thompson thomps132@gmail.com

u Jon Dubbs j.dubbs@rcn.com

’62

to Middleburg, Virginia. He will maintain an office in Richmond. Phil’s legal career spans 40 years; he has appeared in every level of court in the Virginia state and federal judiciary systems, including appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court.

45th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’66

u Stan Westbrook fswest1@verizon.net

Tom Hoober writes that the Class of ’62 mini-reunion in September in Cape May, New Jersey, was a success.

“We made a handsome if not impressive group,” he says. “Enjoyed the late night discussions and jokes on the veranda at Southern Mansion, a great find by Jack Reilly at a very good rate…

Tap beers, good lunches, interesting shops, good parks—but mostly great fellowship.”

Serge Grynkewich completed a twoyear term as chairman of the Overseas Security Advisory Council in the Philippines. His final meeting as chairman was attended by the new U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas Jr., who presented Serge with a token on behalf of the Department of State. Serge will serve as the new chairman’s deputy and also continue as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber.

Philip Marstiller has announced the relocation of the Marstiller Law Firm

Joe Kyle’s son, Kevin, pitched for the Clemson baseball team as a freshman

Former roommates Dave Holzwarth ’78 and Walter “Ernie” McGhee ’78 with their sons and current Mercersburg JV football teammates, Zack Holzwarth ’13 and Brad McGhee ’14.

in 2010. Kevin made 13 appearances as a left-handed reliever for the Tigers, who advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, and beat Arizona State and Oklahoma before dropping two games to eventual champion South Carolina.

u Allan Rose allan@byrose.com u Ed Russell martnwod@bellsouth.net

’67

Fred Cooke and his wife, Kay, are back in gear with life and doing well. They have moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and will pursue a life of retirement in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Fred is most appreciative of all the notes that he and Kay received after the death of their daughter, Morgan, two years ago. He can be reached at Fcooke1@ verizon.net.

At a September mini-reunion in Cape May, New Jersey (L–R): Tom Hoober ’62, David Gilmer ’62, Jon Dubbs ’62, Ralph Linn ’62, Roger Budny ’62, Jack Reilly ’62.

The works of Tom Graffagnino were on display in October and November in the Burgin Center for the Arts’ Niche Gallery. Tom took up drawing and painting as a student at Tulane University, and taught at Mercersburg from 1978 to 1980. He also taught at The Hotchkiss School and Auburn University, and has had more than 25 solo exhibitions in Washington, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Charlotte, and Zurich, Switzerland.

u Harry Apfelbaum hlavmd@dejazzd.com u Rick Fleck aspnrick@aol.com u Dick Seibert rseibert@knobhall.com

Faculty emeritus Jay Quinn, Kent Price ’63, Jim Goodwin ’63, Charlie Coates ’63, and Topper McCullough ’63 enjoy dinner during a class gathering in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Other attendees in Bar Harbor included Charlie Ballou ’63, Paul Sommerville ’63, and Drew Bisset ’63.

’69

Dick Seibert of Knob Hall Winery in Clear Spring, Maryland, officially unveiled three new wines at the Maryland Wine Festival. After accepting three Gold Medals and a Best in Class award, Knob Hall unveiled its newest wines to the tens of thousands of people

who flocked to the huge gathering of wine lovers.

40th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’71

u Joe Rendina jjrendina@gmail.com

35th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’76

u Ann Shabb Warner ann@howardspub.com u Jane White Yocum jane.yocum@hmrmlaw.com Joe Taylor was inducted into the Upstate New York Chapter of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. His wife, Kathy, who is the head women’s lacrosse coach at SUNY Cortland, was also inducted. Joe is the director of lacrosse operations for Nike, and played at Cornell in the 1970s with Mercersburg teammates Charlie Wood, Joe Szombathy ’75, and Sam Happel ’78; the Big Red won the 1976 and 1977 national titles.

u Gretchen Decker Pierce grdnfrk@gmail.com u Carol Furnary Casparian furnaryc@mercersburg.edu u Molly Jones Mancini mmancini@wintergardens.com u Daryl Workman Keeler virginiaprofessionalcounseling@ verizon.net

’79

Paul Feldman, a vice president at GlaxoSmithKline in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, spoke to Mercersburg science students during a campus visit on Fall Alumni Weekend in October. His talk was called “Pharmaceutical Research and Development: Past and Present Realities and

Births/Adoptions To Kris Reisner ’94 and his wife, Juanita: a daughter, Amelia Grace, July 23, 2010.

Future Aspirations.” Paul, who oversees metabolic disease research for GSK, has also served as an adjunct professor of chemistry at Duke University and North Carolina State University.

In August, Steve Hummel was ordained into the United Church of Christ at Phoebe Home in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (Chuck Rogers ’78 attended the ceremony.) Steve has been called to serve as minister at Trinity UCC in Coplay, just north of Allentown. Steve earned a master’s of divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary.

To Gill Tatman-Tyree ’95 and his wife, Ann: a daughter, Raleigh Morgan, September 18, 2010.

