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Julie Willis Spitz
23 Waushakelm Ave
Ashland, MA 01721
"25 year class" rep July Willis Spitz submitted this eloquent sampling
of news before the newsletter deadline in March (woo hoo July!!):
"Although on some days it seems like it was a different person in a different
lifetime who attended Tandem at its first home on Pantops Mountain, on
days in mid-April when there's the first hint of springtime in the cold
New England air, I always flash back to walking in the woods during a
free period and feeling the same sense of hopefulness and exhilaration.
It's a gift for those of us now as old as most of our parents were when
we attended Tandem so many years ago to feel a sense of "anything's possible."
I feel that way about our upcoming 25th reunion.
As we've morphed into a generation of grown-ups, here's what some of
us have been doing:
Sue Herndon is living in Charlottesville and works as a patient satisfaction
analyst at UVa Hospital. Her eldest daughter Ashley has graduated from
Rutgers University and is living in Washington D.C. working with the National
Tree Trust. She's still entrenched in the parenting world of soccer matches
and Cub Scouts with her younger children Hope, 7, and Casey, 9. Sue also
is involved in domestic violence prevention projects.
Ruth Hart is also in Charlottesville working as a media and public relations
director for Palais Royal. Last year Ruth married Rafael Rubio. Their
household includes a Peaceable Kingdom of dogs, cats, and birds, and they
also enjoy cultivating a large organic garden.
Jack Anderson lives in New York City with his partner Tony.
Since Tandem
days, Jack has traveled to Mexico, France, Germany, Egypt, and Italy,
as well as forging a career in the art world. He and his sister have
restored a sailboat and have had remarkable adventures sailing it up and
down the Atlantic seaboard.
Clyde Watson lives in Chesterfield, near Richmond.
He and his wife Brenda
celebrated their twentieth anniversary in March. His son, Clyde. Jr.,
is a freshman in the Aerospace Engineering program at Georgia Tech and
daughter Renee is a sophomore at the local Math and Science high school.
Clyde has been working for the local power company for 20 years and is
currently establishing a new department in the operations process.
Mason Caperton Hood is living in Richmond with her husband Charlie and
twin kindergartners, Kathy and Philip. She is currently working for the
state, managing real estate transactions, as well as running her own Mary
Kay business.
As for me (July), I live in a Boston suburb with my husband John and
children Justin, 3, Emily, 16, and Kevin, 18. I work for the local newspaper
as an editor and columnist and am currently spending all my free time
worrying about whether I can regain my mental faculties before the June
12-14 reunion."
An additional note: Doug Day came to Tandem in late March to speak about
being a folklorist as part of an Alumni Career panel
(see details).
He and his family have recently returned to the area, settling in Waynesboro.
74
class rep needed!
Before El Niņo drowned the West Coast, Polly Joseph invited us all to
sunny California: "Come visit me at Pottery Planet in Santa Cruz!"
Alison Hormel Webb
was part of our
Alumni Career Panel at Tandem in March.
She spoke about Virginia Institute for Autism and her vocal jazz
CD which was recently released. Last summer Nancy Aker-Dameron wrote
from Colorado, "I wish Boulder had a school like Tandem. My daughter
Katy (12) wants to move to Virginia so she can go to high school at Tandem!"
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Class of 1975
Mrs. Beverly Breckinridge recently made a generous donation to Tandem,
in honor of her daughter, Jennifer, who is deceased. The donation will
be used towards the completion of the Tandem meditation garden, a fenced
area bordering the boxwoods on the front lawn, near the side of the Main
Building.
Mrs. Breckinridge will soon be writing members of the Class of 75, to
ask for a gift in support of the meditation garden project.
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75
class rep needed!
