Winter_Magazine2015_BOOK

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class notes
st. lawrence university magazine | WINTER 2015
molecular diagnostic sales. Joe
Baldino's son, Tyler, is a senior at
good old SLU.
In an effort to drum up class
news, I emailed the photo from
the Leggs’ wedding to all of those
in it, and to others who might
know them, which generated the
following responses:
Kevin Bisaccio: “Why is Ron
Daniels looking so aghast?”
Sue Drolet Ferguson: "I don't
recognize anyone-too much hair!!”
Barney Stevenson: Brings back
memories of fun times.”
are tons of SLU alums nearby.
In mid-August, I received a sur-
prise text from Joanne and Tom
"Big D" Legg, along with the
photo shown on page 54 from
their August ’78 wedding, which
had many alums. We all wish
Tom and Joanne a very happy
(belated) anniversary!
Tom and I had a follow-up call
and a series of text messages
with Joe Baldino’79. I learned
that Tom’s older son, Michael, is
engaged, and that their younger
son, Daniel, landed a job with
Sherwin Williams. Tom operates
his search firm, specializing in
I’m very pleased to report that
Bruce Carlisle does not seem
to have been negatively affected
by the Magnitude 6 earthquake
that hit Napa, Calif., on Aug. 24,
only 22 miles away from his home
in Larkspur. Yikes! Bruce dutifully
reported the earthquake to the
U.S. Geological Service.
Thanks in part to advice from Jim
Carpenter, about things to do
in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone,
Wyo., we had a great vacation
there in early September. Jim
owns a home in the area and
reported an almost unlimited
number of things to do amid the
gorgeous scenery, and said there
Shea Davidson visited North
Cascades National Park in mid-
September, and posted incred-
ible pictures of the magnificent
scenery.
Also in September, following
numerous international travels
(Italy, Japan) Stephen and Nancy
Dayton Houston moved to
D.C., for a year-long fellowship.
Steve is an archaeologist who
specializes in the ancient Maya,
especially their writing and art.
His fellowship is at the Center for
the Advanced Study of Visual Art
(CASVA), part of the National Gal-
lery of Art. He is one of 15 fellows
and plans to write a book about
men in ancient Maya, particularly
young men, since many artifacts
from that society are associated
with coming-of-age ceremonies.
Congrats to Lisbeth Dahlen
Whitney for 16 years at Astoria
Bank. She is a vice president and
branch manager.
Betsy Bernard took the ALS Ice
Bucket Challenge and completed
it with a smile. It probably helped
slightly that it was in August, but
even so, I was impressed!
1978
Joel Collamer
29 Hassake Road
Old Greenwich, CT 06870
203-698-0677 (home)
203-820-4523 (cell)
Next Reunion: 40th, 2018
Through Facebook I learned
that several ’78 alums have
been dumping ice buckets over
their heads in the overwhelming
response to the ALS Ice Bucket
Challenge. Amazingly, as of late
August, over $100 million had
been raised! I’m aware of Joel
’77 and Darcy Reiman Mac-
Claren, who challenged Diane
and Barney Stevenson, who in
turn challenged Nancy and me.
No doubt many other classmates
participated; we applaud every-
one for their generous philan-
thropic spirit to battle ALS.
Joel ’77 emailed news that he and
Darcy attended the alumni event
at Saratoga Race Track in early
August and “had a very good
time.”
rode their bikes across the U.S.
last summer.
In other news, Harold “Tom”
Tomlinson has retired after 36
years with GE, and Larry
Buonocore retired after the
same number of years with IBM
and has joined Year Up (yearup.
org), a non-profit focused on
workforce development for urban
youth ages 18-24 with a high
school diploma or equivalent.
They provide a six-month inten-
sive business-oriented academic
program followed by a corporate
internship. They were recently
featured on a CBS 60 Minutes
segment.
On a sad note, word reached us
Andrew J. Scott passed away
in June. He was a physical thera-
pist in the Boston area. For more
on Andy, see “In Memory.”
Please store up your news and
updates for the next column and
send me an email anytime….
1977
Bonnie Steuart
9823 Fosbak Drive
Vienna, VA 22182
703-281-2281
Next Reunion: 40th, 2017
Proving yet again that the St.
Lawrence reach is far and wide,
Webb Thomsen sent this photo
from Washington state. "That is
Mt Rainier in background,” he
said. “I get more recognition of
St. Lawrence with this jersey than
I did with my SLU flip flops! Way
more St. Lawrence awareness out
here in Seattle than I remember
getting even while attending,"
said the banker from Bellevue,
across Lake Washington from
Seattle.
While we’re on the subject of
the state of Washington, Barb
1976
Mary Izant
20101 North Park Blvd., #1
Shaker Heights, OH 44118
216-363-6417
mizantslu1976classnews@
gmail.com
Next Reunion: 40th, 2016
Somehow I “tempted” (his word)
David Smith into finally sending
news. He’s been in Texas since
1978, in lighting sales. “We are
trying to keep things illuminated
so we old folks can see at night,”
he said. He’d like to get back in
touch (at
with Steve Wheeler and Nancy
Von Lengerke ’77, Dan Fenno,
Tom Monks, Joe Braz and Mer
Horton ’77, Matt Schlegel, Billy
Jann, Cindy Arthur LaGrasse,
Bill Powers “and various others.”