Faculty To Michael Cameron and his wife, Jennifer Blyth: a daughter, Ruby Joy Cameron, September 14, 2010.

30th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’81

u Karen Craig y2kc@earthlink.net u Nick Fuhrman nfuhrman@comcast.net u Annette Schaffer Steinbarth asteinb@ucls.uchicago.edu u Agnes Schrider agnes@nelsonphysicaltherapy.com u Josh Turner jbt4@comcast.net u Dave Wagner wags1262@sbcglobal.net u Jay Yarid jryaridjr@yahoo.com u Greg Zinn greg@zinn.com Emma Celestina, daughter of Nate Fochtman ’03 and his wife, Gina, born October 19, 2010.

25th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

20th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

Cristina Lauch Würmer ’94 and her husband, Johannes, with daughters Ariana and Luisa Lavinia. (Luisa was born January 8, 2010.)

Miles Rice, son of Owen Rice ’98 and his wife, Bonnie, born May 21, 2010.

Daughters of faculty members Leah Rockwell ’97 and Pete Gunkelman: Eve Jean Gunkelman, born August 24, 2010, with her big sister, Louisa.

’86 ’91

u Laura Linderman Barker lslinderwoman@yahoo.com Mercersburg native Chris Frisby is a descendant of a number of soldiers who served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. Among them is his great-great-great grandfather, Hezekia Watson, who served as a member of Company I of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment (which was featured in the 1989 film Glory). Chris teaches at St. James School near Hagerstown and was profiled in March in the Harrisburg-based ShowcaseNow! magazine.

Kelley Keeler Short writes, “We’ve had a busy six months! Austin and I put our house in Wilmington, Delaware, on the market in February and remarkably, we sold it in five days. So, in mid-March we moved into a rental house in Georgetown (about 10 minutes from our farm and 30 minutes from Lewes/Rehoboth) until our renovation/construction projects are completed late this fall. At that point we will move out to the farm, but for now, it is just great to be down here.”

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Harry McCullough and his wife, Lori Ruohomaki McCullough, owners and operators of Mercersburg’s popular Romeo’s restaurant, have opened a second business, Juliet’s, on the square in downtown Mercersburg. Juliet’s features ice cream, freshly roasted coffees, unique teas, fruit smoothies, and locally made pastries, cookies, and pies.

Jason Pastorius is chief executive officer at Provinceroot International.

u Peggy Burns peggy@drawnandquarterly.com u Emily Gilmer Caldwell emily.g.caldwell@gmail.com u Chip Nuttall cliffnuttall1@comcast.net

’92

Peggy Burns is associate publisher of Drawn & Quarterly, a Montreal-based graphic-novel company. D&Q is a client publisher of the literary house Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and publishes many award-winning cartoonists, some of whom have appeared in the pages of The New Yorker. Peggy, who previously worked at DC Comics and MAD magazine, also contributed an essay to Be

Thrifty: How to Live Better with Less, a book edited by classmate and friend Pia Catton [Mercersburg, summer 2010].

’95

Gill Tatman-Tyree and his wife, Ann, welcomed a daughter, Raleigh Morgan, September 18, 2010. Gill is serving his third tour of duty in Iraq, but was able to make it home on R&R for the birth.

15th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’96

u Lori Esposit Miller lorimiller234@gmail.com u Geraldine Gardner geraldide@hotmail.com

u Liz Curry Watkins elizabethjcurry@yahoo.com u Dean Hosgood dean.hosgood@gmail.com u Beth Pniewski Bell bethannbell@gmail.com

’98

Pierce Lord married Nina Arakelian

May 22, 2010, in Rye, New York.

Alumni in attendance included Steve Upham ’71 (Pierce’s uncle) and Pierce’s classmates Chesley Bastholm Nonemaker and Dean Hosgood. Pierce is in his third year on Mercersburg’s Board of Regents.

u Jenn Flanagan Bradley bradleyj@mercersburg.edu u Jessica Malarik jmalarik@gmail.com

’99

Rachael Baird and her husband, Anthony, moved to London. Rachael stays connected to Mercersburg by working as a consultant on the KARUX yearbook and for the school’s Office of Summer & Extended Programs. She successfully moved her business, Tilt Studio, to London as well. To see Rachael’s work, visit tiltstudioinc.com or issuu.com/ mercersburg to read a feature about her from the summer 2009 issue of this magazine.

Andy Danziger is engaged to Melissa Persaud. A May 2011 wedding is planned in Sarasota, Florida.

u Kevin Glah kevglah@gmail.com u Taylor Horst taylorhorst@gmail.com u Andrew Miller amiller@pioneeringprojects.org

’00

William Draper graduated from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

10th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’01

u Ann Marie Bliley abliley@gmail.com Will Conrad left John Deere to pursue an MBA at Northwestern University.

Holly Czuba works as a web and graphic designer in Salisbury, North Carolina, and is competing in triathlons.

