Sequel, Winter 2016 by Paul Smith's College

Sequel PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE THE COLLEGE OF THE ADIRONDACKS WINTER 2016

CLIMB

TIME

NEW WOODSMEN’S ARENA COMES ONLINE

ON OSGOOD POND HANGIN’ WITH THE COOPER

[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ] Paul Smith’s College

Winter 2016

ON THE COVER: Billy Adams scales a log at the new woodsmen’s arena, built this fall on campus by students and alumni. PHOTOGRAPH BY PAT HENDRICK

[ DEPARTMENTS ] To Our Readers

Faculty & Staff Notes

Shore Lines

Evergreens

Spaces

Q&A

Our Adirondacks

Alumni Life

Class Notes

Parting Shot

WRITE TO SEQUEL: PSC Alumni Office P.O. Box 265 Paul Smiths, NY 12970-0265 Fax: (518) 327-6267 E-mail: alumni@paulsmiths.edu

CONNECT WITH US:

20 6 Shore lines Play it again, hoopsters ... The library goes solar ... The Apollos launches ... Catching up with a freshman dirt bike phenom. 10 Home, sweet homestead Learn to resurrect your old fruit trees in an excerpt from Prof. Brett McLeod’s new book. 12 On Osgood Pond With the first-ever Osgood Pond semester, hardy Paul Smith’s students (and their instructors) trade in the comforts of dorm living for a yurt. 18 Challenge accepted Alums and others responded in force when challenged to help Paul Smith’s raise money.

Sequel | Winter 2016

20 Over a barrel Think your commute is long? Justin Kennick ‘78 steps back almost two centuries when he goes to work at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, a living-history museum where he is head cooper.

Sequel PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE THE COLLEGE OF THE ADIRONDACKS WINTER 2016

PRESIDENT Cathy S. Dove EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kenneth Aaron kaaron@paulsmiths.edu WRITER Bob Bennett Communications Coordinator COLLEGE ADVANCEMENT STAFF F. Raymond Agnew Vice President for College Advancement Renee Burslem Major Gifts and Planned Giving Officer Mary L. McLean Research & Systems Manager Carol Murtagh Assistant to the Vice President

Heather Tuttle Alumni Relations Coordinator Andrea Wilcox Annual Giving & Stewardship Manager CONTRIBUTORS Erika Edgley Pat Hendrick Kathleen Keck Steve Sanford Jim Tucker DESIGN Maria M. Stoodley PRINTING Service Press Connecticut / Scott Smith ’77 Wethersfield, Conn. TRUSTEES OF PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE

12 22 A fish tale for the ages For years, yellow perch were considered an invasive species in the Adirondacks. A Paul Smith’s student used DNA analysis to prove that’s not the case.

E. Philip Saunders, Chairman Patricia K. Dowden, Vice Chairman Daniel D. Tessoni, Treasurer Anthony Johnson, Secretary Dwayne Mahoney Stuart H. Angert David Mammano Paul E. Avery Angela Noble-Grange Paul M. Cantwell Jr. David O’Brien ’63 Robert Chur John A. Paganelli Paul Ciminelli Frederick G. Pierce II Peter P. Forrence Thomas Rogers Robert Fox Nora Sullivan Mary Jo Hunt Elizabeth Thorndike Pauline Jennett Francine Walker Todd Jones ’90 Katharine H. Welling Pieter V.C. Litchfield

TRUSTEES EMERITI

26 Points north Who better to tell prospective students about a Paul Smith’s education than Paul Smith’s alumni? Join our new Compass Club to spread the word!

Donald O. Benjamin ’56 Ralph Blum ’54 Richard C. Cattani ’64 John T. Dillon ’58 John W. Herold ’65 Sheila M. Hutt Caroline D. Lussi ’60 Joan H. Weill

Published by the Office of College Advancement.

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ TO OUR READERS ]

A look back, and ahead CATHY S. DOVE | PRESIDENT

many respects, 2015 was remarkable. During my first full year as president of Paul Smith’s, I learned so much about this special place – especially about the many ways an education here shapes the men and women we teach, and your deep commitment to seeing this institution survive and thrive. I am convinced Paul Smith’s is poised to do great things. The excellent hands-on, experiential education we offer is exactly what today’s job market demands. Many evoked their passion for Paul Smith’s in conversations regarding the potential naming gift proposed by one of our most steadfast supporters, Joan Weill. The gift would have added Mrs. Weill’s name alongside Paul Smith’s, giving the college more visibility as well as the financial certainty to move ahead in a difficult environment for small, private institutions such as ours. While we are no longer pursuing this gift, we continue to have deep respect for everything the Weills have done for Paul Smith’s and ultimate gratitude for the gift they proposed. Colleges are only as good as their people, and we have some of the best. Our outstanding faculty, staff and students accomplished much in 2015. Two of our faculty, Joe Orefice and Brett McLeod ’03, earned their Ph.Ds. We hired four outstanding new faculty: Deb Naybor

(environmental studies); Ross Conover (fisheries and wildlife science); Kendra Ormerod (recreation, adventure education and leisure management); and Lee Ann Adams (culinary arts). We hired a professional forest manager who works closely with faculty to integrate academics in our planning process. We also hired fine new leaders who have already improved our operations, including a dedicated marketing professional who is helping spread the word about all the great things happening here. Academically, we’re ensuring that students who start at Paul Smith’s also finish. Our outstanding academic success support systems are used more widely than ever, and just over 72 percent of last year’s freshmen returned this fall – our highest retention rate in more than a decade. Under the leadership of instructor Bethany Garretson ’09, and with generous support from Charlie and Betsy Morgan, we launched an innovative Adirondack Semester in which students lived in yurts and learned homesteading skills on the shore of Osgood Pond. Students worked on real-world projects in Russia, Italy, and with local organizations in the Adirondacks. Our culinary and forestry programs earned accreditation. And our Adirondack Watershed Institute attracted more than $1 million in grants, greatly expanding its role in the park as a respected water quality research group. Our students excelled in and out of the classroom. Thirty-six student-athletes received All-Academic honors, and a group of hospitality students were

Gather ’Round.

Reunion 2016 • July 22-24 www.paulsmiths.edu/alumni/reunion 4

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instrumental in establishing Lake Placid’s first Restaurant Week. Increasing enrollment remains a top priority. The fall 2016 class was 4 percent larger than the entering class in 2015. That is great news, as many schools like ours are facing chronic enrollment declines. However, our goal is to stabilize enrollment at 1,200, and we are not there. We expect enrollment to dip slightly in the next few years, but project it to rebound as enhanced marketing and curricular activities take hold. Fundraising also went well. In early 2015, a $1 million gift from the Weills supported enrollment, fundraising and marketing. A $2 million gift from Board Chairman Phil Saunders funded new basketball and golf teams and expanded our Outing Program. In October, a family pledged to give $5 million over five years. This challenge gift will seed many initiatives that are essential to our future, and encourage others to contribute as well. Thanks to many of you, we met the first year’s goal! Over the last three months of 2015, the Coming Home Challenge raised $556,000 from 1,700 donors – and our donor contributed $1 million in response. This support is a great start. But it’s only a start. In the coming months we must use the momentum created by the challenge, as well as the great support that it unleashed, to launch a critically important fundraising initiative in support of goals articulated in the college’s recently finalized five-year strategic plan. This plan, designed to ensure the college will be vibrant and relevant for years to come, provides a roadmap for a sustainable future. We will be highlighting many elements of the plan in future issues of the Sequel, but you can read about some of our major goals in the story on page 18. All of those goals build on the reputation that we’ve spent generations building – a reputation that you have helped burnish through your good work and care. The Board of Trustees and I are truly grateful for all that you do to support Paul Smith’s and the meaningful bonds so many of you have forged here, and we look forward to working together as we continue to write the next chapter in our story.

