Wooster magazine, Summer 2011

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SUMMER 2011

I.S. Takes on Pop Culture

Alumni Farmers Develop Sustainable Practices Reflections on Daily Chapel

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S U M M E R

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Fo r e ve r y t h i n g t h e re i s a s e a s o n

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If you’re a student at Wooster these days, you can celebrate Independent Study in two dramatically different ways.

The first one you’ve probably experienced or heard about. The Monday after spring break when Independent Studies are due has become known as I.S. Monday—one of the College’s most cherished traditions. At 5:00 p.m., after the last I.S. has been handed in, students parade under the arch and through campus, led by the Scot pipers and cheered on by undergraduates, faculty, and administrators. They are the elite. They did it. Wearing green wigs, tartan bikinis, bunny ears, and superhero masks, they rollick. It is common knowledge that a lot of the rollicking is alcohol-fueled.

I.S. Monday is so much part of the Wooster tradition that alumni continue to toast their accomplishments and to remember. This year, I.S. Monday Happy Hours were held in 14 U.S. cities and two in India. The one in Washington, D.C. attracted almost 100 people.

One month after I.S. Monday, the second event occurs, and it couldn’t be more different.

Senior Research Symposium, piloted as part of President Cornwell’s inauguration festivities in 2008 and institutionalized in 2009, is a day when seniors showcase their Independent Studies with posters, performances, demonstrations, and lectures. Classes are cancelled so that underclassmen can attend, and community members are also invited. The symposium enlarges “I did it!” to “Here’s what I did!” Fueled only by their confidence and knowledge, again Wooster seniors are the elite.

As I attended the two events this year and made note of their differences, I thought back to my own alma mater. One of Iowa State’s most cherished traditions is Veishea, a spring festival created in 1922 to showcase the university’s accomplishments. But when Veishea began to be known more for its alcohol-sodden parties than for anything else, things ran amuck.

Riots brought the university dishonor and national attention, and forced the university community to think closely about what had gone wrong and how to fix it. And fix it they did.

PHOTOS: Matt Dilyard I wonder if Wooster’s success lies in keeping its two I.S. events separate. The rules and expectations for Mardi Gras-style parades and research symposia are different and are clearly articulated. There’s also the matter of scale. Five thousand drunken students (the estimated number at Veishea one year) can cause a lot of damage.

Wooster’s I.S. Monday celebrants will never get so out of control because their numbers are few.

I was tempted to end this column with a pithy reference to “a time for every purpose—a time to cavort, a time to button down.” But my memories of ISU and Veishea prompted me to dig around a little about drinking on the Wooster campus.

“How are things going?” I asked administrators at Student Health Services. Their responses indicate that they are watchful and they are mindful. With help from a grant from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, the College works to educate and—if necessary—to intervene. All first-year students are asked to take an online course before they arrive on campus. Students who exhibit repeated alcohol-related problems are required to see a counselor for additional education and evaluation. The problem is not static, say Wooster administrators, nor is it easily solved. And it is always with us.

There is always a time for mindfulness.

KAROL CROSBIE E DITOR I S S N 0 8 9 4 - 8 7 9 8 | S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 | V O LU M E 1 2 5 , N O . 4 | C O N T I N U I N G T H E W O O ST E R P O ST G R A D U AT E , F O U N D E D 1 8 8 6 PR ESI DE NT

E D I TO R I A L AS S I STA N T

Grant H. Cornwell

Elizabeth Fackler ’13

V I C E P R E S I D E N T F O R D E V E LO P M E N T

P H OTO G R A P H E R Matt Dilyard DESIGNERS

Christina Ullman and Alix Northrup, Ullman Design P R O D U CT I O N D I R E CTO R Cally King

Sara L. Patton AS S O C I AT E V I C E P R E S I D E N T F O R C O L L E G E R E L AT I O N S A N D M A R K E T I N G

John L. Hopkins D I R E CTO R O F A L U M N I R E L AT I O N S

Heidi McCormick ’86

WO O ST E R (USPS 691-220) is published fall, winter, spring, and summer by The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691. Periodical postage paid at Wooster, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices.

Send address changes to Wooster Magazine, 1220 Beall Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691-2393, 330-263-2327, and editorial comments to 330-263-2187.

Campus switchboard: 330-263-2000 Email: kcrosbie@wooster.edu, Class_Notes@wooster.edu Visit us on the web at www.woosteralumni.org

P R I N T E R Angstrom Graphics, Cleveland

This publication is made with paper certified by SmartWood to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance. It is printed using healthy, environmentally friendly soy inks.

Cert no. SW-COC-002235

A Q U A R T E R LY MAGAZ I N E FOR A LU M N I & FRIENDS OF TH E COLLEG E OF WOOSTE R

E D I TO R Karol Crosbie

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2011 Independent

Study I S S U E

1 0 POW! Independent minds take on pop culture

Fe a t u re s

2 2 U N DE R TH E SU N New farmers practice old ways 3 4 CHAPE L: SACR E D TI M E?

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8 Departments

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6 OAK G ROVE

40 C L A S S N O T E S

4 S A L LY P AT T O N

8 ALU M N I N EWS

61 O B I T U A R I E S

C OVE R I MAG E:

Alix Northrup, Ullman Design

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We welcome your feedback. Write to Karol Crosbie, editor, Wooster, Ebert Art Center, The College of Wooster, 1220 Beall Ave., Wooster, Ohio, 44691, or kcrosbie@wooster.edu. We may edit letters for clarity and length.

LETTE RS FROM OU R R EADE RS

Mailbox

Andy Weaver’s Web I really enjoyed the “Andy Weaver’s Web” story. I had not realized when I did my Independent Study under the advisement of arachnologist Maggie Hodge that Wooster had a long history of spider fans. As a sophomore, I decided to take Dr. Hodge’s ethology class on a whim. I was lured by her enthusiasm for the material and was quickly tangled in her web. She had a spider example for everything! I met with her outside of class to ask questions, and she handed me journal articles about spiders that would provide answers (and lead to more questions). I loved it!

I was always Iooking around for little critter examples, finding webs around the entranceway to Douglass Hall, and enjoying the masses of ladybugs overwintering on my dorm room ceiling. I never would have predicted that I would study spiders or any other arthropod for that matter, but I spent endless hours with Schizocosa wolf spiders my senior year, and studied mud dauber wasps and paper wasps during summers and in graduate school. I’m definitely one of the many to be charmed by spiders and continue to appreciate the small things in life. I’m happy to be one of the Wooster Spider Club.

I accompanied Maggie Hodge to the American Arachnological Society meeting the summer after graduation. Based on my observations, the passion and excitement expressed by Dr. Weaver, his

2 Wooster SUMMER 2011

followers, and Maggie is shared by many arachnologists. They are a fun group. If you have an opportunity to spend time with one, take it!

H I L L A RY N A D E AU ’ 9 6 E UG E N E, OR E.

I really enjoyed the recent issue and the article about Andy Weaver. It brought back wonderful memories of being a biology major—spring break in Florida, searching for spiders (also a broken leg on the beach), arthropods class, and a fake wedding on the roof of the bio building.

JAN HOLLI NG E R JON ES ’69 CLEVE LAN D, OH IO

“To this day, I will not kill a spider, and that is due to Dr. Weaver.” . . . David Fieldgate ’72

The last Wooster magazine was brilliant, with three items that piqued my interest. The article on Dr. Weaver was great; his Biology of the Invertebrates was probably the best course I took at Wooster. We had to collect 100 different invertebrate species, identify them and where they were found, and mount or preserve them. I must have had the collection for at least 30 years. To this day, I will not kill a spider, and that is due to Dr. Weaver.

DAV I D F I E L D G AT E ’ 7 2 M I L L F O R D , M AS S .

Regarding Abe On pg. 40 of the winter Wooster, the student awarding the unofficial honorary degree to Lincoln is incorrectly identified. The award was made by John Weckesser ’63, who imitated Lowry with makeup, costume, and voice.

He stood on the edge of the stage and acted as though he might lose his balance at any moment while addressing Lincoln. Meanwhile, Howard Lowry was 20 feet away, with tears rolling down his cheeks, he was laughing so heartily at John’s s imitation.

Prior to that presentation, Lincoln had resided in the maintenance building for the entire time the Class of ’63 was on campus. Mysteriously, the Class of ’63 was able to resurrect Lincoln for its senior chapel. It was a true highlight for everyone in the chapel that day.

DAV I D D . N O B L E ’ 6 3 WO O ST E R , O H I O

Some additional facts regarding why Abe is on campus are interesting. He was given to the College in 1915—one of seven copies crafted by the William Mullins Co. of Salem, Ohio, for display in towns along the Lincoln Highway. Only three of these statues are known to survive: Ours, one near Pittsburgh, and one at a Boy Scout camp in Michigan.

B O B B L AC K ’ 5 6 B E D F O R D , N . Y.

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Reclaiming Mission I came within a whisker of tossing the Winter 2011 issue of Wooster in the recycling bin before reading “Life Support: Reclaiming Mission.” That would have been a big mistake. This was a most inspiring story about the efforts of First Presbyterian Church in Skaneateles, N.Y., to step up and address the critical health needs of a tiny community in war-torn southern Sudan. This is an example of putting the mission of Jesus into action. God expects Christians to address serious problems in forgotten places. This small church has formed a relationship with hurting people by listening to them and then acting on their priority for transformation.

Their goodness, under the leadership of Pastor Craig Lindsey and John Dau, is reversing evil and bringing the hope of the Gospel to people who are precious to our Lord. I trust this is not the end of the story, but merely the beginning.

J O H N D . M O R R I S ’6 9 C E DA R R A P I D S , I OWA

And race my soul unsheathed.

Each year it calls me to replay The hours I first o’er-breathed.

G O R D O N S H U LL, PROFESSOR E M E R ITUS, POLITICAL SCI E NCE, WOOSTER, OH

Max and I thought we’d end our watch as ’51 class secretaries with some gentle laughter at ourselves. Enjoy this poem by Lynn Roadarmel Kowalske.

M A X S E L BY ’ 5 1 , B AY V I L L AG E , O H I O

They took a class picture, a curious mixture Of beehives, crew cuts and wide ties.

Tall, short, or skinny, the style was the mini you never saw so many thighs.

JAN ET EVANS SMITH ’51, PE R RYSVI LLE, OH IO

The Class Reunion

By Lynn Roadarmel Kowalske

Every five years, as summertime nears, An announcement arrives in the mail, A reunion is planned; it'll be really grand; Make plans to attend without fail.

I'll never forget the first time we met; We tried so hard to impress.

We drove fancy cars, smoked big cigars, And wore our most elegant dress.

In verse The latest issue of Wooster is superb, as usual. I was drawn to the piece on the marathoners, because last year I learned that my exercise coach, Pam Tegtmeier, director of the College’s wellness program, was off to Boston for the great marathon.

When she returned and I asked her how she felt about it, she answered with one word, “Tired.” It inspired the following parody: Amazing Race! How sweet the ground Paved for a wretch like me.

I once had jogged, but now I pound; Had walked, but now I spree. ’Twas race that led me far away,

They awarded a prize to one of the guys Who seemed to have aged the least.

Another was given to the grad who had driven the farthest to attend the feast.

It was quite an affair; the whole class was there.

It was held at a fancy hotel.

We wined, and we dined, and we acted refined, And everyone thought it was swell.

The men conversed about who had been first To achieve great fortune and fame.

Meanwhile, their spouses described their fine houses And how beautiful their children became.

At our next get-together, no one cared if They impressed their classmates or not.

The mood was informal, a whole lot more normal; By this time we'd all gone to pot.

By the 40th year, it was abundantly clear, We were definitely over the hill.

Those who weren’t dead had to crawl out of bed, And be home in time for their pill.

And now I can’t wait; they're setting the date; Our 60th is coming, I’m told.

It should be a ball, they’ve rented a hall At the Shady Rest Home for the old.

Repairs have been made on my hearing aid; My pacemaker’s been turned up on high.

My wheelchair is oiled, my teeth have been boiled; And I've bought a new wig and glass eye.

I’m feeling quite hearty, and I’m ready to party; I’m gonna dance ’til dawn’s early light.

It’ll be lots of fun; but I just hope that there’s one Other person who can make it that night.

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Sara (Sally) Patton ’67

Campaign architect, committed leader, generous friend retires after 30 years of service

By John Finn, director of public information; photos by Matt Dilyard

t’s almost midnight, and the light in Sally Patton’s third-floor office in Galpin Hall is still on. With letters to write, reports to review, copy to edit, e-mails to answer, phone calls to return, plans to develop, and travel arrangements to finalize, 10-, 12-, even 14-hour days are simply not long enough to get it all done.

So she presses on, even with a 7 a.m. flight to Boston scheduled for the following morning.

Such is life for the architect of three enormously successful development campaigns, 19 capital building projects (10 new constructions and nine major renovations), and numerous endowed chairs and scholarships. The passionate redhead from Birmingham, Ala., who came to Wooster as a student in 1963, never seems to stop working and seldom takes time to revel in her success. She insists on crediting those around her for the “team’s” accomplishments. “There are so many people responsible for what we have done,” she says. “No one could do this on her own.”

Maybe not, but no one could have done it as well as Patton has for more than 30 years. Patton majored in English and speech, but she had no intention of returning to the College, much less spending half a lifetime here. This summer, she retired from the position of vice president for development and took time to reflect on her tenure.

“I went to graduate school at the University of Illinois to earn a master’s degree in English as a Second Language,” says Patton, whose mother, Clara Smith ’40, and brothers, Tom ’65 and Charles ’70, also graduated from Wooster. “At the time, I thought I would go back to Europe and teach there.”

Instead, Patton returned to Wooster at the invitation of Arn and Beth Lewis, faculty members to whom she had been close to as a student. “I had no money, and Arn invited me back to get the Wooster Art Center (now Wayne Center for the Arts), which had just been established on campus, up and running. The organization had received a $30,000 challenge grant from Don and Alice Noble, and needed someone to work with community volunteers to raise the matching funds.

“They asked me,” says Patton, “even though I knew nothing about art centers or matching grants.” Fortunately, she had the leadership of two stellar volunteers — Jeanne Adams and Julia Fishelson (who would one day become a College Trustee).

Together, they raised $30,000 in the summer of 1975, and Patton’s brief but noteworthy development career appeared to be over. She had been offered a job to teach English to Japanese immigrants in Boston that fall, but the program folded before it started, so she stayed in Wooster, this time working 20 hours a

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week at the Art Center, 20 hours at Wooster’s Learning Center, and 20 hours as a development assistant at the College. “It was perfect preparation for a career in development,” Patton jokes, “but after a while, I started to think that it would be nice to have one job!

“Buck Smith ’56 (Wooster’s vice president for development at the time) called me into his office and offered me a full-time job,” adds Patton. “I never thought about saying no, even though I had an offer from Bell & Howell for twice the money. I loved the College and the people, and I really started to enjoy the work.”

Not only did she enjoy it, she quickly began to excel at it, prompting Smith to drop into her office one day and say, “I’m not satisfied with the performance of the Wooster Fund, so I’m putting you in charge.” Just like that, Patton’s responsibilities expanded exponentially.

In 1977, Smith resigned as Wooster’s development chief to accept the position of President of Chapman College in

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“Sally Patton wrote the book on development.” . . . Stan Gault ’48

California. Henry Copeland had just become president at Wooster, and he and Bill Pocock ’38, then chair of Wooster’s Board of Trustees, began a two-year search for Smith’s successor. Impressed with Patton’s work, Copeland and Pocock attempted to persuade Board members, whom Patton remembers as being “extremely skeptical,” that she was right for the job.

The Board at last agreed, and in 1979, Patton began planning her first campaign. The primary challenge was to build an endowment that stood at just $17 million at the time. Raising money for such an endeavor is difficult, but Patton was determined to be successful, and her first campaign netted $36 million against a goal of $32 million.

The fiery fundraiser had begun to make a name for herself,

but there was little time to rest. Wooster’s “Campaign for the ’90s” was right around the corner, and once again an ambitious goal of $65 million was exceeded by $10 million.

An even more ambitious “Independent Minds” campaign went public in 2003 with a goal of $122 million, highlighted by a plan to renovate historic Kauke Hall. Once again, the campaign was an overwhelming success—so much so that Trustees increased the target internally to $135 million to give the endowment a boost, and even that figure was dwarfed by a final total of $148 million. Still, there was no time to relax for the energetic Patton.

“I remember my father telling me, ‘I don’t care what you do, just be the best at whatever it is,’” she says. “I love what I do. That makes it easy to give my best effort.”

The successful development professional, says Patton, must have empathy for others and enjoy hearing their stories. “You have to be able to put yourself in the shoes of another,” she says.

“In that respect, it’s a great job for an actor!”

Which happens to be another of Patton’s many talents. Her Independent Study included a one-woman show, and she has continued to be involved in theatre productions, including Annetta Jefferson’s Stage Right Repertory Company in the 1980s and, more recently, productions with Richard Figge, emeritus professor of German Studies.

She loves her theatre avocation and recognizes its parallels to fundraising. “Every night is opening night when you’re meeting and working with people. You have to be able to connect with them where they are.”

Connecting with others may, in fact, be Patton’s greatest strength, although she occasionally has to prod herself to be a little more outgoing. That’s right, the delightfully social Sally Patton is a self-proclaimed introvert, who would be just as happy sitting at home reading a book as mingling at a cocktail party.

But Patton would do anything for the College she adores and the people associated with it. “The Wooster family is multi-generational,” she says. “I’ve gotten to know people from a wide range of ages, and I have been able to further strengthen those (continued, next page)

Sally Patton, vice-president for development, christens a white oak with celebratory champaign, as it begins its life in the Oak Grove, in front of Galpin Hall. Part of the College’s Memorial Tree program, the tree was given in Patton’s honor by members of her staff. left: Pablo Valencia, professor emeritus of Spanish, greets Patton as faculty and administrators line up for graduation. far left:

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Oak Grove

HAPPE N I NGS AROU N D CAM PUS

Oak Grove

440 seniors head to Timken for graduation A soggy Oak Grove forced the College’s 141st commencement ceremonies and 440 graduates inside to Timken Gymnasium. Honorary degrees were awarded to President Emeritus R. Stanton Hales, who served as president of Wooster from 1995-2007 and to E. Scott Geller ’64, professor of psychology at Virginia Tech, where he studies human behavior and safety in the work place.

The graduates were addressed by their peers, Lauren Camacci (featured in this magazine on pg. 11) and Chelsea Fisher. They also heard from President Grant Cornwell: “I will

Sally Patton

President Grant Cornwell addresses the Class of 2011; the Scot Pipers convene in the Timken exercise room; Christine graduates. Photos by Matt Dilyard

(counter clockwise)

(continued)

relationships over time. The real joy of this job is helping people make connections and build enduring relationships with the College.”

Among Patton’s most cherished relationships is the one she forged with former Board Chair Stan Gault, who was the driving force behind all three campaigns. “Stan and Flo Kurtz Gault ’48s, have been the College’s greatest benefactors,” says Patton.

“I don’t think we’ll see anyone like Stan ever again. Not only has he been extraordinarily generous, personally, but he has also set the highest standard of philanthropic leadership for all alumni and friends of the College.”

Gault’s appreciation and admiration for Patton’s efforts is

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always remember the Class of 2011,” he said. “We arrived together at Wooster in 2007, and I have cherished every moment of the time we have shared together.”

Also graduating was Christine, the black Labrador. She was adopted by members of Lewis House, who lived with their pup for a year and taught her skills necessary for her future career as a service dog. Christine, who has been promised she may never have to wear a cap and gown again, is headed back to her owners, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, in New Kensington, Pa.

mutual. “Sally Patton wrote the book on development, including the essential requirements to be a successful development officer,” says Gault. “No one could be more personally committed to fulfilling the mission of the College.”

Says past College president Henry Copeland: “Sally’s knowledge of the aspirations and achievements of alumni and friends has been one of the ties linking five presidents in a common endeavor. The Wooster of today would not exist without her remarkable intelligence and dedication."

In addition to Patton’s fundraising talents, said Grace Tompos, long-time friend and executive director of development emeritus, she is renowned for her ability to create and host the perfect

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Student composers excel

Looking back

Frederick Evans ’13, Clinton, N.Y., music composition major, received second prize in the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Student/Collegiate Composers Composition contest for his “Cello Sonata” in one movement. In addition, his “Orange Wind” was performed by the Wooster Chorus at their May concert.

A quartet for saxophone recently composed by Cara Haxo ’13, music composition major, was premiered in early June by PRISM Quartet in New York City. Titled “The Giving Tree,” the work is inspired by Shel Silverstein’s children’s book.

“Skyscapes,” a two-movement concerto for electric guitar, was debuted by the Wooster Orchestra at its spring concert, and performed by the composer, Paul Winchester ’11, Duluth, Minn., who created the work as part of his Independent Study.

“Grace,” a composition by Quinn Dizon ’11, Santa Rosa, Calif., written to honor his mother, was performed by the Wooster Orchestra and Wooster Chorus at their spring concert.

Visit the past with interactive I.S. History major Jacob Dinkelaker ’11, Cincinnati. Ohio, created a website—http://cowhp.voices.wooster.edu/— that allows visitors to record or type their memories. Titled The Historic Built Landscape of The College of Wooster, the study includes Frick Hall, McGaw Chapel, Ebert Art Center, and Kauke Hall.

The study received national attention when it made its way into the Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this year.

Dean Frederick W. Cropp ’54 and friend, commencement, 1974.

Wooster July 1974

event—frequently in her own home. “She creates and brings amazing dishes to the table—much to the delight of the guests she has assembled.”

Reflecting on the institution she has served so faithfully throughout her career, Patton says, “Wooster is a place that encourages individuals to be thoughtful, to set higher standards, and to be engaged in the larger world. I admire that, and I am convinced that our graduates will continue to do great things.”

Patton will stay on as a consultant for the next year, and she’s certain to continue working tirelessly for the institution that has become the object of her affection. She’ll likely move to a different office, but wherever she is, the light will still be shining brightly, often well past midnight.

A surprise gift The Board of Trustees and other friends surprised Sally with a gift of $871,817 for the Sara L. Patton Performing Arts Scholarship and Activities Fund, established in 2007

by Richard J. Bell '63 and David H. Schwartz '63. To make a gift to the Fund, call 330-263-2080 or e-mail development@wooster.edu

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Alumni News

WO OSTE R ALU M N I ACTIVITI ES

Alumni News

Alumni Weekend, 2011 Sunny skies greeted the approximately 1,100 alumni and friends who returned to campus for Alumni Weekend in early June. Even a Friday evening tornado warning, which sent many to Scot Lanes bowling alley in Lowry Center for cover, didn’t dampen spirits. Music played, balloons floated, children scampered, and elders remembered.

At the127th meeting of the Alumni Association, the Class of 1961, celebrating its 50th reunion, presented President Grant Cornwell with a gift of just over $3 million. The Class of 1986, celebrating its 25th reunion, announced a gift of almost $82,000.

On behalf of the Alumni Board, President Erika Poethig ’93 announced the establishment of the Sara L. Patton Stewardship Award, to honor Sally Patton ’67, who stepped down as Wooster’s vice president for development after more than 30 years of service.

As tradition dictates, the parade of classes was led by alumni receiving special recognition—Distinguished Alumni David Dunlop ’73, Clarence R. “Reggie” Williams ’63, and Jack A. Wilson ’61 and Angene Hopkins Wilson ’61 (featured in the spring Wooster

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magazine) and John D. McKee Alumni Volunteer Award recipients Michael Lauber ’80 and Elizabeth Van Cleef Lauber ’81.

Mike Lauber, chair and CEO of Tusco Display in Gnadenhutten, Ohio and Elizabeth Lauber, director of small group ministry for the Dover First Moravian Church, have served as admissions representatives, reunion committee members, legacy parents, and on the Wooster Parents Leadership Council. Mike is a past president of the Alumni Association.

The class of 1951 gave special tribute to class member Mas Kuniyoshi, who never fails to travel from his home in Hilo, Hawaii, for Wooster reunions.

He does so bearing gifts—this year orchid corsages for every woman in his class and exotic flowers that decorated the class’s events.

PHOTOS BY

Matt Dilyard

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Walt Hopkins ’66 (left), who came from Scotland to help honor his sister, DAA recipient Angene Hopkins Wilson, marches with piper Avery Head ’61.

PHOTO BY

Elizabeth Fackler ’13

Class of ’66 lines up for a photo. above: Cowpies: The four ’76 friends began calling themselves “COW-pals,” but the title soon morphed into something quite better. from left: Susan Hughes, Marti Keiser Lee, Marjorie Forbush, and Meg Meakin. Non Cowpie is Alpha Alexander ’76. below left: Dan Hatt ’99. below right: Pat Reid ’71, Pat Foreman ’71, Penny Hewitt ’71, and Lynne Driver ’71. left:

PHOTOS BY

Matt Dilyard

PHOTO BY

Elizabeth Fackler ’13

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WOOSTER’S INDEPENDENT MINDS T A K E O N P O P C U LT U R E AS IS OUR CUSTOM, THE SUMMER MAGAZINE FEATURES INDEPENDENT STUDY (I.S.), THE COLLEGE’S MENTORED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM, WHICH ALLOWS STUDENTS TO DEFINE THEIR RESEARCH TOPICS AND WORK CLOSELY WITH FACULTY ADVISERS. INCREASINGLY, THE PROGRAM HAS BECOME THE REASON STUDENTS STUDY AT WOOSTER. THIS YEAR, WE CHOSE TO FEATURE 12 STUDIES THAT EXAMINED POPULAR CULTURE. b y

K A R O L

C R O S B I E

A L I X 10 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

illustrations by N O R T H R U P

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“

IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT HARRY EXHIBITS THE FULL RANGE OF HUMAN EMOTIONS, INCLUDING THOSE

TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH FEMALES.”

