The Denver Pub Night was held on Tuesday, August 10, 2014 at the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver, Colorado.

I honestly had no idea what the Falling Rock Tap House was going to be like. I had simply typed in “best craft beer bar in Denver.” The bar is located one block from Coors Field and had a really nice outdoor patio area. We were able to secure two tables right by the patio entrance so that Sharon and I were able to snag people as they came in.

Falling Rock had a massive beer list with a lot of local beverages. I loved the Moose Drool Brown Ale and the Big Ben Brown! We had a really good turnout with all but two people showing up. The first to arrive was Carin Hutchinson ’75 who attended Williston for her last two years. Carin was originally from Germany. She was living in the Southwest, but decided she needed a change of scenery so she moved to Denver and loves it here.

She was fun to talk to, as were David Anderson ’72 and Stephen Alsdorf ’72. Both were very enthusiastic about their experiences at Williston. Dave owns a photography/design business here in Denver.

I showed everyone a preview of the EverTrue app and David and Stephen said they would love to use it to organize another Williston gathering later this fall. They loved that you could see who was living nearby.

Stephen attended Williston for three years after Bob St. George (then-director of admissions) asked him to repeat tenth grade. Stephen said it was the best decision his family ever made, although he hasn’t been back since 1997 for his 25th.

Quinn Winkler came with Richard Ferris. Quinn attended Williston for three years and came to us from ARAMCO. After college, she moved to Texas where her parents had retired to from Saudi before moving out to Denver. She is into a lot of the summer outdoor activities like rock-climbing, kayaking, and mountain biking. She keeps in touch with a small cadre of Williston friends. Richard attended the Rectory School before coming to Williston in tenth grade. His wife is in the third year of her residency at UDenver Medical as an OB. Richard enjoys taking care of their three dogs and doing a lot of snowboarding in the winter.

Eddie Streker just moved to Denver a few months ago to take a job at a law firm doing family law. Prior to that, he and his wife lived in Grand Junction, where he had his own practice. Eddie is originally from Easthampton, but was a boarder at Williston. Eddie really credits Williston with turning his life around and instilling in him a sense of purpose and focus. He stays in touch with a number of his classmates including John Polizzi and Shaun Chapman. Eddie is a big golfer and loves that the ball really carries out in this thin air. He also recently ran a marathon since it was on his bucket list of things his dad had done and he wanted to do.

Jonathan “Woody” Woodward is currently working for the Littleton Planning Commission. He brought his girlfriend back this past June for Reunion Weekend and “to meet the family.” Jon was another young alumus I was impressed with. He sent me some information on new projects that are happening in the Denver area that he is involved with.

James Tobin ’84 came with his wife, Angel. James was a four-year day student at Williston and graduated with my brother Todd. He also played soccer with both of my brothers. His sister lives in Easthampton. James is into hiking and camping. A totally nice guy! He wasn’t able to come back this year for Reunion due to a trip to Ireland. They are currently planning a trip to New Zealand for next year.

Katie Ciejek Shea is a middle school math teacher at a public school in Denver. Wednesday was the first day back for the kids so she was looking forward to that. She talked about the school’s innovative approach to learning, which applies theory to real-life situations. For example, last year, her math classes designed a mini-golf course using math along the way. Katie went to University of Denver and just got married last year. A bunch of us got into a conversation about how the school was doing and how it had changed since they were there. She said she had a real hard time transitioning to college life from Williston because there was no regiment to follow like at Williston.

Peter Zirkle had just moved out to Denver from Connecticut in March where he was working for as a financial analyst, so he was psyched to use these events as a networking events. Peter went to Williston for two years where he blossomed, playing football under Mark Conroy and is thankful that Williston gave him a chance.

Next up:

Chicago Alumni Pub Night on August 21, at 6 p.m. at Old Oak Tap Room

Train Concert at Tanglewood on August 29

Tandem Bagel Social on September 23 at 6:30 p.m. atTandem Bagel Co. in Easthampton, Mass.