Pamela Cross Guthrie found us on the web and sent the following tid-bit:
"I was tickled to see Mira's picture with Milena and Nada
[from In Tandem, Fall 1997] after so many years. Mira was at my wedding in C'ville in
1988. I also spent some time looking for info on Diana Shaw, but all I
came up with is a new veg[etarian] cookbook at the independent bookstore
in Ft. Collins. I don't have any new news: just working and watching
kids sprout. We did just get a dog..."
76
class rep needed!
Diana Shaw is sorry to report that she will not be attending reunion in
June. She is expected to deliver a baby girl the same week! She reports
that her son Michael "couldn't be happier" about the impending sister.
Diana's "next (and final!)" cookbook will be out next fall. "Once our
daughter is born, I will be doing absolutely nothing but looking after
her and our son and volunteering in some capacity in our community."
77
Mira Velimirovic
5902 Manola Way
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Carl Schwab
399 Key West Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22911
Mira e-mailed us this piece: "During this year's California El Niņo spring,
I remembered a spring at Tandem, more than twenty years ago. The sun
shone, and someone chalked a yellow brick road from the parking lot to
the back porch where people sat making dandelion necklaces. The boxwood
bushes scented the air, and a volleyball spiked into the red dust of the
court. Near the old swimming pool, a few people poked the water and shrieked
at the bubbling science experiment at work. I'd just turned in a journalism
assignment to Mr. Alling and was feeling mighty optimistic.
Little did we know then that Mr. Alling would soon be pinpointed as "Deep
Throat" in the Watergate investigation, that Leblanc and Tashiro would
be arrested for selling secrets regarding education to the Russians and
Chinese respectively, and that Amy Entelis' cooking would be shown to
contain grams of fat.
In retrospect it doesn't seem too educational, but in a deep sense it
was, except for maybe that part about the chalk."
78
class rep needed!
Naomi Sato's youngest was born 15 months ago. She is now the proud mother
of three children, all boys! Sherri Ely was seen at the
NYC alumni gathering
and was a big help contacting people for that event.
79
class rep needed!
We have to praise the unifying forces of the World Wide Web. This winter
the alumni affairs office received e-mail from Eric Stovall, who was absent
from the alumni database until he surfaced in cyberspace. He writes,
"just wanted to say hello to my long lost classmates from the class of '79.
Would love to see everyone again." May I suggest, reunion...
80
Phelps Kelley
151 Dalkieth Glen
Arnold, MD 21012
Patrick Dolan returned from Eastern Europe, where he worked for George
Soros and the Open Society Institute. He is currently International Financial
Director for DoubleClick International, but, he writes, "not having as
much fun as my brother in the US V[irgin] I[slands]." Patrick reports
that Edward Abse is, "doing fine in Mexico, where he is studying the Mazitec
Indians in the mountains of Oaxaca. He is finishing the field work portion
of his Ph.D. in anthropology at UVa." "Seventeen years after graduating
from Tandem, and I "finally" graduated from RIT this past summer!" writes
Tom Leoboldt. He continues, "okay,...I took a little time off along the
way. Hope all is well with all of you, wherever you are."
Stephen Kellogg
is currently, "teaching as a lecturer in the Dept. of French and Italian
and Dept. of Humanities and Western Civilization at the U. of Kansas."
The Alumni Affairs office received a press release from the Broadcasting
Institute of Maryland announcing that our mutual alumnus,
Phelps Kelley,
has been hired at 1430 WNAV radio in Annapolis, Maryland where he is an
on-air personality. If you read the last newsletter than you know that
this is one big dream realized. Way to go, Phelps!
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class rep needed!
According to Nathan Abse ('83),
Alex Draper played a "wacky priest" on
a December 16, 1997 episode of Della Ventura (CBS). "Alex said of this
show, "it's bad; I hope I'm funny."
Susan Gordon Akkad attended the
mini-reunion for NYC area alumni held in Manhattan last Fall.
82
class rep needed!
Gareth Gaston was present at the NYC area
alumni mini-reunion this past fall.
