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Alumni Magazine – News and Notes – January 2017
Welcome to the next installment of the Alumni Newsletter. This edition, Alumni News and Notes, focuses on updates from our Alumni Community. We invite you to write your own update in the comments section below.
CONGRATULATIONS
Noah Belinowiz, Pemi’s 13th Chief, will head to Rochester University in the fall.
Patrick Clare married Holly Lagasse on August 13, 2016 supported by a strong contingent of Pemi men. Pat and Holly currently live on the campus of Avon Old Farms in Avon, Ct where Pat teaches history and economics, coaches, and supervises in the dorm. Holly works as a production assistant at ESPN as a part of their NFL Live Staff.
Jameson Fauver married Catherine Gallagher on October 1, 2016 in Nantucket. Pemi Alumni, Josh King, Critter Tamm, Geoff Curfman, Kyle Avery, and Ben Jonson aided in the celebration. Jameson and Catherine live in Boston’s South End; Catherine is in her second year at Boston University Law School. Jameson, the Director of Business Development for Kashable, a financial technology company based in Manhattan, commutes to New York a couple days a week for work.
Bryce Grey will head to Dickinson College this fall.
Porter Hill and his wife Holly celebrated the arrival of their first child, Campbell, on October 25. Everyone is happy and healthy, and they look forward to Campbell’s first season at Pemi in the summer of 2025!
Chris McKendry married Kendra Gladieux on October 1, 2016 in Toledo, Ohio. Chris’ cousin-in-law, Kenny Moore, served as the officiant. After meeting as undergraduates at Ohio Wesleyan University, Chris and Kendra moved west in 2009 to Long Beach, California where Chris is the Creative Manager for Method Wheels and Kendra is the Head Chef at Frosted, a cupcakery.
David Miller married Charlotte Quilain this past summer with celebrations in Paris and New York. Having moved to Berlin, Germany in 2014, David works for BMG and is now the Senior Director of Business Development, responsible for their international Expansion. He has seen Erik Wiedenmann a few times and attests that the Pemi connection does indeed exist overseas!
Jeff Miller wed Michelle Hirsch on May 29, 2016 in New York. Pemi Alumni, Chris and Michael Bryant, Jake Fauver, Conor Shaw, Critter Tamm and Will Edwards were in attendance. Jeff is entering his final semester at NYU’s Stern School of Business graduating in May with a focus on product management. He’ll soon be looking for a full time gig in technology in New York City. Michelle is an investment associate at Greystone Development.
Johanna Zabawa married Nick Salay on October 8 in St. Anthony, Minnesota. Johanna works with the Washburn Center for Children as a school based mental health therapist. She is currently working in the Bloomington public schools. Nick is an emergency physician at Saint Cloud Hospital. The happy couple now resides in Maple Grove, MN.
ALUMNI NEWS
David Adams, originally from Cleveland, OH splits his time between Virginia and Florida. David spent his career in the legal profession, 47 years in total, with almost 16 years as a Federal Judge. He winters just a mile from his brother Peter in North Palm Beach, Florida.
Mike Benham attended Pat Clare’s wedding in August, and saw a bunch of alumni there. In March, his company moved into the new Renaissance Hotel on 35th street in Manhattan where he runs a delivery only food concept as well as handling banquets, room service, and VIP services for the hotel. Mike has taken on the role of General Manager, and still finds time for music.
Sandy Bryant and Hunter Mulligan rang in the New Year together at the Hillsboro Club in Hillsboro Beach, Florida, a place their families have gathered for years.
John Carman writes in, “I’m planning to retire sometime in 2018 after turning 62 and a very rewarding 35 year career in the Boy Scouts of America. Upon retirement, my wife Mary and I will move to Louisville, Kentucky where we already own a house in which our daughters lived while attending grad school. Our eldest daughter gave birth to our first grandchild in January, 2016 so we have been spending a lot of time there during the past year. I plan to attend the 110 year anniversary and more Pemi events on a regular basis after that.”
“Anyone out there from years 1943-1946, lower and upper intermediate?” asks Frank Connor. “I’m in Denton ,TX and have been retired from being a math professor for over 20 years. Not sure all what I do nowadays, but I sure feel busy. I think one simply takes a lot longer to do anything when they’re old. I am still involved with water polo but had to quit playing at 69 due to a cervical spine problem. Although Pemi didn’t have that sport when I was there, Pemi is where I started my swimming career, so in a major way that was the start of my water polo career (years later), which got me into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. Certainly, as far as a philosophy of life and how to act toward others, Pemi was the most influential experience in my life, and for that I am forever grateful.
If you read this and remember me (well, maybe vaguely), I would enjoy hearing from you. Cheers to all!”
Larry Davis, having spent years and years caving, hiking, geologizing, and reffing, has worn out his knees and will be getting them replaced. The right one is scheduled to be done on January 23, the left in the fall. Should be good for another long stint after that! Larry just returned from ten days on San Salvador Island with a class.
John Evans, camper from 1990 to 1993, moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Orange County, New York. He and his wife Virginia own an environmental consulting firm. They enjoy traveling, cooking Italian food, and spending time with family.
ISO bicyclists! Fred Fauver is planning a two-week self-designed, self-supported bike trip in Bulgaria, taking place in early September 2017. Why Bulgaria? Well, as Fred says, “because I’ve never known anybody who has explored there, and the people, the terrain, and the history sound amazing. We’ll start in Sofia and head to the Black Sea with diversions into the mountains. Max group size will be six, and we have four, so far.” Let us know if this is of interest!