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Gender Lauren Camacci, communication studies ADVI S E R: D E N I S E B OSTD O R F F Lauren Camacci loves Harry Potter. She has the wand and the tattoo to prove it. But she can still analyze him with scholarly dispassion. While female characters in the series have been extensively studied, Camacci found that less work had been done on Harry and his relationship with other males.

It is significant that Harry exhibits the full range of human emotions, including those traditionally associated with females, she says. “He whines, he cries—he’s a typical angst-driven teen.” Often, when authors imbue a male character with female traits, they don’t want the reader to like him. “But clearly Rowling wants us to like Harry, and we do.”

Before Harry goes to Hogwarts, he has had no opportunity to form friendships or figure out who he is attracted to. So his deep connection with Ron takes on an exotic air, because it is new for him. “And often, exotic becomes erotic,” says Camacci.

“There is evidence that Ron and Harry’s relationship has some romantic elements; for example, when they fight, they fight like a couple, rather than like friends.”

By the end of the series, Rowling has transitioned Harry into a traditional, heterosexual male role, says Camacci. “Harry marries Ron’s sister—the female version of Ron.” Camacci also analyzes the importance of male mentors in shaping Harry’s ideas of masculinity, the erotic symbolism of the wand and broomstick, and the use of werewolves to symbolize HIV/AIDS. Camacci will be pursuing advanced degrees in communication rhetoric at Pennsylvania State, where she has a teaching assistantship. She aspires to a career in higher education.

P H OTO O F B O O KS :

S e a n Lo ck e / i s t o ck p h o t o . c o m

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WOOSTER’S INDEPENDENT MINDS TAKE ON POP CULTURE

Nina

dine

The Visual Expression of Hip-Hop Lyrics Nina Dine, studio art ADVI S E R: MAR I NA MAN G U B I Nina Dine’s portraits of 17 hip-hop artists are a statement both about her subjects and about her own personal style.

Dine chose to combine a traditional art form (charcoal) and classic portraiture drawing techniques with the raw art form and medium of the streets (graffiti-style spray paint on brown paper). “I wanted to simultaneously show glamour and grittiness,” she said. By doing so, she could tell the story of hiphop—stories of conflict and survival.

“My work reveals the struggles and successes that these artists have endured to express their lives.”

By overlapping traditional and contemporary styles, Dine developed a unique, personal style. “Throughout my artistic career, my work has always been separated into two different worlds—one in which I am told what to draw, and one where I

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am in complete control of what I draw,” she wrote in her artist’s statement. “The work exhibited here explores and pushes the boundaries between a more strict traditional style and a contemporary one that is looser and allows for a more energetic and linear flow.”

At the exhibit opening, Dine played the music of featured artists, helping to create an interactive feeling. “The size and presence of the portraits and the music made people feel as if they were at a party or a concert,” she said.

Dine has been accepted at the Tamarind Institute for Fine Lithography in Albuquerque, one of the nation’s leading lithography centers. She hopes to become a master printer.

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ana-nicole

Baggiano

What Hip-Hop Teaches Us About Adolescence Ana-Nicole Baggiano, anthropology A D V I S E R : A N N E N U R S E , S O C I O LO G Y

“My drawings are more than album covers, faces on billboards, musical patterns, and rhythm and song. My work reveals the struggles and successes that these artists have endured to express their lives.”

Ana-Nicole Baggiano fell in love with hiphop when her older brother started sneaking Dr. Dre albums into their rooms. She grew up in a white, suburban neighborhood in central Virginia, and the music was like nothing she had heard before. “Then, after the seventh grade, we moved to the inner-city schools, where 50 percent of the students were black. I was exposed to more of the music and my fascination with it grew.”

At Wooster, still fascinated, Baggiano interviewed both white and African American males to better understand the role hip-hop plays in their lives. Hip-hop, she writes, is more than curse words, violence, sex, and drugs. In fact, it’s more than just music. “It is a way of life. It’s clothing, body language, and stories. It is a religion of the street that gives a voice and a beat to those who cannot be heard—not because they aren’t loud enough—but because nobody chooses to listen.”

Her research respondents agreed that the most important element of hip-hop is its coverage of real-life struggles based on personal experiences. “The music is a way to reach out to peers—a way to understand violence,” she says.

Baggiano, who minored in environmental studies, hopes to work in the area of conservation activism.

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Brandon

Jacobs

The decline of African American players in major league baseball Brandon Jacobs, sociology and communication A D V I S E R S : M I C H E L L E J O H N S O N , C O M M U N I C AT I O N R AY M O N D G U N N , S O C I O LO G Y A N D A N T H R O P O LO G Y Brandon Jacobs and his three brothers grew up with baseball at the center of their lives. Their Little League membership meant travelling to as many as 100 games in a season. Jacobs’ bedroom walls were covered with images of his baseball heroes—many of them African American.

Today, families like the Jacobs and their baseball role models are a dying breed. There has been a dramatic decline in the number of African Americans playing for the major leagues. In 1991, approximately 17 percent of players were African American; today the number is 8.1 percent. No other professional sport shows similar declines.

The reasons for the decline, Jacobs found, were complex, interrelated, and cumulative.

Major leagues increasingly turn to international players; college scholarships for baseball dwindle; socioeconomic pressures squeeze out opportunities for children, particularly in urban areas. Little League organizations are private, and baseball fields, which are expensive to develop and maintain, require community buy-in, which is increasingly in short supply.

Jacobs interviewed 15 children to assess attitudes towards baseball and found lack of interest partially because of a lack of role 14 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

models. “Today, the role model is LeBron James,” says Jacobs. “No one is talking about baseball stars, especially the mass media.”

Using a grant from the Henry J. Copeland Fund for Independent Study, Jacobs also researched the question by visiting Major League Baseball’s Urban Youth Academies in Compton, California. There are also academies in Houston, Philadelphia, and Florida. The goal of the academies is to use education and enrichment to reverse the sport’s demographic trend.

Jacobs played baseball at Wooster when he first arrived, but an injury kept him from playing after his first year. However, he was president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee for both the College and the North Coast Athletic Conference. He continues to coach, umpire, and conduct baseball clinics.

Jacobs went to Kenya over spring break and observed the playfulness of children and the role of sports in their lives. “I’ll never forget the little kid who was playing soccer with a cow,” he remembers.

To read more about Jacobs’ I.S., go to www.behindinthecount.com.

P H OTO S :

(below) A young Brandon Jacobs; ( b o t t o m ) Fo r m e r M LB p l a y e r Ke n G r i f fe y, J r. b y To d d Ta u l m a n / D r e a m s t i m e . c o m

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Gina Colucci The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same A history of the American carnival Gina Colucci, history ADVI S E R: MAD O N NA H ETTI N G E R

Gina Colucci’s friends may have teased her about being a “carnie,” but everyone knew she had the perfect summer job. Her grandparents owned Swank’s Steel City Carnival, and her mother owned a concession trailer, so for seven years, Colucci learned the trade. Perfecting the art of corn dog production was only part of it. She supervised other workers, which often included international students (a carnival trend her grandfather claims to have started). Swank’s Steel City traveled mostly to small Pennsylvania towns, and Colucci traveled along, staying in a house trailer and coming home to Appolo, Penn. on weekends.

When Colucci studied the history of American carnival for her junior I.S., she found little had been written. The country needed an oral history of the carnival, she concluded. But more importantly, she needed to write it. “I love the carnival so much,” she says. “And I needed to legitimize my personal experience.”

She knows as much as any expert about the inner-workings of the carnival—about hydraulics improvements, insurance regulations, safety changes, and the demise of the politically incorrect “freak show.” “The sons and daughters of carnival owners went to college, expanded their business skills, and then came back and cleaned up the midway,” she says.

But the story of the American carnival is not about change. It is about nostalgic constancy. “Its appeal is its sameness, year after year,” Colucci says. “In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, entertainment needs evolved in response to political, economic and social change. Everything got newer, bigger, and better. Except for the carnival.

It is an escape from the chaos of the real world and reminds us of the simpler days of our childhood.”

The vivid color and movement of the carnival prompted Colucci to supplement her written I.S. with a video documentary.

Using Copeland funds, she traveled to Gibsontown, Fla., where she interviewed carnival workers and attended the industry’s tradeshow. She also obtained oral histories at her family’s carnival.

The video project allowed Colucci to show readers exactly what she was writing about. “Seeing small children giggle as they slide down the fun slide, cotton candy spinning in the machines, and the rainbow of blinking lights that cuts through the night sky brings back memories that keep people coming back to the carnival year after year,” she writes.

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“

THEY ARE LEADING THEIR READERS TO DISCOVER NEW, PREVIOUSLY

UNKNOWN RESTAURANTS—A KIND OF ‘RESTAURANT FRONTIER.’”

Gourmet Pioneers Exploring the role food writers play in American society Amanda Gottesman, anthropology A D V I S E R : PA M F R E S E Amanda Gottesman’s I.S. affirmed what she hoped to be true: That she was well-suited to her dream job.

A self-described “foodie,” Gottesman studied the role that food writers play in American society. She interviewed restaurant critics, editors, food columnists, and blog writers from top newspapers and gourmet magazines to discover how and why they were effective.

Gottesman used anthropological theories about the

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relationship of food to culture to understand what her contributors had to say. Her sources, who reflected American ideals of individualism, said they believe that they are leading their readers to discover new, previously unknown restaurants—a kind of “restaurant frontier.” They placed high value on dining that reflects an authentic experience closely connected to the foods of recent immigrants.

When Gottesman heard about the writers’ pasts, she found them similar to her own. Gottesman grew up in Los Angeles and has traveled throughout Canada, United States, Europe, Turkey, Greece, Kenya, Thailand, Mexico and Jamaica. And everywhere she goes, she samples, appreciates, and learns from the cuisines of her hosts.

Gottesman is pursuing an internship in Los Angeles, where she hopes to go to culinary school.

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Yassi Davoodi Conceptions of masculinity in African American stand-up comedy Yassi Davoodi, sociology, Africana Studies A D V I S E R S : R AY M O N D G U N N , S O C I O LO G Y C HAR LES P ETE R S O N, AF R I CANA STU D I ES For a good part of her time as a sociology and Africana studies major, Yassi Davoodi immersed herself in the study of apartheid, women and children in the court system, domestic violence, and HIV-AIDS. She returned from Durban, South Africa, and suddenly discovered she was burned out. “People told me that I’d better love my I.S. topic, and although I was passionate about abuse against women, I found I just couldn‘t study it any more.”

An experienced theater producer and director and president of Effie’s Players, a student-run theater group, Davoodi chose to study what she loved—theater. She analyzed the content and performance of four stand-up comedians—Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Dave Chapelle in recorded routines from 1974-2004. She identified and analyzed an ongoing theme—the actors’ use of the “cool pose” and “code of the street” to prevent and cope with racial subjugation.

Using Copeland funding, Davoodi attended stand-up comedy routines in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., often attending the same show many times. The observations she made at these repeat performances led her to an important conclusion. “The comedians gave the same performance, night after night, never varying their jokes or their timing. And something clicked. Standup comedy isn’t just funny guys winging it.

It’s a performance, with a script. The actor isn’t just being himself; he’s acting. He’s acting in the same way an actor portraying Hamlet is acting.

“And this is the ultimate control. This is the ultimate cool pose—the ability to create a character, perform it, and make everybody believe that character is you.”

Yassi Davoodi was one of 67 students to give an oral presentation on her Independent Study for Senior Research Symposium, a day in which classes are dismissed so that underclassmen may learn about research processes and conclusions.

Davoodi’s presentation included clips of the comedians she studied. “I never get tired of the jokes,” she says.

COMEDIAN CHRIS ROCK:

C h r i s G o r d o n / Wi r e I m a g e / G e t t y I m a g e s

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Anna Goodman

You had me at “Hello, Kitty.”

Americans’ love affair with Japanese popular culture Anna Goodman, sociology and anthropology A DV I S E R : DAV I D M C C O N N E LL Shortly after Anna Goodman arrived on campus, she was delighted to discover an exuberant recognition and celebration of Pokémon Day. The campus coffee shop held Pokémon card games, and costumed students watched marathons of vintage Pokémon TV shows in their dorms. “In a brilliant flash of genius, members of my freshman house decided to match each resident to a Pokémon character,” Goodman recalls. “Except for the one girl who found herself labeled a Snorlzx, a constantly sleepy, giant roly-poly Pokémon, everyone loved their matches.”

Odd? Nope—normal. American youth’s infatuation with Japanese popular culture (Jpop) is everywhere, from small liberal arts colleges to big city conventions. American fans not only voraciously consume animé (animated movies) and manga (graphic novels), they also honor their favorite characters by dressing up in elaborate costumes (costume play or cosplay) and collect fan merchandise, including art, jewelry, clothing, and action figures.

To study the “why” behind the craze, Goodman interviewed local fans and also applied for and received Copeland funds to attend two J-pop conferences—the Otakon P H OTO :

Ve l i k o Ta r n o v o / i s t o ck p h o t o . c o m

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convention in Baltimore, Md., and the Ohayocon convention in Columbus, Ohio. But imagine, for a moment, that you’re studying a social phenomenon, and spread out before you are 30,000 people, many in costumes, playing arcade and card games, buying merchandise, and attending movies, panels, workshops, and concerts. Where to start?

Goodman began at the beginning; she interviewed attendees as they waited in line for hours to register for conference activities.

Among Goodman’s conclusions, were: (a) Americans embrace the art form because of its creativity—the sheer number of plots, themes, artistic styles; (b) females are more interested in characters; males focus on plot; (c) most fans are not hesitant to obtain manga and anime illegally; (d) few respondents reported that their initial interest in and consumption of J-pop was grounded in an interest in the “real” Japan; however, 67 percent reported that now that they were J-pop fans, they were interested in learning more about the country’s culture, history, and language.

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IRONICALLY, SAYS STANDERA , HIGHLY RANKED , UNSPONSORED LINKS ARE JUST AS LIKELY TO CONTAIN

WOOSTER’S INDEPENDENT MINDS TAKE ON POP CULTURE

ADVERTISEMENTS AS SPONSORED MESSAGES .

Web links, advertisements, and trust A comparison of college students’ perceptions and use of sponsored and non-sponsored search engine links Stephanie Standera, communication studies A D V I S E R : J O A N F U R E Y , C O M M U N I C AT I O N If you go to Google or another search engine, your eye may skip right over the “sponsored” links at the top of the page— the ones in the shaded area—the ones distinguished by the tiny word “ad” perched in the upper corner.

And if you skip these ads, you have exhibited a behavior similar to those of college students participating in a study by Stephanie Standera. She found that college students ignore sponsored links approximately 81 percent of the time, because they consider them to be less trustworthy than the unsponsored links that follow.

And, like most Web users, students consider unsponsored links that appear on the first pages to be more credible than those that follow in subsequent pages. Search engines measure and rank links using an algorithm whose components are generally not made public. But even though they don’t know what criteria search engines use to rank links, users implicitly trust the rankings, concludes Standera. “The higher the algorithm ranks the link, the more likely a college student is to click on that link, because they believe it contains relevant and important information for their search term.” Ironically, says Standera, highly ranked, unsponsored links are just as likely to contain advertisements as sponsored messages.

Standera’s research has important implications for companies that are paying to have their messages appear at the top of the page in the sponsored area. “My results suggest it is a waste of a business’s resources to use a sponsored link if they are advertising to college students, because college students won’t click on those links,” she concludes.

Standera is pursuing a position in marketing communications and public relations.

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WOOSTER’S INDEPENDENT MINDS

AS SHE BEGAN RESEARCHING

TAKE ON POP CULTURE

THE EFFECTS OF LOUD VOLUMES ON HEARING LOSS IN THE MP 3 GENERATION , VALORA BEGAN TURNING DOWN HER OWN I P OD .

Growing up with “old” ears iPods, frequency of use and volume, and self-reported hearing loss Katherine Valora, communication sciences and disorders A D V I S E R : D O N A L D G O L D B E R G , C O M M U N I C AT I O N

Chorus from “Turn It To the Left” So tell me what does it sound like when ya can’t hear?

I mean how can ya tell when you’re losing your ears?

Well do ya have to lean close to hear the words?

Do ya have to read lips, just pretend ya heard?

Do your ears hurt? Do they buzz or ring?

Are ya turning up the volume on everything?

Ya know ten million people in the U.S.A. are saying yes to those questions everyday!

It ain’t no fun, man, it ain’t no fun When you’re twenty years old but your ears are eighty-one!

Imagine what it’s like to be hearing this trash.

‘Cuz the words are all muffled and the beat is whacked.

So if ya love music, turn it down, don’t wait.

Because your hearing can’t return to its original state.

That’s right once the damage is done, it’s forever.

Your ears can get worse but they can never get better!

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A member of the field hockey team, Katherine Valora describes herself as a “gym-rat athlete”—the kind of student most likely to frequent the College’s gym and exercise rooms.

She also represents students most likely to crank up the volume on their iPods and MP3 players to maximum levels to drown out ambient gym noises and loud overhead music.

Athletes, of course, aren’t the only listeners to turn up the volume. “It’s an epidemic,” says Valora. “Everyone listens to their own music all the time.” As she began researching the effects of loud volumes on hearing loss in the MP3 generation, Valora began turning down her own iPod. Valora hypothesized that frequency of exercise would be correlated with self-reported hearing loss and surveyed 100 students who were exercising at the gym. But she found just the opposite. Students who exercised more frequently did listen to high volumes and for longer periods, but were less likely to report symptoms of hearing loss.

The inability of a subject to know when hearing loss has occurred may explain the results. “My major professor and I joked that maybe they were in denial,” says Valora.

But in spite of the inconclusive results, Valora took the opportunity to educate her fellow students on the hearing loss that is very likely to occur after prolonged, loud volumes. She gave each participant a copy of the American Academy of Audiology’s rap song, “Turn it to the Left,” by Benjamin Jackson.

Valora has been accepted at West Virginia University, where she will attend graduate school in speech-language pathology.

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answers below

Thomas

Gable Thomas Gable, psychology ADVI S E R: C LAU D IA TH O M PS O N

Basically, Thomas Gable’s research was good news for the electronic reader industry.

Gable asked four groups of college students to read a short article, with one group reading from printed paper (matched to the fonts of the e-readers), one from an Apple iPad (with a screen similar to a computer’s), and one from a Kindle, whose screen more closely resembles paper. Measurements of reading speed, memory, and perceptions of difficulty revealed that participants reading from paper read faster. But participants reading from ereaders scored significantly higher for shortterm memory retention. No differences were seen in long-term memory or difficulty among the three forms.

His research also reinforced the “practice effect,” which finds that subjects who have previous experience reading from an electronic reader do better than inexperienced subjects— also good news for the industry. “A majority of participants reported reading at least some articles or assignments electronically,” he said.

“And the explosion of the social media has increased the likelihood that the average person will have read from electronic displays.”

But in spite of his findings, Gable concluded that the e-reader industry is not yet ready to serve the collegiate community. The ability to take notes on screen needs to be more sophisticated, he said, and online availability of electronic textbooks must be the norm.

Gable presented his findings at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. His research caught the attention of an engineering psychology professor at Georgia Tech and resulted in a job offer. Gable has already begun working in the sonification laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

As of 2008, how many languages have the Harry Potter books been translated into?

2.

During the late 1970s, what area of New York City did hip-hop begin?

3.

In 2007, what food critic became the first restaurant critic to win a Pulitzer Prize?

4.

What common carnival ride was invented by George W. Ferris in 1893?

5.

What major league baseball team did Jackie Robinson play for when he broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947?

6.

Who was the first African American comedian to host “Saturday Night Live?”

7.

What figure created by the classic Japanese brand Sanrio features a white cat with a red bow?

8.

Where was the first Google office located?

9.

The first generation iPod held 10 gigabytes; how many gigabytes does the current fourth generation ipod hold?

10.

What year did Amazon launch the first Kindle in the U.S.?

To see a listing of every I.S., go to http://www.wooster.edu/IndependentStudy/Search-the-IS-Database.

A N S W E R S : 1) 67 languages 2) the South Bronx 3) Jonathan Gold 4) The Ferris Wheel 5) the Brooklyn Dodgers 6) Richard Pryor 7) Hello Kitty 8) A garage in Menlo Park, CA 9) 64 10) 2007

E-readers versus paper

1.

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N E W FA R M E R S P R AC T I C E O L D WAY S

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. — E CC CC LL EE SS II AA SS TT EE SS 1 - 9

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It’s possible to argue with Ecclesiastes, of course. There is a lot that is new under the sun, beginning with a hotter sun. Also new to the landscape are pests that can be spread globally, genetically modified organisms, and interdependent markets.

But there is a constant that is true for all ages: Humans’ deep yearning to connect with the land. Four Wooster alumni have used this truth as a foundation for their farming practices, as they contribute to the ongoing story of what it means to be sustainable.

D AVID C LEVERDON ’63 | S USAN O RDWAY H URD ’72 | S HARON M ORTIMER R OEDER ’93 | M IKE E ISENSTAT ’70 S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 23

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David Cleverdon ’63 t’s a brutal, take-no-prisoners business.” David Cleverdon may have been referring to his former profession as a political activist, campaign manager, or congressional and gubernatorial staff member.

Or perhaps he was describing his subsequent jobs as financial futures trader or economic development executive. But he was not.

He was talking about growing organic vegetables.

“

I

Cleverdon’s activist background, an uncommon career path for a farmer in 1992, is less rare today. Today’s organic farmer is likely to have come from a discipline other than agriculture and to hold a passion for making a difference. David and his wife Susan first fell in love with a garden at their weekend home, which responded by growing bigger every year. In 1987, when mid-west farmland prices crashed, the couple bought a 170-acre

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farm in northern Illinois—a remnant of the country’s rural farm crisis, which turned productive farms into deserted ghosts. “It cost less than a Chicago, three-bedroom condo,” says David.

But what a farm it was. The buildings were in ruins, the land was filled with scrap iron and garbage. To the amazement of their friends and family, in 1992 the Cleverdons sent their last child to college, put everything they owned in storage, and moved to their farm, which they named Kinnikinnick, after a creek that runs through it. For the first three and a half years, they lived in a trailer, then upgraded to quarters they built in one of the barns. There they stayed for the next five years, until they could move into the renovated farmhouse.

Along the way, they planned, studied, dreamed, failed, and kept on growing vegetables. “I didn’t know what in the hell I was doing, but I read everything I could and just jumped in and did it. (Hey, I went to Wooster, didn’t I?)” Today, Cleverdon teaches courses on organic farming and is on the boards of four local and regional farming organizations.

Kinnikinnick Farm is flourishing and profitable.

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A FEW KEYS TO HIS SUCCESS Crafting a business “Our limited resources required us to approach farming as a craft. It had to be limited, excellent, and—like all craft businesses—have one or two products that could be cranked out to pay for basic overhead costs. Also, we consciously narrow our focus so that customers have an easier time focusing on us.” The bill-payers at Kinnikinnick Farm are artisan greens and heirloom tomatoes.

Finding the perfect markets When the Cleverdons began their enterprise, an entire Saturday at a local farmer’s market netted them $400.

Today, at the Chicago Green City and the Evanston Farmers markets, they make that much in the first half hour.

“We have a $2,000 rule. We won’t consider a market unless we see that we have the potential for grossing at least $2,000 a day there.”

Strategically setting up his wares near restaurants increased the probability that Cleverdon would be discovered by local chefs. Today, one third of his business is from some of Chicago’s finest restaurants, including the Publican, North Pond, Spiaggia, Vie, Naha, and the Lula Café.

Hooking the customer with beauty

FA R M I N G …

REINVENTED.

For the past three years, Kinnikinnick Farm has been the site for Outstanding in the Field dinners, gourmet meals held throughout the United States. Called a “roving culinary adventure,” the purpose of the meals is to connect diners to the land, the origins of their food, and to honor local farmers and food artisans.

PHOTOS:

KATE G ROSS

“One of the first things our interns notice when they begin with us is that we compost what a lot of other growers sell. I love to walk in front of our stand in the morning before the customer rush and look at our display—the multicolored carrots and beets, the different shades and textures of the greens, the glistening red-green-whites of the onions, all the different shapes and colors of the tomatoes, the huge stacks and bouquets of fresh herbs.

Customers like to see abundance—

vegetables that you can pile high. We call these our ‘abondanza’ crops.”