Ann George is an integrated wellness practitioner in New York City. She is studying pre-med and psychology at Hunter College, and is still working in acting and singing.

u Bryan Stiffler bryan.stiffler@gmail.com u Liz Stockdale lstockdale@foxcroft.org u Ian Thompson ianmthompson@gmail.com Faculty member Mark Flowers and his son, Morgan Higby-Flowers ’03, prepare to kayak a section of the French Broad River in North Carolina. Morgan was visiting his parents from Alfred University, where he is in his second year of graduate school. He is working on a master’s of fine arts.

’02

Kristin Burkhart received a master’s in counseling and college student personnel from Shippensburg University. She was inducted into both the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and the Chi

Sigma Iota Counseling and Professional Honor Society. In August, Kristin began as assistant director of learning services at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. She continues to live in Chambersburg.

u Katie Keller kkeller@alum.bucknell.edu u Nick Mellott nhmellott@gmail.com

’04

Brett Ottolenghi, who runs Las Vegasbased Artisinal Foods, was the subject of a feature story, “The Truffle Kid,” in the August 16, 2010, issue of The New Yorker. Brett, who grew up in Gettysburg, moved west in 2004 to attend the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

He and his father, Arturo, started an online business called The Truffle Market in 1998; the business was run out of Brett’s Mercersburg dorm room for a time.

u Matt Brennan brennan1273@gmail.com u Alexis Imler alexis.imler@gmail.com u Tammy McBeth Armstrong tammy.l.armstrong@gmail.com

’05

Johnny Dawes works for the Environmental Integrity Project and has contributed to its nationally recognized reports, “Outside the Law: Restoring Accountability to the Tennessee Valley Authority” and “In Harm’s Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and Their Environment.” For the latter, Johnny was the chief investigator of private and public wells in the site reports, constructed maps and exhibits, and assisted in report editing.

Keith Macharia is majoring in art history and French at New York University.

He is applying to the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

5th Anniversary Reunion June 10–12, 2011

’06

u Joy Thomas jatho2@wm.edu u J.T. Wilde wildejt@comcast.net Lee Banta graduated from Amherst College and is teaching history at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia.

In addition to teaching, Lee is helping with the squash and golf teams. He says he’s still looking for his father anytime someone says, “Hello, Mr. Banta.”

Linsey Haram is a biologist studying in Connecticut. She was interviewed for a recent news report on WTNH, the ABC affiliate in New Haven, about an invasive shrimp species.

Vincent Rey is a linebacker on the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad. He

Marriages Kristine Pelekanakis ’98 to Seth Kennedy, September 6, 2009.

Faculty Anna Marks to Tim Crouch, September 5, 2010.

Caroline Sanders to Mike Byers, November 13, 2010.

Pierce Lord ’98 and Nina Arakelian on their wedding day, May 22, 2010.

works out with the team as one of eight members of the practice squad, and is available to be signed to the active roster for the Bengals or another NFL team if the need arises.

Paul Rutherford spent the summer working for the Idaho Falls Chukars, a minor-league baseball affiliate of the Kansas City Royals (and a member of the rookie-level Pioneer League).

At the close of the 2010 season, Paul was named assistant general manager of the Bakersfield Blaze, the Cincinnati Reds’ affiliate in Class A California League.

u Xanthe Hilton xanthe89@gmail.com u Chuck Roberts cer2141@columbia.edu

’07

Megan Dent-Carman, a senior at Frostburg State University, studied in an intensive Spanish program in Argentina over the summer. Megan is majoring in Spanish and legal studies and is captain of the Bobcats’ women’s lacrosse team.

She was named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association honor roll. Last spring, she finished fourth on the team with 28 points.

u Jeff Chung jc939@cornell.edu u Peter Cooke pbc7@case.edu u Lauren Dobish ldobish@bates.edu u Chris Freeland freelandc@comcast.net u Taylor Hoffman thoffman@tulane.edu u Hannah Starr hs1218@messiah.edu

(above) The wedding of Kent McGlincy ’99 and Jennifer Helmick, July 24, 2010, at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. Front row (L–R): Jennifer and Kent, Kyle Shaffer, Sarah Shaffer ’99, Tyler Shaffer, Sylvia Saracino ’99. Back row: Dan Chayes, Dave Holzwarth ’78, Sabina Rizzo ’12, Allison Stephens, Jamie Thompson ’71, Laura Dupré Rizzo ’77, Steve Antal, Heidi Anderes ’01, Patrick Koch ’99, Tom McCahill ’99, Jake Koodrich ’99. (Not pictured: Louis Helmick ’39, grandfather of the bride.)

’08

Chris Freeland received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy as a member of its Class of 2014.

