The event was held at the home of Marlene Krauss and Zachary Berk on the Upper East Side. In the end, of the 69 people present, we had a total of 25 alumni. There was a ton of food and Marlene and Zachary were great hosts, as was their daughter Olivia ’16.
There were great conversations being had all over the room. Faculty members Monique Conroy, Sarah Sawyer, and Paul Rutherford socialized and spoke to prospective families. Director of Admission Chris Dietrich and Head of School Bob Hill spoke briefly and then Bob introduced Joshua Harper and the Caterwaulers. They sang three songs, which generated lots of conversation afterwards. Chris Dietrich said that this is the type of event we need to do on a more regular basis.
Danielle Wieneke McCarty ’04 and her brother, Michael ’03 there with their spouses/significant others. Danielle got married this fall and is working in the financial world. She connected with Monique Conroy, who was her advisor. Danielle played soccer for me on the 2004 New England Championship team. Michael played football here for Mark Conroy and is currently the Director of the Greenwich Rowing Club.
Spencer May ’09 was working for the United Nations but moved about eight months ago into a marketing and public relations firm (MFA), which he is loving. Spencer and I ran a Williston Cooking club when he was here and he is interested in our cooking class event this spring up at the King Arthur Flour Company.
Gus Kluger ’09 has his hands in a lot of different pots. He founded Toy Soldier Productions, he is consulting on social media, and he is running another company. I showed him EverTrue and encouraged him to download it and use it for networking.
Gus lives in with Ahmed Kouddous ’09, who is currently acting on Broadway.
Allison Bradshaw ’98 was there with her husband Matthew, who had just stepped off the plane from South Africa where he is working in venture capital. After listening to the Caterwaulers sing, Allison was excited to hear that we are planning a Widdigers reunion this year and informed her husband, “Looks like we are going to Reunion Weekend this year!”
Greg Colello ’03, works for the Yankees as their Director of Scoreboard Operations. He does all the advertising, statistics, announcements and messages that go up on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard.
Tony Spagnola ’72 came with his wife and son, Jack ’10, who is the spitting image of Tony. He couldn’t have been more enthusiastic about this being the first Williston alumni event that he has attended with his fellow alumnus son!
Allison Robb ’00 was psyched be at the event. The day before she had installed a pop up art exhibit at a building that is slated for demolition.
Takila Oku ’92 was there, as were a bunch of the young alums from the Class of 2014 who came to listen to the Caterwaulers, including Persis Ticknor-Swanson, Esther Kim, Regina Ryjih, Mackenzie Zehring, and Oliver Demers.
Everyone seemed happy and had a good time. Hopefully we can build on the success for next year!
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