Keeping the customer with taste Cleverdon grows his crops organically, but that’s just a starting point for good taste, he says. Post harvest protocols are critical. Removing the field heat from the produce within minutes of harvest insures an “awesome shelf life,” he says. “The walk-in cooler is the heart of the farm. Almost everything passes through it and then is transported on ice in large picnic coolers. This has allowed us to make intense flavor, beautiful color, and uncompromising freshness the hallmark of the farm.”

Understanding a life style Cleverdon has long understood that his customers aren’t just buying food, they’re buying a way of life. To this end, he has a history of catering to passionate cooks by turning his booth into a kind of cooking display, with help from one of his daughters, a trained chef. But recently, he says, his customer base has expanded beyond the yuppie gourmand. “I’m seeing young mothers who are concerned about health.”

He recently entered the agritourism business. This summer, his farm sported five huge tents—“Feather Down Farm Day” tents from Holland—for families who want to spend their vacation on a working farm.

“We were fortunate with our business. We ‘caught a wave.’ We’ve participated in the birth of a whole new farming subculture—with its own journals, teachers, heroes, and mythology—that is capturing the imagination of everyone.

“Small scale farming is being reinvented. If you’re good at it, you won’t get rich, but you can make a living from it.”

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Susan Ordway Hurd ’72 he truly magical elementary teacher is blessed with special vision. She looks at industrial 50-gallon drums and sees kid-sized train cars. An oversized PVC pipe becomes a slide. Windfall apples become great missiles, needing only little slingshots and giant hay-bale targets.

She looks at a 100-year-old family farm and sees an outdoor classroom.

T

And if the elementary teacher also happens to be an entrepreneur, her vision grows even sharper. An old yellow school bus becomes a café. An 18th-century Dutch threshing barn is the perfect place to sell farm treats and produce. The 120-acre farm becomes a venue for local musicians, artists, and dancers.

It was serendipitous that elementary teacher Susan Ordway ’72 should marry into the Hurd family and that her classroom would expand to include an apple orchard, cornfield mazes, a pumpkin patch, and a Christmas tree plantation. Hurd first understood the farm’s potential when her own two children were in preschool. Today, her pupils come by the thousands from area schools and from The Big Apple, just an hour and a half away.

In the 1840s, the farm grew corn, small fruits, and raised cows. “Strawberries, raspberries, and currants were sent down by barge on the Hudson River to New York City, where they were sold on street corners,” says Hurd. “In the 1900s, apples and pears became king. In the 1990s, my father-in-law and I started growing pumpkins and Christmas trees. Recently we’ve added pick-your-own fruits and veggies, such as black raspberries, heritage tomatoes, and sunflowers. We’ve come full circle back to small fruits and diversified farming.”

The farm’s integrated crop structure allows Hurd to weave

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together diverse subjects and meet many of the state’s newly revised learning standard goals in a single field trip. (“My Wooster liberal arts education serves me well,” she says.) For example, to negotiate the corn maze, children read maps and practice group dynamics; biology is well covered by “sex-inthe-cornfield” talks; history and art come together in the vivid panels painted inside the barn, which depict the farm’s history; the Apple Unit teaches economics and nutrition; biosystems are experienced, as children feed the fish in the irrigation pond and wander down forest trails and through soggy wetlands.

If Hurd never misses an opportunity to weave an additional lesson into a day’s events, she also has a keen eye for fun and publicity. The farm, which hires approximately 35 workers for its educational and tourist enterprises alone, hosts gettogethers for all ages, featuring hayrides, picnics, and one-on-one time with the farm animals. For the 2010 Christmas tree selling season, Santa parachuted from a small plane onto the farm. This year, the corn maze was designed to be The Amazing Mr. Apple, complete with a Supermanstyle cape. This summer, the Hurds hosted a Rebel Race—a military style obstacle course and 5k and 15k race, which attracted more than 700 athletes to the farm. In February, the Hurd Family Farm was awarded the Golden Apple Marketer Award by the U.S. Apple Association.

The future of the Hurd Family Farm appears to be in good hands. Susan and Phil Hurd’s son, a recent horticulture graduate, works on the farm full-time and their daughter, an elementary teacher, helps out when she can. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” says Hurd.

“As long as folks seek out new experiences, the Hurd Family Farm will carry on the tradition, evolving, changing, and growing into the future.”

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“Sometimes a school will send its entire student population to visit the farm. They are always so excited to be here! This is my love—the chance to connect children with the food they eat.” . . . Susan Hurd TOP PHOTOS BY

Michael Gold;

BOTTOM BY

Mark Fink

The farm’s integrated crop structure allows Hurd to weave together diverse subjects and meet many of the state’s newly revised learning standard goals in a single field trip.

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Sharon Mortimer Roeder ’93 haron Roeder was successful, secure, and bored.

Working as a lobbyist for the federal government strongly resembled hitting her head against a brick wall. “I could work my tail off, or do just about nothing, and the outcome would be the same.”

As the fluorescent sameness of her job stretched into its 10th year, she had a recurring vision. The morning mist was rising over the hills, her dogs were at her side, and she was checking the grapes in her vineyard.

S

In 2009, the winery won the Indy International Double Gold trophy for the Red Wine of the Year for its 2008 Norton wine.

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When her husband, Brian, pressed her about making the dream a reality, she just laughed. “I told him, ‘Don’t be crazy! Checking grapes? I don’t even know what I’m checking for!’” He continued pressing.

Today, the Roeders’ vineyard, located below the Piedmont Blue Ridge in northern Virginia near Delaplane, has produced its third season of grapes and Barrel Oak Winery (BOW) has served its fourth season of guests. The steam is rising, the sunsets are golden, her dogs are by her side, and as she checks her grapes, Roeder knows exactly what she’s checking for: stink bugs, Japanese beetles, glassy wing sharp shooters, hoppers, and Asian lady bugs. And she couldn’t be happier.

On a typical Saturday afternoon in early June, it is clear that Barrel Oak has already gained a strong foothold in one of the state’s fastest growing agricultural sectors. Wine enthusiasts pack the tasting room, families picnic on the grounds, and a band has already begun its evening music on the patio. In 2009, the winery won the Indy International Double Gold trophy for the Red Wine of the Year for its 2008 Norton wine and gained recognition as the most financially successful start-up winery in Virginia’s history, achieving more than $1 million in gross revenues in its first 53 weeks of operation.

BOW eschews the elite and scorns the snob. “We’re not about pinkies and noses in the air,” says Roeder. “Our model is the village harvest festival and our message is, ‘Yay! Nature was good to us; we’ve survived another year. Come on in and help us celebrate!’”

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(left) Farmers scratched their brows, and neighbors pondered, as the odd structure that was BOW began to appear. “My favorite speculation,” says Roeder, “came from the little girl who was pretty sure we were building a giraffe house.”

(opposite page) “I like lighter, white wines—when it tastes like a flinty rock after a summer rainstorm.”

—SHARON ROE DE R PHOTOS BY

Karol Crosbie

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The couple owns four dogs and invites guests to bring their canine buddies. “A lot of young people in the D.C. area are childless pet-owners who work all the time,” says Roeder. “On the weekends, they want to do something that includes their dogs.” Regular customers are familiar with Birch, the couple’s Hungarian vizsla (recently named Best Wine Dog by Virginia Wine Lover magazine) and his strange but endearing pebble game. A guest sipping a glass of, say, the award-winning BOW-Haus White, might feel a friendly nose at the back of her chair and note that Birch has placed a lentil-sized pebble on the seat. With stoic elegance, Birch stares intently at the pebble until the guest understands that it is her job to throw it across the tasting room or patio. The guest soon learns that this game may be repeated until closing time.

The bands, tasting room, and special events—from hosting twilight polo, to the Maryland Westie Rescue Wine & Fleas benefit—are the domain of Brian Roeder and his approximately 40 employees. Sharon refers to all these things as “what happens upstairs.”

The cool and quiet vineyard’s cellar, where the wine is made, is Sharon’s domain.

AT T H E

BOW

This fall, BOW will produce about 50 percent of the grapes used for their wine; the remainder comes from other parts of the state. The balance is one they will maintain, says Roeder. “Last year, a bad frost took out half to twothirds of our production. It’s smart not put all of your eggs into one geographical basket.”

Birch the Wine Dog plays pebble with a young guest.

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PHOTOS BY

Karol Crosbie

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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF WINEMAKING

“You can be whatever you want.” That was the advice that always accompanied aptitude tests that used a flat line to illustrate Sharon Roeder’s skill potential. But the advice wasn’t empowering, it was frustrating, says Roeder.

“What they should have said was, ‘You need a job that uses both your right and your left brain—a job that combines science with art.’”

Who knew that this job was winemaking?

A romantic dream may have been the impetus for their adventure, but the Roeders quickly replaced it with the scientific method.

As Roeder drives her golf cart around the 20 acres of grapes, she carefully avoids pits dug by extension experts from Virginia Tech, who analyzed the soil five short years ago. Their verdict: The land, formerly used to pasture cattle, would sustain grapes well.

Roeder made liberal use of Virginia Tech and veteran wine growers to answer questions and solve problems. What varieties would work best on the soil, and which wines could the couple best market? What kind of trellising works with different varieties? How many

leaves should be pulled off each plant and how many clusters of grapes are optimum for different vines? How about that stinkbug?

“Virginia is quickly becoming a wine powerhouse,” she says. “New York is still the big dog, but we’re nipping right at its heels.” She attributes the state’s growing wine industry to Virginia Tech’s program and to the willingness of Virginia winemakers to support each other.

But science can take you only so far in winemaking, and then the art kicks in.

Subjective, sensory decisions abound: “Rules don’t constrain me,” says Roeder. “I can have some fun, play with it, create. We take the raw putty that Mother Nature hands us every year, use some science, and then turn it into art.”

The couple is confident that their vines will sustain them. So confident, in fact, that they have a long-term escrow on the adjoining 100 acres of land, formerly the historic farm of Chief Justice John Marshall. They have also opened an art gallery and wine bar in the nearby, ritzy town of Middleburg.

And will their vines sustain the land? “The

farmers in the area were a little suspicious when we arrived,” Roeder says. “This is cattle country. Always has been. But you know, when the farmer we bought our land from was ready to leave, he loaded all the cows into his truck and drove away. He no longer had anything here to tie him down. We have 20,000 roots here. We’re not going anywhere.”

The couple’s roots are also firmly set in the community. Barrel Oak is frequently the site for fundraisers and nonprofit events. And when Roeder needs volunteers to help bottle the year’s bounty—118,000 bottles, 10 varieties—she calls on friends and community members. Guests also show up at harvest time to help load presses and wash lugs. She has instituted the Stomp and Chomp Festival, in which approximately 35 pairs of feet turn a half a ton of grapes into 60 gallons of juice.

“It takes a very large village to bottle wine,” wrote Roeder in her blog (http://www.barreloak.com/). The couple’s vision of a vineyard that is modeled after a village harvest festival is not, it turns out, only about style.

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Recipes Our alumni share some of their specialties

H U R D F A M I LY F A R M Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins 4 eggs 2/3 c. sugar 1 c oil 16 oz. can solid pumpkin 2 tsp cinnamon 2 c. flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp baking soda 12 oz. chocolate chips Beat until fluffy: eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin and cinnamon. Add and mix flour baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips. Grease pans or use baking cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes (25 minutes for large muffins.) Makes 1 1/2 dozen or 1 dozen.

K I N N I K I N N I C K FA R M Grilled bread salad 1 large loaf ciabatta bread, about 2 days old, sliced 3 red peppers 1 med. red onion 1 pint sungold tomatoes (or other cherry tomatoes) 1/4 c. capers 1/4 c. fresh, chopped basil simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing 1/2 pound baby arugula 3 oz. feta cheese Brush the bread with olive oil and garlic and grill until golden crisp on both sides. Roughly cut or tear the slices into bite-sized pieces.

Char peppers on all sides on the grill or under a broiler, place them in a bag to cool, then remove the charred skin and seeds and slice the flesh into narrow strips.

Coarsely chop onion. Slice a pint of sungold tomatoes (or other cherry tomatoes).

Toss the above with capers, basil, and vinaigrette.

(Sprinkle on the vinegar, correct the seasoning, then add extra virgin olive oil until the ingredients are well marinated but not soggy.) The above mixture should sit for an hour or so.

Before serving, gently mix in the greens and feta.

Serve in a broad, shallow bowl or platter, for a summer lunch or to accompany grilled meat.

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B A R R E L O A K W I N E RY Summer quinoa with fruit and nuts 3 tbs. raisins or dried cranberries) 2 tbs. dried apricots, thinly sliced 1 cup red or white quinoa, rinsed well Kosher salt 1 large lemon 3 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 tsp. ground coriander 1/4 tsp. ground cumin 1/4 tsp. sweet paprika 2 medium firm-ripe avocados (6 to 7 oz each), pitted, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks 2 medium scallions, white & light green parts only, thinly sliced 2 to 3 tbs. coarsely-chopped toasted almonds Freshly ground black pepper In a medium bowl, soak the raisins and apricots in hot water for 5 minutes.

Drain and set aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups of water, the quinoa, and the 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (The outer germ rings of the grain will remain chewy and white. Some germ rings may separate from the grain and will look like white squiggles.) Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn it out into a baking sheet to cool to room temperature.

Finely grate the zest from the lemon and then squeeze 1 tbs. juice. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil, coriander, cumin, paprika, and 1/4 tsp. salt. In a large bowl, toss the vinaigrette with the quinoa, raisins, apricots, avocado, scallions, and almonds. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with a chilled glass of Barrel Oak Winery 2009 Chardonnay Reserve.

K I N N I K I N N I C K FA R M Italian cooking greens Basic preparation technique for Italian cooking greens (Bietina, Cavolo Nero, Minestra Nera, Spigariello). Swiss Chard will also do. Once you try this basic preparation, you may never do greens another way again.

Use greens with a little tooth remaining in the leaf, not “cooked to death.” This results in a glistening mound on the plate without a watery puddle.

Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.

Wash the greens well in a sink of cold water and drain in a colander.

Remove the fibrous stems (grasp the stem in one hand and pull the leaf away).

Roughly slice the leaves into 1⁄2” ribbons (this step is not essential unless the greens are going to be mixed right away with pasta or rice).

Blanch the greens very briefly and cool them quickly in a sink filled with cold water.

(A note on blanching: A pasta pot with a lift-out strainer/steamer is great for this, because you can quickly process a large volume of greens in small batches, while keeping the water at or near the boil.)

Our favorite ways to enjoy cooking greens: • Simply sautéed with butter or with garlic and olive oil • In pasta, with garlic, sautéed onions, and pancetta • Added to a skillet of sausages and pan-roasted potatoes • Added to lentil soup five minutes before serving • Mixed into a skillet of quickcooking couscous, with currants and toasted pine nuts • With chickpeas, in a spicy tomato sauce

Form the drained greens into tennis-ball sized mounds between your hands or on a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess moisture. You may wrap and store the balls of greens for a day or two in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.

When you are ready, you can chop the balls of greens and use them in any number of ways.

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“I

n April, 1971, less than a year after graduating from Wooster with a major in geology and a #60 in the first draft lottery, I was fortunate to become an ensign in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, which fulfilled my military obligation – thereby avoiding the opportunity to, as Jim Roche, my senior I.S. adviser, put it, ‘take sediment samples in the Mekong Delta.’

About a year later, while serving as a deck officer aboard the NOAA ship Surveyor, which was conducting geophysical surveying off the coasts of Oregon and Washington, and after struggling to stay awake reading textbooks that would prepare me for graduate study, I picked up Malabar Farm by Louis Bromfield.

That changed everything.

Bromfield, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Hollywood

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screenwriter, had bought four worn-out farms near his native Mansfield, Ohio, and restored them to a high level of productivity. I was hooked. I decided I didn’t want to look back, on my 80th birthday, and say, “I wish I’d tried farming.”

So for most of the last 35 years, my wife, Donna, and I have been farming—sometimes part-time, sometimes full-time— always hovering on the line between positive and negative cash flow (and as sustainably as possible).

In 1976, after finishing my three-year commitment in NOAA and a year of forestry courses at the University of Michigan while Donna finished her doctorate in linguistics, we were able to acquire a 50-acre farm near Chautauqua Institution in western New York. It came with a small amount of equipment and a whole lot of invaluable advice and help from the former owner and a neighboring farmer. Over the next nine years, using commonly accepted organic practices (without synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, etc.) we grew vegetables, raised dairy goats, fed out hogs, and made maple syrup, while working various odd jobs. We sold produce, baked goods, syrup, and goat milk fudge at the farmers’ market at Chautauqua and sold hogs to a buyer for Hatfield and Smithfield packers.

In 1985, after finally understanding that we weren’t being very sustainable if we weren’t making enough profit to sustain ourselves,

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I took a job for a year and a half as herdsman on a 100-cow dairy farm. I missed the customer contact but enjoyed the fact that I received a paycheck and didn’t have to pay for maintenance and repairs even when I was the one who tried to run a telephone pole through a forage chopper. This was followed by a year and a half managing a farm program at a group of summer camps in Vermont and about a year on a nearby horse farm. Although I gained valuable farming knowledge and experience, it was becoming clear that the maintenance costs of our own kids (Dan, 9, and Rachel, 5) exceeded those of goat kids. So Donna took a teaching position in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Five years later, we were able to buy a 110-acre “farm.” Two acres were tillable bottomland and 108 acres were steep, beautiful, wooded, and only marginally farmable. The first few years we found no consistently good outlets for direct marketing but over the last six to nine years, good farmers’ markets have developed, and we’ve sold vegetables, eggs from free-range hens, and over 40 different pork products from pigs raised outdoors. We sold at markets in Waynesburg and Washington, Pa., and Morgantown, W.Va. We’ve tried to raise our animals, including our dairy goats, as sustainably as possible, but a lack of pasture has necessitated buying in most of the animal feed.

While the growth of our sales at farmers’ markets has improved our sustainability in a financial sense, rising feed prices have countered that somewhat. And while buying in hay (and importing fertility) might improve the sustainability of our operation, the effect is most likely the opposite on those farms which produce the hay.

Greene County, where we live, produces more coal than any other county in Pennsylvania. Our place is scheduled to be undermined in late summer or fall using long wall mining, which will almost certainly cause much of our bottomland to drop several feet and become swampy and therefore unfit for growing vegetables. (Except maybe watercress? Or rice?).

So we are in the process of moving to a new farm near Lake Erie, 12 miles from Chautauqua Institution and less than five miles as the crow flies northwest of our first farm.

A perfect storm of coal mining and shale gas development in the Marcellus shale (and the effect on this area is in many ways storm-like) has enabled us to buy 100 acres with a house, barns, 16 acres of grapes, 60 of fenced pasture/hay ground, 20 of woods with some sugar maples.

Our goal is to increase the quality of our products and the quality of the land. We want to be regenerative—to improve the resource base by building topsoil, reducing or eliminating erosion, and increasing water supply and quality.

To accomplish this, we take as a guide the following from Sir Albert Howard’s An Agricultural Testament: “The main characteristic of Nature’s farming can therefore be summed up in a few words. Mother earth never attempts to farm without livestock; she always raises mixed crops; great pains are taken to preserve the soil and to prevent erosion; the mixed vegetable and animal

wastes are converted into humus; there is no waste; the processes of growth and the processes of decay balance one another; ample provision is made to maintain large reserves of fertility; the greatest care is taken to store the rainfall; both plants and animals are left to protect themselves against disease.”

Our focus will be to graze cattle, sheep, and goats, probably using a technique called “mob grazing” (also known as “ultra high stock density”). Mob grazing mimics the natural processes which created the deep, fertile soils of the original prairies of the central U.S—namely large herds of herbivores bunched together and kept on the move by predators. This can be done with electric fence by confining the herd/flock to a small area but moving them at least once every day. Some research indicates that mob grazing can remove a fair amount of CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester the carbon to the soil.

We also plan to continue raising hogs and a flock of laying hens. We will pasture them to a greater extent than we’ve done in the past, and we want to grow feed to replace commercial corn and soy feed (much of which is now genetically engineered).

We’ll continue growing vegetables but move towards organic no-till. As much as I love plowing, it tends to burn up the organic matter and have a negative effect on soil structure. We’ll also have the space to rotate our vegetable plots with pasture and hay to rebuild the soil.

The grapes have been grown with a low spray program but we hope to move to organic methods.

Finally, we plan to again take up my favorite late winter/early spring activity—maple sugaring—which may not have an effect on sustaining the land, but it sustains me.

We hope that the name of our new road—“Hardscrabble”— doesn’t prove prophetic.

”

Mike Eisenstat ’70 shows off a kid to a young neighbor. This summer, he moved from Toboggan Hill Farm in Greene County Pennsylvania to a new farm (ABOVE LEFT) near Lake Erie.

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The College of

WOOSTER H I S T O R Y

The following is an excerpt from a new manuscript by L. Gordon Tait, professor of religious studies at the College from 1956-91, and an ordained Presbyterian minister. The 12-chapter manuscript, titled, Personal Reflections on the History of Religion at The College of Wooster, is full of wit, wisdom, and attitude. b y

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L .

G O R D O N

T A I T

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have not combed the files, but I feel certain I can say that from the 1870s until 1969-70, there was daily chapel at The College of Wooster, early on five days a week, later on just four. Men and women sat separately in the Memorial Chapel until 1964 when mixed seating was permitted. Student monitors took attendance; too many cuts meant fines! The faculty stared down at the students from the choir loft, senior professors seated in the front rows, juniors to the rear.

To this day, Professor Emeritus Gordon Collins tells the story of his first chapel. In all innocence, he came early and entered the choir loft and sat down in the first row. Professor Richard Gore was already seated at the organ, gave Collins a stern look, and without a word and with a wave of his hand banished him to the back row. From then on, Gordon knew where his place was.

When I went to my first chapel, like a good boy, I sat in the back row, and after it was over, I had one big question: Was this really chapel? There was the opening hymn, of course, but where were the other elements—prayer(s), Bible reading, a short meditation? I soon concluded that though the event bore the title of Chapel, it was, more truthfully, an assembly bringing together students, faculty, and second-floor Galpin administrators. It was less about nurturing my soul, and more about nurturing my mind and the cause of community enhancement.

On the rare occasions when the trustees might be present, I noticed that scripture and prayer were quietly added and President Lowry usually spoke. Was it his way of telling them, “We really do Chapel here”?

Speakers included, of course, students, faculty, the occasional administrator, important outsiders, and—a few times a month—President Lowry. Even in the mid-sixties, he could count on a robust student audience, while other speakers and programs lost listeners and swelled the ranks at the Shack.

Favorite faculty speakers included Aileen Dunham, “Mose” Hole, Hans Jenny, Myron Peyton, Bill Craig, and Win Logan. (I recall a hilarious Logan act, miming a student getting ready to study. The Chapel rocked!)

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And there were the visiting speakers, some with impressive credentials. I was never uptight about Chapel; I usually went and took the speaker and program in stride. Which means I was never annoyed—always amused by the hijinks that interrupted the daily round: the alarm clocks suddenly jingling behind the organ pipes; all the hymnbooks disappearing for days; the creativity and hilarity of the senior Chapels (a woman student was once carried down the center aisle in a bathtub); Professor Gore abruptly shutting down the organ and sliding off the bench after the first verse if he didn’t like the hymn, leaving us with our mouths wide open and most of us laughing; and Will Lange’s “Night Climbers.”

(See the last issue of Wooster, Spring 2011.)

Then there was the day in Chapel when Dean Taeusch’s

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L. Gordon Tate, in his office in Kauke Hall, 1986. : Chapel in the ’60s; OPPOSITE: Chapel in the 19th century.

LEFT:

BELOW:

PHOTOS FROM

Special Collections, The College of Wooster Libraries

dignity took a royal beating. While reading the announcements, he informed us in all innocence that the modern dancer, G.[ypsy] R.[ose] Lee, would be giving a performance in the Canton Palace Theater on such and such a date.

Laughter erupted and he looked up in puzzled surprise.

The 20-minute routine was the same day in and day out: the program began with everyone singing a hymn from the Presbyterian hymnal in the pews, the dean reading announcements of campus meetings and events from a stack of cards (no electronic messages in those days), the introduction of the speaker, the 15-minute speech or program, applause, and dismissal.

I don’t ever recall a poor President Lowry chapel talk. For that matter, most people used superlatives in describing his baccalaureate and convocation addresses. He might have been doing the College’s business off-campus most of the time since his last talk, but when he did return and spoke in Chapel, he made it obvious that he knew what was happening on campus. His sources, whoever they were, never let him down. Whatever issue he addressed or whatever report he brought back to the campus, he could somehow, usually with a bit of humor, make it applicable to those of us who stayed at home. He never scolded, never moralized, was unfailingly optimistic.

There always had been criticism of the chapel requirement; in the 1960s there was more of it and it took a darker tone. It was the attendance requirement and the accompanying fines that got under the student skin, not so much the speakers and the programs.

In October 1964, the Voice published a reminder from Associate Dean F. W. Cropp that there were chapel attendance regulations to be obeyed: “1. Each student is allowed 18 chapel cuts per semester. 2. Fines are $5.00 for the 19th chapel cut and 50 cents for each succeeding cut.” He also spelled out the punishment for attendance “chiseling,” that is, signing in with one’s monitor and then slipping out the door to head for the Shack or elsewhere.