Gussie Reilly co-captained the Washington College field hockey team this fall. Gussie started all 19 games as a junior for the Shorewomen, who began the year with a trip to Bermuda to face the Bermudan national team.

u Kiersten Bell 09bellk@earthlink.net u Annie Birney annieb14@aol.com u J.B. Crawford crawfordj304@gmail.com

’09

u Alicia Furnary afurnary@colby.edu u Becca Galey rebecca.galey@gmail.com u Ariel Imler animler@edisto.cofc.edu u Robby Marsh Kurtz robert.kmarsh@gmail.com u Rachael Porter rmp413@lehigh.edu u Andrew Reynolds reynola@purdue.edu u Molly Serpi serpim@comcast.net u Bond Stockdale stockdaleb7@gmail.com u Coralie Thomas coraliemlthomas@gmail.com

Dean’s List acknowledgement. This past summer, he worked via an internship with TASC (a private company in Washington, D.C.), gathering information on global agricultural security treaties and potential threats. Outside the classroom he is actively involved in the intramural sports programs, workouts, and Buckeye football.

Taylor Dunn will continue his college basketball career at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he transferred from fellow NCAA Division I school Winthrop University last summer. Taylor, whose father is Michigan assistant coach (and former Penn State head coach) Jerry Dunn, will be eligible to play for the Explorers beginning in the 2011–2012 season.

James E. “Jim” Fuchs, two-time Olympic bronze medalist and father of Slater Fuchs, died October 8, 2010. A former world-record holder in the shot put, he placed third in the event at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics and cofounded the Silver Shield Foundation (with then New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner) to raise money for children of New York City police officers killed in the line of duty.

Danny Phillips is a sophomore at Ohio State University. He finished his freshman year with an intended major in political science, with a 3.6 GPA and

’10

Kate Vary’s father, Thomas C. Vary, died July 8, 2010. Tom was a distinguished professor of cellular and molecular biology at Penn State College of Medicine.

’13

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New on the Alumni Council Gregory D. Smith ’65, Boca Raton, Florida

Before retirement, Greg served for five years as a math teacher at Mercersburg.

Prior to that, he taught at Duquesne University and Robert Morris College. Greg has worked as a merchant seaman, a carpenter, and a chief executive. He has two sons, Aaron ’95 and Ben ’99. Though Greg lives in Boca Raton, he also keeps a residence in Mercersburg; he has been an active volunteer at the school, having served on the Board of Regents from 1994 to 1998 and as a reunion volunteer.

James C. Zeger ’65, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree from Juniata College and a master’s degree from Coppin State College. He has served as a teacher supervisor for the Maryland Correctional Institution and has been mayor of Mercersburg since 2003. Jim’s late father (Lawrence ’34), two late brothers (Dennis ’63 and Chris ’68), a nephew (Michael ’96), and two nieces (Jami Swailes McCall ’86 and Andrea Zeger ’90) also attended Mercersburg. Jim is an active volunteer for the Academy, providing his talents as a phonathon caller, class agent, and reunion committee member. He and his wife, Linda, a retired third-grade teacher, have two daughters and two grandchildren.

Margaret “Molly” Jones Mancini ’79, Hanover, Pennsylvania

Molly is director of research and development/corporate chef for Winter Gardens Quality Foods. Prior to joining Winter Gardens, Molly held positions at Hanover Foods Corporation and the Cibo Corp, and owned a business in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She holds degrees from Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University. As a student at Mercersburg, Molly was secretary of the senior class and co-president of Blue Key. She also served as a dorm prefect and played field hockey and tennis. Molly and her husband, John, have a son (Johnny ’14) and a daughter. Molly’s father (the late Dick Jones ’48) and sister (Elizabeth Jones Sisca ’82) also graduated from Mercersburg.

David V. Dupont ’80, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Dave is senior vice president for RBC Wealth Management. He has three children, including Benjamin ’12. Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and business management from North Carolina State University.

While at Mercersburg, Dave was in the Ski Club and the Model Railroad Club and played football, basketball, and lacrosse. He is a class agent and has served as a reunion volunteer.

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Obituaries

Obituaries ’31 Robert W. Downing, August 2, 2010. (Irving, Cum Laude, The Fifteen, News/KARUX Board, Memorial Committee, Nevin Orator) A graduate of Yale University, Bob began his career with the engineering department of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1935. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy and reached the rank of lieutenant commander. He resumed his railroad career at the war’s end, eventually becoming assistant to the president of the Great Northern Railway in 1956. He is known for his leadership in successfully implementing the merger of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. He retired in 1976, and served as a Mercersburg class agent for many years. His wife, Mary Matthews Downing, preceded him in death. Survivors include a son, two daughters, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

’33

John D. Shafer Sr., September 16, 2010. (Marshall) Jack attended Lehigh University and spent his entire professional career with the family business, Revonah Spinning Mills in Hanover, Pennsylvania, retiring as president. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Stambaugh Shafer, and a brother, Russell ’32. Survivors include two daughters, a son, eight grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

’34

Howard G. Fleisher, April 24, 2010. (Marshall, Class Ode Committee, News Board) Howard graduated from Williams College and is survived by his wife, Adele Fisher Fleisher; a son and three daughters; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

’35

Hendrik van Oss, July 21, 2010. (Marshall, swimming, The Fifteen, Les Copains, KARUX Board, Class Day Committee) Hank, a graduate of Princeton University, also studied at Columbia Law School and the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He was a champion freestyle swimmer, setting a world record as a member of Princeton’s 300-yard medley relay team in 1939.

