Roger McKinney ’53 celebrated 50 years of teaching music at the College of New Jersey and was honored by the college with a daylong musical gala. McKinney teaches clarinet performance and music history.

Mable Storie Schlieman ’54 has retired after 30 years as director of Christian Education at Niskayuna Reformed Church. She is currently volunteering for various church activities near her home in Schenectady, NY, and enjoys reading and spending time with her 13 grandchildren.

Robert “Bob” Boyd ’57 retired in 2005 after working as a music educator for 44 years. He recently served as pianist for Aretha Franklin, Bernadette Peters, Martin Short and Shirley Jones. Currently, he is the resident music director of the Salerno Theatre Company and the American Concert Company.

Ron Farra ’57 was so impressed with the great time he experienced at his wife’s 50th class reunion that he immediately volunteered to serve on his class committee for their reunion in 2007. He learned much about his alma mater through his voluntary efforts this year, which he most likely would not have learned otherwise. Both he and his wife, Johanna DiCroce Farra ’56 are retired educators. They love to travel and spend much time visiting their five grown children and 10 grandkids.

Vincent E. Jay ’57 and his wife, Betty Jean, were recently inducted into the Tupper Lake High School’s (NY) Athletic Hall of Fame.

Nancy Cauvet ’60 recently reunited in Sarasota, FL, with her three best friends from Potsdam, all from the Class of 1960, Barb (Yost) McCann, Phyllis (Young) Stearns, Freda (Aseel) Bradt. All of them were in Agonian. Pictured are (l to r) McCann, Stearns, Bradt and Cauvet.

Constance Murray Lytle ’61 performed with the Mantovani Orchestra in a recent tour of China. She also has performed with the Solisti Chamber Orchestra and several others.

Carol Guarnieri Johnson’63 currently volunteers for her local emergency room and works for the municipal court as a police volunteer in St. Simone, GA. She plays in her church’s hand bell choir and is taking belly-dancing lessons. She also keeps in close contact with her two former SUNY Potsdam roommates, Martha Trembley Hammill ’63 and Rosemary Ellis Marino ’63.

Norma Regan Murray ’63 enjoys teaching piano, directing a Sweet Adeline Choir and spending time with her grandchildren. She also makes time to play golf with her husband, George, near their home in Westford, MA.

Karen Rudikoff Athey ’66 recently retired from a 36-year career in education, having spent the last 28 years teaching kindergarten. In 2004, she successfully underwent heart transplant surgery and maintains an ongoing relationship with her donor family.

Goldstein Honored by Navy

Alan P. Goldstein ’68 was recently awarded the U.S. Navy Superior Civilian Service Award at a ceremony in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. This is the highest honorary award given to the Navy’s civilian employees for exceptional service to the department. He was presented the award for his pioneering work in the design, creation and maintenance of the original Department of the Navy’s Web site. He is also the founder of SUNY Potsdam’s radio station, WAIH (called WRPS when Goldstein founded it). He and his wife, Mary M. Post, and their son, Mark, reside in Springfield, VA.

Wally Siebel’s ’68 famous Potsdam store, Northern Music & Video, was featured in the March/April issue of Music, Inc. magazine. Along with co-owner Alex Vangellow, Wally opened the store more than 30 years ago. The article highlighted their keen sense for hiring enthusiastic and passionate employees, as well as always going above and beyond with customer service.

Marilyn Bean Barrett ’69 and her husband, Joe, traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, this past summer. She continues to prepare mainstream classroom teachers for teaching to English language learners.

Linda Munde Farrell ’69 received the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra Players Choice Award. Based on a vote by the members of the orchestra, this award is given to one of the players for outstanding service to the orchestra and community. She just completed her 13th year as a member of the orchestra and continues to serve as second clarinet and music librarian. In addition, she is a member of the Major Orchestra Librarians Association (MOLA) where she often consults with her colleagues from around the world.

Carol Rose Reed ’69 has retired from Canton Central School but remains active in the Potsdam and Canton Central Schools’ French student exchange.

Ghislaine Kubica Stewart ’69 and Wendi Thompson Stetson ’91 recently took their choir, the Parlor City Boys’ Chorus of Binghamton, to perform “Carmina Burana” at the Binghamton University Choir and Orchestra.

Retired Superintendent of Schools of the Ogdensburg City School District William H. Flynn ’70 & ’72 was the featured keynote speaker during SUNY Potsdam’s Master’s Commencement Ceremony on May 19, 2007.