A year earlier, Colin MacKinnon ’64, tongue in cheek, bragged to the readers of the Voice about his chapel cuts, reporting that his chapel bill the previous year was a mere $21 dollars.

For that small amount, he got a lot in return.

I escaped watching the trustees, was not forced to hear the Girls’ Chorus, missed recognition day completely . … No two-bit Ohio politician told me why his party was going to save the world, no football coach informed me that clean living was good, no visiting minister speculated … on the various forms and modes of sin.

He concluded that it was “money well spent.” By 1968, the issue had heated up. Let Tom Fitzpatrick ’72 explain: He wrote a long, undated letter to President Drushal, probably in 196869, declaring he would go only to those chapels that would interest him. Then he explained, “The Chapel requirement is, in my opinion, the most representative example of an archaic educational policy at Wooster.” He surely spoke for many.

Indeed, all the protests against Wooster rules and traditions that dominated student life in the 1960s seemed to coalesce around required chapel.

In 1970, a new proposal drawn up by the Educational Policy Committee quickly gained support (800 students’ signatures) and was approved by the faculty in September 1970.

The key provision was that “one morning hour will be reserved each week for convocations, lectures, and campus events.” The key attendance requirement was that there wasn’t one!

“Attendance is expected.”

Daily Chapel, which had been such a fixture at the College since 1870, had been on life support for several years and was now quite dead.

Gordon Tait welcomes feedback and greetings at gtait@wooster.edu.

Another excerpt from the manuscript may be found in this magazine on pg. 65. To read the entire manuscript go to the link on the online magazine, http://woosteralumni.org, pg. 39.

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Class Notes

COMMENCEMENT, 1953 1934

Elizabeth Lapham Wills 36500 Euclid Ave A255, Willoughby, OH 44094

1935

Viola "Vi" Startzman Robertson 4533 Hunters Chase Lane, Wooster, OH 44691 330-345-5733

1936 1937

Martha “Mollie” Tilock Van Bolt 2020 Glendale Ave., Flint, Mich. 48503-2111 (810) 233-5107, martha1937@comcast.net

Greetings, classmates. There are now 28 of us left of the original 324 members of the Class of 1937, and I still contact each of you annually.

When I talked with Ruth Lyle Relph, she said that Earl ’39 was temporarily in assisted living, recovering from pneumonia, but was expected to be back with her in their apartment soon. Referring to the recent death of Bob Andrews’ wife Lee, Ruth said they had taught together early in their careers. Ruth is well and her usual cheerful self.

Blanche Smith Craig was looking forward to visiting her daughter in California for

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Mother’s Day. Charlotte Beals Tasker sends greetings to all who might remember her. We both lived at Colonial as First Years and have been in touch for many years.

Ruth Rifenberick Suter is now on the medical floor at Rydal Park, Pa. Her daughters, Ann Louise ’64 and Janet ’67, live nearby and see her frequently.

I (Mollie) just had my 95th birthday which turned out to be a five-day celebration, including two dinners with birthday cakes, a luncheon, and a cupcake party; I am enjoying an Easter lily, an orchid plant, a table bouquet, several boxes of chocolates, and a line-up of cards that go clear across my piano. This was the biggest birthday celebration I have ever had and I loved every minute.

I am fortunate to be living independently in a house next door to my daughter and down the road from my son. I do my own housework and yard work and drive myself wherever I want to go. I am frequently asked what advice I have to pass along for others who look forward to a long life. All I can say is “keep moving.” Our generation grew up walking. No students at Wooster had cars in our day, except for the McGibbeny brothers, who kept a car hidden in a Wooster garage, to be used for their trips to and from home. I walk daily, do a stretching routine every morning, and am currently attending an hour-long exercise class twice a week. Last fall I was part of a three-

month research study on balance control, so I have a weekly at-home program of balance exercises on my schedule.

My life story could be written in terms of the exercise routines I have followed. From 1938 until Roger and I married, and then from 1941 to 1945 while Roger served in the Army during World War II, I lived with my aunt in Akron, Ohio, and we followed an evening exercise routine, which eventually was based on books by Marjorie Craig: Miss Craig’s Twenty-One Day Shape Up Program and Miss Craig’s Face Saving Exercises. When Roger’s parents in Barberton became TV owners, our visits included exercising with Paige Palmer, a TV pioneer and the hostess of the first daily-televised fitness TV show in the U.S. Then we became TV owners and exercising with Jack LaLanne became part of my daily life. Lilias Falan launched her TV program, “Lilias Yoga,” in 1972, and I bought her tapes to work her routines into my life when I returned to teaching. After I retired, “Giliad’s Bodies in Motion” at 10:30 a.m. on TV became part of my daily schedule. I took classes in yoga at the Y.W.C.A. and learned a tai chi routine which I still practice at home.

Currently, morning stretches, bi-weekly classes, tai chi, and the balance routine I do at home keep me moving, and as soon as gardening season begins, I will add the exercises in Gardener’s Yoga by Veronica d’Orazio so I can get back up after gardening on my knees. As

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they say, old age isn’t for sissies, but with patience and persistence, I can still do the things I really want to do. But for how long?

That’s the challenge. So every morning, after my stretching routine, I tell myself, “It looks like I have another day—let’s get on with it!”

So, when you are asked how you managed to have such a long life, what do you answer?

Let me hear your secrets to longevity.

1939

Martha Meloy Tennent 200 Fox Haven Drive, Greenville, N.C. 27858

1940

Florence Dunbar Kerr C/O F. Beth Kerr, 2128 NE 81st Place, Seattle, WA 98115 FDK05@hotmail.com

Shortly after our 70th reunion, I (Florence) received a list of our 1940 classmates. I keep the list updated and as of April 2011 we still have 59 class members. We— members of the greatest generation—are hearty souls indeed.

Early in April, Rachel Linnell Wynn sent me sad news about the death of our class president, Marguerite Lane Bowden. She was such an active person— both Rachel and I were taken by surprise. Quoting Rachel’s email, “What a leadership role she has provided for us in the Class of ’40!” Although her husband died many years ago, she continued to create a home place for her large family, made a name for herself in the community, and took an active role in planning our recent class reunions. We will miss her.

Doris Wilson Blanchard reports that she is still traveling, including a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration of Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz (her long time friend) as the 10th president of Gallaudet Univ. Doris thoroughly enjoyed her weeklong 93rd birthday celebration in February.

1941

Mary Wilcox Hughes 3976 Bluestone Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44121 mwoohughes@ameritech.net 216-320-2291

Laura Snyder Whinery 614 Cherokee Rd., Chillicothe, OH 45601 lswhin@roadrunner.com

Sadly, not many volunteered much news for this issue. Please note the home and email addresses for both Laura and me, Mary, at the top of our column!

Some have left us. We lost Howard Greene, one of Wooster's great swimmers. He

was also the husband of Lois Wissman, another classmate, and we send our belated condolences to Lois and their family. She is one of the five of us who entered Wooster from Shaw High, East Cleveland in 1937!

I, Mary, attempted to place a birthday call to Bob Haring on February 25, but got no answer, only to learn later that he had slipped away in his sleep early that morning, just three days before his 94th birthday! In talking with Dorrie and their son, John, since then, I have learned of their longheld hope to return home after almost two years of problems. He had started a Bible class for anyone interested so he was "ministering to his flock" right up to the last.

Many of you have known, or remember my companion of the last 43 years, Sidney Burke.

He had attended our reunions since the 50th, feeling like an honorary Woosterite. I lost him on April 1st. We held a gravesite funeral for him on the 7th with military Honor Guard, a bugler played taps, and I was presented with his precisely folded flag. Sid was 99, he would have been 100 on May 12th.

From Laura: Our grandson, Dylan Richard Stypczynski, was born February 10. He has an impressive Wooster heritage that extends four generations. His parents are from Class of 2000 and his great grandparents are, of course, Anne and Len Snyder. He has already received his own baby hat for now and a hand knitted Wooster blanket that is the right size for a dorm bed for later.

1942

Celia Retzler Gates 1446 Bellevue, Wooster, OH 44691 rlgcmg@sssnet.com

We received news from class co-president Gerald “Jerry” Stryker about his trips to China: “My wife, Stephanie (Gong Defen) and I made our biennial trip to China in October.

We spent three weeks with Stephanie’s family in Huairou (about an hour outside of Beijing).

We also drove alongside one of China’s new high-speed railways on which trains zip along at 200 miles an hour. And everywhere you look . . . construction, construction, construction. Sort of incredible when you think back to what the country was when I first went there in 1946. It seems that everything is the newest, the latest, the biggest, tallest—and yet, in the unseen beyond-the-bright-lights countryside, there is still dire poverty. China is rushing headlong into the future, which on the one hand glitters with promise and on the other is dulled by scarce resources and strangulating pollution.”

1944

Russell “Russ” Haley 653 Medford Leas, Medford, NJ 08055 609-654-3653 elderguy44@yahoo.com

Don Coates, king of email correspondence, observes that if he were to write about present day vicissitudes it would be just the same old record, namely “Living the life of Riley in our Florida paradise.” He adds the caveat, however, that he's submitting this just before the start of the hurricane season. Not a lot to fear, though. The last big one to hit the Bradenton area where he lives was in 1921.

Local forecasters are cautious, though, and suggest that this summer may be their turn. If that's the case, Don is ready to search for a safe haven. How about Wooster, Ohio, Don? You can watch the progress of the building of our new leading-edge athletic facility once it starts.

Phyllis (Phid) Van Duzer Burger checked in to let us know that she survived the terrible winter they had in Connecticut this year. In fact, it was pretty bad up and down the New England and mid-Atlantic coasts. Early flowers have begun to bloom in her front yard now and so she's optimistic that spring will eventually arrive in her part of the world. She reports “all well here, just slower than usual, a little bridge, a little volunteer work —a lot of sleeping and reading.” Phid is grateful that she is still able to drive—the single most prized skill in retirement communities.

At last Don Layton says that his life is virtually back to normal. Wife Kathleen is home and doing exceptionally well. It was initially believed that it would take months before she would be able to get out of bed or out of chairs unassisted. But she has achieved that goal and more. On a few occasions she has even been able to dress herself and, using a walker, go down to dinner on her own. Don, on the other hand, has developed problems with what used to be his one good knee, which keeps him close to his electric lift chair.

Despite that, he too continues to drive. He and Kathleen just load their walkers in the back of their mini-van and off they go.

Don still manages to keep his academic credentials green. He lectures regularly once a month, drawing upon the abundant supply of topics he has accumulated over the years. In his spare time he has completed a 26-chapter autobiography. I suspect that few, if any of us, have lived in a greater variety of places than Don and his family. He sent me a copy so I now have some excellent blackmailing material. <grin> Don is now Secretary of the Residents' Advisory Council at Park Lane, his California retirement community. One of his favorite activities is watching weather reports from places with snow.

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Class Notes Courtesy of her daughter, Helen K. Chase ’69, we received a generous report on what's been happening in the life of Catherine (Kenny) Compton Chase. Kenny can walk but, like most of us, she moves slowly. She travels with a wheelchair, which she’ll be giving a workout on Easter weekend, when she attends the wedding of the granddaughter of Kenny's brother Bill ’39. She attended a pre-wedding tea party in New York and traveled to Oxford, Ohio to attend a senior lecture series, part of which honored Kenny's grandmother, Otelia Augspurger Compton. Otelia was the first Mennonite woman in Ohio to complete college. She received an honorary doctorate in 1933 from Western College for Women, now part of Miami U., and was given a medallion as Mother of the Year in 1939. A re-enactment of her life was part of the series.

It was well received and has been suggested for possible presentation on the Wooster campus also.

Al Spreng reports that he reads our Wooster alumni magazine thoroughly, and noted in the 1946 notes that Lila Flounders of Lantana, Fl. had lost her son in the 9/11 tragedy. He happened to be in Orlando, Florida to visit his cousin and family who came up from Chile to vacation there. So he called Lila, whom he knew from Wooster days, and she told him the sad story of the whole event and her part in it. Quite an experience for Al and one he obviously valued highly.

I get a note from John Bender every once in a while, usually attached to a humorous film clip. Rarely do they contain the kind of news I can report here. At least we know that John is healthy and happily using his i-Pad. Like Don Coates, and probably the majority of you, I'm locked into a pleasant, though repetitive, lifestyle pattern. The big family news is that my daughter, Kim, who has spent the past dozen or so years living in London, Budapest, Paris, Stockholm, and now Geneva, is planning to move back to the U.S. (Chicago) in July or August. My son is now in his 60s and discussing things like retirement alternatives. Is it really possible to have a 60-year-old kid? My three grandchildren are all doing well but despite my urging, none seem likely to be presenting me with a great-grandchild anytime. My health, like everyone here at Medford Leas, is “as good as can be expected.” I should be around for a few more years.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to send in a note for this issue. And to those of you we didn't hear from, maybe next time?

42 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

1945

Jeanne “Swanee” Swan Garnett 5310 Loruth Terr., Madison, WI 53711-2630 608-271-4943 jeannesgarnett@yahoo.com

Very little news has come to me (Swanee) in these last few months. I received a letter from Betty “Stucky” Stuckslager Towner in February. She had a nice telephone visit with Margie Goldsmith Hydorn a number of months ago. Margie had lived for a time at Stucky’s home in Levittown, N.Y. many years ago when their children were young, so they have a great time remembering old times. One of Margie’s sons lives in Gurnee, Il., another child is in Albquerque, N.M., another in Virginia, a daughter in New Hampshire, and a son on the east end of East Hampton, N.Y. She has grandchildren from San Diego to Florida to Virginia and Connecticut and two great-grandchildren On March 27, I received a note from Ruth Conover’s daughter, Sarah, saying that her father, Calvin Dagg ’42 died on March 4 of cancer quietly in his apartment in Arden Hills, M.N. He was in hospice care, so his family was able to be with him. He had written me earlier saying that he was rereading all his favorite books. Sarah sent me a copy of Cal’s service with a beautiful photograph of a butterfly on flowers which Cal had taken. The service included readings from Cal’s selected notes and a eulogy and meditation given by two sons-in-law. We send our deepest sympathy to the Dagg family.

I (Swanee) still enjoy volunteering at a local retirement and health center, helping with weaving. I’m glad winter is behind us and the daffodils, crocus, and tulips are blooming. I have a twelfth great- grandchild. Mary Claire Garnett was born on February 8, 2011 to our grandson, Andrew, and his wife, Theresa, son of our son, Harold and his wife, Kay, in the Minneapolis, M.N. area. I have yet to see her in person though pictures have been sent.

1946

Sally Wade Olson 4209 Hoffman Dr., Woodbridge, VA 22193 oleysally@aol.com, 703-590-3465

By now our 65th class reunion will be a great memory. Special thanks go to Lois Wieland Jones, Ross Smith, Barbara Cooper Strauss, Jo Bender Regenhardt, Martha Purdy Behrens, and Pat Workman Foxx, who made phone calls to most of our classmates encouraging them to join us for the reunion in June.

Lois reports from Jeanne Castner Hertig, who has injured her back, Lucy Hunter

Coonan, who is caring for her husband who is ill, and Lila May Walkden Flounders who has suffered a fall.

Most of Ross's contacts told him they hoped to attend except Art Lindblom, who is unable to travel.

Barbara learned that Jean Wagner Eden is planning to move this spring and Kitty Dice Finkelpearl is caring for her husband who cannot stay alone.

Jo had a good conversation with Betsy Spencer Klopp who enjoys her retirement home in Florida, with Laverne Zavala McDonough who lives near her, and with Cary March Ormond whose husband, Dave, is in rehab.

Martha found that Dorothy Dean Means and Dorothy Taylor Tonges do not drive as far as Wooster anymore. Nancy Campbell Beyer suggests that our class start a round robin letter, already enjoyed by a small group of classmates. A good idea!

This telephone campaign allowed us to discover that many telephone numbers are no longer good. Either people have changed to cell phones or e-mail or have moved to retirement homes. It would be helpful to keep us up-to-date with contact information.

A note from Pat Bryant Hill tells of attending four grandchildren’s college graduations and two upcoming weddings. She keeps active, even dancing in a variety show at her retirement village where there are two Wooster alumni from 1947— her own Wooster Alumni Club!

Our condolences go to Jean Bloom Reimer on the loss of her daughter.

1947

Rhoe Benson 803 E. Highland Ave., Wooster OH 44691 330-345-7548 rbenson@wooster.edu

I (Don) as class president, was sorry to receive Dede Bender Seaton’s resignation as class secretary. Dede has done a good job assisting Cornie Lybarger Nuewanger, carrying on after Cornie’s passing last year. Thanks, Dede, for your dedication.

Our class of ’47 is fortunate that Rhoe Benson has agreed to be our secretary, at least through our reunion, scheduled in June 2012.

Thanks, Rhoe, from all of our ’47ers! We promise to keep you informed of our activities.

From Rhoe: I am honored to follow the past distinguished secretaries, Cornie and Dede, from the class of 1947. With your help, I hope to reach closely the bar they established. I was not an English major, so don’t look for great epistles, but just the facts. My

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AT THE MATTERHORN, SWITZERLAND

Carol ’59 and Paul Lamberger ’60

wife, Elizabeth Baker Benson ’48 (Liz) and I have lived and worked in Wooster since 1959.

We have three children, all married with a total of eight grandchildren. Two of our children are graduates of the COW. We also have two grandsons currently attending the COW. Both Liz and I have been retired since 1990 and 1992. We are active in our church and in the community and love to spend time on the golf course.

Now for other news: Our 65th reunion committee has now scheduled a planning session for Sat., September 10, giving Don the opportunity to talk with some of our committee members. He sends along this info: Larry Gabriel is making plans for a repeat trip to Lake Michigan later this summer. He looks forward to a peaceful, relaxing time with his son and daughter-in-law. Larry’s two sons keep him on the straight and narrow. One son is in Wooster, and the other is an attorney at the University of Georgia.

Doris Reitz Buchanan has a great trip to Iceland scheduled in mid-June with a photography tour group. Doris enjoys photography, and has been involved in it for many years.

Doris proudly reports that one of her grandsons, who graduated from Wooster in ’09 is currently on a Fulbright Fellowship in Korea.

Vivien Douglas Smith keeps involved with a variety of activities—history, art, seminars, etc. In August she, Dave, and a daughter are driving in their RV to a week-long art course in Door County, Wis. Viv has been dabbling in water colors for 25 years or more. Also, she’s interested in and knowledgeable about College of Wooster history—particularly from the ’40s.

She invites all of us to assist Jerry Footlick in his Modern History of the College, primarily in providing information about the ’40s.

Marilyn Anderson Williams is very active

in her retirement community, 10 Wilmington Place, in Dayton, and she served as president of the resident council in 2010. She takes continuing education classes at the University of Dayton and recently completed three courses on race relations. Andy plans to be at her cottage in Massachusetts for a month this summer. She enjoys having a son nearby in Dayton.

Margery Neiswander Hoge has lived at Smithville Western Commons for the past four years and has a lovely two-bedroom apartment in assisted living. Marge has twin sons, one in Toledo whom she visited recently and one in Hawaii, and a daughter who is nearby. Marge enjoys good health and gets to the College now and then for various events.

Martha Stoll Ballard (Kentuck), who started with us but actually graduated with the class of ’49, celebrated her April 11 birthday in Sanibel, Fl, with her daughter Beth Ballard Crawford ’77, son-in-law Bob Crawford, and two of their three sons. Kentuck spends her winters in Sanibel, but still returns to Louisville in the summer. Her e-mail address is: sunnysanibel@gmail.com. Hope Yee Lee and husband Maurice still live at 1817A Wilder Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822.

Some of us receive Hope's friendly phone calls at intervals.

1948

Lance Shreffler 78 Blenheim Rd., Columbus, OH 43214 mlshreffler@sbcglobal.net

Evelyn Fischer Hewett 2380 Saga Cir. NE, Canton, OH 44730-1832 evelynhewett@juno.com

Not too long ago, I (Lance) and my wife had lunch in the College cafeteria, and a fun thing happened. Two different students came

to our table just to chat. Delightful! Makes me want to return to the campus and I shall do that.

Bob Mehl reports in from Grand Island, N.H., where he gardens, reads, and pursues his antique car hobby. A tour from the Model T Ford Club brought back memories: “Do you remember Fred Stead’s Model T on campus?

My own best car is a 1941 Packard Super Eight convertible sedan I’ve had since 1958.

We once drove it to Wooster to visit Leo Kissell ’48 and to the Packard Centennial in 1999, in Warren. I still drive, but not very far.

If my son Chris ’77 will drive me, I’ll be at our 65th, but not the 70th!

From class president Jean Boggs: Greetings! Aren't we all a bit slower, but aren't we happy to be still hanging in there! Mal and I no longer take those wonderful long trips, but reminiscing with old travel diaries is fun, too. Moving to a retirement community has been a wise decision and being nearer to our three children is a real bonus. We send our best wishes to everyone.

Jo Barr Altstetter and husband John had to “endure” lots of cold weather down in Palmdale, Fla. this past winter. But they are happy to continue with good health, volunteer work, and chorus rehearsals. Jo still has farming in her blood; in the summers, she cans the garden excess when they are up north in Michigan.

Kathy Lautenschlager Haun sent photos of her finished carving project, “A Cathedral for One.” Unique, spiritual, and calming are just some of the words to describe it, and we hope it might be seen in our Wooster magazine some day. Good work, Kathy! Their Arizona area suffered severe cold weather this winter and many of her plants were frozen.

Betsy Cowles Sprenkle's daughter, Kyle, came so close to completing the Ironman race in Hawaii last year, but she is back in Utah hoping to win the Utah regional Ironman once again. Betsy's husband, Roger, gets around in a powerchair, and they enjoy fond memories of lots of world travels. Betsy enjoys mahjong and the Red Hats group.

(Barbara) Jo Bailey Keck's husband, Max ’41, died in February. They were married 61 years and lived in Silver Lake, Ohio.

Donajean Swartz Durkin’s husband died in Florida after a long illness. Our sympathy goes out to Jo and Donajean.

From Spencerport, N.Y., Esther Stottle Harris writes that it was a relief to get away from their 100 inches of snow by spending six weeks in Fort Myers, Fla. She still lives in the home where her three children were raised, and two of them still live locally; the third is in Boston.

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Class Notes

WEDDING OF ELISABETH KNORR ’93 AND NIGEL COSH, DEC. 29, 2010 FROM LEFT

Frank Knorr ’59, Heather Morris ’94, Jean Knorr (College nusery school), Jeff Miller ’70, Mildred Miller, bride, groom, Debbie Knorr Haavik ’65, Eric Knorr ’89, Gretcen Shafer ’49. Not pictured: Bill Foxx ’44 and Pat Workman Foxx ’46

She hopes to have lunch soon with her roommate, Jean Harris Kaidy, who lives in nearby Rochester. Esther has recently had phone calls from Ruth Neff Daniels and Jean Boggs. A Wooster brick in her patio is a constant reminder of the class of 1948.

1949

Evelynn Cheadle Thomas 6505 Sorrento Court, Dayton, OH 45459 eethomas@mailbug.com, Phone (937) 439-0260

1950

Janice “Jay” Wilson George 19476 N. Coyote Lakes Pkwy., Surprise, AZ 85374

Right after sending my spring column north to snowy Ohio in January, I ( Jay) headed south for a wonderful nine-day stay on Sanibel Island, with Betty Evans Anderson.

Betty and her late husband, Boze (Robert Anderson) have had a six-week timeshare there for many years, which she has generously shared with friends and family since his death in 2009. Her friendship and the warm climate was a welcome respite from Cincy’s wintry weather. (We checked Ohio’s temps daily so 44 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

we could be appropriately thankful!) Each day we walked and shelled the beautiful beach and dined at a different restaurant each evening.

Bob and Barb Hough Shafer came over from Ft. Myers one day and joined us for lunch at a popular marina. Barb and Bob didn’t move far to retire as they have lived in Florida most of their married life—Barb, a teacher, and Bob, an attorney and judge. They are enjoying life in a smaller home now, but Barb regrets no longer being on the water.

Kay Shamp is another classmate who did not move far in retirement. She has been happily settled in the University Circle area of Cleveland for several years. There she has access to both musical and medical venues and enjoys season tickets to the symphony. She is librarian for the manor and co-chair of the program committee, which brings in musicians for concerts.

Shortly after attending our 60th reunion, Jim and Jean Dutch Webster flew out to Colorado where all four children and families gathered for a grandson’s wedding in Beaver Creek. At home, Jim is occupied with gardening, volunteering, and woodworking; Jean quilts and is busy with church work.

Nancy Herbst Sechrest’s Christmas greeting shared that she is also still “on the go.” She did a “roots” tour of Ohio and Indiana with a

granddaughter and went to Spain and Morocco in October with another grandchild.

When at home, church activities, opportunities, and camaraderie fill her time, but she bemoans the fact that she doesn’t accomplish much toward cleaning out her house.

1951

“Max” Selby 30200 Crestview Dr., Bay Village, OH 44140 maxselby@gmail.com

Janet “Jan” Evans Smith 121 Cherry St., Perrysburg, OH 43551 jesmithq@bex.net

Max and I want to thank all of you who shared your news and that of your classmates.