A career diplomat, he joined the State Department’s Office of Biographical Information in 1942 and held several Foreign Service posts throughout the world. In 1974, he retired to Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He held volunteer leadership positions with Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic and Princeton’s alumni council. His wife, Anne, preceded him in death. Survivors include a son and a daughter.

’37

Joe L. Brown, August 15, 2010. (Main, Irving president, Senate, Stony Batter, The Fifteen, Chapel Usher, baseball, football, Varsity Club, Class Day Committee chair) Joe, son of the famous actor and comedian Joe E. Brown, graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles and became an executive for a minor-league baseball team in Lubbock, Texas. After serving in the Army Air Force during World War II, he worked in the front office for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League before joining the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. In 1955, he succeeded Branch Rickey as the Pirates’ general manager. In Joe’s 21 seasons on the job, the Pirates won the 1960 and 1971 World Series and five National League East Division titles after divisional play began in 1969. (The 1960 Series produced one of the iconic moments in baseball history—Bill Mazeroski’s ninth-inning, game-winning home run at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.) As a Pirates executive, he signed Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. Joe was the longtime chairman of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee, and also served as the Pirates’ acting GM for a portion of the 1985 season. His wife, Paulita, preceded him in death. Among his survivors are a daughter and a son (Don ’65).

’38

Harper B. Sunday Jr., July 20, 2010. (Marshall, Stamp Club) A graduate of the Ohio College of Podiatry, Harp was an Army Air Corps Veteran of World War II. He is survived by his wife, Romaine Nessley Sunday; a daughter; and a granddaughter.

’39

Robert F. Hershner, July 15, 2007. (Irving) Bob attended the University of Virginia before joining the U.S. Army’s Air Transport Command in 1943. As a pilot, he flew “The Hump,” a route over the southern Himalayas between India and China. After the war, he spent 35 years in California with Douglas Aircraft, retiring in 1985.

His favorite story from his time at Douglas involved the time he led the team that delivered the first Playboy jet (a customized black DC-9 with the famous white bunny on the plane’s tail) to Hugh Hefner. Survivors include a son and a daughter, two grandsons, and two great-grandsons.

Robert L. Moreland, July 16, 2010. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Cum Laude, choir, Les Copains, Senate, Stony Batter, tennis, wrestling, Class Day Committee) A graduate of the College of Wooster and Princeton Theological Seminary, Bob was a Presbyterian minister and served churches in Arkansas, Kansas, and Michigan. He was

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an officer in the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church.

He was predeceased by his brothers, Joseph ’25, James ’29, and William ’34. Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Martha Smith Moreland; four children; and 11 grandchildren.

Philander K. Motheral Jr., August 8, 2010. (Main, Marshall, choir, Glee Club, Camera Club, Class Ode Committee) A graduate of Princeton University, Knox was an Army officer during World War II. A longtime employee of Mellon Bank, he retired as an officer in the company’s trust division and later became a real-estate broker. He was also involved with several cultural institutions in the Pittsburgh area, and served as the neighborhood judge of elections for many years. He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Patricia Jean Wright Motheral, and by two brothers (including George ’36) and two sisters. Survivors include two daughters, a grandson, and a nephew (Tom ’67).

George B. Saxe, July 28, 2010. (Irving, football) A graduate of Cornell

University, George served in the European theater with the Army in World War II. He was an established and successful real-estate developer in Palo Alto, California. He and his wife of 62 years, Dorothy Ruby Saxe, were nationally known collectors of contemporary crafts. In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.

Robert J. Schaefer, October 5, 2010. (Irving, News editor, The Fifteen, French Club, baseball, swimming, wrestling) Bob graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a Navy veteran of World War II. He retired from Dow Chemical’s research and development division and lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Survivors include his wife, Mary; two daughters; and two grandchildren.

’40

service, he returned to Yale and graduated in 1948. He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago. He was president of Tristate Electrical & Electronics Supply from 1960 to 1994, and continued to serve as CEO until the company was sold to Dutch firm Hagemeyer N.V. in 1999. His wife, Margaret Stott Waltersdorf, preceded him in death; survivors include three daughters and a son, John ’68.

Alton A. Wentzel Jr., May 18, 2010. A graduate of Gettysburg College

and a Navy veteran of World War II, Alton was a partner in J.C. Wentzel & Sons, a catalog showroom in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Arlene Carns Wentzel, as well as a son, a granddaughter, and a sister.

’45

Lansdell Anderson Jr., March 5, 2010. (Keil, Irving, track, wrestling)

“Bud” retired as executive vice president of All Glass Service in Lakewood, Colorado. He was preceded in death by his father, Bounce ’20.

Robert E. Renn, September 4, 2010. Bob and his wife, Beattie, started

out as dairy farmers after they married more than 60 years ago. Bob was a member of the Maryland-Virginia Milk Producers. In addition to his wife, survivors include four sons and a daughter, 12 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.