[ FACULTY & STAFF NOTES] SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND ECOLOGY Instructor Tim Chick published an article, “Allelopathy as a Regeneration Factor,” in the September/October issue of New York Forest Owner magazine. He also presented a paper, “Resistance Variability of Right-of-Way Ground Cover Species,” at the 11th International Symposium on Environmental Concerns in Rightsof-Way Management in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September. Ross Conover joined the School of

Natural Resource Management and Ecology in fall 2015 as a professor of fisheries and wildlife science. Conover taught previously at Mississippi State University, Iowa State University and Glenville State College in West Virginia. He earned a doctorate in animal ecology from Iowa State University and a master’s in biology from Mississippi State University. Conover joined Prof. Jorie Favreau and five students on a trip to the annual meeting of The Wildlife Society conference in Winnipeg, Canada, in October, where they learned to estimate population sizes, shot dart guns and did radio telemetry. Conover also led students to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service moose check station in Vermont in November. Corey Laxson ’98, research

associate for the Adirondack Watershed Institute, presented a paper, “Evaluating 25 Years of Recovery on Upper Saranac Lake,” at the North Students in Winnipeg, Canada, at the annual meeting of The Wildlife Society.

American Lake Management Society Symposium in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Laxson also coauthored more than 70 technical reports on water quality monitoring, watershed chemistry and invasive plant management along with AWI research assistant Elizabeth Yerger and AWI Executive Director and NRME Interim Dean Daniel Kelting. Prof. Brett McLeod did a national

book tour for his recently released book, “The Woodland Homestead,” which was a No. 1 seller in both the forestry and sustainable agriculture categories on Amazon.com. The book is available at outlets including the Tractor Supply Company.

Burlington, Vt.; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Roundtable in Warrensburg, N.Y.; and the Lake George Park Commission in Lake George, N.Y. He also presented “Watercraft Data: Standardized Inspection, Data Collection, Analysis and Applications” and “Adirondack Watershed Institute Stewardship Program 2015” for the New York Sea Grant/Cornell Extension Webinar Series.

In November, Prof. Joe Orefice took a group of forestry students from the local chapter of the Society of American Foresters to Baton Rouge, La., for the national convention.

Holmlund also secured an $899,000 grant from the Natural Heritage Trust for the Adirondack Park AIS Spread Prevention Pilot Program, and two grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: one, for $491,090, for the Lake Ontario Headwaters Integrated AIS Control Program, and a second, for $225,000, for the Lake Ontario Headwaters Watercraft Inspection Program.

Prof. Curt Stager published an

Chef Kevin McCarthy led stu-

opinion piece on the long-term effects of carbon emissions, “Tales of a Warmer Planet,” in the Sunday, Nov. 28, edition of The New York Times.

dents from his Commercial Cooking and Catering class on trips across New York State. They visited Moonstone Farm and Forest in Saranac Lake, Fledging Crow Vegetables in Keeseville, Sugarhouse Creamery in Upper Jay, Asgaard Farm and Dairy in AuSable Forks, Tucker Farms in Gabriels, Harmony Hills Farmstead in Malone, the Railex distribution hub in Schenectady, and North Branch Farm in Saranac.

THE SCHOOL OF COMMERCIAL, APPLIED AND LIBERAL ARTS In December, Prof. Kelly Cerialo earned a master’s degree in communication management from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Prof. Eric Holmlund, CALA

interim dean, gave a presentation titled “Adirondack Park Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention Pilot Program” at the International Association for Great Lakes Research International Conference 2015 in

Prof. Deborah Naybor

published an article, “Mobility Disadvantaged and Livelihood Opportunities of Marginalized Widowed Women in Rural Uganda,” in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers’ special issue on mobility. In November, Prof. John Radigan completed an intensive weeklong course in advanced permaculture design in Akron, Ohio. Prof. Annie Rochon served as

keynote speaker at the American Association of French Teachers conference held at Paul Smith’s College. Her talk was titled “The Accuracy of Language Translation: Communication Across Cultures.”

Students Cody Sears (left) and Jon Stetler (right) measure a moose’s antler beam on an outing led by Prof. Ross Conover.

Prof. Rebecca Sutter has been

accepted into the sustainable watershed-management graduate program at Columbia University for the upcoming academic year.

OTHER FACULTY & STAFF VIC naturalist Brian McAllister led a group of students on a trip to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in November. Tom Huber, director of TRiO

Student Support Services, secured $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Education to fund TRiO for the next five years. Prof. Meggan Press, teaching

and learning librarian, gave a talk titled “Graphic Design for Maximum Engagement” at the Library Technology Conference in Minneapolis, Minn.; a Library Orientation Exchange conference in Denver; a State University of New York Librarians Association (SUNYLA) midwinter webinar; and a Nebraska Library Association webinar. In November, Jeff Walton, director of Institutional Research and Information Technology, coauthored a paper, “Simple Street Tree Sampling,” in the Journal of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry. Sequel | Winter 2016

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French Connection Sun Volts

COURTESY ANNIE ROCHON

It’s

about 35 miles from the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, in Ausable Chasm, to Quebec. So when Prof. Annie Rochon and her French II class translated an exhibit on an escaped slave who settled on his own Adirondack mountain farm, they shed a little light on a fascinating story for the museum’s many French-speaking visitors. In return, the museum gave Rochon the Lantern Light Award, its most prestigious honor. “I was very honored to receive the award,” Rochon says. “It was my pleasure to help tell this story to a wider audience.” The exhibit tells the story of John Thomas, held as a slave for 29 years in Maryland before escaping to the North. In 1846, he received a 40-acre grant from Gerrit Smith, a noted abolitionist and landowner who gave away thousands of acres across the Adirondacks to black New Yorkers. “None of us were expecting to learn anything about the Underground Railroad that we hadn’t already learned in middle and high school,” says Tyema Stephens, a student of Rochon’s who helped translate the material. “But as it turned out, we not only learned new things about the secret cooperative network, but how it was connected to the namesake of our college. Paul Smith gave portions of his land to former slaves, so they could start new lives and make a living farming.” – BOB BENNETT

Defining our distinction W hat does it mean to be a Smitty? You may know – but if prospective students don’t get the message, they’re less likely to come here. That’s why Paul Smith’s is in the midst of a project to establish what, exactly, sets the college apart from other institutions. “Paul Smith’s has such a distinctive identity,” said Shannon Oborne, the college’s chief marketing officer. “And our efforts to reach prospective students depend on how well we stand out in the crowd and communicate what makes us so special.” Small private colleges everywhere face the 6

Sequel | Winter 2016

same challenges: The number of college-age students is decreasing, and the ones who are left are ever-more cost conscious (and increasingly unsure of the value of a college education). Pressures such as these make it that much more critical for Paul Smith’s to differentiate itself. Through a series of focus groups and feedback loops, the project has explored the college’s unique characteristics and how we’re perceived. Updates to the mission, vision and identity are planned for implementation this year. – KENNETH AARON

his fall, students took a small – but very visible – step to reducing their carbon footprint by calling for the installation of a 48-panel solar array on the roof of the Joan Weill Adirondack Library. The $42,000 project, largely paid for by the student-supported Campus Sustainability Fund, will generate about 15,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. “Many people in our region mistakenly think that solar energy is not an option here in the North Country,” says Kate Glenn, the college’s sustainability coordinator. It is, she says – so much so that the college is exploring the development of a much larger 1.5-gigawatt solar farm on campus property. Twice a year, students decide what projects to support through the sustainability fund. The array was supported by more than 90 percent of the students who voted – the highest margin of any of the 27 projects supported by the fund since it launched in 2009. The library array – which got a significant early boost from Prof. Curt Stager, who raised money from faculty to buy the first panel – covers a small portion of the 4 million kilowatt hours used by the college annually. Just as importantly, though, the project is another clear sign of the college’s support for sustainability initiatives: Renewable energy education is already part of several classes and degree programs at Paul Smith’s, the campus’ academic buildings are already heated with locally sourced wood pellets, and two other buildings are heated and cooled with geothermal loops drilled deep into the earth. – KA

» To see a real-time display of the

electricity generated by the solar array, visit sites.paulsmiths.edu/ sustainability/energy

Shredding the field S

ome six-year-olds are content to get a big-kid bicycle. When Samantha Slingerland turned 6, she asked her dad for a dirt bike. Slingerland, a freshman majoring in forest operations, is a nationally ranked professional flat track motorcycle racer. Sam the Shredder, as she’s known in the racing community, has been fascinated by the sport since her father took her to the races when she was 4. Soon after, she was racing – and winning. By 2012, she had climbed through a succession of larger bikes, becoming the third-ranked amateur in the country. In 2015, she turned pro, finishing in the top three ever since. Unlike motocross riders, who hit huge jumps that send them hurtling through the air, flat track racers stay on the ground. But flat track is faster than motocross. Slingerland has been clocked at 115 mph. “It’s very dangerous, but I still love it,” she says. “I love the adrenaline.

