On my way to the Old Oak Tap in Chicago, IL on August 24, the skies opened up and it started absolutely pouring out. All I could imagine was that people would opt not to come out due to the weather. Fortunately, the clouds parted and it turned into a rather nice evening. Brett Berlin ’08 had suggested the Old Oak Tap Room, which is located in an up-and-coming portion of Chicago. The establishment set aside a portion of their facility for us and provided us with our own waitress, Whitney. They offered a nice selection of beers as well as some wines. Their flatbread pizzas were outstanding!
We had 19 alumni at the event and, once again, it was a great mix of years—ranging from John Kemper ’55 all the way up to Tony Alvarez ’11. John attended with his wife Margaret. John loved the pint glasses so much that he called me to see if he could purchase an additional glass.
Bill Anthony ’66 and his wife Carolyn were also in attendance. Carolyn is traveling to Taipei later this year so we chatted a bit about the Taipei Museum of Art and Taipei 101. Bill was involved with the German exchange program while at Williston and has been lobbying for a reunion of sorts either back in Easthampton or over in Germany. I told him about trying to organize something in Europe for the 175th Celebration. Bill volunteered to help out in any way possible.
Tom Lucey ’02 attended with his wife Kate. They moved to Chicago from Denver so that Kate could complete her residency in pediatrics. Tom is currently working for Capital One. Tom and his brother (David) grew up in Easthampton. David married a woman from Paraguay and moved down there last year. Tom is a really nice, down-to-earth guy.
In a twist of fate, Jeremy Fisher ’98 helped Tom and Kate find their home in Chicago. Jeremy, who’s originally from Northampton, is a successful real estate agent and was able to find them a home. He also helped Brad Sandner ’96 find his condo. Jeremy went to school in Florida and started selling real estate his senior year down there. When the housing market burst, he and his partner decided to uproot and move to Chicago. Jeremy was very excited about the EverTrue app and the fact that you can see all the Williston alumni in a given area. He quickly saw the potential.
I interviewed Brad Sandner ’96 prior to his enrollment at Williston and he really hasn’t changed. Brad is currently working for his father’s insurance company and is learning the ropes from the ground up. The intent is to have him eventually take over the business, although his dad is still going strong. Brad is very connected with a lot of Williston alumni and loved his time at Williston. He occasionally will hang out with Eden Playe Maheras, Jeremy Fisher, Dan Landis, and others. We caught up on some of the happenings with other Williston alumni from the Chicago area.
The other person I was psyched to see was Nicole Bouchier ’02. This was her first Williston alumni event ever. Nicole is another one of my former interviewees. Originally from Texas, Nicole moved up to Chicago just a short time ago. Nicole is looking for a job in social work and was excited to speak with Carolyn Anthony who volunteered to help connect her to some of her contacts in the field. Nicole also joined a women’s roller derby team after getting involved with it down in TX. While at Williston, Nicole was more into the arts and never a big athlete but loves the physicality of roller derby where she is a blocker.
Jondelle Jenkins ’71 came with her husband, David Milliner. Jondelle was in the last NSFG class. She was amazed that I knew so many of her NSFG teachers (I even had a few as teachers myself, including Karin O’Neil and Lorraine Teller). She doesn’t think she will be able to make it back for the 90th celebration but was glad to hear that we were doing something. Jondelle is a podiatrist in the South Chicago area. She seemed to hit it off with LaShandra Smith-Rayfield ’94.
LaShandra had just been back for her 20th Reunion and had a great time. LaShandra is married with a couple of kids and is a reading specialist in the public schools. LaShandra was a four-year boarder at Williston from Chicago, coming to us through a now-defunct boarding school placement program at Kozminski Academy in the South End, which I used to visit every year. A tough neighborhood! She had a great experience here and still keeps in touch with a number of her classmates including Jeannette Cruz and Rashamon McKay.
Susanna Alvarez ’09 and her brother Tony ’11 also attended. Susanna was a four-year boarder at Williston who I interviewed. She came to us through the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation for which Andy David (father of Peter David ’03) is the board chair. Susanna was a superstar here and then went on to Boston University. After graduation, she worked briefly in Boston before moving back to Chicago where she now lives with her parents while doing digital advertising. Tony is in his senior year at Northwestern. He is majoring in International Politics and will be spending his first semester this year in Paris. Tony followed his sister to Williston where he had a great experience, playing football and wrestling. Both Tony and his sister were very personable.
Next up:
Train Concert at Tanglewood on August 29
Tandem Bagel Social on September 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Tandem Bagel Co. in Easthampton, Mass.
Providence, RI Pub Night on October 2, 2014
Boston area Alumni Pub Night on October 9, 2014
Hadley, MA Vintage Video Game Night on October 14, 2014