Michael Dolan is living in St. Thomas, "working
on reconstructing buildings damaged in the hurricane of 1996."
83
Margaret McNett
1721 Fantasia Circle
Herndon, VA 22070
Margaret McNett sends this report: "Friday, March 27, 1998. It's another
beautiful sunny day. Forecast says highs in the 80s. I am sitting in
my backyard, watching the scintillating droplets of sunlight dance off
each blade of grass. Before me is an assignment: write a short column
about my memories of Tandem. Initially, after Adrienne called me this
morning to remind me of my commitment, I thought I would write about graduation.
I could use this as a lead-in to remind class of 83 that our 15th reunion
is approaching.
However, as I sit here revelling in the long awaited springtime, the main
memory that comes to mind are the many hours spent on the back porch.
I was one of the hard-core back porch dwellers. As a certified nicotine
addict, I could be found on the back porch in all kinds of weather - in
blustering wind, in rain, even in bitter cold. Those days seem far off
now. I quit smoking over 12 years ago. What does not seem far off, as
I sit here in the sunshine, are the spring days on the porch. It was
then that the back porch came to life. Then the porch filled with what
seemed to be the entire Tandem community. Teachers and students all would
come out to enjoy the sun, our lunches, and whatever conversation might
be in the offing. We talked about a lot of thing back there - politics,
current events, and of course my favorite, philosophy. Now, as I sit
here, in my own backyard, it hardly seems possible that those days occurred
15 or more years ago. So much has changed in my own life since then,
but as much has also remained the same.
I believe during that time a certain core-of-who-I-am was
established - my love of art and music, my passion for ceramic art, and the incessant
spring-fever that plagues me even now. Even so, I find I must return
to work, having taken too long a lunch to enjoy this marvelous day.
I hope many of you will enjoy our 15th reunion in June. I regret that
I won't be there since the weekend coincides with my long-awaited trip
to main land China. For now, I'll say Zaiji an (good-bye) and Happy Spring."
84
class rep needed!
P. Charles Mason sent us an update from the Tandem Alumni web site: "I
am still enjoying my career as an environmental consultant....My wife
Theresa and I live in Williamsburg and [had] our first child, a daughter,
in January. We're both excited and looking forward to the changes. I've
also been accepted into a part time MBA program at William and Mary and
will be starting that spring semester. Things will be busy, but I figure
with the baby coming, sleep will be in short supply anyway!"
According to his sister Sharon,
Steven Bouton is living in Eugene, OR and working
as a baker at Solstice Bakery. Sharon attests that, "he makes excellent
chocolate espresso cookies and challah, among other things." He is also
involved in local independent radio and making bike riding more accessible
and practical for people in Eugene.
Sam Erickson and Bill Covert ('87)
rang in the New Year over a great tray of sushi Nashville style. Sam
was traveling home to NYC from L.A. Bill will be in L.A. later this year
when he stands up as best man at James Blevins' September wedding.
85
Katharine Donnelly
33 Winslow Street, 1st floor
Somerville, MA 02144
Sharon Bouton Stone reports that Jim Reed
is one of several Tandem alumni
living in Eugene, OR. He works with computers at Symantec and has a 5
month-old named Emelia Caroline with his wife Taunia. Sharon reports
that the baby is "completely adorable and has red hair like her mom."
Greg Smith
writes: "finishing my first year of graduate school (Masters)
in plant/soil science at Colorado State University. Remodeling our house
(1898 old town Fort Collins). Can't believe it's been 12 years! Hope
to see many of you at this year's reunion."
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86
Sharon Bouton Stone
958 SE Pine Street
Roseburg, OR 97470
Bill Covert
1612 Woodland St
Nashville, TN 37206
Congratulations to Sharon and Bill for getting all their news in before
the deadline!