Being next to 18 roaring motors really gets your blood pumping.” Slingerland knows people who have died, and she suffered a serious concussion herself in the fall. For races on bigger tracks with hard-packed surfaces she races with full protection, including a neck brace, a kidney belt that protects her from puncture wounds and a full-leather suit that has still more safety features built in. The other drawback: Flat track is a rich person’s hobby. A standard dirt bike goes for about $9,000, but flattrack bikes require special suspensions and tires, which cost at least $5,000. Traveling to all the different races gets expensive, too. Last year, Slingerland spent $10,000 on travel and race-entry fees as she competed in about 15 states, mostly the Northeast but also in Georgia, Illinois and Florida. Top finishers like Slingerland can offset costs with prize purses, but it’s still not enough to make a living, she says. “I’m learning to be a lumberjack instead,” she says. “I’m looking at getting into sawmill production back in New Hampshire.” In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, she’ll continue racing. She has races lined up in Florida, Delaware and Pennsylvania in March. At those races, Slingerland will sport the

PHOTO: KENNETH AARON

logo of Paul Smith’s, which signed on recently as one of her sponsors. “My parents are my biggest supporters, though,” Slingerland says. “I’m so thankful for them and all that racing has provided me. I’m friends with 1,400 people on Facebook because of racing. It’s a tight-knit community.” – BB

ABOVE: Samantha Slingerland in her competition jersey. LEFT: Slingerland practicing on the ice.

JEFF VADER

Revitalized basketball program returns H

REBI ROMEO

oop dreams are back again at Paul Smith’s. For the first time since 2013, basketball returned to the college, with men’s and women’s teams playing an abbreviated schedule of about 10 games apiece. Dominique Boone, head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams, says that progress Men’s and women’s basketball coach Dominique Boone.

so far is better than he expected – and with a full schedule of U.S. Collegiate Athletic Conference games on tap for the 2016-17 season, he’ll be expecting big things. Both teams, he says, are working exceptionally hard. “They’re honestly a joy to be around,” says Boone, a veteran coach who was most recently an assistant coach at Chestnut Hill College in Massachusetts. Before that, Boone coached an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team in Tennessee that claimed three nominees to the McDonald’s All American games in his final year. Coaching both the men’s and women’s teams – as well as serving as the athletics department’s sports information director - is a bit of a juggling act, he says, that’s testing his time-management

skills. (He doesn’t have an assistant coach on either team this season.) It’s difficult to squeeze in practices for both teams at times that are convenient, he says, without being in the gym until midnight. This isn’t the first time Boone has built a basketball program from scratch: Once, he did it in a middle school; the other time was with that AAU program. No matter how deep his bench, Boone says his coaching philosophy remains the same: “Building great relationships with great student athletes and helping them to accomplish their goals.” – KA

» B oone will operate a basketball day camp for

boys and girls in grades 3-8 this summer. For more information: www.paulsmithsbobcats.com Sequel | Winter 2016

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Hot off the presses S

PAT HENDRICK

ABOVE: Nicholas Georgelas (L) and Jesse Cutting compete in the log roll event. BELOW: Kyle Tallman in the pulp toss.

Woodchip Central The

frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. The friendly confines of Wrigley. And now – the towering cedars of Paul Smith’s. The Bobcat woodsmen’s team is the proud tenant of a brand-new lumberjack sports arena – the first collegiate arena in the country featuring matched elements (that’s lumberjack sports-speak for duplicate stations to allow headto-head competition). There are two 50-foot-tall cedars from British Columbia, for pole climbing. Six chopping stands. Eight axe-throwing targets. “It turns it into a spectator sport and it elevates the competition, too,” said Brett McLeod, coach of the woodsmen’s team. McLeod got the idea for the arena from his time as a producer on ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games. Head-tohead competition was a big part of the spectacle, and he wanted to bring some of that to Paul Smith’s. A group of students and alumni volunteers prepared the arena, a woodchip-covered area beneath the Forestry Club Cabin and adjacent to Dillon’s Mill, the college’s sawmill. Materials for the new arena were supported by a $2 million gift from Board of Directors Chairman Phil Saunders to the college’s athletics department. The arena got its first taste of competition in the fall, when Paul Smith’s hosted a meet. Come 2017, it will get even wider exposure when the college hosts the annual Spring Meet – the so-called Super Bowl of collegiate lumberjack sports. In the meantime, the team is busy building its home-field advantage by putting the arena through its paces almost every day. “We have almost 40 students on the woodsmen’s team, so having the extra space makes it a lot easier to practice,” McLeod says. – KA 8

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arah Hart hadn’t been a faculty member at Paul Smith’s long before she came to this realization: The campus community needed some kind of soapbox. While there hadn’t been a student newspaper on campus for as long as anybody could remember, she didn’t think that meant there wasn’t anything to say. So in spring 2015, Hart and a group of students launched The Apollos, an online publication that features news, art and opinion. “Our core ethos is to be the voice of the community,” says Hart, who credits President Cathy Dove with green-lighting the publication as soon as she learned of it. In just two semesters, the Apollos has included commentary on the campus’ tobacco-free policy and racism – which led to a campuswide initiative on multiculturalism – and the proposal to change the college’s name. The Apollos is “shedding light on the issues that need to be talked about on this campus,” says Erinn Pollock, a junior majoring in natural resource management and policy. “A lot of people saw it as a legitimate outlet where people can talk about their problems here – and they didn’t have

that before,” Pollock says. Don’t call it a student newspaper, though. For starters, Hart says, the Apollos just doesn’t have enough staff to adequately cover events and issues on campus – the editors are at the mercy of the submissions they receive. Perhaps more critically, though, Hart says the college doesn’t offer the kinds of journalism classes necessary to build that enterprise. Unlike most publications, which are abandoning print for the Internet, Hart is hoping the Apollos goes the opposite way. This spring, she has put out a dead-tree version along with the pixelon-screen edition. “This will definitely change who reads us and how we’re read,” she says. And the staff is doubling, from four paid editors to eight. The students are excited to have a chance to shape the conversation of what’s happening around them. “I think we’ve had a pretty significant impact,” says T.J. Johnston, an editor who graduated at the end of the fall semester. “But I don’t think we’ve done as much as we could.” – KA

» To read more, visit sites.paulsmiths. edu/theapollos

Prof. Sarah Hart (bottom left) with Apollos editors (L-R) TJ Johnston, Nate Swain and Erinn Pollock.