The letters and e-mails that we received held many poignant, common themes. We have helped the world and the space around us to be a better place; we have travelled, gaining wisdom and experience; we are proud of the accomplishments of our grandchildren and take joy in our great grandchildren; we have lost those we have loved dearly; we patiently complain about our diminishing health, have found pleasure in family and friends, and we have remained faithful to our spiritual needs.

Help us stay informed and caring about those friends (now) of long ago.

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1952

Nancy Campbell Brown 1220 Portage Rd., Wooster, OH 44691-2042

Warren M. Swager Jr. P.O. Box 555, Sheridan, MT 59749-0555 wcswager@3rivers.net

Judge Charlie Ardery plans to work another three or four years and promises to come to our reunion next year if Paul Curtis makes it. Charlie says that ordinary guys like him don't often get to mingle with heroes. He considers Paul to be the unsung hero of the Korean War. From Wes Crile: “I continue to be in good health and still enjoy travel, golf, and my new boat. I love being a snowbird, with condominiums in Florida and Ohio. Since my retirement, I have quenched some of my need for excitement with cruises.”

From Eva Becker: “I moved to Chicago (Glenview) four years ago to be near Lila, adopted in China five years ago. She’s magnificent and will be president someday if laws restricting birthplace change by then. I take classes at Olli, a Northwestern University affiliate, so I spend time with the very young and very old. A few times in the 40s I saw Frank Sinatra at the Chicago theater for 25 cents. I hope to see you all a year from June.

It has never been reported in a Wooster publication that Bill Yanney had followed in the steps of Wooster’s professor of speech, Delbert G Lean, who read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol during the first half of the 20th century on the campus and throughout the state, for a total of approximately 600 performances. Bill, at the age of 10, who first heard Delbert read the Carol in his Alliance Ohio Presbyterian Church in 1960, memorized the masterwork. And so Bill stepped into Delbert’s dais and read the Carol to more than 300 audiences. Reciting Tiny Tim’s final blessing, “God Bless Us Everyone,” he ended his 50th season of reading the Carol last December. Bill is retired with his wife Dorothy, in Dayton, Ohio (unasne@erinet.com), following 50 years as a Presbyterian minister, dovetailed with 35 years as an army chaplain on AD and in the NG. From Margaret Baker: “I moved to the Crondway Township five years ago. My husband passed away three years ago, and I remain active in New Life Anglican Church and volunteer at a local retirement community.”

From Dave Batcheller: “We are thoroughly enjoying living on the Eastern shore of Maryland. It certainly has a relaxed atmosphere. Our cottage is on the bank of the Chester River at the edge of quaint Chestertown where we enjoy such fun events

as the re-enactment of the “tea party” and Down-rigging weekend, when the “tall ships” come up the river to visit. I was honored to have been a delegate representing Wooster for the inauguration of the new president of Washington College, which is just up the street.”

From Sarah and William Aber: “Travel seems to be what we enjoy most, along with grandchildren and the greatgrands. This year we’re taking some of them on trips. We’ve done the Mexican Riviera with the greatgrands (ages 12 and 14). In May, we’ll take one granddaughter to London after she graduates from Florida State. In June we’ll be on a Western Caribbean cruise with two granddaughters, 12 and 13. A Christmas market visit along the Danube will end our travel year.”

Jeanne B. Carley spent most of advent and Christmas in a recliner while her doctors tried various ways of dealing with her heart failure and decreasing ability to keep up her normal activities. On January 17th, a young female electro physiologist at Strong Hospital in Rochester succeeded in upgrading her existing ICD to bi-ventricular status in a 3.5 hour operation. She should be back square dancing soon! Harry got a new knee last May, and was honored by Dundee Rotary as a Paul Harris Fellow. He also received a 50-year pin from Corning, Inc, where he started working in 1960.

1953

Don Orr 13460 Marlette Dr., La Mirada, CA 90638-2813 DorrScot@verizon.net Nona S.Taylor 110 Echo Way, Statesboro, GA 30458 nst3c@nctv.com

1954

Sylvia Buttrey Huning-Tillotson 99 Ascension Dr., Apt. J107, Asheville, NC 28806 sylhuning@yahoo.com

My husband, Russ Tillotson, Sr. is in a lot of pain these days. He's scheduled to have a hip replacement on April 29th. He is involved in many activities, including with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Russ sees his little brother, Henry, twice a week.

Janice Wilson George ’50 writes with news of Fran and Sue Park. Fran has multiple myeloma, was in the hospital three weeks, and then got pneumonia! Sue called today with an update on Fran, who has chemo twice a week for two weeks, takes a week off, and then continues with the treatment. Multiple

myeloma usually doesn't affect people until they are very, very old in their 90s.

Heather and Carl Aten were recently honored by the League of Women Voters of Geneva. Carl was largely responsible for the formation and success of the Geneva, N.Y. Court Watching Task Force began 10 years ago. The purpose of the task force is to insure that all people are treated fairly. They watch to see if the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney are ethical, compassionate and articulate.

Do the court personnel treat the defendant with dignity? Does the defendant understand his or her rights?

Hugh and Bev McCullough will be honored in their town of Sturgis, Mich. for their many years of volunteerism. She will be seeing Heather and Carl Aken the last part of April. They are driving to Syracuse to meet me for lunch.

Judy Yoder Webster is flying to Syracuse to be with her son, Scott and his wife Debbe and then the three of us are driving to NYC to see her grandson and his wife, and then the three will see a bit of the city before he flies home.

Judy says the weather is finally looking like spring and she hopes to golf with friends soon.

Charles Van Wie wrote me a letter saying he went back to his 60th high school reunion class of 1950. Then he received a call from a student he had at a school in which he had taught. The school was having a reunion and he had a great time at the event. Charles felt very grateful to the students.

Marilyn Van Meter writes about the alumni reunion that was held Sept. 19th at her and Lem's place. Approximately 35 alumni and student parents attended. We were most pleased to have former Wooster president Henry Copeland and his wife, Lolley, attend.

Doing much planning and legwork were Carolyn MacArdle Fredley and Ted Fredley, class of 1953. Those from our class attending were Betty Gwynn Boyd and Sylvia Buttrey Huning-Tillotson.

Don Ady and his wife took a cruise on European river ship cruise on the Rhone and the Weine. He writes, “After all these years my French still works - one way. Outgoing but not ingoing. That's OK, as most answers tend to be in English.”

Shirley and Bob Martz are doing well, living in Mesa, Az., where their daughter lives.

Their son, Dean ’79, is being installed as president of the Washington State Medical Association and they will fly there for the installation. Bob is till playing 18 holes of golf once/week and Shirley plays lots of bridge.

Gordon Hall reports on numerous successful fishing trips.

S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 45

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Class Notes

CLASS OF ’59 AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C. L TO R Marilyn Charles, Susanne Fox, Joan Becker Bissell, Susan Baker Toth, Ginny Wenger Moser, Dorothea Miller Stover, Peg True

1955

1956

161 Lake Breeze Park Rochester N.Y. 14622 nomodonald@yahoo.com

464 E. Highland Ave., Wooster, OH 44691-9249 Pjyoung52@sssnet.com

Frances “Fran” Bauer Parker

Richard Graham received the Distinguished Service Award from the Conference on Latin American History, who cite him as “an outstanding scholar, teacher, mentor of graduate students, editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review and a principal figure in the establishment of the field of Brazilian History as a major area in the study of Latin American History in the U.S.” Born in Brazil to an American missionary father and Brazilian mother, he has always bridged the two cultures. He taught at Cornell, University of Utah, and at University of Texas from 1970-1999.

Nancy Mutch Donald

715 S. Webster St., Jackson, MI 49203 fparker99@comcast.net

I (Nancy Donald) recently uncovered a letter (that had fallen behind my computer) from Bob and Delores Igoe who live in Vermilion, Ohio on Lake Erie, where they own their own construction company. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Their daughter is a veterinarian and mother, daughter and granddaughter are very active in the quarter horse world.

Sylvia Dick Sears is still flying her plane, although not during the winter months. She sent me a copy of a notice of Mary Jane Tenny's death last Dec. 22. Mary Jane loved people and keeping in touch with her classmates. She had already had one stroke, but on Dec. 15 suffered another hemorrhagic stroke and after a few days was placed in hospice where she died the next day.

Sylvia and I (Nancy) will be heading to Nashville for the Singleton Convention in May, provided that we don't get flooded out again this year. There will be about 40 of us gathered there and we will spend one evening at Grand Old Opry and one evening on the General Jackson Showboat dinner cruise.

46 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

Pat Young

1957

Anne K. Johnson 78 White Tail Rd.,Murphysboro, IL, 62966 ajohnson@globaleyes.net

1958

Nana Newberry Landgraf 2927 Weymouth Rd., Shaker Heights, OH 44120 nwl9@sbcglobal.net Dennis Barnes 12 Gildersleeve Wood,Charlottesville, VA 22903 dennis_barnes@mindspring.com

April 10, Cleveland, Nana’s locale: the cold hung on, so only brave crocuses visible for an unusually long time. Today feels softer.

Personal notes: (1) my husband has been seri-

ously ill since March; (2) through Cecilian Musical Club, I’ve gotten to know fellow class secretary/musician Bonnie Savage ’77, who in December lost her significant other, James Hilton Luce.

On the upside, consider Peggy Blumberg Wireman (wireman1234@sbcglobal.net), paragon of activism. As Anne Gieser Hunt (anne.hunt@mac.com) says, Peggy seized a leadership role in Wisconsin’s 2011 political confrontation. I get an e-mail from her virtually every day. She’s breathless, in a hurry, invigorated/invigorating, dedicated, inspiring.

She’s not afraid to misspell (not one moment spent on nonessentials). If she gets facts wrong, she rectifies asap, unfazed. She gives massive volunteer assignments but accepts much less; volunteers know she’s executing yet more. On vacation, she makes calls even from ski lifts. A whirlwind who knows how to coordinate. If you want to be an activist about anything, emulate Peggy.

Bob Carter (lsery1938@yahoo.com) had a phone call from Henry “Chuck” Kayser (hckay@verizon.net), Civil War buff, about an article in Trains magazine regarding the role of trains in the Civil War. He also learned Wayne Leeper (wleeps@earthlink.net) and his wife visited the Kaysers last summer. Dennis Barnes, who went to high school with Henry, confirms Henry’s Civil War passion, reflected in “travel” class interests below.

More of the hobbies/interests drawn from our 50th Reunion Memory Book: in the category Philanthropy, Advocacy, Church, we pick up with the R’s (in the Fall 2010 issue we finished the M’s): Paul Randall (randallpaul@ymail.com), church volunteer. Ronald

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’59ERS ON A HAWAIIAN CRUISE, 2011 TO R Kenneth Anthony ‘59, Mary Ann (VanWickle) Anthony ’59, Joan Bowser DeLon ’59, Dick DeLon

L

Rehner (r1unon2@aol.com): RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) as transportation coordinator and program coordinator; Boy Scouts; nursing home visits; AARP; church committees. Pat Gerber Simmons (patg.simmons@verizon.net): various, at church: education, mission, using teaching and consulting skills. Bob Sponseller, volunteering for academic boosters. Agnes Cox Thielen (berniethielen@verizon.net): Enrolled Agent IRS/Instructor, but loves teaching adults and preparing taxes. Stan Totten (totten@hanover.edu), founder and volunteer curator of Hanover College Museum of Natural History. Ruth Middleton Turley (rturley1@neo.rr.com): hospital, lifebanc (organ donation), American Liver Foundation (these may be in past). Van Vanderland (EVanderland58@alumnimail.wooster.edu), volunteer chaplain for police department; hospital information desk. Ruth Holzapfel Walters (grammar.ruth@verizon.net), numerous church and community activities; Richard “Babe” Weiss (richarddweiss@aol.com), educational docent at Sanibel Shell Museum.

Jane Craig Wilson (jw38035@wbhsi.com), PEO. Sara-Rae Griffith Young (jf sryoung@verizon.net), church officer and volunteer.

Theater: Murray Blackadar (murray.blackadar@cox.net) and Lillie Trent (lilytrent@yahoo.com) (attending); Paul Reeder (reederpl@charter.net) (participant, musicals/light opera).

Travel (general): Melody Lachner Aldridge (egdirdla2@aol.com); John Bayer (johnbayer10@yahoo.com); Gladys Fisher Colwell (gpcolwell@aol.com); Janet Agnew

DeBar (jdebar@mcn.org); Thompson Ford (tomhford@bigplanet.com); Roger Hall (1RH.1CH@earthlink.net); Susan JamisonTrent (sitrent@gwi.net); Marion Shriver Komar (marionlsk@mac.com); Peggy McAnlis Mueller (pmuellerp@hotmail.com); Paul Randall (randallpaul@ymail.com); Janette Collins Richardson; Sue Marsh Totten (totten@hanover.edu). Travel (specifics): Mila Swyers Aroskar (aroskarm@mindspring.com), Southwest; Millie Gilbert Carlson (bobandmil@msn.com), “Jeepers Creepers” back road trips, world travel; Martha Yost Cornish, three-four trips/year; Joan Zimmer Davis (jrdav@centurytel.net) includes wintering in Florida; Mary Miller Dunning, foreign; seeks travel companion; Julie Jerabek Fukuda (kiska@inter.net) lives in Japan ( Julie, how are you, post Japan’s traumas?); Anne Marsh Hoenig (ahoenig@roadrunner.com), domestic, abroad; Elaine Theurer Kirke (elainekirke@aol.com) loves cruises; Wayne Leeper, Civil War battlefields; Dee Farkas Parker (retdee2001@msn.com), worldwide; Pat Gerber Simmons likes elder hostels; Mary Jane Thompson (jthom424@gmail.com), places where niece/family live; Stan Totten, six Europe trips since 2002; Van Vanderland, numerous countries; Richard “Babe” Weiss (richarddweiss@aol.com), worldwide; Peg While (pegwhile@gmail.com), art, opera, nature; Ghana revisiting Peace Corps people/scenes.

Writing (“interest” and career often indistinguishable): Sandra Sanders Breuer (SandyBre@aol.com); Janet Agnew DeBar, poetry; Anne Gieser Hunt; George Kandle

(gkandle@optonline.net), 1971 career-related book; Emily Rhoads Johnson’s (emilyrjohnson@earthlink.net) newest book: Wizard at Work: The Life and Art of George Rhoads about her brother, who creates audiokinetic sculptures; Phil Nader (prnader@cox.net), careerconnected books; Stan Totten, science; Peggy Blumberg Wireman, books, especially Connecting the Dots.

1959

Phil & Winnie Myers Rohrbaugh 1916 Maplewood Drive, Cedar Falls, IA 50613 philwin@cfu.net

Greg Seaman 75 Clear Lake Rd., Guilford, CT 06437 gseaman@snet.net

Carol and Paul (’60)Lamberger (see photo, pg. 43) had an incredible two month hiking and sightseeing trip in the Swiss Alps and countryside last summer. For four weeks they hiked 6 – 8 hours a day every other day, first in the St. Moritz area, then in Kandersteg, Wengen, and Zermatt. They hiked on the Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau, and Matterhorn (the “big guys” as Carol described them), enjoyed the most spectacular views imaginable, and saw countless numbers of large and small animals. Carol saw 50 new birds she hadn’t seen in all her birder years. After their hiking treks, they spent 3.5 weeks visiting the historic, picturesque cities of Lugano, Lucern, Bern, and Geneva. Their passes were good on trains, buses, boats, gondola lifts, cog railroads, and museums, so they never ran out of places to go or things to do.

In preparing for their 50th reunion two S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 47

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Class Notes

HESED HOUSE, CHICAGO, ILL. TO R Gregory Boettner ‘99, Amelia Lorenz ‘01, Emily Hendel ‘99, Matt Lang ‘99, Stephen Wirzylo ‘99, Jesse Larson ‘99

L

Hesed House is an international Christian community established in 2009 by Matt, Emily, Greg, Amelia, and three other folks.The Hesed House is located in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. We love visitors!

years ago, seven women classmates from Wooster ’59 who live in the Washington area started meeting periodically at the National Gallery of Art for lunch. It turned out to be such a nice way to keep in touch that they are still meeting there regularly. One such meeting was October 2010 (see photo, pg. 46).

They enjoy catching up with each other’s personal lives but also share thoughts and opinions about current events, Wooster happenings, and even art. They met again in March 2011 and were planning to meet in June to tour the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virg.

The group consists of Marilyn Charles, who lives on the Washington waterfront and is a supporter of the world-class Arena Stage Theatre in her neighborhood; Susanne Fox, who lobbies Congress for the League of Women Voters; Joan Becker Bissell, an avid traveler, who has just returned from India; Susan Baker Toth, who is still a working woman but finds time to meet with the group; Ginny Wenger Moser, who is still a Washington tour guide and also likes to travel abroad (most recently to China); Dorothea Miller Stover, who was an art major at Wooster and now displays her beautiful enamel works at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria (an artists’ establishment); and Peg True, a retired Presbyterian minister and special education administrator. They are all happy that the 50th reunion planning sessions led to their ongoing contact.

My husband, Dick, and I (Joan Bowser 48 Wooster S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

DeLon) were looking forward to our Hawaiian cruise this spring. But when we departed San Pedro, California on the Golden Princess, we had no idea how much unanticipated fun we would have. The first stop was the island of Oahu where we rented a car and did our own thing with friends who were cruising with us. At the second stop on Kauai, however, we opted for a planned tour of sights that had been used as film locations in movies and TV shows.

Dick was wearing his Wooster ball cap, and as we climbed aboard the bus, I heard someone say, “What's the ‘W’ stand for?” Dick said, “Wooster!” Whereupon the lady said, “Class of ’59.’ I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around to see Mary Ann (VanWickle) Anthony and her husband, Ken. Needless to say, we had a grand catchup, eating lunch together on the cruise back from Hawaii, and cheering on the Wooster basketball team from various spots in the Pacific.

We marvel at the happy coincidences that brought us together. Of his vast wardrobe of ball caps, Dick chose to take the Wooster one on this trip. Out of a passenger list of 2,600 people and the many trips Princess Line takes with this itinerary, we chose the same one, and out of the two buses doing the Hollywood tour on Kauai, the four of us were brought together. Don Register says, “It's the Wooster Connection!”

We are sending on a picture of the four of us after one of our two hour lunches!

1960

Vicky Fritschi 16 King Philip Tr., Norfolk, MA 02056-1406 vfritschi@netzero.net

Dave and Lowey Dickason had an exceptionally rewarding year in 2010. Dave was invited to give the Arthur Geddes Memorial Lecture at the annual conference of the National Association of Geographers, India.

They also reconnected with friends and colleagues and had an opportunity to visit Woodstock School high in the Himalayas that Dave attended at age four. He was “bussed” to school in a basket backpacked by a porter!

Classmates Tom Scovel, Margaret Loehlin Shafer, and Mary Jean Crain Moreno ’59 also attended Woodstock.

Dave reconnected with former student Allan Sealy, one of India’s leading novelists.

They also visited Kodaikanal School in the hills of south India, where they attended. In 2010, their 55th high school class reunion was held in Estes Park, Col., with classmate Alice Graham Silver, ’59.

Dave recently rediscovered a rare atlas of southern India that triggered the East India Company to map India. An American Council of Learned Societies fellowship allowed him to study this document. Dave earlier rediscovered and digitally re-mastered Mary Upjohn Meader’s stunning pre-WWII aerial photography of Africa. Mary subsequently funded The W.E. Upjohn Center for the Study of Geographical Change to digitally preserve maps and photographs of the pre-

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digital era and to re-purpose them for use with geospatial technologies. Dave’s group recently completed digitalizing 60,000 maps of the U.S., with the aim of digitalizing hyper-accurately U.S. topographic maps back to the Jeffersonian age. (Google Mary Upjohn Meader to learn about a phenomenal woman and pioneer.)

Jane Morley Kotchen and husband Ted are still actively involved in their work at the Medical College of Wisconsin and keeping their minds sharp as they attend graduate level courses at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. Last year they successfully completed a challenging and interesting course in their “city of history,” in which they had to read a book a week at the same time as they were keeping up in their professions.

In November they celebrated the arrival of their 8th grandchild, Aaron David Yan-Bo Kotchen in New York and shortly thereafter got together with children, grandchildren, great grand children, and Jane’s siblings.

1961

Larry Vodra 51 High Ridge Rd., Brookfield, CT 06804-3517 JLVodra@aol.com

Continuing my biographical series, here are two about women who left Wooster before they graduated, but whom many of you knew.

Arleen (Hallberg) Twist spent her childhood in suburban Chicago, then Hackensack, N.J, before coming to Wooster. Dorms were crowded during her freshman year, and she shared a triple room in Hoover Cottage with Julie Johnston from Charleston, W.V., and Liz Lutz from eastern Iowa. Arleen has strong memories of the housemother, signing in and out, the parlor and the dining room, and the view from her room, especially during the beautiful fall. During her sophomore year, she was assigned Wagner Hall, which didn’t have a dining hall. She ate in lower Kenarden, and the best thing she remembers were the dinners of wurst, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut (not a combination that she ever had at home).

She became a member of Pyramids, joined the staff of The Voice, and had the job of helping with the mail distribution of the paper. Stu Aubrey was the editor. (Years later, she read his book about his affliction with Alzheimer’s disease.) Although she was comfortable at Wooster, she decided to make a change. A friend, the late Suzanne Hill Halbe had looked into Western Reserve University (WRU), because she wanted to become an elementary school teacher, and Wooster didn’t offer this course of study. Suzanne transferred at the end of her freshman year, and Arleen transferred at

the end of the first semester of her sophomore year. She majored in home economics, and graduated from Western Reserve in 1961. In 1963, she married a long-time friend from high school, John Twist, with whom she became re-acquainted at WRU, and received her M. S. degree in nutrition in 1964. They moved to Cleveland Heights in 1965. She tried teaching, didn’t like it, worked as a secretary for two years, and then dropped out of the workforce in 1967 when Spencer was born.

Daughter Alina was born four years later.

When Alina was in first grade (1977), Arleen began part-time work at the large Church of the Saviour (Methodist), where she served in a variety of positions until her retirement in 2006. John retired in 2008, and their interests now lie in music, from the Cleveland Orchestra to the Ohio Light Opera.

After graduating from Shelby High School in 1957, Jane (Douglas) Fidler studied at The College of Wooster for two years then moved to Cleveland, where she studied nursing at the St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1962. Jane worked at the Cleveland Clinic for a year and then, after marrying her high school sweetheart, Glenn Fidler, moved back to Shelby, Ohio. For several years she did private duty, caring for patients in their homes or in the hospital. In 1967, she was employed by Shelby Memorial Hospital where she enjoyed a career in nursing as head nurse of the emergency room, central supply supervisor, infection control nurse, employee health nurse, and hazardous materials manager (sometimes simultaneously). As Jane says, “Small hospitals can be very interesting.” Jane and Glenn have two sons, Christopher, a probate lawyer, and David, a computer consultant, and four grandchildren.

Glenn and Jane retired in 1994: he from the Ohio Air National Guard and she from Shelby Memorial Hospital. Since then they have enjoyed a life with minimal schedule constraints and pursued many activities, including traveling to England three times; buying, remodeling and “flipping” several homes; buying and farming Glenn’s grandmother’s farm; and raising chickens. Jane loves computers, electronic toys, genealogy, and birding. They vacation in Virginia in the fall and Florida in the spring, and they garden at home.

From Larry: My computer crashed in April, and with its loss went all of my biographical files from the past couple of years. If you have sent me something and haven't seen it yet in print, please try again. The next issue of Wooster will have a summary of our 50th reunion, but I'll be back printing mini-biographies next winter, so keep them coming!

1962

Jane Arndt Chittick 192 Valencia Lakes Dr., Venice, FL 34292 jachits@sbcglobal.net

Genie Henson Hatch 1337 Hampton Rd., St. Charles, MO 63303-6105, hatchd@sbcglobal.net

Judy (French) Bradford treasures memories of the two and a half years she spent teaching junior high English and speech soon after college graduation, especially the time she (alone) took her 134 students to the Museum of Science and Industry. She became a stay-athome mom to her son and daughter, both now grown with families of their own. Judy’s first marriage ended in divorce after 23 years. Her second husband died two-and-a-half years after their wedding, but, as Judy says, out of all bad things comes some good: her second husband’s work record has provided her with disability coverage. At this point in her life, Judy is content being single, answering to no one, with freedom to do what she wants when she wants.

Dealing with the devastating effects of a massive stroke 15 years ago, not to mention a badly broken back at another time, has convinced Judy that a sense of humor is essential for healing of all kinds. “If there is breath left, it [the body] can be rebuilt.” Though Judy is “mobility challenged,” conversation with her is filled with laughter, memories of fun and light moments, and exclamations of joy and delight. Her grandchildren’s “Auntie Mame,” Judy has carved out for herself and those around her a life overflowing with family and love.

As residents of a Pensacola, Fl. continuous care retirement community for the past seven years, Margaret (Margy) Louise Herold Brown and her husband Don enjoy the freedom to travel, come and go as they please, and not worry about maintaining a house, meal preparation or cleaning. Now retired, Margy has had several careers.