Friends and colleagues of Crane Professor Emeritus Scott LaVine ’71, former director of Crane Youth Music, have established the Scott LaVine CYM Scholarship to assist Crane Youth Music campers who have financial need. Selection of CYM scholarship recipients is based on financial need as well as musical ability. LaVine conducted the Symphonic Band at SUNY Potsdam and served as co-director of Computer/Music Technology. He also taught music technology, theory and ear training courses, and was the Web master for the Crane School.

June Barnett Simons ’71 is an independent contractor for New York State Medicaid. She serves as a pediatric homecare nurse for severely disabled children.

Rich Johns Nominated for National Tennis Award

Rich Johns ’72, the long time girls’ tennis coach at Saratoga Springs High School, has been nominated for the United States Tennis Association’s Annual Starfish Award Nominated through the Eastern Section of the USTA, this national award is given to one coach in the country. The Starfish Award recognizes high school coaches who implement a no-cut policy for their tennis teams. These coaches serve as positive role models and make a difference by spending the extra time and effort to ensure that thousands of young players experience the fun of representing their high school tennis teams.

Johns has been the Varsity Girls’ Tennis coach at Saratoga since 1981. He is also the Varsity Boys’ coach. A South Glens Falls, NY, native, he has received numerous coaching awards throughout the years including recognition from the USTA Eastern Section honoring him as “Coach of the Year.”

David Paciencia ’72 retired as superintendent of Taconic Hills Central School District in June 2007. He retired after 35 years in the field of education, 21 of those years as a superintendent.

SUNY Potsdam Archives and Special Collections Librarian Jane Gatta Subramanian ’72 recently received the 17th Annual Award for Excellence in Library Service from the Northern New York Library Network during its Annual Meeting in Lake Placid, NY. Each year, the network asks library directors/supervisors, co-workers or board members for confidential letters of nomination of a fellow colleague or supervisor they feel should be recognized for his/her outstanding service to libraries.

Kerr First Female Chamber President

Darlene Kerr ’73 recently came out of retirement to take on the role of president of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. She is the chamber’s first female president. She wants to see the area thrive and as a Syracuse native, her decision to leave retirement came from an affinity to her hometown. “I love this community,” said Kerr. As the former president and chief officer of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., leadership is a role Kerr carries with confidence, and she has set many goals for her community in the upcoming term. She currently resides in Onondaga, NY.

Peter Mahigian ’73 retired from teaching after 32 years at the Brunswick Central School District. He was retired for two weeks when the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany asked him to be the interim organist. In November 2006, he took over the two choirs and was director of music at the cathedral until April 1, 2007. The new music director asked him to continue on as the assistant organist.

Michael M. Messitt ’73 and his wife, Sheila Dai ’73, recently moved to Latham, NY.

Carol Fleming O’Horo ’73 recently retired after 33 years of teaching at Hermon-Dekalb Central School. She is looking forward to spending time with her children and two grandchildren.

Sandra Linsky Simpson ’73 is the current district superintendent of Herkimer BOCES. She is also teaching graduate courses at Utica College for their Educational Administration program. In her free time, she and her husband, Kirk, enjoy their memberships in the Rochester Yacht Club and make sailing a family endeavor.

Eileen Dolan-Heitlinger ’74 and her husband, John Dolan-Heitlinger ’74, are currently residing in Key West, FL.

Kassoff Performs with Famous Artists

Performing as a touring pianist for over 20 years, Russ Kassoff ’74, is a multi-talented musician who has worked with several high profile artists. He has served as an accompanist on solo tours for Frank Sinatra and Liza Minelli as well as the lead pianist in the 1988 Ultimate Event Tour, which featured Sinatra, Minelli, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. He has also recorded with Rod Stewart and Carly Simon. Recently, Kassoff has formed his own group, The Russ Kassoff Big Band, which includes fellow New York studio and Broadway musicians.

Margie Steve Buchanan ’75 was promoted in July 2006 to director of Air Force libraries, overseeing 110 academic, research, technical and general libraries at more than 80 Air Force installations worldwide.

Schuyler “Skip” Rhodes ’75 is in his seventh year as senior pastor at the Temple United Methodist Church in San Francisco, CA. He lives there with his wife, Lisa Quoresimo, and their twins, Emma and Aaron. This past April, his fourth book, Words for Healing a Community was published. In addition he and his friend, Jack Kane, have released their debut CD, Live in the Light.

Mary Beth Allen Jones ’78 continues to publish a weekly newspaper, the Tioga County Courier. She is also active in several community organizations including the Friends of the Apalachin Library, Special Olympics and the local Cornell Cooperative Extension board of directors.