KENNETH AARON

FALL SPORTS ROUNDUP GOLF After lying dormant for years, the Paul Smith’s golf team hit the links again in fall and excelled, capturing the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) championship. The team didn’t have much time to gel: Head coach Rod Bushey met his team for the first time at the end of August, and the 14 men and women on the roster played their first tournament two days later. Three golfers – Jared McAllister, Garrett Pembroke and Jon Herman – qualified for the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) championship at Penn State in October. “Hospitality management, resort management – that’s

taught here,” head coach Rod Bushey told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. “What is golf? Golf is played at resorts. The sport goes hand in hand with academics at Paul Smith’s.” MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY The cross country teams didn’t have to go far to win big this fall: They swept the YSCC championships, held in October at the biathlon course at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid. It was the third consecutive YSCC title for the women’s team, which was led by first-place finisher (and individual conference champion) Chloe Mattilio; Corey Roth, the individual men’s

conference champ, finished first in the men’s race. Both the men’s and women’s teams outpaced NHTI of Concord, N.H., which placed second in both races. The men’s team finished fourth and the women’s team eighth at the USCAA national tournament, held in Lakeland, Fla., in November. Three Paul Smith’s runners – the highest number ever – made the USCAA All-American team: Roth qualified for first-team honors, while Mattilio and Rob Calamia made the second team. MARATHON CANOE Paul Smith’s – the nearperennial winnter of the New York State Collegiate C-4

Women’s soccer captain Nicole Landry in a match against Clinton Community College. The women’s team fell in the YSCC semifinal. On the men’s side, Tyler Hoellerer received player of the year honors in the West Division.

Championships – recaptured the title this year, after ceding it to Hamilton College in 2014. Matt Williams, Ashley Evans, Jess Setter and Matt Leichty rowed in the event, held in September in Long Lake. ALL ACADEMIC HONORS Thirty-six athletes from nine different teams made the USCAA’s All-Academic Team this fall. To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.5 GPA during their college careers to date (which must be at least 24 credits long). – JIM TUCKER LEFT: Corey Roth (#333) runs at the YSCC championships, held at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid. PHOTOS: PAT HENDRICK

New provost, finance VP take posts Two key leadership posts at the college were filled by veteran administrators before the start of the latest academic year. Nicholas Hunt-Bull became provost, the college’s chief academic officer, in July. Previously, Hunt-Bull had been associate vice president of academic affairs for Southern New Hampshire University, where he revitalized the college’s honors program. Hunt-Bull said he’d like to tap alumni knowledge for academic advisory boards, recruiting efforts and other initiatives. “It is very exciting to see the level of HUNT-BULL passion here,” Hunt-Bull says. “One of my challenges is to translate that passion into things that directly benefit the students who are here now.” While at SNHU, the university became a leading provider of online classes. Paul Smith’s will still depend heavily on in-person classes – but some change is likely, Hunt-Bull says. “The modern student, even the modern 18-to-22-year-old, on-campus student, benefits from having access

to some online content and benefits from having access to some online classes, and that’s something I do want to expand the use of,” he said. Hunt-Bull, who has a doctorate and master’s in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took the place of Richard Nelson, who left Paul Smith’s to become president of Nicolet College in Wisconsin. Marty Hanifin became vice president for finance and administration in August. Hanifin, who had been vice chancellor for administration and finance at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, has also held leadership positions at Colorado State University-Pueblo and the University of Oregon. Hanifin’s is a homecoming of sorts – he was born in New York and raised in northern Vermont before earning graduate degrees HANIFIN from the University of Virginia, UVA’s School of Law and the University of Oklahoma. Hanifin took over for Laura Rozell, who had served as interim vice president. – KA Sequel | Winter 2016

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HOME WORK PUT YOUR LAND TO USE WITH PROF. BRETT MCLEOD’S NEW BOOK Brett McLeod considers himself more of a “pracademic” than an “academic.” In other words, according to the associate professor of forestry and natural resources, he’s “someone who puts theories to practical use in real life.” And he wanted to give others the tools to do the same. That was the impetus behind McLeod’s new book, “The Woodland Homestead: How To Make Your Land More Productive and Live More Self-Sufficiently in the Woods” (Storey Publishing, 2015). With tips on using your own land to raise trees for firewood, make money selling wild mushrooms and produce maple syrup – among dozens of other do-it-yourself ideas, including the excerpt printed here about coaxing fruit from a long-neglected tree – McLeod urges readers to find ways to turn land they might consider too hardscrabble to farm into something productive. “Think about your land a little bit differently,” he says. “It really is an ecosystem of opportunity. You just have to figure out what those opportunities are.” – KENNETH AARON 10

Sequel | Winter 2016

BY BRETT McLEOD

FOR ME, homesteading is about the resurrection of

knowledge, tools, and land. When I purchased my land, I asked if there were any fruit trees on the property. The real estate agent told me the land had been the site of an old homestead a century prior, and that all homesteads had a few apple trees, but that I shouldn’t get too excited because they were probably dead by now, assuming I could even find them. While the agent was correct in guessing that the property had a few fruit trees, he was wrong about their health. Fruit trees, and particularly apples, are among the most resilient of trees, almost always capable of resurrection. All of the apple trees I located on my homestead were growing in the understory of an overstocked mixed forest. Fruit trees respond to the extreme shade of such a situation by slowing their

ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE SANFORD

RESTORING A FORGOTTEN FRUIT TREE Once the tree has been given a growing season to adjust to increased light conditions, you can take the following steps to restore it. 1. Study the Shape of the Tree. Before you pull out your loppers and saw, take some time to study the shape of the tree or, more specifically, the shape that the tree could be, given the benefit of time and judicious pruning. Strive for creating a central leader and a shape that resembles a pyramid.

ERIKA EDGLEY

growth rate and ceasing fruit production. The trees are able to maintain this conservative existence for decades, waiting for you to appear one day with saw and shears. The resurrection of old fruit trees comes with a bit of a caveat. When you stumble upon an old fruit tree in your woodlot, you won’t know the tree’s origin or variety, and the quantity and quality of fruit it will produce won’t be apparent for several years. Still, if your goal is to make cider, sauce, or jam rather than to eat sweet, blemish-free apples straight from the tree, this isn’t so much an issue. S

» Excerpted from The Woodland Homestead, © Brett McLeod. Illustration by © Steve Sanford. Used with permission of Storey Publishing.

2. Remove Water Sprouts. Begin by removing any vertical branches or water sprouts. Water sprouts are vigorous vertical shoots that redirect nutrients from the rest of the tree, thereby discouraging fruit formation. Water sprouts can be pruned in summer to encourage the tree to focus its energy on fruit buds. Old vertical wood should also be removed to encourage a central, single leader. 3. Remove Branches That Cross. Abrasions caused by rubbing are entry points for pests and disease. Additionally, remove any branches that double-back into the center of the tree. 4. Remove Lateral Branches. If you’re intending to graze pigs or sheep in your woodland orchard to glean fallen fruit, consider pruning all lateral branches below 3 feet. This will help discourage climbing which can break branches and damage the bark. Repeat these steps over two to three years. Gradual pruning of trees that have been abandoned and forgotten is essential to preventing shock. 5. Remove Dead Wood. After the immediate area around the tree has been cleared, you should remove any dead wood from your fruit tree. Unlike removing live wood, this doesn’t need to be done gradually; just make sure your cuts are clean and executed at the branch collar which will encourage callus tissue to develop, sealing over the wound. If you can, allow the tree a full growing season to adjust to the new light conditions and begin healing the wounds where dead wood was removed. Sequel | Winter 2016

[ FEATURE] Student Participants: ? Andrew Coulter ’16,

environmental science

? Hanna Cromie ’16,

integrative studies

? Kaiden Hill ’18,

fisheries and wildlife science ? Valerie Hoffman ’18,

natural resources sustainability ? Hyla Howe ’18, biology ? Dominic Rickicki ’16,

environmental studies

? Erik Samia ’16, recreation,

adventure travel and ecotourism

Yurts so good

ABOVE: Hanna Cromie sits on her bed frame, which is in a yurt she shared with three other women. OPPOSITE: Hyla Howe is perched atop a yurt as she helps dismantle it for the winter.