A music education major, Margy taught kindergartners and then transitioned into serving as music director, choir director, and soloist for Presbyterian churches in Maryland, California, and New York. When Don was called to a position on the General Assembly staff in New York, Margy became director of conference services for Stony Point Conference in Stony Point, New York. When The General Assembly moved to Louisville, Ky., Margy joined the staff as director of financial aid for studies and later as director of personnel services. She was ordained as an elder in Louisville and upon moving to Florida was elected to two terms as stated clerk of the Presbytery of Florida.

S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 49

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Class Notes

WEDDING OF NICHOLAS HARMON ’04 AND BARBARA MILLER L TO R Peter Kobalka ’04, Dave Massey ’04, Marshall Buckley ’04, Evan Rae ’04, bride, groom, Joe Hall ’04, Danny George ’04 (Not pictured: Rob Mauro ’04)

Margy’s two daughters, Kathleen and Andrea, live in Pensacola with their families, including five grandchildren. Her two stepsons and their wives live in northern California.

Since retirement, Margy and Don have volunteered in a middle school media resource center, assisted in food preparation for First Presbyterian Church meals, as McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Il., retirement consultants for The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church, USA, and in the lab of a medical park. Margy’s Wooster voice training continued to provide inspiration to worshipers at First Presbyterian Church in Pensacola until recently. She loves her garden, her birds, and supporting the congregation of the church in which she worships.

Mary Behling Browne has served on the New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, which regulates state physical therapists, since 2002. Mary was awarded her degree as a physical therapist from D. T. Watson (University of Pittsburgh) after graduating from Wooster. She returned to Wooster from 1964-1966 as its first assistant dean of women. Later, in the 80’s—while working full-time as a physical therapist and raising her family—Mary earned a master’s in education from Rutgers University. She retired from fulltime work at Morristown Memorial Hospital in 2004 and from part-time work in 2010.

Mary and husband George (’63) like to travel and to welcome guests, especially those from Wooster. The Brownes have two grown sons, one who lives in Manhattan with his 50 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

wife and four children. The Brownes’ younger son, daughter-in-law and their six-year-old daughter live nearby in West Orange, N.J. Joan Geisinger DePew, who entered Wooster as a freshman with the Class of ’62 but left before graduation, earned a BS in education. After teaching high school English for years, Joan switched to tutoring at a community college and has now retired. She lives in Tallhassee, Fl. Betsy Johnson, long-time resident of Chevy Chase, Md., is retired from her job as a database analyst for Fannie Mae. She volunteers for the Maryland Sierra Club, currently serving as political chair for the chapter. As chair, she manages the chapter’s political action committee, fields calls from candidates, and helps set priorities for getting involved in campaigns. Betsy is proud of the work the chapter did in the 2010 election when her state bucked the national conservative trend. She is also proud of her only child, Diane, “quite the adventurer,” who currently works as a producer for a traveling circus out of Brisbane, Australia, after having traveled around the world.

Upon graduation from Woo U, Peter A. Koester went into computer programming with IBM, working on government contracts at the Pentagon, Langley Air Force Base, Wiesbaden, Germany and Johnson Space Center. Pete moved to Houston in 1977 where, until retirement, he worked on the space shuttle's on-board computer operating system.

Starting in 1993, a series of aerospace consolidation transactions led to Pete’s

employer’s changing to Loral, then LockheedMartin, and finally to United Space Alliance.

Pete is active in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., having served as an elder and deacon.

He currently chairs the Presbytery of New Covenant's finance committee and is a member of the choir and the recorder double quartet in his local church. On the national level, he was a commissioner to the 215th General Assembly in Denver. Co-founder of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter in 1990, Pete served on its Board of Directors for 10 years, the last five as president.

Son, sibling, cousin and nephew of Wooster graduates, Pete is also the father of Sara Koester Snowden ’93, another daughter, and a son. He also has four grandchildren.

Pete married his high-school sweetheart, Pat, an R.N. who holds a Ph.D in nursing and teaches clinical nursing students part-time at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, after having retired following 22 years of full-time work The Koesters have returned to Europe as tourists several times and are planning a trip to the East Coast with their two Texas grandchildren, especially to visit family in Delaware and Maryland this summer.

1963

Ron Eggleston 5932 Vienna Way, Lansing, MI 48917 reggleston41@gmail.com

I (Ron) have spoken with or received

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e-mails from many classmates in recent months, and excitement about the 2013 reunion is growing. Those who have the event marked on their calendars include John Aten, Bill and Nancy Hartzell Brosius, Sharon Cooley Czaika, Jon Harper, Kathy Burgess Kapp, Jim King, Ed and Katherine Martin, Terry Reddick, Bill Riggs, Bill Shear, Jim Sundberg, Doug Worthington (who promises to bring his new bride) and Bill Yoder (all the way from Thailand). Thinking about attending, but not yet sure are Jane Newstead O’Toole, Lynn Peter Nickol and Rob Bricker.

Jon and wife Gwen are now relocated in Stamford Con., to be near their daughter’s family and their grandchild. Jon has started teaching chemistry part-time at a local university, an unexpected but pleasant arrangement.

Rob Bricker, who lives in Prescott, Ariz., is a very busy volunteer, teaching ESL and helping with basic reading, writing and math skills in a second grade class. His latest biggest adventure in some time was the week he spent volunteering his medical skills in a tent hospital in Port au Prince, Haiti, following the horrendous earthquake there.

Jim King reports that he retired in 2004 as a senior research fellow after 40 years with DuPont, working on various aspects of automotive finishes. He now has time for his many hobbies, including computers, photography, cooking, beer and winemaking, and reading (especially science fantasy/fiction). He is an active member of Birmingham Mich. First Presbyterian Church.

Ed and Kitty Martin retired in 2009, and Kitty remarks, “I really don’t know how we worked full time and did everything else!

With a daughter serving as a police sergeant working 12-hour shifts, they have taken on childcare duties on alternating weekends. They still find time to enjoy theater and orchestra, attend church regularly, volunteer at their grandchildren’s school, and travel.

1964

Judy Cornell McFarland 535 W Daphne Rd., Glendale, WI 53217 Jmcfarland64@gmail.com

Jim Switzer celebrated his retirement from being class secretary by taking two cruises last winter. He does not recommend cruising out of Baltimore in December, however!

After graduation, Linda Seese went to the Mississippi Freedom Summer for a year. It was less pay and a lot more dangerous than the Peace Corps, but an amazing experience that changed her life. Later she did a lot of community organizing with Native Americans and other groups. She helped start the Women's Movement in Canada in l967 and in

Chicago in '68. She also worked with the Portland Oregon women's movement and gay movement and women's land movements. She lived in Europe for a while and then settled for the last 30 years in northern New Mexico.

Linda is happily married to Rita, and they share several grands, good times, and a commitment to helping make the world a better place. Linda has been a Buddhist for eight years and she adds: "We don’t have a lot of worldly goods, but that's okay!"

Is there news in your life? Your classmates would like to hear what you've been up to.

Perhaps by the time you read this, some of the political turmoil in Wisconsin will have died down — but I doubt it! David Newby — if you're reading this, would you like to comment?

1965

Chuck & Lill Richeson Templeton 925 Alvarado Terr., Walla Walla, WA 99362-2101 (509) 525-6746, templeton@whitman.edu

Judy Peck von Ahlefeldt, blackforestnews@earthlink.net, now living in Colorado Springs, brings us up to date, “After graduation, I went to Cornell University and obtained a master’s in medical entomology and parasitology, taught at Ithaca College, moved to Colorado, taught biology at Colorado College and The Colorado Springs School, worked in biochemical research for four years, went (1985) to Colorado State University for a PhD in Landscape Ecology, became the ecologist on the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming (1990), returned to Black Forest in 1997 so I could take care of my aging parents—and bought the local newspaper.

“I have been very blessed to have been able to live in the country, enjoy having horses and other animals, and try to do my part for conservation.”

Barbara Bate, bategofish@gmail.com, emailed, “I’m happily living along the Washington coast, one of 800 full-time residents in a tiny town called Ocean Park. I bought my little house in 1996.”

After receiving her doctorate from the University of Oregon, Barbara taught speech communication and women’s studies at Northern Illinois University from 1976 to 1987. She then taught communication and preaching at two seminaries in New Jersey, then moved to Nashville to work for the General Board of Discipleship. In the 1980s and 90s she wrote or edited the books Communication and the Sexes, Women Communicating, and Freedom in the Pulpit, and directed a church video project, “Leading in the Spirit.” She has played for community musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof, Mame, and The Fantasticks, accompanied for local

church services, and taught piano to students ranging from age eight to 76.

Nancy Rose Ludowise, nludowise@columbus.rr.com, and husband Jim ’64, are retired and have moved from Powell, Wyoming, to Columbus, Ohio. Their daughter, Jen (Spike) Ludowise ’93, son-in-law Jeff Smith ‘93 and their two children live in Upper Arlington, a 15-minute drive from Nancy’s home. Their son, Ben, lives 10 minutes away.

Their daughter, Chris Ludowise ’91, is an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia Southern University.

Nancy substitute teaches mostly science and math at three high schools in Dublin, Ohio.

Nancy says, “I hope all of you are loving your retirement and remain grateful to Wooster for mates met, lessons learned from Howard Lowry, Dr. Calhoun, Dr. Dunham, Drs. Osgood, and living life from 18-22, give or take a few, in the exciting early 60’s.”

Jerry Fischer, gbf@umn.edu, sent the following update, “December 31st saw my 20-plus years with the University of Minnesota Foundation come to an end. It was a most meaningful and fulfilling vocational fit. Cathie and I enjoyed immensely building many high quality, high trust relationships with a few university presidents, many deans, university administrators, faculty members, development professionals, and students, as well as many UMN alumni and donors. Cathie and I are already enjoying the increased discretionary time for travel and the chance to visit our kids and grand kids more often in Michigan and New York.

“In February and March, I spent nearly three weeks in East Africa as part of a walking safari/odyssey. It was truly a life-stretching time, including four days of meaningful interactions with the elders of the Maasai and then four days with the elders of the Hadza huntergatherers.”

Nancy Waite-Kahn, wa8lit@aol.com, writes, “This winter has been a great time for me to connect with Wooster classmates. I had visits with Nancy Winder Carpenter, carpy1010@aol.com, and Barb Kurz, bkurz@comporium.net, when Nancy visited her condo in South Carolina. Only since the last reunion have we discovered our close proximity. Soon thereafter, Nick Vaala, arv562@aol.com, and his wife Susan spent the day in Charlotte and we had a chance to catch up on their lives.

“Then we were off to California for a few days where I reconnected with Margaret Mack Mason, petermason@sbcglobal.net, in L.A. Though she has been there for probably 30 years, I didn’t have her e-mail or address until I obtained a listing at the time of our last reunion. Margaret and I (and Merrily Siepert S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 51

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6557 S. Richards Ave. Santa Fe, NM 87508, libobrien66@gmail.com

(San Francisco Planning and Urban Research) Center, a most interesting LEED-certified green building where Andy had just retired as co-chair of the Board of Directors. As profiled in the Summer 2009 magazine, Sara and Andy live primarily in Mill Valley and are enjoying grandparenting, travel, and community involvement. You can view samples of Sara’s art at swbarnes800@earthlink.net.

Dr. Bill Kieffer often attended Bay Area Wooster functions in the past, but Sally reports that he has moved with daughter Lois Kieffer Boykin and her husband John to their home in the Cayman Islands.

And last, but certainly not least, our condolences go to Steve Schreiber whose mother Clare Adel Schreiber passed away in February at the age of 96. She was an inspiration to many of us who followed a career path teaching young children.

You may have noticed a lack of news in the Spring issue. We need to hear from you, especially those who have not been in touch before. It’s now less than a year before our 45th and there’s no better time than right now to refresh the lines of communication. Hope to hear from YOU!

1967

1968

32 Binnacle Hill, Oakland, CA 94618-2532, rosienjohn@aol.com

35038 Carnation Ln., Ft. Mill, SC 29707 jeanmayer@hotmail.com, goscots@comporium.net

Davis, merrilydavis@comcast.net,) roomed together one semester in a triple in Holden Annex and had remained friends through graduation. Like so many of us, we lost touch (or failed to communicate) after a year or so out of college. Margaret and her husband Peter were wonderful tour guides for two days.”

Doug Keen (doug.keen@keenimpressions.com), represented our class at the Final Four playoffs in March. He writes, “I think I was the only Class of ’65 alum in Salem. There were about 500 enthusiastic Scot supporters, many from Wooster.” Doug reports that Friday’s win over Williams was exciting, but after losing to St. Thomas on Saturday, Doug is hoping for a different outcome next year.

Thank you to those who have sent photos, which we share in our email newsletter. If you are not receiving the newsletter, send us your e-mail address and a news update. Remember, it’s only four years until our big 50th!

1966

Elizabeth “Libby” Westhafer O’Brien

Rosemary “Rosie” Capps Merchant

Jim & Jean Adair Mayer

Nancy Lukens-Rumscheidt 6 Cote Dr., Dover, NH 03820-4607 nlukens66@comcast.net

Congratulations to our own Sally Patton on her retirement as Wooster’s vice president of development (see story on pg. 4). We are proud of her as a classmate who has devoted so much of her life to Wooster.

Sally was in San Francisco in March for “A Conversation With President Cornwell.” She reported that she had run into Jeanne (Culture Queen) Milligan Player at the SF Symphony the previous evening and that Jeanne was not at the reception because she and her husband were attending the SF Opera that night.

Ron Ryland stepped off the elevator to leave just as my husband and I arrived. Ron had dropped in early for a few minutes and was on his way with his wife Rita to a weekend flyfishing trip he describes as “Orvis meets Overeaters Anonymous.” Considering the rain we’d been having, there may have been more eating than fishing! In the “small world” category, my husband John was Ron’s orthodontist in the early 70’s, long before we met.

The reception was hosted by Sara Winkler Barnes and her husband Andy at the SPUR 52 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

1969

Judy Simkins Haines 2643 Brook Valley Rd., Frederick, MD 21701 JudyHaines1@hotmail.com

1970

Laura Wolfson Likavec 1702 Mendelssohn Dr., Westlake, OH 44145 lauralikavec@yahoo.com

From George Pilcher: “Dorothy and I still live in Westerville, Ohio; it will be 30 years this coming November, and we still love living in a small college town, home of Otterbein University. Our eldest daughter, Katharine (29), is an actress living in Boston, and our second daughter, Elizabeth (27), is a court advocate for battered women in Independence, Mo. Our son, Gregory (20), is a sophomore chemistry major at Ohio State University, and loving every minute of being a Buckeye! His goal is to become a high school chemistry (and possibly physics) teacher and coach. He wrestled from junior high through high school, and was on the track team and the cross-country team in high school.

Dorothy and I are doing well; in 2010 we celebrated Dorothy’s 5th cancer-free year, following surgery for thyroid cancer in 2005, and I am currently recovering from extensive (but completely successful) back surgery this past December. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this past April, and just celebrated Dorothy’s mother’s 88 birthday on 16 April.

(My father died in 2009 and my mother in 2003.) Following my early retirement from the global Dutch chemicals and coatings firm, AkzoNobel, in 2005, I served as a management coach for BASF’s North American Industrial Coatings Business for two years, and then in 2007 joined The ChemQuest Group, a global strategic management consulting firm that focuses on paints and coatings; adhesives and sealants; and specialty chemicals. While the firm is headquartered in Cincinnati, I was able to open an office in Westerville, which is great, because we would hate to move. Since I last submitted anything for the alumni magazine, I was grateful to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Polymeric Materials Division of the American Chemical Society in 2007, and the Columbus Section Award from the American Chemical Society in 2006. In Westerville, I currently serve as president of the Westerville Library Foundation, vice president of the Friends of the Westerville Library, and am a member of the Board of Trustees of the Westerville Symphony Orchestra. Dorothy and I are always thrilled to see and/or communicate with old Woo friends; our address is 165 Mainsail Drive, Westerville, Ohio 43081; our home telephone is 614-895-3191.”

William R. DeMott, professor of biology, was recognized with the 2010 Outstanding Researcher Award from Indiana-Purdue University. Bill's research focuses on ecology and evolution in plankton food chains in lakes.

Anson Shupe ’70, had his 20th book published last summer. It deals with Zen Buddhism and social psychology. He and his wife look forward to retirement soon, traveling, and having nothing more to do with any American university. He has been studying Mandarin, and with his Japanese, that should give him some retirement options. He is also writing a satirical novel about academia and how professors really act behind the scenes.

From Phil Barrett: “I have just a quick note about more recent events in our family.

The biggest news is that our son (P.T.) graduated from the University of Iowa last May with honors and distinction. Since then he has interned in a U.S. senator’s office and a well-known law firm, both in D.C. This fall he heads off to Law school at De Paul University. The other big news is that my

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’69ERS PYRAMID

“I thought I’d send the geriatric version of the pyramid pictures I’ve sent in the past; the last one was published in the spring 2005 issue. We all get together at least once a year at the square dance of Linda and Mo Saif.

But smaller combinationso of these six gather other times for various reasons.

I also see Dana Smith Tinch and Bonnie Emke Lindberg often; we all live in Cleveland Heights.” . . . Jan Hollinger Jones Linda Marsch Saif, Jane Davidson Baessler, Elizabeth Partch Anderson, Caroline Donaldson Finke, Kaye McCracken Roberts, Jan Hollinger Jones

FROM THE TOP :

spouse (Kerry) and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage in August.”

From Sue Hartt: “I remember that I took part in the I. S. prank too and submitted a paper under the name of Diane Calhoun. It contained many rejected pages from Nancy Gibson's I. S. on Nietzsche with random pages from other people's paper. It had an overwrought introduction that tied all these components together. I turned it in with everybody else. I never heard any reaction back from anybody but always liked to imagine a little confusion until the staff realized that there was no senior named Diane Calhoun.

My kids continue to attend college. We spent the summer in Santa Barbara where my daughter took statistics and Chinese and my son attended an archeological field school, which was digging up the Chinatown and Spanish fort, which underlie the modern city of Santa Barbara. A beautiful area, but so foggy we went two weeks without seeing the sun!

I continue to study Greek and Latin, this year reading Herodotus and Plato.”

From Joyce and Mick ’68 Eager: “We will be traveling to Magambua, Tanzania in May. Our oldest son, Jon, and his family live there and he provides medical care for the people in the area. He is the only doctor for approximately 40,000 people and this is his fifth year of working there. We will be going there to help finish the construction of an addition to the medical clinic. The new addition has three

large rooms, which will allow for inpatient care, a pediatric, women's, and men's ward.

Our United Methodist church has sponsored the addition and the generous response to the needs of the people of Magambua has been a blessing to witness. The team hopes to install doors, windows, a drop ceiling, solar panels for electricity and do interior painting. Of course Mick and I are also excited about seeing the three grandchildren who are 9, 7 and 4 years old. I am already packed!”

From Jim ’69 and Rachel Whitney Lander: “We are blessed that the tornadoes that hit our neighboring town did no bodily harm to anyone and that our home was untouched. Jim has a “man” trip in early May and I head to Vanuatu on missions at the end of May. Summer on the lake is great with our kids and grandkids. If any of you would like to come visit, just write (okeydoakes@hotmail.com).

1971

James K. Lowery 1675 Riverwood Dr., Jackson, MS 39211-4828 jlowery49@gmail.com

1972

Jay Yutzey

1973

Suzanne Schluederberg 3385 Carl Ct., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 suz@umich.edu

1974

Kim Tapie 5511 Canaan Center Rd., Wooster, OH 44691-9611 ktapie@gmail.com

Have you been wondering why we have had no notes in the last few issues? It’s because I have not heard from anyone. I can't believe you have nothing to say about retirement, your children, grandchildren, or grandpets, I just got one of those, a yorkie, dachshund, beagle, and Chihuahua mix. What about your aches, pains, or the recession and its affect on you? We have doctors and bankers in our class; we could help each other out. So let me know what you are doing. You would be surprised at how many people in our class are wondering about you.

1975

Andrea J. Steenburg Simmers 2121 Breeds Rd., Owings Mills, MD 21117-1646 asimmers@mcdonogh.org

1254 Norwell Dr., Columbus, OH 43220 yutzey.2@osu.edu

1976

Ray and I hope to see you at our 40th class reunion in 2012! Go Scots!

3175 Warrington Rd., Shaker Heights, OH 44120-2428, dmurphy1@sbcglobal.net

Dana Vandenberg Murphy

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1977

Bonnie Savage 4306 River St., Willoughby, OH 44094-7815 bonniesbee@sbcglobal.net

Ed Furgol was named alumnus of the year

by St. Cross College. Shirlene Ward is the financial manager of Warren W. Cherry Preschool. A resident of Evanston, Ill., her baby is now 20 years old and she thinks it will be a while before she becomes a grandmother.

Doug Brush, chair of the Sentry Group in Pittsford, N.Y., received the prestigious Herbert W. Vandenbrul Entrepreneurial Award from the E. Philip Saunders School of Business.

1978

Ken & Laurie Williams Gifford 6 Alicia Cir., Sinking Spring, PA 19608 giffkr@aol.com, lgifford@firstenergycorp.com

Helen Wilson 7031 Villa Dr., Waterford, MI 48327-3323 hewil2000@yahoo.com

Stuart & Robin Light Thomas 2801 Edgewood Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55426 (952) 925-5028, rsthomas78@comcast.net

From Jennifer Grant Prileson: “My husband and I are still in Tucson Ariz. but I am no longer teaching chemistry and environmental science—my “old life” at a suburban high school on the north side of town for about 17 years. I decided it was time to move on to new challenges and am in my 4th year as an assistant principal for a high school in south Tucson. This is definitely the hardest job I've ever had. One of these days I'll have to write a book about some of the 'firsts' I experience; there's always a new one around the corner!

“A few years ago (after both kids had taken off for college—probably a significant factor!), I got the urge to do something on the wilder side, something I'd never tried my entire life, and took a motorcycle rider safety course.

Once I had the endorsement on my license, it was only a matter of weeks before I had that starter bike—a Yamaha 250—to continue learning on. Since then I've upgraded to bigger bikes and just recently acquired a HarleyDavidson Softail. My students love seeing me come and go when I ride to school. On weekends, I often cruise across town and swap the iron horse for the 4-footed variety. It’s been great fun, especially since Jeff decided to get his own bike and join me for some day trips.

Living in Arizona presents a variety of extremes— the summer heat, the fabulous winter weather, the gorgeous hikes, the Neanderthal-populated legislature, the amazing level of support for the arts, the poverty 54 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

rate (65 percent of students in my county qualify for the federal lunch program) and yes, I live a scant couple of miles from the infamous Jan. 8 shooting event and know Gabby Giffords, our amazing congresswoman. The Tucson community is still coping with the aftermath, and hoping that the outpouring of goodness from so many folks will last.”

1979

Jay Keller 324 Lincoln Ave., Takoma Park, Md. jayktakoma@gmail.com

Carol Skowron carolskowron@gmail.com wrote from Japan, where she was working on post Tsunami relief efforts with Mercy Corps.

“The end of a long day came with me working at my desk in the hotel, sending notes and photographs to my colleagues in Portland Ore., discussing our plans for a new project, and hoping I could get it all wrapped up soon to enjoy a hot Japanese bath before bed. About 11:20 p.m., as we discussed the needs for sports programs for the children, we were jolted by the powerful shock of an earthquake followed by shaking that let us know that this was more than a small tremor. No one was injured, but electricity was out, there was some damage to the hotel, and we needed to relocate. We spent the night sleeping on the floor, experiencing aftershocks every half hour or so, but glad to be together and in a two story building instead of a tall hotel. Thank goodness for Japanese building standards. The powerful quake meant the loss of power, loss of running water and meals mostly consisting of snack food for us for two days. Some cold, some inconvenience but over and over I thought, “What about those who just went through this a month ago as well? Such a powerful reminder of how we can only control so much, and then Mother Nature takes over.

The government is already moving some families into “temporary” shelter, complete with refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions. The cleanup is MASSIVE however.

Where in the world will they put all of that debris? The scope is such that it is impossible to believe it will ever get cleaned up.”

From Jay Keller: “With the economy still a bit shaky, I decided to invest in a sure thing and have been buying up chocolate from Al Reynolds and wife LoriMae http://stores.mychocolatopia.com.)I sent a batch to Pat Markunas (former Wooster psychology professor) for her 60th and it received rave reviews. Who would have known Alan could cook? All I remember from Wooster days was his ability to order Coccia House pizza. My oldest, Daniel is graduating

from Wesleyan in May and we are taking probably our last big family vacation in July to Rwanda to visit Anna’s brother who works on health care.”

Greg Stolcis retired (after 26 years of service) from his position in state government in Virginia on April 1. “Suffice it to say that I had about all the fun I could stand. My immediate plans (such as they are!) involve resuming my clinical social work career, continuing to teach graduate courses at Virginia Commonwealth University, working part-time for a local consulting firm, traveling, reading, becoming a better pianist, and studying Spanish. Sure beats working.” E-mail Greg at: pianist57@comcast.net.