Tom Sopchak wrote that Mark
Mayfield ’78 and Steve Rhoads ’78
played at the Algonquin Hotel in
Bolton Landing, on Lake George,
last summer, and he joined in on
bass for several numbers.
Brian Henry says, “My bird
photos—13 total—are part of
the 2015 Adirondack Mountain
Club (ADK) calendar and the
calendar looks nice in my very
biased opinion.” It can be pur-
chased at
php?pid=2223&pname=2015%20
Calendar.
Brenda Hensler Reiter wrote
in late September, “Headed home
from Vienna, Austria, IES reunion
(40th). Saw Howie Flood and
his wife, Nubis. He is still living in
N.J., and is retired. His wife has a
very successful job designing and
sewing wedding gowns. Howie
said Gary Lange and his wife,
Martha, took three months and
1975
Carol Owen
12 Lake Village Drive
Durham, NC 27713
919-544-2121 (evenings)
Next Reunion: 40th,
May 28-31, 2015
Reid Callanan, founder and
director of the Santa Fe Photo-
graphic Workshops, is the subject
of a detailed interview that can
be read here: .
com/2014/05/21/reid-callanan-
founder-of-santa-fe-workshops.
He says he developed his passion
for photography while on St. Law-
rence’s London Program.
Paul Rabeler and Linda have
been “empty nesters” since their
younger daughter graduated
from college in 2012. Both girls
went to college in the Philadel-
phia area and chose to stay.
With tuition payments behind
them, Paul and his family went
on some great vacations in 2013
and 2014: nearly a dozen national
parks in Nevada, Arizona, New
Mexico, Colorado, Utah (their
favorite) and California; then a
two-week cruise on the Rhine and
Mosel Rivers. Paul and Linda were
joined by her parents, her sister
and her sister’s husband in touring
vineyards, Roman ruins, cathe-
drals, two World War II cemeteries,
castles, a palace and windmills.
Paul is thinking about attending
our 40th Reunion. I hope you
are, too!
1974
Sandra Ciccone
Wagner ’74
13030 Walking Path Place
San Diego, CA 92130
858-354-5463
-
tionlaw.com
Next Reunion: 45th, 2018
(cluster with ’72, ’73)
Barbara Fuchs Brown lives in
Grand Rapids, Mich., and would
have loved to come to Reunion.
She has been divorced for 10
years and supports herself with
her private math tutoring busi-
ness. She works with 25 to 30 stu-
dents a week. Reunion Weekend
was right before final exams for
her students, so she couldn't get
away. She has four children and
six grandchildren.
Last summer I spent 10 days in
Guatemala visiting a friend who
lived with my family as an ex-
change student during my senior
year in high school. It was great
catching up in person instead of
on Facebook or Skype. Along
with sites in and near Guatemala
City (Antigua, Cuidad Vieja, Lake
Atitlan), my husband and I took
a riverboat on Rio Dulce from
the interior to the Caribbean and
explored Mayan ruins. I overcame
my fear of heights and climbed
to the top of several temples and
crossed suspension bridges that
were longer than a football field.
It was a wonderful trip.
Recent circulation among the Class of ’78 of the wedding photo of
Tom Legg ’78, back in August 1978, stirred a few memories as well as
comments about hair and clothing styles (and in the case of hair, its
mere existence); for a run-down, see the ’78 class column.
Laurentian Connections
Alessandra Bange-Hall ’08, Piper Boutique, ww.piperboutique.com/
While working in the high-end fashion retail industry, Alessandra “Allie” Bange-Hall ’08 saw how
pricey it has become for today’s young professional women to be trendy and fashionable. She wanted
to change that.
“It’s not realistic for most women to buy a $1,000 sweater
they’ll wear a few times,” she says. “I thought I could find
a way to help them stay ahead of trends while not spend-
ing a fortune.”
Enter Piper Boutique, a women’s clothing and accesso-
ries store Allie opened in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2011.
Besides finding items in nearly every color, pattern and
textile you can imagine, a big Piper perk is that everything
in the store is under $100.
Starting Piper was a risk for Allie, who had just over
$10,000 in savings. She did it on her own without borrow-
ing money from family or taking out loans, but with the
help of a degree in economics and experience working
in finance. “Owning a clothing store is 10 percent clothes
and 90 percent business,” she explains.
Nearly four years later, her company has a valuation nearing $2.2 million and, in addition to the flag-
ship store, operates boutiques in Philadelphia and Chicago, as well as a wholesale showroom where
she manufactures items that other retailers purchase to sell in their stores. Her biggest wholesale
client is Kleinfeld’s, the bridal store featured on The Learning Channel’s popular “Say Yes to the Dress”
television show.
While building her company, Allie realized she couldn’t be afraid to ask others for advice. “When
you’re an entrepreneur, you have to put down your pride,” she explains. “You can’t be stubborn.
I’ve been lucky to have so many women entrepreneurs here in Saratoga to learn from. People
with completely different businesses have been willing to help and let me learn from good and
bad experiences they’ve had. This was a great community and environment for me to learn and
grow my company in.”
For Allie, being an entrepreneur means a lot trial and error. “You can spend a full day, week, month or
more on a project and not have it work out, and that’s okay,” she says. “You have to keep your wits
about you and not get frustrated. Throw a ball up in the air and you’ll catch it 20 percent of the time.
No matter the outcome, it’s always worth trying.”
— MSB