STUDENTS LEAVE DORMS BEHIND IN OSGOOD POND SEMESTER BY BOB BENNETT

PHOTOS BY KENNETH AARON

ominic Rickicki cooked several of his meals over a fire pit last semester. Other times, he used a Coleman stove. He washed his clothes in a homemade washing machine fashioned from a five-gallon bucket and dried them on a line outdoors. And he slept most nights in an authentic Mongolian yurt, a portable tent-like structure, alongside Osgood Pond, less than a mile from the Paul Smith’s College campus.

Meanwhile, he had a warm dorm room, a washer and dryer, and the college’s dining hall at his disposal. Rickicki, a senior majoring in environmental studies, used those amenities as little as possible, though. And if he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t change a thing. Rickicki wasn’t just camping out for kicks. He was one of seven students who took part in the first Osgood Pond Semester, a semester-long, immersive experience that combined communal living, team building and outdoor recreation. With four female students living in one yurt, three male students living in another, and the two instructors, Bethany Garretson ’09 and Andy Johnstone, in a third, the group forged lasting bonds – and gained lasting skills.

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ FEATURE] FAR LEFT: Students in the Osgood Pond semester with donors Betsy and Charlie Morgan (front row, right). LEFT: The yurts’ doors were hand-painted by Mongolian families. BELOW: Instructors Bethany Garretson ’09 and Andy Johnstone in front of their yurt. OPPOSITE PAGE: Cromie and Johnstone with a yurt after the fabric walls and roof were removed.

“The semester was academically intensive,” Garretson says. “Like typical college students, the Osgood students went to class, used the library and participated in other campus activities. Unlike other students, the place where they lived – the yurts – became an integral part of the semester’s curriculum.” The students’ main assignment for the three-credit class, held not in a classroom but at the yurts, was to construct their living environment. At the beginning of the semester, they built platforms for the yurts and pieced them together. They tilled and fertilized the soil for a new garden that will be planted in the spring, dug a root cellar for storing food, and built bed frames, tables and chairs. They also conducted research, including a structured planning method known as a SWOT (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats) analysis and a survey. They kept journals and contributed to a blog as part of the curriculum, as well. “The ultimate goal is sustainability,” Garretson says. “This whole project really started with the idea of having a homestead.” Homesteaders adopt a live-simply ethos that incorporates a range of do-it-yourself activities: Many in the movement grow their own food, raise their own livestock and participate in a range of other activities geared to self-sufficiency and sustainability. It’s 14

Sequel | Winter 2016

a movement that has picked up steam in the 21st century, and it is becoming increasingly mainstream. Every fall for the past four years, the Paul Smith’s College VIC has held a homesteading festival at which participants can learn the skills necessary to live off the land. (See page 10 for an excerpt from Prof. Brett McLeod’s new book on homesteading.) “This semester gave the students a chance to reflect on our society’s lifestyle and consumption choices,” Garretson says. “These seven students were already conscious of these issues coming in. Being exposed to this has encouraged many of them to continue this way of life.” Hanna Cromie, a senior majoring in integrative studies, has already set her mind on buying her own yurt after she graduates. “You can purchase

a really nice one for less than $14,000,” she says. “I would also love to set up my own solar panels to generate electricity and even dig my own well. My goal is to leave no footprint.” The Osgood Pond yurts came from a Canadian company, Groovy Yurts, and cost $10,000 apiece; longtime college supporters Charlie and Betsy Morgan contributed $15,000, making the project possible. The abodes were delivered unassembled; it took the students a weekend to put them up. The yurts, essentially canvas walls stretched over wooden frames, were erected in an open field owned by the college that’s typically used by classes to stage logging operations and practice plowing with draft horses. Each hut had a brightly painted door, handcrafted and painted by Mongolian families. Garretson

also strung up prayer flags that she and Johnstone got while on a visit to Nepal. Cromie, who grew up in the Adirondacks, has always been comfortable outdoors, so spending a semester in a yurt that’s 22 feet across wasn’t a huge leap. And while the concept of homesteading appealed to her before the semester started, taking part in it crystallized her unease with a more traditional 21st-century lifestyle. “This semester has helped me decide that we don’t need as much stuff as we have,” says Hyla Howe, a sophomore majoring in biology at Paul Smith’s. The urge to shed unnecessary possessions is creeping into the popular consciousness. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” a book about jettisoning possessions by a Japanese organizational

‘‘

I came here with a mountain of stuff mounted on my car, and now I realize that I don’t need all that.

‘‘

– DOMINIC RICKICKI

SENIOR, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

expert, has spent more than a year on the New York Times Bestseller List. Howe recommends others give simplicity a shot. “Even those who don’t decide to make a lifestyle out of it would take away a few values,” she says. “Maybe you would decide to bike to work instead of driving. You might even influence others. People who see us living like this think more about what they can do to help the planet, even if it’s not this directly.” Given a taste of the simple life, Howe, too, is ready to adopt it permanently: When she graduates, she wants to travel and live out of a backpack for a while. Then she plans to return to the Adirondacks and buy a small house where she can live a lot like this. “I wanted to know

what it was like, and it really grew on me,” she says. “Now, I don’t want to go back. This feels better; there’s lots of time to reflect with the TVs, phones and computers out of the way. There’s time to think.” Even on a small campus like Paul Smith’s, the calm at Osgood was noticeable. “It’s so quiet here compared to dorms,” says Rickicki, an experienced outdoorsman who grew up hunting, fishing and raising rabbits. “On most mornings, I wake up and make coffee by the lake and commute by bike to campus or work, which is about a half hour away. It’s a great way to start the day. I’ve come to embrace the lifestyle. I came here with a mountain of stuff mounted on my car, and now I realize that I don’t need all that.”

Garretson isn’t surprised the semester inspired students to consider changes; students today are already conditioned to think sustainably. “They’re more environmentally conscious than previous generations,” she says, “and they’re more inclined to live simply.” Not that it was easy. “They struggled with finding a balance between classes, their jobs and their responsibilities here,” she says. “The workloads were tough. These students are tutors and rock climbing guides; they are busy people.” Once it wrapped up, though, the rough edges became a badge of honor. “We built a community together,” Cromie says. “It wasn’t always easy to live in yurt with three other girls. At the end of the day, it was a bonding experience, though. And Andy and Bethany were amazing instructors. Just learning to build the yurts and the platforms that they sat on has been great. There were actually life lessons along the way, too. They taught us to see a process from start to finish, to fend for

ourselves and to do things that we wouldn’t have to otherwise. You don’t think about things as deeply until you take some steps. That can give you a whole new perspective.” That was precisely Garretson’s goal for the semester. “We wanted them to think,” she says. “We wanted them to get out of their comfort zone, to explore and to be in nature more. We wanted them to live differently.” Overall, she says all seven students benefited from the experience. “They’re more connected, and they appreciate the small things in life now,” she says. “They appreciate the sun more; they complain less about the weather because they’ve learned to live with it. They talk of stars and what they see when they’re walking. When the weather gets nice, it feels like your birthday.” S

» F or more information on the

Osgood Pond Semester and its participants, visit the Yurts & Dirt blog at http://sites. paulsmiths.edu/osgood Sequel | Winter 2016

[ SPACES] 2

DILLON’S MILL FOR

years, the sawmill at Paul Smith’s has given students an education in the production side of the forestry business. After a $200,000 upgrade, it was rechristened as Dillon’s Mill in 2013 after John Dillon ’58, former chairman and CEO of International Paper. Here, forestry major Emily DeYoung is joined by Prof. Joe Orefice, who teaches sawmill operation in the Wood Properties and Production Process class. PHOTO BY KENNETH AARON

3 4 1

Sequel | Winter 2016

1 DeYoung, who is concentrating in ecological forest management, operates the sawmill’s main control box. From here, she can change the thickness of each board coming off the mill and lift the hooks that hold the log, known as dogs. Handles on the left and right of the control box control the hydraulics on the carriage, which advance the log through the mill. 2

A glance at this dial shows how much log remains to be sawed. It measures the distance from the back of the sawblade to the carriage and helps the operator plan future cuts to avoid wasting wood.