Karen Schoenewaldt (schoenewaldt@gmail.com) said she can't compete with tsunami aid and chocolate but she is keeping very busy at the Rosenbach museum and library and is taking lessons in Renaissance dulcian (Renaissance precursor to the bassoon). Sarah Buck (sarahjswim@aol.com) began taking classes in Eden Energy Medicine (based on the work of Donna Eden) in 2005, became a certified practitioner of same in 2008, and went on to complete requirements as a clinical practitioner, last summer. “I have a lovely little Cleveland-based studio and balancing room, where I maintain a private practice, working directly with the subtle energy fields of the human body. I love it! I still get to Wooster fairly often, since my mother-in-law lives there, and also because of the Wooster Chamber Music Series, where we have performances by world-class chamber groups six times a year. Cameron Carver Maneese is the classmate I see most often. I’ve been married for a long time to Nick Amster Fishelson, whom I met senior year. Our two sons are now 16 and 13. We all spend much of our time pursuing the arts in various forms.”

Linso van der Burg, linso@msn.com, is living in Swampscott Mass., where his wife Joanne is happily working in the school administration. He writes, “My oldest daughter is graduating from U Mass, and coming home to figure out her next steps. Oldest son, taking some gap time before college, is doing turtle conservation volunteer work in Costa Rica. Second son is graduating from high school and heading to U Mass and the Air Force National Guard. Last but not least my youngest is getting her drivers license and will be a junior in high school in the fall. On the job front: the company I have worked for the last five years was bought by Google. Good news is the options paid out, bad news is I will only be a Google employee for six months while the finance functions are transferred to California.”

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WOOSTER IN INDIA

David Ware ’79 recently visited India with wife Lucia and son Nathan, where he toured temples, palaces, the red fort (where Nehru made his first address to the nation as an independent India), the Taj Mahal and Ranthombore National Park (tiger reserve) and then Mumbai. It was a marvelous trip and he urges all to go if you can. For tips on riding elephants email David at dwaremada@yahoo.com.

Don Campbell posted on his Facebook in mid-April: “Six tornado warnings in central Arkansas. Just another spring day!” E-mail Don your copy of The Wizard of Oz at dkcatty@gmail.com.

Elizabeth Brandt writes that she was recently appointed the James E. Rogers Distinguished Professor at University of Idaho where she teaches. “It has been a pretty busy year for me. My kids are juniors in college; who knew time could go so fast?”

1980

Susan Estill 1817 Keller Lake Dr., Burnsville, MN 55306-6378 sestill58@comcast.net

Don Leake 300 High Gables Dr., Apt. 208, Gaithersburg, MD 20878-7428

Jenny Watson 1551 Oakmount Rd., South Euclid, OH 44121 jlwatson395@sbcglobal.net

David Gilliss writes, “I continue to be involved in Wooster issues, and one year from now expect to be the president of the Alumni Assoc. Staying connected with our school is a real treat, and for those of you who have not been back in a while, you will be amazed at

what you find. The school we knew and loved is still there, but it is just that much better.

Wooster is quickly developing a national reputation of excellence, and the faculty, the administration, the facilities, and most importantly, the students, are all doing their part to continue the tradition of excellence that we experienced. My daughter Lauren is finishing her sophomore year at Wooster, having lived in the same room as a freshman that I had as a freshman while at Wooster. Lauren is majoring in international relations, is very much enjoying playing for the college's tennis team, and is planning to study French next fall in Senegal. The opportunities for Wooster students continue to be fantastic. Last year I opened my own law firm with a good friend of mine. There are now five of us at Pike & Gilliss, LLC. We focus our practice on construction, surety and commercial litigation.

Life at 100 m.p.h.! My wife, Karen Wilson ’81 and I had been planning to visit our friend Jeff Marzilli and his wife Robin in Rome, but our peripatetic friends have moved on to Nairobi, Kenya, so opportunities continue for other alums as well. Please stay in touch with me at Gilliss@PikeGilliss.com.”

Lisa Vickery writes: “I'm heading out this week on a college visit tour with my second son, Wood. (Buddy is staying at home because

he has to work and mind the dog.) Wooster isn't on this visit, as we're doing a swing through upstate New York. We'll visit Cornell, Syracuse and Skidmore. Our older son, Sam, is finishing his first year at Syracuse and loving it, so we'll visit him in the process. I remember so clearly visiting Wooster with my own dad back in 1975 and thinking, ‘This is totally the place for me.’ So funny how those immediate vibes can be so prescient.”

1981

Scott Jones 31 Emerson St., Belmont, MA 02478 scottjones@verizon.net

Linda (Mortensen) Hill writes: “Well, son Jacob is done. IS is in and orals are done.

He's graduating and off to school at UC. It will be great to have him and his brother, Marshall, both here studying next year.

Marshall will be at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. End of an era as they say, but the future’s so bright, we'll need to wear shades. Here’s hoping this finds you all happy, healthy and working out of the downturn. If you're ever in Cincinnati. . . well, you know. Thanks, Scott, for your service to the class. Good luck. Go Scots! "

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SUPERBOWL PARTY WESTLAKE, OHIO TO R, BACK ROW Don Berkey ’76, Dave Appel ’77, Scott Lafferty ’77, Sue Moore Lafferty ’77, Bill Huffman ’77, FRONT Waite Tablot ’77, Debbie Lemichuck Talbot ’79, Nancy Toll Huffman ‘78

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1982

Barbara Brown 2151 Fairmount Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105 wishboneandbarb@hotmail.com

John P. Shafer 9929 Oakton Terrace Rd., Oakton, VA 22124 shaferjp@hotmail.com

Susan Lancaster Toner 11593 Westbury Pl., Carmel, IN 46032 susan_toner@hotmail.com

1983

David Martin Collierville, TN, dkmboater@hotmail.com or david.martin2@ipaper.com

1984

Elizabeth “Beth” Novak Wiggalll 3636 Lake Albert Way, Grove City OH 14450 rawbaw@columbus.rr.com

Cheryl Lower Coonahan 2 Brookside Lane, Sterling, Mass. 01564 coonahancheryl@yahoo.com

1985

Barry Eisenberg beyesn@aol.com

Katie Hopper 15736 Buena Vista Dr., Rockville, MD 20855-2656 k8hop@aol.com

Two news items emanating from the Eisenberg-Hopper stronghold: “After 12 years teaching 7th and 8th grade English (and 56 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

occasionally 5th and 6th) at the same school in Rockville, Md., Katie Hopper will take her show down the road this fall to teach 7th grade English at Bethesda's Washington Episcopal School (WES). While feeling a little verklempt about leaving the kids, parents and colleagues that formed her community for a dozen years, Katie is excited by the many new opportunities that await her at WES. The school's annual 7th grade trip to Italy is but one example. Woo “small world” alert! Katie will now be colleagues with Frances Caterini, (Marie Caterini Choppin’s mother), who teaches 8th grade English at WES. We are proud that daughter Emma has decided to attend Oberlin College in the fall (barring any highly unlikely wait-list hijinks).

It's an excellent fit for her. We will try not to intrude on her new life as we fight back tears setting up our newfangled Skype video calling device.”

After three years of college counseling in an independent school, Sarah Simmons (sarah.simmons1@verizon.net) returned to District of Columbia Public Schools. She is teaching history at Woodrow Wilson High School and coaching girls J.V. lacrosse. “I just missed the classroom too much and now I have students from more than 40 countries!”

Not too shabby a commute. Sarah's home is only about a mile from the school.

Doug Wiley also has a new gig. Most recently, Doug was senior director for strategic relations at POLITICO, the media organization covering national politics. But now the son of former Federal Communications Commission chief Richard Wiley has joined

the family business, Wiley Rein LLP, as senior public policy consultant. Formed in 1983, Washington D.C.-based Wiley Rein LLP is home to more than 275 attorneys practicing in almost two dozen areas of law. Doug will provide advocacy, analysis and advice to clients on a wide range of issues and representing clients before the executive and legislative branches of government. Consult him at dougwiley@wileyrein.com.

Staying in the D.C. area. . . “I recently took on a new role at Deloitte as director of sales for Deloitte’s Growth Enterprise Services practice,” reports Ellen Buchanan Mundell, emundell@deloitte.com. “I'm working with companies that are $50M+ in revenues, and loving it. I have been with Deloitte for seven years now; ‘right out of college’ is what I tell people. They laugh a little too hard at that!”

Ellen, her husband and kids Lucia (9) and Tait (8) recently moved into a new home (actually an old home that they overhauled) in Bethesda, Md. “It's a perfect little neighborhood that’s about as close to my childhood neighborhood near Pittsburgh as we could find in the D.C. area," she says.

Up I-95 a bit to Charm City, where Martha Lucius was preparing to ride her bicycle an incredibly long way for a great cause on May 13: “My biking friends and I—all women from our Mt. Washington neighborhood in Baltimore, including Ann MacNary ’86, decided to join the two-day, 140 mile Ride for the Feast to raise money for Moveable Feast, a Baltimore-based organization that provides meals delivered to the homes of homebound people with HIV/AIDS or breast

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WEDDING OF DIANE KINTER-CRAIG '95 & JEFFERY CRAIG, JULY 3, 2010 TO R Suzanne Fletcher '97 Debbie Krudwig Gutowski '99 Bride (Diane Kinter Craig) Groom (Jeffery Craig) Jesse Elmore '97 Julie Mayne Jakubczak '95 Elizabeth Howard '99

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cancer. I’ve personally agreed to raise $1,300, which is the cost to feed and deliver meals to one person for one year. I know, really, what was I thinking?!” The bike ride begins in Ocean City and ends in Baltimore City. “I have to say we are very excited about raising money for this cause,” writes Martha. My group has already hit our goal of $10K, so we are going for $15K, and with a little help, we will make it there!”

Hugh Scott checks in from Illinois: “Coming out of Wooster, I moved to Chicago and spent the first few years in a variety of sales and management positions. While pursuing that, I went back to grad school and got my Masters of Education at Loyola University Chicago.” Hugh soon took a position in the financial aid office at Loyola, counseling MBA and MSW students. During this same time, he met his wife, Karen. Fast forward: Hugh spearheaded the Lifelong Learning Program at Vinyl Plastics Inc. (Wisconsin) and ultimately obtained an MBA at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Ariz.

“Following my graduation from Thunderbird, Karen and I wanted to move back to Chicago.

We both have an entrepreneurial bent, so we formed our own company, SCA Investment Group, LLC, specializing in real estate investment.” Hugh and Karen, who just celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary with a trip to San Francisco and the Napa Valley, have three daughters: Sydney (11), Caroline (9), and Ava (7). Reconnect with Hugh at StpnRzr@att.net.

And now, an urgent message from Andrew Tveekrem, brewmaster, Market Garden Brewery, Cleveland, Ohio: “By the time this

gets printed, the Market Garden Brewery will be open for business. I start brewing next week and we will have the restaurant open within 60 days . . . finally! So stop in sometime and enjoy great beer and great food next door to Cleveland's renowned West Side Market at 1947 W.25th Street.” Never doubt the power of a Wooster history major with a license to make beer. Place your order at atveekrem@gmail.com.

Are you sitting down? When we last left Cheryl Trautmann Boop and Dave Boop, they were separated by more than 700 miles.

She's a pediatric occupational therapist in Athens, Ga. He is director of career services at Arkansas Tech University. Married for a quarter century, it now seems he will need to learn to lift the toilet seat all over again. “Look out, world! The Boops are actually going to be living together in the same state! Just in time for our 25th anniversary!” writes Cheryl. “Dave will start his new job as director of career services at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., on June 1 and I will be joining him in the next six months! If anyone is looking for a cute house near Athens, we are entertaining any and all bids! It will be hard for me to leave the kids I've worked with for so long, but if anyone knows of a pediatric occupational therapy job in Northwest Indiana, let me know!" Do so at cherylboop@gmail.com.

“Although much of my focus is on a triumvirate of work, investing, and family activities, as a non-trained artist I’ve been madly seeking ways of artistically expressing myself.” Now that is quite an opening statement from Alex Landefeld, ain't it? Wow,

you're thinking, what hedonistic direction is he going with this? “My tai chi teacher sees tai chi as strictly a martial art (for self defense, that is), whereas I see it as an intricate weaving of ideas and practices stretching out over the centuries, some philosophical, some martial, some exercise oriented.” (No -- not where I thought he was going either.) “In seeking to marry tai chi to YouTube, with my Video Taiji series,” continues Alex, “I'm finding both a great way to record information about the art, and artistically express myself through visual and vocal methods.” My mouth agape, I read further that Alex recently started a cooking YouTube series called “Cooking Alex.” He's medium rare with a warm, red center. Order him at alex.landefeld@gmail.com.

Amy Holman (aocean63@earthlink.net) moved into a brand new apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y. in February. On March 3rd, she and her dog, Dolly, were pictured (and Amy quoted) in a New York Post article concerning the positive developments that have occurred since the notoriously polluted Gowanus Canal area, where Amy's building is located, was designated as a Superfund site by the U.S. EPA. Meanwhile, Amy reports that she was a guest blogger in March on The Best American Poetry blog, will be teaching a poetry workshop at the Hudson Valley Writers Center in July, and guest lecturing again at Bread Loaf Writers Conference in August. “I have also been in contact with my old pal, Ginny Peng, who teaches linguistics in southern Japan.”

And that's the way it is.

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1986

Jane Shipman Warner 791 Harbor Point, Lexington, KY 40502 jswarner@insightbb.com

Margo Scruggs Seaman 320 Jefferson Ave., Westfield, NJ 07090 margonova@comcast.com

1987

Emilie Storrs 237 Windermere Rd., Lockport, NY 14094 emiliestorrs@gmail.com

1988

Susan Friedman 2858 Highview Ave. Altadena, Calif. 91001 susanlfriedman@yahoo.com

Liz SweneyDecker 16 Lugrin St., Westbrook, ME, liz.decker@goodwillnne.org

Congrats and mazel tov to Heather Hagopian for her engagement to Melvin Hundley II! Heather is an Ohio and Pennsylvania state-certified teacher and is employed by the Dover, Indian Valley and New Philadelphia School Systems as a substitute teacher. A July 30, 2011, wedding is planned at St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ligonier, Pa. Graham Rayman writes to tell us that his “NYPD Tapes” series published in 2010 in the Village Voice was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and has won three other awards.

Congrats to you too, Graham!

Tiffany Reichert writes: “I'm living in Australia with my Mexican husband working as counselor at Victoria University in Melbourne with students from all over the world. It feels like Wooster is a million miles away . . . oh yeah, it is. I wonder about Adrienne, David, Billy, Tony, Patrick, and others who never seem to write anything. I hope they are all well, safe and happy.” You can reach Tiffany to express your jealousy that she’s in Australia at drtiffanyrj@yahoo.com .

Tamara (Tammy) O’Brien writes: “I have been appointed to be a judge in the Summit County (Akron, Ohio) Court of Common Pleas, General Division, effective April 11, 2011.”

Purvez Captain lives in Houston, Texas with his wife Jennifer. After graduating from Wooster, Purvez enrolled in the Ph.D program in economics at Rice University in Houston, Tex. and received his PhD in 1993.

He worked at Coopers & Lybrand for two years in Chicago and came back to the warmth of Houston in 1995 and started with Ernst & Young. Purvez is currently the 58 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

America's director for transfer pricing and economics services for Ernst & Young. Wife Jennifer works for Aspen Technologies. Jen and Purvez are involved with mentoring undergraduate and graduate students at Rice.

They love to see old friends when they pass through Houston. Purvez can be contacted at captapu@yahoo.com or via Facebook.

Lisa McFadden McClatchy is enjoying life with their new son, Kavanagh Brooks who is now almost 8 months old. “I'm busy freelancing for Disney, Little, Brown and Random House. I will attend the Princeton Public Library's Children's Literature Festival the first week of September in Princeton, N.J. signing copies of my picture book, Dear Tyrannosaurus Rex. Lots of good reviews have come in. Hoping to get together soon with my girlfriends and fellow Woo grads Beth Carman Larson and Mary Fearon Jack this summer.”

Leslie Sheats writes: “Nothing too exciting is happening here, but I did have lunch with Mary Hueske last week. She is doing great, juggling marriage, raising her two sons, and working part time at Planned Parenthood. I am still juggling my family and working half time at Boulder Community Hospital as an occupational therapist. We have a great new guest room and would love a visit from anyone traveling through Colorado.

Stephanie Scott writes: “I am still living in the suburbs of Orlando, where I’ve been for more than 20 years—very tired of the south, and looking forward to a move once my daughter graduates from high school next year.

I teach online in a graduate program, and maintain my private practice (mental health counseling) part time. I’ve been working on some interesting and exciting research lately that feeds my inner dork, and am excited to be part of several social change initiatives in my community. This summer I am hoping to ride my Harley across the country, so if I knock on your door, please offer your couch! Hit me up on Facebook or at docskscott@yahoo.com.”

Caty DeWalt has this update: “Jennifer and I are planning a trip to Acadia National Park, Maine in August (with the dog in tow) and would appreciate any travel advice from fellow Woosterites regarding hiking trails we should not miss, easiest trails to take a dog, good places for kayaking, good, cheap diners to eat in while grubby, best places for ice cream, interesting or weird places/attractions that we must see (keeping in mind that one of our favorite places is the Mutter Museum in Philly and another is a rock shop in Zelienople). I can be advised via e-mail at catyscarlet@gmail.com.”

Anita Homily Wiese writes: “I love being a speech therapist in Hudson, Ohio. My oldest

son, Nick, is a sophomore at Virginia Tech, and my other son, Ben, is a sophomore in high school. As my other classmates are chasing toddlers, I can feel empty nest coming on! I had a wonderful opportunity to visit with Lisa Vendel Ladd, and her twins in Asheville. They are beautiful boys! I also see Karen Cook Provost, Carolyn Rierson Princic and Michelle Pagano Heck somewhat regularly.

We joke that it usually takes a visit from Lisa to get us all together.”

From Chris Welch: “My youngest daughter, Annabeth, was born one month ago. Like her older sister, she was born at home with a midwife and Dad along for support. Both older sisters and brother are thrilled! We are six, living outside of Louisville, Ky. We enjoy the sounds of tree frogs, sights of long walks in the warm months, and frequent road trips to Red River Gorge during the colder months, gardening, beer brewing, and bread baking are also some of our ongoing passions. I'm on Facebook often and would love to hear from friends.”

From Andy Heath: “If April showers bring May flowers, it’s going to be a colorful, fragrant spring. Drier and warmer days must be on the horizon and I’m looking forward to enjoying time outdoors. The road bike I purchased last fall spent the winter in my basement and has barely seen any road time. I have already signed up for a few bike events, and I’m excited to get out and ride. I’m still running as well and I have trips planned to Eugene, Ore., Portland, Maine, and Duluth, Minn. I have fond memories of Wooster in spring, so I also plan to get on campus for a visit soon. Thanks to all of you who continue to stay in touch and contribute to the newsletter. It’s great to see all the cool stuff everyone is doing.”

Tika (Davies) Walsh writes: Kevin and I continue to love our life in Chicago with our family, including a 9-month-old Westie puppy who doesn't seem to want to grow up. Kevin still loves working in the construction industry, running a business called Paslode Remodeling within the Illinois Tool Works Corporation.

As for me, I decided after 12 years as an infertility nurse to put my career aside for a while to focus on our three growing boys—Tanner (14), Riles (11), and Cam (10) —whose lives are getting busier by the minute. So, in addition to volunteer work with our church and the boys’ schools, my life pretty much revolves around soccer and baseball schedules (6 in all) and I'm happy for it! We're also fortunate to live close to several Wooster buddies: Lisa Jones Skeens, Heather Duncan Simpson, Karen Ferguson, Tim Ness and Hugh Scott.

We see each other often and our kids are close friends. Life is good in the Windy City!

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Suzanne Spoor is raising twin boys, now seven, in Annapolis, Maryland with her husband, who hails from a little town on the tip of the Chesapeake Bay. She got her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Maryland in 1999 and is now a professor of English and gender studies at Anne Arundel Community College, where she also dabbles at throwing pottery and creative writing. Each spring finds her at a Scottish Festival remembering Wooster with fondness.

Shareen Hertel continues her work as a professor at the University of Connecticut.

She has just published a new book— Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism (Cambridge University Press 2011)—and is working on a separate project exploring food politics and social protest in India. She and her family will be traveling to Delhi and Bangalore in December 2011, where she'll be establishing internships at two legal mediation clinics on behalf of the University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute. She'd welcome contacts of Wooster alumni in India! (Contact her via: shareen.hertel@uconn.edu) Our co-secretary Sue Friedman sent this: “I have had a rough nine months but I finally have a little one to show for it. On February 18th at 5:34 am, Eleanor Frances Baur joined our family. Claire, now 4 3/4, loves every minute of being a big sister. I just started back to work today and already can see that the laundry is going to start piling up!” Congrats, Sue! Doug Isenberg writes: “Starting my own business has long been a dream, and last month I started my own investment advisory business, Neuse Rive Capital, LLC, www.neuserivercapital.com. I work with individuals, families, trusts and estates. The process starts with listening to and understanding each client’s needs, goals, and concerns. My goal is to deliver high quality personal service, reasonable returns and to do so for minimal fees. It feels great to break free from the corporate world! On the family side, my wife Kristina and our eight-year-old son, Niklas, and I have lived in Raleigh, N.C. since 2004. Raleigh is a good place to raise a family.

We love having easy access to great beaches and the mountains. I hope everyone is doing great.”

Scott Miller took time from his vacation to send this: My posse and I rode our motorcycles down from Ohio. Along the way, we stopped at the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee, which brought back memories of 1987 when Pam Horton, Jenny Smith, Suzie Watson, and I stopped there after visiting Vanderbilt University on our grad school visi-

tation trip. Hard to believe it’s been over 23 years. Okay, enough reminiscing, I’m off to Bourbon Street!”

Once again, thanks to everyone that sent updates! You guys rock!

1989

Daphne Daugherty Cody Glencoe, Il. seekjoy@sbcglobal.net

1990

Shireen Behzadi

not cry at the sight of her Stevenson dorm room the way 18-year old Emily did. You get perspective. Progress is good!

1994

Sara Kerewich-Taylor 60 Bayside Ave., Oyster Bay, NY 11771 Sktaylor@optonline.net

Jessica Amburgey-Ryan 32443 Briarwood Dr., North Ridgeville, OH 44039 Ryanjs@hotmail.com

Stephen S. Nichols NEW! 1875 Autumn Run, Wooster, OH 44691 Nichols_145@yahoo.com

897 Bonnie Brae Ln., Bolingbrook, IL 60440-1130

Stephanie Zachary 3411 Brookdale Ave., Cleveland, OH 44134-2226

Daniel Radvansky NEW! Apt. 601, 5353 N High St., Columbus, OH 43214, wooster90@funiaz.com

1991

Don Campbell Washington, DC, doakcampbell@gmail.com

Katie Jones McClelland Sykesville, MD, katievjones@aim.com

1992

Kathleen Quinn Highland Heights, KY KQuinn92@alumnimail.wooster.edu

1993

Emily Silverman Mathews Round Rock, TX, Emat1971@austin.rr.com Mars, PA, nmycka@yahoo.com

Amy Reese: “Greetings from Allentown, Penn. I thought I’d take a moment while my three little ones are sleeping to send an update.

This last year has been a busy one, with tenure and twins! In April, I was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure at Cedar Crest College, where I teach a variety of microbiology and other courses in the Department of Biology. In June, I gave birth to twin girls, Elspeth and Ailsa. They join their big sister, Iona, who is now three. Life in our household is busy but good.”

Turning the big 40, I (Emily) will be aiming to forget that it’s actually happening, on a cruise in May with my mom and sister up the Pacific coast from San Diego to Vancouver. Lost in a good book on the deck, or hunched over a blackjack table, I know I won’t think about it too much. I can’t pretend I’m thrilled about it, but hey, we’ve come a long way! I know the 40-year old Emily would

1995

Bradley “Brad” Dixon Cincinnati, OH, ppageno@aol.com

The class of 1995 was saddened to learn of the death of Sybil (Smith) McFall ’95 on March 23rd. She is survived by her husband, Joe, and her newborn son, Jack. Efforts by the Class of 1995 are underway to remember and honor Sybil and other ‘95 alumni who were taken from us before their time. As your class secretary, I (Brad) will keep you abreast of new information regarding these efforts as it becomes available.

Erinn Maury reports that she has quit her current job as a rheumatologist in Baltimore, Maryland, and is moving to Hawaii in May 2011. She writes, “I wish I could say I'm going to go all New Age yoga, Zen, and surfer girl, but I have way too many student loans for that.” She will be taking a position as a hospitalist but will continue to practice rheumatology. The downside to this dream job, she states, is that in addition to its uprooting her life, “I will miss my family and friends on the East coast.” She invites Woosterites in the land of Aloha to reach her by e-mail at emaury@gmail.com and on Facebook.

Robyn Drothler (robyn08@me.com) wrote that she has been living in Cumming, Ga., since November 2010 with her fiancé, Bob Romano, and his two daughters, ages 5 and 7. She writes that Bob was her junior prom date, growing up in New Jersey, and they “reconnected after 20-plus years.” They are planning a May 28, 2011 wedding in Georgia and they “hope to have a fair showing of Wooster friends at the wedding.”