Bill Covert is a Mac OS computer consultant in Nashville,
TN. He graduated from Guilford College in 1991 and married his college
girlfriend Becca Flanagan in 1994. The couple had a son, Riley, in July
1997. According to Bill, Riley is "a happy, healthy handful." Bill spent
New Year's Eve eating sushi with Sam Erickson (84) and will be the best
man at James Blevins' (84) wedding in Los Angeles in September.
Buffy Frank
lives with her husband Chris outside of Philadelphia. She works
at the downtown location of Ann Taylor and is pondering graduate school.
Morgan McLeod is busy writing software that runs LED displays. He's
also working on "the Windows software to collect data from various sources
and send messages to the displays." He writes, "I'd say I'm doing this
both for money and for fun because its both. I spend the rest of my free
time gradually improving our house and hanging out with my wife, Jane,
and our Siberian Husky, Ruby. I think Tandem was a great background to
come from. I know that I deal with the people in my work and life with
a great deal of mutual respect and awareness that I might not have access
to if it weren't for my Tandem experience."
Angus Murdoch reports that
married life is great. Bill says Angus has "chickens on his answering
machine message." Sharon reports that
Kristen Campbell Salazar is living
in Yellow Springs, Ohio with husband Chris and their two sons, Matthew,
5, and Sam, 16 months. Matthew, "loves having a little brother." Kristen
graduated from nursing school and works at a hospital in nearby Springfield.
Eleanor Bedford is back in Africa for the year, working for USAID.
87
Heather Miller Poosson
19 Copeley Hill, Apt. B15
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Amy Ball is living in Pullman, Washington with her husband.
88
Dan Kaufman
1001-B Chicago Ave.
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Check out this 10 year update! Dan's been working hard. The Midwest
is a popular place to settle for 88's.
Jennifer Roebuck moved to Indiana
five years ago and was married in 1995. "I am currently working part-time
at a nature/birding store," she writes, "and goofing around with art as
much as possible the rest of the time."
Jon Ball sent us this news: "I
recently finished my Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina.
I am now living in Bloomington, Indiana doing a postdoctoral fellowship
at the University of Indiana. I would love to hear from any Tandem alumnae!"
Lydia Murdoch is also in
Bloomington finishing her dissertation and teaching a history course on
Jack-the-Ripper's London. She married Andy Evans last August.
Sasha Hagan
is quite far from Bloomington. She's living in England, married
to Graham Hart, and working for Smythe Dorwood Lambert, a communications
management consulting firm.
Scott Mandell writes: "Still refer to any
weird people I see around town as 'potential Tandemites'... Still working
at America Online in Northern VA. Our daughter Kira (19 mos.) is... a
walking maniac."
Luke Wright
is at Oxford, finishing up a PhD in theology. (Dan says it's "something
to do with ecclesiastical studies.")
Chad Withers writes: "I am a finance
manager in Proctor & Gamble's Corporate New Ventures group... On good
days, its really exciting work with a great group of people. On other
days, its a job....I've been married for almost 2 years to Beth Andrus,
who graduated in '94 from UVa. Married life is great - I highly recommend
it. We both love Cincinnati..."
Craig O'Brien works as an assistant
editor for Iron Crown Enterprises, mostly editing card games. He says,
"I also do some freelance work for InQuest magazine and play poker on
a weekly basis...Still single. Still clean."
Dave Fetterman is in Staunton
working as a network administrator.
Bill Covert ('86) recently discovered
that Bill Carey is also living in Nashville, TN. Covert contacted Carey
and reports that he is "busy applying to graduate schools for Jazz Composition."
Steve Ingham's latest show opened at Gallery Neo in late March
(see pg. 1 for more).
Jason McLeod has been busy playing gigs with his band One
Drop. Keep your eye out for their reggae sounds at Outback Lodge and
Jewish Mother.
89
Penelope Ward
1701 Bruce Avenue
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Jason Ivey has moved to Washington D.C. where he is working as a production
assistant in film and television with a focus on location scouting and
prop utilization.