3 The 52-inch sawblade, seen spinning, isn’t something you pick up at a hardware store. The steel disc has 48 teeth and costs about $2,000.

4 This isn’t the finest specimen of black cherry, but that’s the point. Students in the timber harvesting course harvested the log on Paul Smith’s land. The log, riddled with rot, helps students understand how decay travels in wood. The few sound boards obtained from this log will be dried and used in campus projects. 5 The carriage holds the log and brings it through the blade. (Typically, logs are debarked before being placed on the carriage, but Dillon’s Mill doesn’t have a de-barker.) The carriage is controlled from the extra-large operator’s booth, which is specially designed to accommodate not just an operator but an instructor. The booth is surrounded with shatterproof acrylic glass, protecting everybody inside from flying splinters and other hazards.

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ FEATURE]

Bring It Home ALUMS, OTHERS RALLY AROUND FUNDRAISING EFFORTS BY KENNETH AARON

Sequel | Winter 2016

en Root ’05 is more familiar than most Paul Smith’s alums with the increasingly complex economics of keeping a college financially strong. Root worked in the college’s advancement office for about two years before and after she graduated. Now, she’s director of development for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. So she has firsthand knowledge of the critical importance of alumni giving. But even she admits – sheepishly – that she hadn’t kept up with her own. She had moved, twice, first to Kansas and then to Idaho. She and her husband, Will Root ’04, had a son, Grayson, almost 4. Sometimes, life gets in the way. It happens. But when she heard last summer of the college’s persistent need to raise money, Root saw her chance to reconnect. She contacted Heather

Tuttle ’99, the college’s alumni relations coordinator, to see how she could reach out to other alums. She contacted old friends through social media and vowed to do more. And she gave. “I think it was one of those situations where everyone really needed to put their money where their mouth was,” says Root. “There was so much momentum there. This enthusiasm is at an all-time high, and we need to move on that because we love the college.” The momentum picked up after a state judge rejected a $20 million naming gift that would have put longtime benefactor Joan Weill’s name alongside that of Paul Smith. But while that gift has not been realized, what was left was a sense that the campus community’s participation was needed to help the college move forward. That’s one of the reasons an anonymous donor stepped forward with a $5 million matching gift last fall, says F. Raymond Agnew, Paul Smith’s vice president for college advancement. Homecoming was on the horizon and members of the college’s Board of Trustees and Alumni Board of Directors were having meetings. “There was some palpable energy from alumni that our donors wanted to capitalize on,” he says.

The gift, the Coming Home Challenge, is structured to provide a $1 million matching gift over each year of its five-year term. The first phase of the gift, which ended on Dec. 31, had some extra sweeteners: Gifts from alumni were matched at a 2-to-1 ratio, while gifts from college employees and current students were matched at a 5-to-1 and 10-to-1 ratio, respectively. It worked. “The donors were absolutely right,” Agnew says. “It energized the community. We raised $556,000 between October 1 and the end of the calendar year. And we went from 6 percent alumni participation to 10 percent thanks to people stepping up. Now our goal is it needs to stay at that and continue to grow. ” As a result, the donors gave the first $1 million installment. And to recognize the wellspring of enthusiasm that was tapped, college trustees established their own matching grant, pledging to match every dollar donated by June 30, up to $300,000. “One of the most amazing things that happened was that people wanted to get involved,” Tuttle says. “Over the last seven or eight months, people opened their wallets. Or they said, ‘Please come here and have a town hall meeting. Help me understand how we can be more productive in helping current students, hiring

them, coming in and doing talks.’ I think it helped energize our class reps.” Well over 100 alumni have stepped forward to offer their time. And the college’s admissions office has developed a new program, the Compass Club, to put the institution’s most compelling messengers – successful alumni – in front of prospective students (see page 26). Moose Jones ’00 lives in Saranac Lake and visited campus often. “I would always go on campus and see people. But I wasn’t as involved as I probably could have been. You know, there’s always going to be the people who say they don’t have the time. But if it’s important enough, you have to make the time,” he says. In addition to making a monthly donation via automatic withdrawal (“it’s not hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it’s what I can do until I get another raise”), he joined the Alumni Council, started a Facebook page (Alumni & Friends To Support The Future of Paul Smith’s, now at nearly 1,200 members) and even collaborated with the owner of the Blue Line Brewery in Saranac Lake to develop a new beer, Leaning Pine IPA, the proceeds of which go to a scholarship fund. (Another alum, Andrew Quinn, named the beer.) Increasing scholarship aid is one of dozens of steps that are part of the college’s new strategic plan, which was developed over the past several months in collaboration with administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and others. The plan focuses, roughly, on three areas: Providing inspired learning; expanding enrollment; and strengthening the institution’s financial footing, infrastructure and community.

RIGHT: This infographic details some of the record-setting results of the Coming Home Challenge, in which an anonymous donor pledged to match up to $5 million in gifts. The first phase of the campaign ended in November and raised more than $1.5 million.

[ continued on page 24 ]

COURTESY McKINLEY GRIFFEN

Sequel | Winter 2016

Over abarrel

JUSTIN KENNICK ’78 Age: 64 Now living in: Northampton, Mass. Hometown: Amherst, Mass. Family: Wife, Margaret Bruchac Education: Paul Smith’s College, A.A.S.-Forestry Last book read: “Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West,” Stephen E. Ambrose Hobbies: Historical re-enacting; sailing a 20-foot dory with friends What I’d miss most living in the 19th century – and what I’d miss least: The most: car and television. The least: traffic jams. Justin Kennick ’78 seated at a shaving horse in the cooperage at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.

Sequel | Winter 2016

[Q & A] INTERVIEW BY KENNETH AARON

fter Justin Kennick ’78 left the Navy, he joined the army – the Continental Army, that is, as a Revolutionary War re-enactor. There aren’t a lot of gigs as professional Redcoats, though, so Kennick held down a logging career until he began working part-time at Old Sturbridge Village, a 19th-century living-history museum in Massachusetts. He finally hung up his chainsaw in 2009, when he started working there full-time as its head cooper. How did you get into barrel-making? They start all the guides off on the farm. They size you up and see what you’re interested in and where they need you. One day, I saw a big husky guy out there splitting a log with a froe [an axe-like tool]. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked. ‘Splitting wood,’ he said. ‘What for?’ I asked. He said, ‘Coopering.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ And that was the first job I trained for. Why does it appeal to you? I really like working with my hands and my body. I’m definitely not the kind of person to sit around in a chair and do office stuff. Coopering is both physical and technical. But the technical part had nothing to do with numbers. It had to do with using your eye to literally size up a piece of wood and say, ‘This is going to be part of a bucket or a tub,’ and make it all fit. It’s a big wooden puzzle. How long did it take to become a cooper? I would say the learning of it – the basic techniques of the woodworking part – came very quickly. What took a little more time was how to fit it all in with the 19th century. How did coopering fit in with these people’s lifestyles, and these peoples lives? It took a few months to have an intelligent conversation and not be nervous if a fellow cooper came in. You’re always thinking, ‘This guy knows so much more than I do.’ What do you mean, ‘fellow cooperers’? How many are out there? At the museum, you meet cooperers from all over the world. I’ve met people from England and Scotland and Italy. That man didn’t know any English at all and didn’t say anything PHOTOGRAPH BY KENNETH AARON