Robyn also recently learned that a fellow Wooster alumnus lives on her street: Bill Hickey ’87. As the Atlanta alumni representative, Robyn would love to hear from other alumni in the area.

Keep those updates coming, everyone. You can reach me by e-mail or through Facebook.

S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 59

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Class Notes

’09 KATE HOUSE REUNION TO R BACK ROW Michael Cynkar, Becca Thomas, Kayla Miller, Erik Ramstad, Averell Gatton, Mark DeWine, Bryan Loy FRONT ROW Andy Gress, Taryn Higgins, Alexandra (Cotter), Ryun Ivory, Jane Bartha, Rik Workman ’10, William (Chad) Setliff, Terry Workman ’10

L

Your classmates are hungry for news about you; satisfy their hunger!

1996

Michelle Perrigo Kalamazoo, MI, meesch@stratos.net

Emilie McLarnan Moscow, ID, emmclarnan@yahoo.com

1997

Jennie Nichols-Goodson Seville, OH, jennie_nichols@hotmail.com

1999

2002

Lyndhurst, OH, Wooster1999@aol.com

Chicago, IL, liz.farina@gmail.com

Deborah Krudwig Gutowski Elissa Irish Horn and husband, Henning, welcomed their first child on March 25th, 2011 —a gorgeous little boy, Tovin Henning Horn. Elissa and Henning have been living and working in Singapore for the past three years. Elissa works at the National University of Singapore, International Relations Office.

2000

Maura Finn Brooklyn, NY, NEW! mauraafinn@gmail.com

Canton, OH, siouxfletch@yahoo.com

3145 McCammon Chase Dr., Lewis Center, OH 43035, twebb@medvetohio.com

Kat Hoffman checks in from New England: “My wicked, smart and motivated husband, Bryan Partridge ’00 just finished his PhD through Union Institute and University.

Plus, we’re expecting another daughter this April; she'll be joining her big sister, Nora, who is two. Bryan is a professor of creative writing at New England College and I co-own NinthVector, a web design/development/marketing company in Lebanon, N.H.”

Jenny Poole VanDyke completed her Master of Arts in Education from Otterbein University.

2001

1998

Terah Robbin Webb

Joy Bishop Love Westfield Center, OH, joybishop22@hotmail.com

60 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

2003

Hannah Russell Brooklyn, NY, hwr203@nyu.edu

Kendra Heffelbower Washington, DC, kheffelbower@yahoo.com

Marta Zaborowski Ukropina

Suzanne M. Fletcher Susan Albers Bowling received the Alumni Master Scholar Award from the University of Denver. Susan is a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, in Wooster, author of five books on mindful eating.

Liz Farina Markel

Grapevine, TX, mzabu2@gmail.com

Becca Stinson and Will Wilson were married on Aug. 29, 2009 in Nashville, Tenn.

2004

Sarah Siebert Lakewood, OH, sarahksiebert@yahoo.com Erin Koster married Marlon Hurt on November 9, 2009, in Brooklyn, NY.

Douglas Hanke and his wife moved to Sydney, Australia, last November, on an expat package with the accounting firm KPMG.

2005

Elizabeth Peebles 6212 Winterhaven Road, Newark, DE 19702 egpeebles@aol.com

Christine VanderWyden graduated on

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February 19, 2011 from Arcadia University with a doctorate in physical therapy. She is working for Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness in Glen Mills, Penn.

2006

Margaux Day Grand Rapids, MI, margaux.day@gmail.com

2007

Jennifer Culver Franklin, IN, ms.culver@gmail.com

Beth Greive NEW! Raleigh, NC, beth.greive@gmail.com

2008

Carolyn Ciriegio Wooster, OH, cciriegio@wooster.edu

Kofi Yankey Accra, Ghana, kyankey08@wooster.edu

2009, 2010

We’d love to hear from you!

In Memoriam: Alumni x’31 Margaret Rauch Davies, San Diego, Calif., April 6, 2007. Margaret graduated from the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy. Her husband, Maurice Davies ’29, predeceased her. Margaret’s two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren survive her. ’32 Frances Van Schaack Amstutz, Beulah, Mich., August 31, 2004. Frances majored in psychology and volunteered for the Y.W.C.A. Her husband, Edward Amstutz, predeceased her. Her two sons, Edward and William, survive her. x’34 Dorothy Moser Brune, Green, Ohio, Nov. 8, 2007. Dorothy earned a B.S. from Ohio University and a M.A. from Iowa Northern University. She worked as a secondary school teacher. Dorothy’s husband, Irvine H. Brune ’27, predeceases her. x’34 John E. Frost, Linwood, N.J., Nov. 21, 2004. John earned a football scholarship to play at the College. He graduated from Trenton State Teachers College with a degree in education. x’34 Rachel L. Hauschildt, Piqua, Ohio, October 1, 1998. Rachel graduated with a B.S.N. from Christ Hospital School of Nursing and worked as a public health nurse. Rachel’s cousins, Katherine Mershon Porter x’78 and Marilyn King Mershon ’44, survive her.

x’34 Miriam Bonham Tracy, Hamilton, Ohio, May 8, 2003. Miriam attended the College for one and half years. Her husband, Forrest, predeceased her. Miriam’s two daughters survive her. ’35 Lois Hunter Davis, Northville, Mich., June 4, 2002. Lois majored in French and minored in English and social science. She was a member of the Y.W.C.A. and played tennis, basketball, and volleyball. x’35 Mary Pearce Thomsen, Santa Barbara, Calif., February 18, 1998. Mary majored in math and chemistry. Her husband, Paul, predeceased her. x’36 Gertrude M. Bechtel, Decatur, Ga., Dec. 7, 2008. Gertrude earned a B.S. from Wayne University, an A.B. from Columbia University and a M.A. from the University of Alaska. Gertrude’s two brothers, including Leslie A. Bechtel, Jr. ’40, survive her. ’36 Esther Cunahan Conway, Swarthmore, Pa., February 6, 2006. Esther was May Queen in 1936. Her four children, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren survive her. ’36 Morris M. Oldham, Annapolis, Md., Feb. 1, 2011. Morris majored in chemistry. He was a member of Sixth Section. Morris’s first wife, Portia Wylie Oldham ’36, predeceases him. His three children, Kathleen Oldham Beauchesne, Ph.D. ’66, Judith Oldham Majcen ’71, and John Oldham ’74, daughterin-law, Suzanne Feorene Oldham ’75, and four grandchildren. ’36 Kathryn Napp Rhodes, Portland, Ore., April 2, 2008. Kathryn’s husband, Paul Rhodes ’35, predeceased and four children survive her. ’36 Marian Beans Stockwell, Hamilton, Ohio, March 23, 2011. Marian majored in sociology. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Stratford, and Pembroke and sang in the Westminster Choir. Marian’s son, daughter, and granddaughter survive her. ’38 Elizabeth Kintzing Beck, Upper Saint Clair, Pa., Feb. 21, 2011. Elizabeth was a member of the Women’s Glee Club, College Choir, and Psychology Club. She majored in psychology and graduated with honors. After graduating, Elizabeth stayed involved in the College as a member of the reunion commit-

Obituaries In order to publish news of alumni deaths in a timely way, the magazine will provide abbreviated obituaries—information about life events that relate to College experiences. More complete obituaries are published online at www.woosteralumni.org/obituaries.

tee. Her husband, Charles F. Beck, Jr., predeceases her. Elizabeth’s three sons, brother, four grandchildren, and three-great grandchildren survive her. ’39 Bruce H. Robart, Flint, Mich., Feb. 26, 2011. Bruce majored in music. His wife and daughter survive him. ’40 Marguerite Lane Bowden, Kettering, Ohio, April 1, 2011. Marguerite was in the Westminster Choir, Concert Band, Women’s Chorus, Wooster Symphonic Orchestra, and Scot Band. She was a member of the French Club, Big Sister Program and Student Government and played women’s varsity basketball. As an alumna, she served terms as class agent, president and secretary, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award and volunteered on the reunion committees.

Marguerite’s five children, including R. Joe Bowden ’66, eleven grandchildren, and sisterin-law survive her. x’40 Marion Howard Horne, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 27, 2009. Marion majored in English and was a member of the French Club and the Korner Klub. Her four children survive her. ’40 Helen Smith Kubico, Rehoboth Beach, Del., March 13, 2011. Helen earned her M.Ed. from Case Western University. Her sons, Michael Kubico x’67 and Stephen Kubico ’70, and two grandchildren survive her. ’41 Martha L. Bowman, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, July 18, 2008. Martha majored in history. Martha’s sister, Dorothy Bowman Pagnard ’49, and nephew survive her. ’41 Rev. Robert W. Haring, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Feb. 25, 2011. Bob majored in philosophy and English. He was a member of the Student Senate, Congressional Club, Spanish Club, Kappa Theta Gamma, and Second Section. Bob’s wife, Doris Bennett Haring ’41, son, and nieces and nephews survive him. ’41 Hiram “Hi” Tindall, Canandaigua, N.Y., May 28, 2010. Hi majored in English.

He was a member of Sixth Section and the Classical Club. Hi’s daughter, Sue Tindall Schroeter ’82, son, and niece, Adrienne Livingston ’09, survive him. ’42 Eugene “Gene” R. Beem, Wooster, Ohio, Feb. 21, 2011. Gene majored in economics and was a member of the Congressional Club, Economics Club, Student Senate, and Sixth Section. He was editor-inchief of the Index, reporter for The Voice, and class officer. Gene was an Alumni Trustee at the College and served as alumni class secretary and president. His daughter, Margaret Beem-Miller ’73, predeceases him. Gene’s wife, Mary Jane Benson Beem ’43, two daughters, including Carol Beem Thompson S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 61

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Class Notes ’69, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild survive him. ’42 Calvin E. Dagg, Arden Hills, Minn., March 4, 2011. Calvin majored in geology and was a member of the Men’s Glee Club and Third Section. His wife, Ruth Conover Dagg x’45, predeceased him. Calvin’s four children, two siblings, ten grandchildren, and sixteen great-grandchildren survive him. ’42 Erdine Maxwell Mellert, Charlotte, N.C., Feb 12, 2011. Erdine majored in math and economics. Together, Erdine and her husband organized Wooster alumni groups in the Charlotte area and volunteered for the Campaign for the College. They were honored for their efforts with the John D. McKee Alumni Volunteer Award in 1994.

Erdine’s husband, Robert Mellert ’41, predeceases her. ’44 Edith Wheelock Martin, Monroe Township, N.J., March 2, 2011. Edith majored in French and was a member of the Dominoes. Her two daughters and four grandchildren survive her. ’45 George B. Woodman, Youngstown, Ohio, Feb. 28, 2011. George majored in economics. He was member of Sixth Section and THE Corporation and sang in the church choir. x’46 John C. Goshorn Jr., Whittier, N.C., March 16, 2011. John left Wooster to serve four years in the U.S. Navy during WWII. His wife, three children, brother, and three grandchildren survive him. x’47 Barbara Schuer Fenton, Wellfleet, Mass., March 24, 2010. Barbara’s husband, Edwin Fenton ’48, and three children survive her. ’48 Rev. David S. Blackshear, Central Sandwich, N.H., March 2, 2011. David majored in religion and a member of Eta Sigma Phi. He was on the men’s varsity track and field team and the debate/forensics team, was a member of the Freshmen Discipline Council, and traveled with Wooster-in-India.

David’s wife, five children, including Rebecca

Deadlines Send news, obituaries, & photographs to class_notes@wooster.edu 108 Ebert Art Center The College of Wooster, 1220 Beall Ave. Wooster, OH 44691 phone: (330) 263-2243 fax: (330) 263-2592

UPCOMING DEADLINES Winter issue: Sept. 30 Spring issue: Jan. 20

62 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

Blackshear Coerper ’78, and five grandchildren survive him. ’49 Mary Anderson Eaton, Vista, Ariz., April 1, 2011. Mary majored in history and sang in the Women’s Chorus and the Westminster Choir. Mary’s husband, Dr. John Eaton ’50, three daughters, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren survive her. ’50 Dr. David G. Cornwell, Columbus, Ohio, March 23, 2011. David majored in chemistry. He was a member of A.C.S. Student Affiliate, the Chemistry Club, and First Section. David’s wife, two children, and five grandchildren survive him. ’50 Thomas J. Maistros, Sterling, Va., Feb. 28, 2011. Thomas majored in chemistry.

His five siblings, four children, and thirteen grandchildren survive him. ’51 Curtis E. Budd, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio, March 28, 2011. Curtis majored in economics and was a member of Seventh Section.

Curtis’s wife, Mary Petty Budd ’51, three children, including Jane Budd Maloney ’85, brother, and eight grandchildren survive him. ’51 Lois Wall Sandberg, Jamestown, N.Y., Feb. 27, 2011. Lois was a member of the band and Spanish Club. She majored in psychology. After graduation, Lois remained active with the college by attending Alumni Band events in Chautauqua, New York. Her husband, H. Alan Sandberg, two sons, daughter, four stepsons, fifteen grandchildren, and brother survive her. ’53 Dr. Richard W. Lomas, Snoqualmie, Wash., Feb. 13, 2011. Richard majored in chemistry. He was a member of Third Section, the Chemistry Club, Men’s Glee Club, and A.C.S. Student Affiliate. Richard’s companion, Rowana Trott, five children, two sisters, including Merrydith Lomas Dahms ’64, brother-in-law, Dr. Thomas Dahms ’64, nephew, Erik Dahms ’90, and ten grandchildren survive him. ’53 Ivan L. Preston, Madison, Wis., March 1, 2011. Ivan enjoyed intramural sports, was a member of Second Section, and participated on the Voice and Index Staff. He majored in English. Ivan’s wife, Roberta Preston, and three daughters survive him. ’53 Barbara Mortensen Rosnagle, Albuquerque, N.Mex., March 29, 2011.

Barbara majored in music and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She was a member of the Women’s Chorus, Pi Kappa Lambda, Scot Band, and the Wooster Symphony. As an alumna, she volunteered with Scots in Service’s annual events and the River Rats.

Barbara’s husband, Robert Rosnagle ’53, predeceased her. Her brothers, David

Mortensen ’64 and Peter Mortensen ’56, three children, sister-in-law, Jean Bowman Mortensen ’64, and seven grandchildren survive her. ’56 William “Bill” N. Stoops, Austin, Tex., April 3, 2010. Bill majored in economics and was a member of the men’s varsity track and field team, the Economics Club, and Seventh Section. His wife, seven children, twelve grandchildren, and seven greatgrandchildren survive him. x’57 Alice McIlvaine Simpson, Claremont, N.H., March 5, 2011. Alice’s brother and five children survive her. ’58 Marilyn Troyer Somerville, Stow, Ohio, March 5, 2011. Marilyn majored in English. She sang in the Concert Choir and Westminster Choir for all four years.

Marilyn’s husband of 52 years, Harold Somerville ’53, sister, two sons, and two grandchildren survive her. ’72 Kenneth H. Nuber, Sandusky, Ohio, Aug. 24, 2010. Ken majored in speech. He played varsity men’s basketball, volunteered at Boys’ Village, participated with WCWS-FM, and worked with the technical crew in the Little Theatre. Ken’s wife, Phyllis Martin Number ’71, and two children survive him. ’74 Eric R. Hursh, Troy, Ohio, Feb. 14, 2011. Eric’s wife, two children, three stepchildren, and six grandchildren survive him. x’78 Daniel S. Peterson, Carolina, R.I., March 18, 2011. Daniel’s wife, daughter, two brothers, and mother survive him. ’79 Robert E. Carter, March 12, 2011, Tipton, Mich. Bob majored in geology. He was a member of the Stevenson Hall Governing and Planning Board, varsity debate team, and Fourth Section. Bob’s wife, two children, father, and four siblings survive him. x’85 Winston B. Farrow, Bartonville, Ill., Oct. 9, 2005. Winston’s son, David, survives him. ’86 Doris Jackson Welker, Mansfield, Ohio, March 12, 2011. Doris majored in religious studies. Doris’s son, sister, nieces, nephews, and great-niece, Carly Diroll-Black ’02, survive her. ’95 Sybil Smith McFall, Atlanta, Ga., March 23, 2011. Sybil majored in studio art and played defense for varsity women’s lacrosse. Her husband, Joe, son, Jack, brother, and parents survive her.

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Remembering Tom LaMonica

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ne month before the beginning of the 1971 season, Jack Lengel, the College’s football and lacrosse coach, left for a position at Marshall University.

Lacrosse was in only its third year as a varsity sport. “There was real question as to whether the lacrosse season would continue,” remembers David Fieldgate ’72.

And then Tom LaMonica, a student majoring in physical education and economics, stepped in as student coach, and lead the team to a 8-3 season, its most successful to date. The College’s transition from club to varsity status in 1968 had been due largely to Tom’s influence, recalls team member Jeff Kellogg. “The major sources of support for our move to success at the varsity level was the appearance of three students from Friends School in Baltimore, which was then a rich vein of lacrosse talent: Tom Lamonica, Steve Lynch, and Steve Larson. They were followed later

by Bill Seegar, who transferred to Wooster. These Friends School players brought real expertise and passion for the game, and Tom emerged as recruiter, coach, and tutor to emerging lacrosse players.”

Tom introduced the game to many rookies, including his roommate, John Branson. “I was a walk-on freshman football player,” remembers Branson, “and at the end of the season, Tom put a lacrosse stick into my hands and said, ‘This is your new game; learn to handle this stick and you will be a happy man.’

“The recently completed walls of Timken Gymnasium provided brick walls for many of us unskilled players to learn the game. (So did various dorms, until the thunk-thunk-thunk of lacrosse balls caused occupants to yell at us to stop.) Whenever we thought we had some technique mastered, Tom would patiently, gently show us a new drill.

“For the two years I lived with Tom, our room was the repair shop for broken lacrosse sticks. This was before the days of plastic heads and nylon and aluminum shafts, and our room smelled of the resin

and bonding agent used to keep favorite wooden sticks limping through a season. Whenever teammates brought sticks in for repair and refurbishment, there was great banter about the game of lacrosse.

Tom most often expressed words of encouragement and offered quiet suggestions about how play could be enhanced. We never found his suggestions critical, but always helpful, supportive and genuine.”

Remembers Fieldgate: “Although not very big, Tom LaMonica was a really good lacrosse player at the midfield position. He was tough and could run, run, run, score goals, and assist on goals. He was a cheerleader on and off the field and an unselfish player. He could have scored more goals but he was uncanny in his ability to get the ball to teammates, such as midfield Bill Slick Seegar (probably the hardest shot I’ve ever seen) and to 6’ 6” Crease Attack Ted Caldwell.”

LaMonica went on to teach and coach at Friends School of Baltimore and co-founded the Genessee Valley Outdoor Learning Center. He died Sept. 2, 2010.

Through the efforts of current interim lacrosse coach Carl Festa and LaMonica’s teammates, including Dave Copeland ’71 and Phil Anson ’72, the Tom LaMonica Scholarship was established and presented on April 30. Teammates, including Fieldgate, Branson, and Rev. Bill Heaton ’71, paid tribute and shared memories. Attending the ceremony were LaMonica’s wife, Jane, and children Paul, Sara, and Jackie. Award recipients were Matthew Pullara ’11, and assistant coach Steve Webster.

The event ended with a lacrosse game and a victory that paralleled one achieved 43 years ago. Remembers Kellogg: “In 1968, the first full varsity team that we played at home was Kenyon, and we beat them 9-7. They were not happy. And this past Saturday, simultaneous with Tom’s award, Wooster beat Kenyon.”

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L TO R, FRONT ROW: Tom Lamonica, Bill Seegar, Jim Rattay, Steve Larson, Dave Wolff, John Branson, Jim Warner, Chuck Hoffman, Terry Hatcher, Wes Howard, Bill Heaton; SECOND ROW: Craig Peebles, David Fieldgate, Lou Trevisan, John McCosky, Phil Anson, Bob Macoritti, John Weaver, Dave Drake, S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 Wooster 59Dave Copeland, Coach David Elwell (physics professor and former goalie). THIRD ROW: Bruce Hightshoe, Larry Anson, Tom Price, Bill Evans, H. J. Markley. Not pictured: Bill Woessner

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A Wooster Moment

By Matt Dilyard The tiny Tootsie Roll, given to seniors as they hand in their Independent Studies, takes on mammoth significance. Some students even have theirs bronzed.

This inflatable version, carried by exuberant senior Katrina Weaver, is a permanent resident at the Office of the Registrar.

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A call for Asbury sermons Two members of the Class of ’66 are beginning a collaboration to collect, edit, and publish Wooster sermons given by the Rev. Beverly Asbury. Those sermons addressed social and ethical issues of the mid1960s and still speak to us today.

Moved by the sermons’ content and style, many of us avidly collected the R e v. B e v e r l y A s b u r y w a s printed versions that were available folthe minister for the College from 1962-1966. lowing the service at the chapel P H OTO : 1 9 6 6 I N D E X entrance. Accordingly, Rev. Asbury’s influence extended well beyond the time and space of Wooster Sunday mornings.

Rev. Asbury this year moved to Albuquerque, which is where we crossed paths and had dinner with him and his wife, and our idea was born. We picture publishing a calendar cycle of sermons—52 of them—as a Festschrift that celebrates the Wooster life of this influential person and reflects on the ideas and history to which Wooster and Rev. Asbury made noteworthy contributions.

The College’s Special Collections has a few Beverly Asbury sermons. But we need many more. If you have copies of Rev. Asbury’s sermons, please send scanned copies or photocopies via e-mail or snail mail to either of us. We will acknowledge all contributions, sources, and comments in the published work.

E LIZAB ETH (LI B) WE STHAFE R O’B R I E N LI BOB R I E N66@G MAI L.COM 6 5 5 7 S . R I C H A R D S AV E . , S A N T E F E , N . M .

87508

DOUGLAS EDER DEDER@SIUE.EDU 1 1 1 1 F R A N K LI N , E DWA R D SV I LLE , I LL . , 6 2 0 2 5

Reflections on Rev. Asbury The following is an excerpt from Personal Reflections on the History of Religion, by L. Gordon Tait, professor of religious studies at the College from 1956-91, and an ordained Presbyterian minister. For an additional excerpt, go to pg. 36, and to see the entire manuscript, go to the online magazine, http://woosteralumni.org, pg. 39.

The Rev. Beverly Asbury arrived at the College in 1962, a handsome, suave graduate of Yale Divinity School, and in short order proceeded to thoroughly shake up both congregation and College.

From 1962 to 1966, he became a kind of “College conscience,”

reminding us that the Christian faith was a challenge as well as a comfort, that traditional theologies needed to be re-examined, that faith without works was a sham. He was hardly a breath of fresh air—more like a raging thunderstorm.

One could probably do no better than select Bev’s sermon of Sept. 13, 1964, titled “Poisoning the Student Mind,” as an example of his homiletical impact. The sermon was a plea to re-examine our beliefs, even to the point where campus preachers like himself might be accused of “poisoning the student mind.” (That was actually a charge leveled by conservatives against the nationwide liberal Student Christian Movement.) Declared Bev: We must face the fact that students of all generations raise questions of religion and seek new and more relevant beliefs by which to live. In this generation, particularly, with its rapid scientific and technological change, its urbanization, automation, and industrialization, its population explosion—there are even greater arguments for the revision of outworn dogmas.

What is missing from that sermon but not from other sermons and chapel talks was Bev’s call to action on behalf of civil rights. Bev was one of the important figures on the campus in the Wooster area leading vigils and marches protesting racial prejudice and discrimination. He set an example by going to Mississippi to join hands with the Black SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and inspiring others of us to go, too.

Bev knew very well he was challenging and even alienating some students, professors, and church members, so he began the practice of being available after the Sunday service in the front of Memorial Chapel to hear comments pro and con (usually more con than pro) and have a discussion about his sermon. On one of his more “controversial” Sundays, he estimated that about 100 students stayed after the service for the discussion.

What did President Lowry think of Bev and his influences? In public, he supported the preacher; after all, he was truly engaging the students and making religion very relevant. In private, he must have had moments when he wished Bev would turn down the volume, for Bev couldn’t help being a factor in the change taking place in the 1960s—change that Howard Lowry tried to resist.

To measure the impact that Bev had, the records show there were officially 442 members of Westminster in 1960; by 1964, the figure had swelled to 532.

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I N D E P E N D E NT M I N D S, WO R K I N G TO G ETH E R

The College of Wooster | 108 Ebert Art Center 1220 Beall Avenue | Wooster, OH 44691-2393

In Closing

..

SWAN S ON TJÖR N I N PON D

By Eryn Killian ’12 Tjörnin pond, located in a park in Reykjavik, is across the street from the dormitory where I stayed at the University of Iceland. Beginning in early November, the pond froze, and every day I watched kids, adults, and resident ducks and geese sliding and walking across it. One unusually sunny December day, the ice

on top melted and the still water became a perfect mirror. Across the water you can see the National Gallery (the building with three arches), and in the distance, the gray steeple of Hallgrímskirkja, the largest building in the city.

Eryn Killian, an English major, is one of approximately 145 students who studied off campus in 2010-2011.