Charles C. Sharp III, September 15, 2010. (Main, Marshall, football, track) “Tim” joined the Navy in May 1945 and served honorably for three years. He possessed an extensive knowledge of horticulture and retired in 1992 as an agricultural agent for the Cumberland County Extension Service. He hosted a weekly radio show about gardening in southern New Jersey for several years under the name “Chauncey McNiff.” In addition to his wife of nearly 60 years, Marion Platts Sharp, survivors include a son, two daughters, a granddaughter, a great-grandson, and a cousin, Fran ’60.

George F. Young Jr., June 29, 2009. (Marshall, swimming) “Bud” grad-

uated from Dickinson College and the Dickinson School of Law. He was an Army Air Corps veteran and prisoner of war during World War II. He practiced law in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Survivors include his wife, Sandy; three daughters and a son; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

’42

Carl V. Raring Jr., April 15, 2009. (Marshall, Glee Club, track) Carl

earned the Bronze Star after seeing action in three World War II battle campaigns in the European theater as a member of the Army’s Eighth Armored Division. He later owned and operated Raring’s Shoe Store and Raring’s House of Cards in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. His wife, Mary, preceded him in death. Survivors include two sons, two grandchildren, and a sister.

’43

John M. Waltersdorf, September 2, 2010. (Keil, Irving, Football Band,

Concert Band, Glee Club, Camera Club, track, KARUX Board) John attended Washington & Jefferson College and Yale University. In 1946, he left college to serve in the Army, and became an official photographer with Operation High Jump, the last expedition led

by Admiral Richard E. Byrd to the South Pole. Following his military

’46

Robert S. Feller, September 2, 2010. (Keil, Marshall, tennis, French

Club) Bob graduated from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania Dental School. He served in the Army Reserve and the Army Dental Corps, rising to the rank of captain. He received the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. Bob opened a dental practice in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, before moving to Thousand Oaks, California, where he practiced dentistry until his retirement in 2002. He founded the Conejo Valley Dental Study Group and helped develop the Eastern Sierra Family Dental Clinic in Mammoth Lakes, California. Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Jean; three daughters and a son; and six grandchildren.

’47

Ernest H. Rosenbaum, September 7, 2010. (South Cottage, Marshall,

Concert Band, track, football, wrestling, KARUX Board) Ernie was a well-known San Francisco hematologist and oncologist. He retired in 2006 after 50 years of medical practice. He authored more than two dozen books and worked on programs to benefit cancer patients, survivors, and families until his death. He was especially proud of

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his service as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps. After attending the University of New Mexico, he graduated from the University of Colorado Medical School, trained in hematology and oncology at Tufts New England Medical Center, and spent an additional year in a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. In addition to several directorships, he participated in many research projects in basic science, immunology, melanoma, and breast cancer, as well as supportive care, home care, and rehabilitative programs for cancer patients. Melding his nearly life-long love of opera and medicine, he served as the medical adviser and physician for the San Francisco Opera for more than 40 years. He was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Isadora Feldstein Rosenbaum; survivors include three sons, a daughter, six grandchildren, two brothers, and a sister.

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Charles S. Berry, August 3, 2010. (South Cottage, Marshall, News

Board, El Circulo Español, Chapel Usher, Class Day Committee) Chuck graduated from Lehigh University. He founded Revley Corporation, which operated in Pennsylvania and Texas. He sold various forms of insurance for many years and was a member of the Life Underwriters. Survivors include his wife, Vicki Gillette Berry; three sons; and a number of stepchildren and step-grandchildren.

’50

Joseph C. Sterling, July 25, 2010. (Main, Irving) Joe graduated from

Franklin & Marshall College and served in the Army during the Korean War. Along with his father, brother, and uncle, he was a partner in the Sterling & Handy Seafood Company. Following the sale of the company, he worked at Eastern Correctional Institution until retirement. In addition to his wife of nearly 53 years, Ruth Ellen Walters Sterling, survivors include two daughters, two grandchildren, and a sister and brother.

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William G. Kopp III, April 1, 2010. (Main, Irving, basketball) Bill was

president of Northern Machine Works in Philadelphia. He was predeceased by his first wife, Ann “Nance” Kopp. Survivors include his wife, Inge; two sons and a stepson; and five grandchildren.

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Randall F. Hipple, August 22, 2010. (Main, Marshall, KARUX Board,

Press Club, Stony Batter, Caducean Club, Jurisprudence Society, The Fifteen, football, golf, track) Randy graduated from Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Temple University Medical School. He served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps during the Vietnam War. He was involved during his professional career in many capacities with a wide range of medical societies and associations. He spent 34 years on the Williamsport City Council, including 12 years as council president. He was predeceased by his first wife, the former Janet Gale Walker, and father, Henry ’25. Surviving are his wife, Mary Ann; a daughter,

two sons, three stepsons, and a stepdaughter; three grandchildren and four step-grandchildren; and a brother, Hank ’65.