Claire Rieker-Dellerson ’78 has been teaching gifted students in South Florida for most of her career. Now two years from retirement, she is contemplating what the next chapter may bring and where it will take her.

Jerome “Jerry” Manor ’78 is the current marketing director at SeaComm Federal Credit Union in Massena, NY.

Catherine Vanderbles Censullo ’79 and her husband, Louis, recently returned from a vacation in Washington, D.C., and Charlottesville, VA. The couple toured the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the home of Thomas Jefferson in Monticello, VA.

Mark Curtis ’79 is currently a senior supervisor at the Florida Department of Corrections. He and his partner, John Maring, are building a new home near Breckenridge, CO.

Mike Donnelly ’79 has completed his second year of teaching wellness at Houston, Texas’ elite Episcopal High School. He also directs the school’s outreach program and coaches lacrosse.

SUNY Potsdam Crane faculty member and Crane Institute for Music Business Director Kickie Holloway Britt ’69 speaks with John Milton “Jack” Knight ’80, vice president of operations at Samson Technology, about his recent appearance at the College. Knight was named the spring 2007 executive in residence for the Crane Institute of Music Business and given a special citation as part of his visit. He spoke to students about Samson products and challenges in the new global economy.

Phyllis Shafer ’80 is a full-time artist and college art professor at a California Community College in South Lake Tahoe, CA. Her work has been presented by the Stremmel Gallery in Reno, NV, and it recently held her solo exhibition titled, A Painter’s Journey: The Sonoran Desert to the Sierra Nevada. Shafer’s work can be viewed on her Web site www.phyllisshafer.com.

Paul Spengler ’80 is a licensed psychologist in a private practice and a professor at Ball State University, where he teaches in both the master’s and doctoral programs. He recently completed his term as associate editor of the psychology journal The Counseling Psychologist. He resides in Muncie, IN, with his wife, Polly, and their three boys.

SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music and Institute for Music Business recently invited distinguished music alumni back to the classroom. Chris Apostle ’81 runs a production management company as part of Hoffman Entertainment and has a long history with SONY/BMG. Anthony Verderosa ’86, is an executive producer and a leading expert in the field of electronic percussion. Both alumni shared their experiences with students and faculty and spoke of career possibilities in the music industry. Pictured (l - r) are Distinguished Teaching Professor James Petercsak Hon. ’03, Apostle, Crane faculty member Kickie Holloway Britt ’69, Northern Music and Video co-founder Alex Vangellow and Verderosa.

Andrew Doetsch ’82 is currently teaching high school special education in Alpharetta, GA. He is active in the local Harley Davidson Owner’s Group and enjoys riding. He recently took a trek from Atlanta, GA, to Lake George, NY, and back for the Americade Rally.

F. Richard Ferraro ’82, a faculty member at the University of North Dakota, was recently named a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor, the university’s highest honor. Ferraro has spent 15 years in the university’s Department of Psychology.

SUNY Potsdam presented Linda I. Gibbs ’82, New York City deputy mayor for health and human services, with a SUNY Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at its 173rd Bachelor’s Commencement Ceremony on May 20, 2007, for dedicating her career in government to helping those who cannot help themselves.

Robert P. Kinslow ’83 was recently promoted to vice president of strategic communications at Seidler Bernstein. He also serves as president for the International Brotherhood of Magicians in Boston, MA.

Steve (Cheech) Hillebrand ’84 is the executive producer of a show on Fox’s Speed Channel called Unique Whips. It’s a celebrity car customizing show that has featured celebrities such as Pamela Anderson, Jeff Gordon and 50 Cent.

Anton Schwarzmueller ’85 currently works for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Buffalo, NY, and was recently promoted to supervisor.

Michele Serrao ’85 manages the Multi-Manager Investment Program at the Atlantic Trust Company, overseeing $3.5 billion in invested assets. In October 2006, she was promoted to the executive committee, which manages the Boston office of Atlantic Trust.

Terri Cromer Schwab ’86 currently teaches eighth grade social studies at Canajoharie Middle School. She lives in Palatine Bridge, NY, with her husband, Tim, and their four children.

Charles “Chuck” Schmidt ’88 and his wife, Deborah Snyder Schmidt ’87, currently teach instrumental music and are active in fundraising for Autism Speaks and Autism Society of America. Chuck was recently awarded the Banks Family Endowed Faculty Chair at the Langley School in McLean, VA. This award honors excellence in teaching and is given every three years.

Basil A. Piazza ’87 is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and has served overseas in Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait and Qatar for the past two years. His duties during this time have been to aid in the engineer planning and construction efforts of infrastructure improvements in Iraq.