to me, but he came in and knew exactly what he was looking at. It was really quite fascinating. His daughter came in and said, “He’s a cooper.” I said, “I know.” She looked at me like I had three heads. “How did you know?” she asked. I know. We can make a barrel with a 3-D printer now. How do you get visitors to relate to what you’re doing? I think it’s very important to step back and look at how our ancestors carried on their daily lives and survived. And while coopering isn’t world politics, it has a bearing on everyday lives. My re-enacting taught me one really important fact: The Revolutionary War wasn’t won by generals. It was won by ordinary people. And the ordinary people who made America America used coopered containers in their everyday life. And in a strange way it all ties in together. People come into the cooper’s shop, and you’ll sort of see they’re not really interested in what’s going on. So I’ll say, “How do you do things on your farm?” And most of the people don’t do farming, and I know that. But it gets them thinking: How would I do things? How would I survive in the 18th or 19th century? Then I say – everyone did farming. Ninety percent of the population of this country and the world farmed. People knew where their food was coming from because they were growing it. It was the everyday lives of everyday people. All they did was farming, but everyone contributed to the common good. Do you think people are looking for a connection like that? I think we sometimes lose track of where our food comes from. We pick up an apple in the store and it has a

little plastic label on it. Who picked it, where does it come from, how does it get to the store shelf? All of us have some sense of – what can I make? Everybody from cooks to auto mechanics and coopers and farmers, they’re all thinking: How do I fit in? What can I make to either enrich or better my life, or my neighbors’, or somebody on the other side of the world? But then people go out and buy disposable stuff at big-box stores. I think people have acclimated to this modern lifestyle and they probably look at this handmade craft as this really odd thing that a few odd people still do. And it doesn’t really fit into their lives. They don’t see it on TV, they don’t see it in the movies and it doesn’t really fit into their modern lives. I tell people, “This wooden container that holds water may look kind of primitive, and it may take 3 months to make, but it can be repaired.” If it weren’t for the Industrial Revolution, we’d still be an agrarian society – so we’ve got that going for us. But have we lost something in that bargain? We don’t make things with our hands any more. The people who do are getting fewer and fewer as the industrialization marches on. And so what’s been lost is this idea that you can use your mind and your hands and your imagination and you can make something tangible, something you can use in your everyday life. My life is very modern. But I get to step out of that and go to another place that I really enjoy. In another time. I like educating people – I like seeing the lightbulb go off. It’s this wonderful little a-ha moment where people get what I’m talking about. S

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ OUR ADIRONDACKS ]

FISH TALE, SOLVED F

ishery experts and New York State conservation officials have long considered yellow perch to be a nuisance species – an invader, like kudzu, that starves out native fish such as brook trout and competes with them for spawning sites. As a result, they’ve put the fish on their most-wanted list, relying on controversial methods to eradicate it.

But Sean Regalado, a 2014 graduate who works for the Adirondack Watershed Institute, hatched an idea that could change the way we manage the species in the Adirondack Park. He got the idea in 2013, while in Prof. Curt Stager’s Paleoecology class. The class had been discussing Black Pond in Jefferson County, N.Y., where a drop in water quality during the 1950s had been blamed on yellow perch by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. At the time, the agency had recently classified the fish as an invader and began using a chemical known as rotenone to rid lakes of it. Regalado wondered whether DNA could show how long the fish had been there. “I had been reading about scientists who were extracting DNA from soil and using it to identify the plant life that had grown there thousands of years ago,” says Regalado. “So I thought we might be able to do something similar with fish. It turns out that I was right.” He pitched his plan to Stager, who was already skeptical that the fish was truly invasive. “I thought it might have come in a few years or decades earlier, but neither I nor the DEC had direct records from the lake itself that could answer the question,” Stager says. Regalado suggested that they take a soil sample from a lake and examine it for DNA to find out. They took a sample from Lower St. Regis Lake, right off campus, as it is connected by stream to Black Pond and likely shares the same species. The soil cores, about two feet long and the diameter of a can of soda, can be analyzed by scientists to give a snapshot of thousands of years of geologic, biologic and climactic history. Stager and Regalado expected yellow 22

Sequel | Winter 2016

perch DNA to show up in only the upper layers of the cores, which are closest to modern times. When it showed up much deeper, going back more than 2,000 years, they knew they had made an important discovery: The long-maligned yellow perch are as native to the Adirondack uplands as brook trout. Regalado joined Stager, and Profs. Lee Ann Sporn and Melanie Johnson in publishing their findings in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. Their high-tech sleuthing even led to a page-one story in the Wall Street Journal last summer.

“We now know that yellow perch are as native to the Adirondack uplands as brook trout,” Stager says. “What we want to know next is why they’ve become so much more numerous than before.” Stager believes that these same methods could be used to verify the native or invasive status of other species such as lampreys or Atlantic salmon in North Country lakes. “You could also use ancient DNA to study the evolution of native fish strains or to see if fish once lived in lakes that were recently sterilized by acid rain,” Stager says. “The sky’s the limit.” For its part, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation says it’s less concerned about whether perch are native than the impact perch are having on brook trout habitats. By any argument, the trout are in decline: Once found in 94 percent of the 19,000 acres of water in the Saranac Lake

Wild Forest, they’re now just in 3 percent. While the ultimate impact of the yellow perch research is still up in the air, Paul Smith’s is establishing itself as a place where faculty and students are accomplishing interesting watershed research. Over the past year, undergraduates published three research papers in academic journals: in addition to the paper in PLOS ONE, Regalado was also lead author of a study on the impacts of road salt on the environment published last year by Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, an international scholarly journal. And Nathan Piché ’15 published a paper last year on soil recovery rates in the journal of Restoration Ecology. Most students don’t begin publishing until graduate school. So how did two undergraduate students manage to publish three times in the same year? “First of all, you don’t have to go very far to do these studies,” says Regalado, who maintains that Paul Smith’s is uniquely positioned to help other undergraduate students who want to make an impact. “We have the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park right in our backyard, so that helps. It also helps that the student-tofaculty ratio is so good here and that we have professors who are so active in their field and willing to bring students in to do the work.” Regalado attended a community college in Southern California before he came to Paul Smith’s, and though there were research opportunities for students, they were few and far between, he says. “I attended an hour-long seminar about undergrad research,” he says. “There were two opportunities for a summer job. I was in a hall with 400 people, and they went to several other community colleges to advertise the jobs too, so I didn’t even try. That’s not the case at Paul Smith’s. There are fewer people here and more professors who need help doing the work. All I had to do was show my value and show them that I could help.” – BOB BENNETT

Sean Regalado â&#x20AC;&#x2122;14 stands inside a lab at the Countess Alicia SpauldingPaolozzi Environmental Science and Education Center. He was part of a team that determined yellow perch (opposite page) are native to the Adirondacks.

PHOTO BY KENNETH AARON

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ FEATURE]

Bring It Home [ continued from page 19 ]

(Look for a more in-depth article on the plan in a future issue of Sequel.) “We’ve identified $30-plus million of the things we should work on,” says Agnew. The strategic plan identifies a broad range of initiatives. Some are new ventures, such as an entrepreneurship center that could help students apply business management skills, launch their own enterprises and even help other businesses in the region. Other steps would strengthen things that already exist, such as renovations to Freer Hall, which was built in the 1970s and has outmoded chemistry and biology labs. The culinary labs in the 1960s-era Cantwell Hall are also due for an update. Other programs would broaden the college’s reach to more than just college students – plans are afoot to start more programs on campus during the summer and reach out to industry interests to do more workforce training. “I think people absolutely took Paul Smith’s [financial wherewithal] for granted,” Root says. “You know, I don’t think people had a clue because they say, ‘OK, tuition is a lot of money, and so they’re getting all this money from current students.” Jones, too, says that many of the alums and others he speaks with have a “misperception of the economics” of running a college – that simply multiplying the

number of students by the tuition doesn’t give an accurate gauge of how much money the college has available to budget. For starters, the vast majority of students – not only at Paul Smith’s, but other institutions – don’t pay the full tuition; the amount they pay is discounted to reflect scholarships they receive because of solid academic performance, and other grants they get to help ease their financial burden. Some of these scholarships and grants are extended by outside groups or the federal government; others, though, are paid for by Paul Smith’s directly. And while the college’s endowment is about $25 million – an amount that sounds sizable, but in the world of higher education is below what’s expected for institutions of similar size. “I think people got educated really quickly what an endowment really means,” Tuttle says. It’s not a checkbook – much of the money in the fund is earmarked for certain items. And only a small portion, typically 5 percent, can be withdrawn every year. The strategic plan is a way of confronting the financial pressures the institution faces. For Jones, the conversations he’s had over the past several months have been enlightening. And he credits administrators with getting answers to the questions that he has.