G. Leroy Rowe, September 25, 2010. (Marshall) Leroy graduated from

Franklin & Marshall College and served in the Navy. He began his banking career with Union Trust Bank of Baltimore, went on to Rising Sun National Bank, and then People’s Bank of Maryland in Denton, Maryland, where he retired as president. He started Rowe Insurance Agency in 1990. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Barbara Ann; a son and two daughters; and four grandchildren.

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William A. Ward, September 14, 2010. (Keil, Marshall, track) Bill

earned a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College and a master’s in police administration and public safety from Michigan State University. He retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of colonel after 30 years of service. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Sharon. Survivors include his wife, Linda Woodham Ward; four daughters and two sons; six grandchildren; and a sister.

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Michael F. Caldwell, April 3, 2010. (Irving, Concert Band, Laticlavii,

Gun Club, Radio Club, Chess Club) Michael graduated from Michigan State University and Wayne State University, and worked as a guidance counselor and registrar at Brent International School Manila in the Philippines.

Robert H. Leekley, August 3, 2010. (Keil, Irving, Class President, Class

Orator, Lit Board, Senate, El Circulo Español, Glee Club, Octet, Stony Batter, football, basketball, track, Varsity Club) After graduation, Bob moved to California and entered Stanford University. He worked in sales for a while for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) in San Francisco. Bob was retired from Paper Materials Company, of which he was president, chairman of the board, and controlling stockholder. His wife, Lee, preceded him in death; survivors include three sons and a daughter.

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George A. Jocher, August 22, 2010. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Les

Copains, Christian Service Group, Radio Club, soccer, cross country, track, Varsity Club) George graduated from Roanoke College and the U.S. Officers Training School at Newport, Rhode Island. He served aboard ships in Cuban waters and the Mediterranean, and later became special assistant for federal policy coordination in data processing at IBM. In the early 1980s, he managed a joint project between the U.S. and Spanish navies. In later years he was responsible for various intelligence agencies at home and abroad. Survivors include his wife, Carmen de Perignat Jocher; four sons; and two granddaughters.

Frederick C. Mish, September 27, 2010. (South Cottage, Irving debater, class historian, KARUX Board, The Fifteen vice president, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Stony Batter, Jurisprudence Society, salutatorian, Cum Laude) Fred was the former editor-in-chief, editorial director, and vice president of Merriam-Webster. In his tenure there, he had the overall responsibility of editorial content of the iconic Collegiate

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Dictionary. He was editor-in-chief for the New Collegiate Dictionary (1983), the Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition (1993), and the Collegiate Dictionary Eleventh Edition (2003). He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Yale University, served in the Army, and completed a Ph.D. in medieval literature from the University of Minnesota. Fred received, among many awards, the honorary Samuel Monk Teaching Fellowship from York College and in 2005, the Mercersburg Class of ’32 Plaque (the highest honor bestowed on an alumnus). His father, Joseph ’17, preceded him in death.

Among his survivors are his wife of 41 years, Judith Solberg Mish, and three sons, including Stephen ’90.

W. Stewart Hazelton, October 16, 2007. (South Cottage, Marshall,

Charles D. Zitzman, August 17, 2010. (Marshall) Charles graduated

ginia University and the Washington and Lee College of Law. Tyler served as a public defender in Harrison County, West Virginia. Survivors include two sons and a niece, Allison Cutlip ’02.

from Southeastern Theological Seminary and served as pastor of Baptist churches in Chase City, Virginia; Roxboro, North Carolina; Spindale, North Carolina; and Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was also president and owner of Allsafe Fire Equipment in Halfway, Maryland, and past-president of the Halfway Volunteer Fire Company.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Patricia Creager Zitzman, and a son.

Student Council, French Club, Stony Batter, Gun Club, Varsity Club, cross country, wrestling, lacrosse, cheerleader) Stew attended Syracuse University, where he met his wife, Betsy. He worked at the Massachusetts law firm of Furman Cannon and later in real estate with RE/MAX on Cape Cod. Survivors include his mother and two sons.

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Tyler A. Cather, August 24, 2010. He graduated from West Vir-

Former faculty/staff/friends Ruth Reynolds Baxter, philanthropist and widow of Regent Emeri-

tus George Baxter ’36, July 19, 2010.

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John R. Duvall, former faculty member, June 17, 2010. He taught

A graduate of Union College, Roy served in the Army and worked for Key Bank for several years before becoming self-employed. He served on the board of the Community Foundation for the Great Capital Region and the Schenectady Community Foundation Board, and was a staunch supporter of the arts and education.

The Hershey Chorale Room in Mercersburg’s Burgin Center for the Arts was named in honor of Roy and his wife, Nancy. In addition to his wife, survivors include three daughters and four grandchildren; a brother, Tom ’63; a nephew, Todd ’88; and a niece, Mindy Hershey Houck ’85 (and her husband, Glenn Houck ’88).