Tom Caprio ’87 was recently promoted to CEO of Meyer Associates, Inc. in St. Cloud, MN. Meyer Associates is an employee-owned direct marketing agency that helps other companies market their products nationally by means of Internet, phone and direct mail. Caprio oversees 347 employees in three locations across Minnesota.

Maryann M. Bingham ’88 was appointed to the California State Instructional Materials Adoption Panel for Mathematics.

Dave Alderson ’89 continues to teach instrumental music at J. William Leary Jr. High School in Massena, NY. He also performs with the Wally Siebel All-Star Big Band on their short North Country tours every summer. When not busy with music, he spends time with his wife, Evelyn, and their two children, Tiffany, 10, and Nathaniel, 7.

Keisuke Hoashi ’89 is the co-founder and co-director of the New York Summer Music Festival, an advanced level music camp hosted at SUNY Oneonta. He is also currently pursuing an acting career in Los Angeles, CA.

Gregory M. Kelly ’89 is the founder and director of the American Veterans Aid Fund, a nonprofit organization that assists veterans and their families in obtaining and maintaining the respect, dignity and honor earned through their service and sacrifice. He currently resides in Central Valley, NY.

Molly Sprague Kurent ’89 is entering her fifth year as director of marketing and development for the University of Vermont’s Department of Theatre. She spends her free time hiking, biking and kayaking with her husband, Jim, and their black lab, Sophie.

Amy Jean Strunk McKeown ’89 is an EPA on-scene coordinator currently responsible for responding to environmental emergencies and supervising the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

Joel Smales ’89 is currently the band director at Binghamton High School’s Rod Serling School of Fine Arts where he conducts the symphonic band, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble and stage band. He has published four original compositions, most recently a piece titled “The General” that was dedicated to and inspired by Crane Professor James Petercsak.

Martin Curry ’90; his wife, Susan; and their three children are now living in China. They are both teaching there on two-year contracts.

Debbie Byrne Kasson ’90 & ’92 and Hans Loland ’90 met at Potsdam when they were both Summer Orientation Leaders in the summer of 1989. They have remained friends since. Kasson’s family (husband Cliff, Alicia 9, Sarah 7 and Julia 4) recently went to visit the Loland family (wife Cynthia and Christian 1) in Seattle.

Paul Geer ’91 has been working with at-risk teens teaching vocal music and theory, which has earned him recognition in Who’s Who Among Distinguished Americans. Under his leadership, five choral ensembles have won top honors at different festivals.

Jacqueline Levy Berge ’92 was recently appointed associate at Turner Investment Partners. In her new position, she is responsible for mutual funds administration and compliance. She currently resides in Media, PA.

Kimberly Brown Cabrera ’92 was awarded her Master of Divinity degree and continues to serve as youth minister for Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church. She currently resides in Louisville, KY, with her husband and two children.

Tonya Warner Frickey ’92 has been a high school English teacher for the past 13 years. For the past three years she has been recognized in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She and her husband, Reverend Mark Frickey, reside in Ancram, NY, with their three adopted children.

Christian Miller ’92 returned to campus in March to speak to students in the Mathematics Undergraduate Colloquium Series. Miller, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at SUNY Potsdam, is senior director of corporate pharmacy services for Health Now New York, Inc., parent company of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Western New York and BlueShield of Northeastern New York. His topic was “Time to graduate … now what?” Also attending the lecture were Dr. Vasily Cateforis, emeritus chair of the Department of Mathematics; Dr. Joel Foisy, current chair; and Dr. Blair Madore, member of the mathematics faculty and coordinator of the colloquium series.

Shawn “Fusion” Benjamin ’93 is the senior housing coordinator at Virginia State University. He and his wife, Katrina, currently reside in Richmond, VA.

Ilissa Mandelik Miller ’93 has joined tel (x), a U.S. based core interconnection facility provider for the global telecommunications industry. She has worked in the telecom sector for more than 10 years for a variety of companies in both the Unites States and U.K.

Jan Fredrickson Thome ’93 continues to teach high school Spanish and French and has been featured in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers four times. For the past 11 years, she has worked as the day-camp director for the Girl Scouts of Niagara County. She is also an instructor at a Bally’s Total Fitness in Clarence, NY, where she currently resides.

Beth McGann Winter ’93 just received her M.A. in Public School Administration from Castleton State College. She currently teaches general and instrumental music at the Poultney Elementary School in Poultney, VT.

Mark Hayman ’94 recently became an associate in the Patent Counseling and Prosecution practice group for the Cooley, Godward and Kronish, LLP firm. He has earned both his Ph.D. and J.D. and resides in Washington, D.C.