90
Mara Gibson
111 Highgate Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14214
Chris Carlson returned to Charlottesville after living in New York state.
He e-mailed: "Since graduating, I have traveled the east coast, and have
ended up at the Culinary Institute of America, studying how to run a restaurant
THE correct way. I am currently working at Keswick Estate."
91
Brooke Plotnick
128 West Upsal St.
Philadelphia, PA 19119
As a new class rep, Brooke did her part and collected news on members
of her class we haven't heard from in years. Please contact Brooke with
any other news about 91s.
Kim Aylor Flook works with her husband on their
privately owned hot air balloon company. She also works at the Crutchfield
corporate office.
Melissa Stirling is reported to be working for the
Residence Marriot Corporation in their sales department. She travels
up and down the east coast for them.
Robin Allison (he's not called Rob
anymore, guys) graduated from Goucher in 1995. Following graduation "he
worked at the Heinz Archives in Pittsburgh which got him interested in
library science...he is now pursuing a graduate degree in Library and
Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh."
Josh Rady is living
in New Hampshire and doing well.
Miwa Rucker is currently living in San
Francisco.
Derek Toro (Conti) is working "behind the scenes" at Escafe
downtown.
Brooke spoke to Ashley Cox's mom and found out that Ashley
is living in Bend, Oregon. "She is currently teaching music at Mt. Bachelor's
Academy. She is also working with a program similar to Outward Bound
where she works with troubled adolescents...[Ashley] was unavailable by
phone because she was on a trip with the program. Ashley was the first
female guide on Mt. Hood in Portland, Oregon before she moved to Bend."
And from Springside girls' school in Philadelphia,
Brooke Plotnick writes,
"The faculty here is wonderful; they share strategies and experiences,
ups and downs. I am really learning a lot. I spent last year at a public
school in the C'ville area, which was definitely educational for me, but
rules and regulations prevented me from getting exposure to much of what
I am interested in. Philly is a very nice city: art and theatre out the
ying-yang but I do miss a bit of that small town atmosphere."
David Morris
sent us this update from the Alumni web site: "Well, the big news in
my life is that I've recently become engaged to my girlfriend of two years!
We're currently living in D.C. She got a job at Arena Stage (she's
a lighting designer/stage electrician). I still commute back up to NYC
every 6 weeks or so for set design work...I just finished working on the
set for a show that got a very good review in The Village Voice. This
summer we were both in Singapore for a month (where Juliet is from) working
on an outdoor production of Hamlet. It was hot and humid; made C'ville
summers positively pleasant by comparison." David will soon be moving
to Chicago, New York, or Seattle, depending on where Juliet goes to grad
school.
Damia Ruth is living in Portland, Oregon. She had her first
baby this March and is "hoping to go back to school in the fall to complete
my education degree."
Jonathan Wagner is working on his graduate degree
in vertebrate paleontology. You can contact him through the
Texas Tech web page.
He sent his annual update during our RETURN THOSE PENNIES fundraiser:
"Still in Texas. Digging up dinosaurs. Suffering through grad school.
Lubbock makes Charlottesville look like paradise. Experiments in social
and sensory deprivation continue. Expect to achieve enlightenment soon,
plan to take out Lubbock in the explosion." You can help alleviate some
of his deprivation by e-mailing.
92
Corey Lloyd
406 Hedge St.
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Aretha Williams has been a familiar face around Tandem this year. She
has contributed her time to the Tandem Diversity Committee, the Winter
College Panel, and the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration,
an event she first organized when she was in tenth grade at Tandem. After
graduating from Haverford with a degree in political science, Aretha took
a job with the Monticello Area Community Action Agency where she works
with Project Discovery. Elijah, a healthy baby boy, was born to Josie
Baucom and Stefan Lessard this January.