Nancy J. Fox, mother of Development Director Gail Reeder and

Roy M. Hershey, July 12, 2010. (Main, Marshall, swimming, soccer)

’61

Thomas W. Mittler, June 13, 2010. (South Cottage, Irving, soccer,

Gun Club, Christian Service Group) A graduate of Miami University, Tom spent nearly 40 years working for Mittler Supply, which was started by his father. Under Tom’s leadership, the company grew into one of the largest independent gas and welding supply chains in the nation. He was an active participant in vintage motorsports races and rallies. Survivors include his wife, Charlotte Greenleaf Mittler; two sons and a daughter; six grandchildren; and a sister.

’65

Frederick W. Anderson, September 22, 2010. (South Cottage,

Irving, Kazaki, Jurisprudence Society, Chess Club, Varsity Club, soccer, track) Fred graduated from Pennsylvania State University and worked in sales for C.H. Anderson Company in State College before his retirement.

French and English at Mercersburg from 1959 to 1966. He later spent 28 years teaching French and social studies at High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland. Survivors include his wife, Maitland Cadden Duvall; a son and daughter; and three grandchildren.

grandmother of Adam Reeder ’97, Anne Reeder ’00, and Jordan Fox ’11, September 7, 2010.

Nick A. Giannaris, restaurateur, philanthropist, and father of Paul ’88 and Dean ’90, September 28, 2010. He founded and owned the popular Hagerstown restaurant Nick’s Airport Inn, which his sons continue to own and operate [Mercersburg, winter 2009–2010].

Michael B. Gruppe, brother of Associate Head of School Debbie

Rutherford, brother-in-law of Frank Rutherford ’70, and uncle of Matt Rutherford ’03, Paul Rutherford ’06, Stephon Fullerton ’06, and Amelia Goebel ’09, October 21, 2010.

Verna Beatrice Hale, mother of Head of School Douglas Hale, December 19, 2010.

Herbert H. Morton III, former registrar and math teacher (1962 to

1964), June 30, 2010.

Leonard A. Plantz, faculty emeritus, September 19, 2010. [page 6]

My Say

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I have a confession to make, dear reader. Your friendly magazine

editor is a complete and total nerd when it comes to travel and geography. And what better place for me to come clean than in an issue devoted to “journeys”?

by Lee Owen I love going places I’ve never been—and I also enjoy visiting places I’ve already been. (When you rarely travel for business and live in a town of 1,500—albeit about the most pleasant tiny town anywhere—you take what you can get.)

As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to visit all 50 states. I’ve been to 46 of them, which might sound impressive but is only good for second place in my own house. My wife, Lindsay, has checked all 50 off her list.

She has lived in nine different states, and traveled by car every childhood summer to a professional-development conference for her father’s job—which meant cross-country road-trips from the South and Midwest to Seattle and San Francisco and New York and all points in between.

It’s actually my fault that Lindsay completed her 50-state odyssey before me, since we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon and she accompanied me to Alaska for a college basketball tournament that I worked while there.

Meanwhile, I’m still missing Wyoming, Montana, and both Dakotas; my 5-year-old daughter, Langley, has even been to North Dakota, and I haven’t. (In case you’re wondering, I have a bit of a competitive streak.)

Some people have different rules for how they count states or countries that they’ve visited. My rule is that your feet (or at least your tires) have to touch the ground in a particular state or country for it to qualify. While I’m pretty sure I’ve flown over the four states I’m missing, those pesky state lines are hard to see from 30,000 feet.

I haven’t seen the movie The Bucket List, but I do have a list, and it’s plenty long. Here are just a few of my travel-related goals: • Visit every state.

• Visit every county in the United States. There are 3,142 of them, and with almost 900 checked off my list, I’m 28 percent of the way there. A couple years of coast-to-coast travel in an RV should take care of a lot of the places I’m missing, as should the Appalachian Trail hike that Langley and I already have planned for the year 2028 (after she graduates from college).

• See a baseball/football/basketball/hockey game at every major-league stadium and arena in the U.S. and Canada.

I’m at 51 venues as of this writing, and doing pretty well with the baseball and football stadiums, since I have the advantage of having been a sportswriter in a previous life.

There is one glaringly deficient section of my travel log: a lack of international journeys. Mine are limited to a pair of trips to Canada, along with visits to the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (which don’t count as countries, of course).

Sadly, I don’t even have a passport; by comparison, all seven of my student advisees at Mercersburg do, and three of them were part of school trips last summer to Chile, Costa Rica, and France. So I have some work ahead of me.

What’s the moral of this story? Go. See. Do. Take advantage of any chance you get to go somewhere new. Sure, it sounds cliché, but it’s a whole lot of fun. In 18 years, when Langley and I reach the end of the Appalachian Trail at the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine, I may not be able to hoist her on my shoulders like I do now—but it won’t matter. The journey alone will be worth it.

Owen has served as editor of Mercersburg magazine since November 2006, and has traveled to 46 U.S. states, 889 counties, and on approximately 14,580 of the 47,303 miles of the Interstate Highway System. He is a faculty member and an adviser in Fowle Hall on campus.

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