Cassie Dionne Meyers ’94 teaches 4th grade inclusion classes and was recently awarded the National Board of Professional Teaching Certification. She has also founded a local chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children, a non-profit organization that promotes and helps gifted and disabled children succeed in school. She currently resides in Palm Coast, FL.

In its top ten listing for 2006, Time Magazine’s fifth-ranked Web site is the creation of Mykel Ruvola ’94. His Web site, www.finetune.com, is an online music-sharing service that allows people to compile playlists from a library of over two million songs and its free. The site has 40,000 registered users and continues to grow. Ruvola worked for Napster briefly before moving to NextRadio, a company out of Boston that supplies digital music products and services to BellSouth and others. Ruvola and his wife, Ann Brown ’93 currently live in the Boston, MA, area.

Kristin Bourdage Reninger ’93 received her Ph.D. in education and linguistics on June 10, 2007 at Ohio State University. She is currently teaching at Otterbein College in Westerville, OH. She previously worked at Lewiston-Porter High School in Niagara County, where she taught and mentored students in GED and English as a Second Language programs. She resides in Columbus with her husband, Donald.

Eric S. Burke ’95 has recently been named middle and high school principal for the Lisbon Central School District. He is also a former director of the St. Lawrence Valley Sportsmen’s Club.

Tierney Jayne McKee ’95 is an English and Language Arts teacher for the Sodus Central School District in Sodus, NY. She lives in Newark, NY with her husband, Andrew, and their newborn, Colin Joseph.

Aaron Fuller ’97 is the president of Fuller Insurance Agency and oversees offices in Carthage, Canton and Malone, NY. He recently finished his service as the Exalted Ruler of Carthage B.P.O. #1762 and is currently a member of the Carthage Area Hospital Board of Directors.

David J. Benstock ’98 is the sales manager at Lighthouse Ford in Copiague, NY, and his wife, Monica F. (Erb) Benstock ’99, is the 9th grade band director in Half Hollow Hills, NY.

Matthew Fossa ’98 gave the world premiere of his original oboe concerto in September at the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. In addition, the Gulf Coast Chorale and the University of West Florida Chamber Orchestra have performed his other works.

Mindy Carlin Cervoni ’99 is currently the vice president of the Administration for Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled in Buffalo, NY. She and her husband, Jonathan, and their son, Noah, reside in Hamburg, NY.

Amanda Haney ’00 spent two years working as a VISTA with the Washington Reading Corps and recently graduated in December 2006 with a Master of Public Administration degree from Seattle University. She is now a public management intern/budget examiner for New York State.

Kelly E. Mailler ’02 graduated in May 2007 from Springfield College with her Master of Social Work Advance Generalist degree.

Emily Manor Robideau ’02 is the current vocal music director at Salmon River Central School in Fort Covington, NY.

Jennifer Walker Chudacik ’03 is the director of the choral department for the Johnson City School District in Johnson City, NY.

George Father ’03 joined the U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty in August 2005 and is currently stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. In April 2007, he was the featured bass trombone soloist with the group on a New York tour.

Elsa Schmidt ’03 was recently admitted to the New York State Bar Association and is working for the Stephens & Stephens, LLP firm in Buffalo, NY. While earning her J.D. at the University at Buffalo Law School, she was awarded Best Oralist in the preliminary rounds of the National Environmental Moot Court Competition at Pace University.

Wegner makes Carnegie Hall Debut

Melissa Wegner ’03 made her Carnegie Hall debut on April 15, 2007, in the Weill Recital Hall as part of the Composer & the Voice series. She was one of eight students in the inaugural class of the Vocal Arts Program at Bard College.

After graduating from Potsdam, she received a Master of Music degree in vocal performance at The Manhattan School of Music where she co-founded American Music Productions, an ensemble dedicated to promoting, preserving and creating American music. She studies voice with Patricia Misslin and was selected to participate in Songfest, an internationally recognized summer vocal program in Santa Barbara, CA.

Jill DiPaola ’05 currently works as an elementary general music teacher for Massapequa Union Free School District.

John Czarnecki ’06 is the sports information director and publicist for SUNY Athletic Conference and works out of SUNY Fredonia.

Meaghan Lynn Manor ’07, graduated in May from SUNY Potsdam with a B.A. in communications and thus joins her sister, Emily Manor Robideau ’02, and their father, Jerome “Jerry” Manor ’78, in the SUNY Potsdam Alumni family. She performed for Community Performance Series over the summer and began pursuing a career in communications in the fall.