93
Tabb Sullivan
200 Main St., Apt 3A
Northampton, MA 01060
Catherine DeGood
graduated with a degree in Russian from UVa where she
is currently completing pre-med requirements. She works as an EMT on
a ambulance and has "the most beautiful dog in the world named Dioji...
a Belgian Shepherd." She was planning on coming to reunion in June, but
will instead be attending her brother's wedding in Italy. Now that's
a tough choice. "Still seeking my fortune in Boston,"
writes Anna Galloway.
Remember that skinny little kid you knew as
Fred Scott? "Well, he finally
sprouted," writes Fred. "I'm now 6'3" tall, 200 pounds (muscle, not fat!),
long hair, and a few more nicks and dents then before. I'm living in
Austin, Texas after a parting of ways with Rensselaer three years ago.
I found work in the computer industry, it pays well, and have met some
wonderful people down here. I bought a sailboat last summer. I've been
working on it to make it seaworthy, and plan to make a short cruise from
Del Rio to New Orleans this spring." Fellow Tandemites can contact Fred.
Willow Troy is "good, happy in Chicago, hope[s] to
go to grad school sometime in the near future." She currently splits
her time between several part-time jobs, all of which involve her first
love, art and art therapy!
Kirsten Callaghan's mother reports that Kirsten
is attending law school in Richmond.
94
class rep needed!
Magnolia Martin has moved to New York City.
95
class rep needed!
Allie Vining participated in this year's Winter College Panel. She is
majoring in East Asian studies at Barnard College in Manhattan.
96
Shonin Anacker
11 B Mobile Ln
Charlottesville, VA 29903
Jamie Sullivan
Carnegie-Mellon University
SMC 508 P.O. Box 3210
Pittsburgh, PA 15230-3210
Shonin Anacker was present at the 1998 College Panel. He is attending
William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. Fellow classmate and panel member
Jamie Sullivan is attending Carnegie-Mellon University.
97
Talley English
311 Ortman Rd.
Greenwood, VA 22989
Chapman Woodriff
3722 Fosters Branch Rd.
Charlottesville, VA 22911
Anna Haupt writes to us, "At Hollins the month of January is called Short
Term which is similar to Emphasis at Tandem. My intensive study for the
month is a writer's workshop. My class travels to random places such
as morgues, prisons, creeks, thrift stores, etc., to gather new images
for writing. I'm having a relaxing month after an intense but successful
first semester of adjusting to the new lifestyle as well as academics.
I'm also spending a lot of time doing photography, art, and hiking."
Chapman Woodriff is in Cartagena, Colombia. He's working full time at
Muelles El Bosque, and soaking up the culture and language.
Sarah Jane Davidsson
writes, "I have a Federal Work Study job which is part of President
Clinton's America Reads Challenge. I'm a literacy mentor at a youth organization
located in Roanoke, which is about 45 minutes from Tech. I work in groups
for about two hours, playing games and reading books with the kids. The
majority of the children are under the age of 10." Sarah has also half-way
decided that her major is going to be Environmental Engineering. Sarah
commented that she slipped right into the college routine, and that Tandem
had her in gear.
Colin McElwain was very grateful to receive a pre-exam
care package from Tandem, although it arrived late. He commented, "I
was extremely hungry when I opened it." He also wished Happy holidays
to all.
Faculty and Staff
Inger Kretsinger
406 Key West Dr.
Charlottesville, VA 22911
Stacey Giordano writes, "I'm still working
on getting my doctorate in education at Teachers College, Columbia Univ.
Just want to say hello to all and let you know that I think often of
the days I spent at Tandem. Also, there's a place to crash when you're
visiting the Big Apple!"
John Quinn found our alumni web site and dropped
us the news that he is living in Massachusetts. He began Offstage Theatre
in Boston in 1993 and was married to Elizabeth Harris in 1995. He received
his M.A. in Theater Production from Emerson College in 1997. He is currently
the director of drama for the Norwood Public School system and is on the
SummerStage faculty at Emerson College.
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