Emilie Geissinger moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland for graduate school, where she is earning her masters in Fishery Ecology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Payne Hadden moved to Atlanta, GA after graduating from Colgate in May of 2016. He is working for a commercial real estate firm and has enjoyed it thus far. This past summer, he went on numerous hikes in Northern Georgia, some on the Appalachian Trail, and found it rewarding to compare the trails to his past experiences on the northern sections as a camper and counselor at Pemi.
For the last twelve years, Scott Hansen has lived in Bethesda, Maryland, and is working at Marriott International Headquarters overseeing guest technology. He is frantically working to incorporate newly acquired Starwood Hotels and travels frequently, with a recent trip to South Korea.
Andrew Heath ran into Porter Hill while walking in a park in Cos Cob, CT, where Andrew and his wife, Sandra, just purchased their first house.
Eric Kampmann, a second generation Alumnus, 1952-1953, credits Pemi for inspiring his love of hiking and the outdoors in his later years. He finished section hiking the entire Appalachian Trail in September of 2011, and continues to find ways to return to the trail whenever he can. “Pemi led me to the trail, which is a journey I still have not completed.” Eric’s father attended Pemi in the 1930’s, and Eric’s children, Alex, Peter, and Arthur were campers in the 1990’s. Eric is the CEO of Midpoint Trade Books in New York.
Josh King turned 30 this fall, and celebrated with an all Pemi game of paddle tennis with Jameson Fauver, Chris Ward, and Jon Weigel.
Michael Morrell, Leif Dormsjo, and Dan Kasper pictured at Game One of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The Kasper family is happily residing in Denver, Colorado. Dan, Carrie, Dylan (now 3 ½ years old and a Junior Camper in the making) welcomed Rosalie Claire Kasper on June 29, 2016. Dan’s parents Anne and Tom Kasper, relocated from DC to Denver this past summer to join the clan on the edge of the Rocky Mountains.
Ted McChesney moved back to Richmond, Virginia and works for the CMG Foundation. CMG is a non-profit that does court ordered mediation for juvenile and domestic court. Ted is looking to go back to school next fall.
Erik Muller is still living in New York City with his wife, Christina. They just celebrated two years of marriage last September. Erik works for TubeMogul, which is an ad-tech company that was recently acquired by Adobe, as a software sales director. Christina and Erik love to stay current on Pemi news and are hoping to make a trip up next summer for another visit. They stopped in for a night two summers ago, and Christina fancies herself a ‘Pemi Kid’ now.
Dave Nagle recently changed employment. As of June 2016, Dave is a Process Engineer for Brycoat Inc, a coatings company in Oldsmar, FL.
Harry Norman, a member of the staff in 2014, is currently backpacking in Asia, traveling first in Thailand and then to Vietnam. He recently caught up with Teagen Burnham and Becky Noel in the UK.
Stephen Funk Pearson writes, “I’ve moved full time to my 1767 farmhouse (Butternut farm) in Belmont. I quit my Cambridge, MA home after 30 years, quit my Cambridge tv show (Psychic Fashion Show), quit my rock band (Pretentious Fools), quit my publishing biz (Pingibookstore) and will take life easy now, living and renting my lake cabins (cabinsonthecove.com) planting a garden, and enjoying country life year round again.”
Peter Rapeyle retired in 2012 as Headmaster of Princeton Junior School after 40 years in education. Currently, Peter is serving on four boards, teaching part-time at the Princeton Adult School and auditing courses at Princeton University, where his wife, Janet, is in her 14th year as Dean of Admission.
Austin Richards is living in Santa Barbara, CA with wife Victoria and his two sons William and Deckard. Austin thinks about Pemi quite a lot, reminiscing, “it’s the least changed place from my childhood, which I am so grateful for. I hope to send my boys when they are ready. Deckard is named after the protagonist of Blade Runner, a film I first viewed on Hanover Day, 1982. I recall that the only two Pemi folks that loved the movie that night were me and Andrew Harrison, and that many others complained about the incoherent plot! You were in good company: Harrison Ford, who played the Deckard character, famously hated the film.”
Austin continues, “my investigations into things I learned about at Pemi continue even in my professional life, as a research scientist at FLIR Systems, the infrared camera company. Years ago, Larry Davis took some of us lucky folks to the nearby Palermo Mine to prospect for fluorescent uranium minerals at night with black lights. They glow with green light. I recently came across an old Smithsonian research paper, which describes how certain minerals can fluorescence with infrared light when stimulated with blue-green light. I tried it with a sample of golden topaz and it works, though the fluorescence is very weak and you need a special camera to image it.”
The Sargent family hosted a rain-soaked Toast to Fall Bluegrass party in Blue Ridge Summit, PA on October 1. Leif Dormsjo, once a trip counselor, always a trip counselor, dressed appropriately for the weather. Future campers as well as Pemi Alumnus Jonas Beals joined Leif and Jake Sargent at the gathering.
Jack Stratton is the leader of a band called Vulfpeck, a popular American funk group that is gaining a wide-spread following. They have performed on the Colbert Show, Central Park’s Summer Stage, and the Brooklyn Bowl. Check the 2017 Tour dates, 2 shows in Brooklyn were just added, to see when Vulfpeck travels to your town.
Rob Verger has started going on camera regularly for FoxNews.com to talk about science and technology. He’s also a freelance contributor to FoxNews.com. Check out this recent clip!
If you made it thus far, you’re deserving of good luck, long life, and joy!
Kenny