For many in the campus community, there’s a sense that there’s a silver lining to the difficult times of the past eight months. Alumni are more energized than ever; Tuttle says many are asking, “Why did we stop getting together?” She pointed to a new group of alumni in the Buffalo area who have started meeting regularly. And even though Reunion registration doesn’t open until May, the leantos at the Alumni Campground for that weekend were booked by mid-February – earlier than usual. “Instead of the college talking all the time, we’re talking to each other,” Tuttle says. And when people talk, they’re more aware than ever of what’s at stake. “This is the best way you can make sure that Paul Smith’s College is going to continue helping future generations – so one day you can send your kids there, or your grandkids there, and that the things that were important to you as a student get passed on,” Root says. “Without individual donors it does not happen. If you want to make sure the legacy of Paul Smith’s continues, you have to step up and give. The smallest amount truly does help.” S » T o give to the Coming Home Challenge, visit https://ecommunity.paulsmiths.edu/ pages/online-giving/coming-home

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Sequel | Winter 2016

[ ALUMNI LIFE]

[

2016

Alumni Events

]

CALENDAR MARCH

Vero Beach, Fla., Alumni Reception Saturday, March 5 Cobalt

Clearwater, Fla., Alumni Reception Tuesday, March 8

. Linda and Dave Eaton ’61 at last year’s alumni Clam Bake,

Sugar Bush Breakfast Saturday, April 16

JULY

Sheraton Sand Key

Paul Smith’s College Sugar Bush

Rochester Admissions/ Alumni Reception Monday, March 14

Alumni Association Special Meeting* Saturday, April 16, 12:30 p.m.

Location TBA

Buffalo Admissions/ Alumni Reception Tuesday, March 15 Location TBA

Pancake Breakfast Saturday, March 19 Bob’s Trees, Galway, N.Y.

Career Fair Thursday, March 31 Campus APRIL

Boomerang! Thursday, April 7 Campus

KATHLEEN KECK

which they hosted; this summer’s will be held on Sunday, Aug. 21.

Freer Auditorium

* A Special Meeting of the Alumni Association members has been called to consider and vote on the suggested change to the by-laws. Change note: Article I Section I (Groups) Paragraph A. Sentence to be added stating: “All Board members must serve as a Council member prior to becoming eligible to serve on the Board of Directors.”

Alumni Board Meetings Saturday-Sunday, April 16-17

Reunion 2016 Friday-Sunday, July 22-24 Campus

Alumni Board Meetings Saturday-Sunday, July 23-24 Campus AUGUST

Woodsmen’s Field Days Friday-Sunday, Aug. 19-21 Boonville, N.Y.

Campus

Clam Bake Sunday, Aug. 21

MAY

Bob’s Trees, Hagaman, N.Y.

Commencement Saturday, May 7

OCTOBER

Campus

Alumni Board Meetings Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 15-16

JUNE

Campus

Alumni Board Meetings Saturday-Sunday, June 4-5

Career Fair Thursday, Oct. 20

Campus

? Guests at

the annual Sugar Bush Breakfast line up for syrup...and pancakes.

Office of Alumni Relations Phone: (518) 327-6253 Email: alumni@paulsmiths.edu KATHLEEN KECK

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ ALUMNI LIFE / CLASS NOTES ] LETTER FROM THE ALUMNI RELATIONS COORDINATOR

ou don’t need a Paul Smith’s degree to know that we’ve got something special here. Or to tell prospective students about the amazing people and experiences that await them if they decide to come, too. But it doesn’t hurt. After all, who better to relate the difference a Paul Smith’s education can make than somebody who earned one? (And as I write this – with the temperature pushing 30 below – if you studied here, you earned it.) Since last summer, wherever I go, I run into alumni who ask me how they can help the college thrive. It’s easy to say “Give!” – and so many of you have done just that, contributing to our Coming Home Challenge and nearly doubling our rate of alumni giving. And we are all so thankful for your generosity. But we could use something else, too. You.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS David O'Brien ’63, President B. Randy Sadlon ’80, Vice President Norman Fedder ’69, Secretary Andrea Urmston ’89, Treasurer Alyson Bennett ’81 William Burns ’49 Christopher Diedrich ’84 Charles Dyke ’61 David Eaton ’61 Kathleen Gowen ’86 L. Jimmy Hadjis ’58 James Hodock ’74 Cory Hoffman ’09 Richard Lewis ’63 John Maille ’82 F. Joseph McCranels ’54 Kurt Mullick ’69 Frederick Oberst ’63 Daniel Richards ’89 John Stephens ’87 Melissa Uhlik ’76

Sequel | Winter 2016

Maybe you’re willing to volunteer at a college fair. Perhaps you’d like to organize a reception for prospective students. Or maybe you’d be more comfortable sending a letter or email. So help us point some new students in the right direction! You don’t have to serve a certain number of hours or do anything in particular to join the Compass Club. What we want is you – whenever you’re able. Some of my favorite people are Paul Smith’s alums. Help us make more of them! One of the biggest challenges we have is to increase our enrollment. We’re a small college, and that’s not going to change. But it’s critical that we do what we can to build our student population. Our admissions team does an amazing job getting out across the Northeast and beyond to

50s

Lorraine “Polly” Giangreco ’48 writes that / Howard “Pete” Elder ’49 was the cheerleader and

the motivator for the alumni of classes ’48 and ’49. Having the longest trip from home (Arizona) to Paul’s did not interfere with his attending almost all of our reunions until age and infirmities interfered. In between, he and I kept up regular but intermittent letters whenever we had something important to say about things like current popular music, new movies, or the shenanigans in Washington. He always made me

share our story with prospective students. But they would love some backup. Some voices of experience who can vouch for Paul Smith’s. That’s why we came up with the Compass Club – a new initiative in which our alums, successful in so many walks of life, can share their own stories with high schoolers.

laugh! I miss him terribly. Ed Kimball ’51 writes that he is

still kickin’, pushing 90 years young, and has two cancers in remission. His main pursuits are fly fishing the McKenzie River (on the wet side of the Cascades) and singing around town on all his errand runs with up to 300 lyrics from Irish Broadway, bar rooms, and Sinatra with no sign of Alzheimers. His wife (courted at PSC) is laid up with a replaced hip so he is the one who is out and about! He says that he needs to stick around for her needs and will be working out, hitting the Jacuzzi, walking, and watching the martinis. His reverence at this stage of life includes his PSC experience, a career with Georgia-Pacific Corp. and the real estate business. He still holds a great love for the great outdoors, particularly the Pacific Northwest. Jacqueline St. John ’54 writes

that she recently donated her 1990

Sincerely,

Heather Tuttle ’99 Alumni Relations Coordinator » R eady to participate in Compass Club? Visit https://paulsmiths. tfaforms.net/217727

and 1991 Russian stamps to the Leon Myers Stamp Center in Boys Town, Neb. She also donated her Lenin coin, commemorative Disney stamps and Eastern European philatelic materials to the Leon Myers Stamp Center as well. Donald R. McGuirk ’55 wrote

that his wife passed away on May 14, 2015.

Jim Lord ’55 writes that he has

been retired from his New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger position since 1991 and is pursuing his hobby of woodworking. James Hathaway ’56 is happy to report that he retired from the U.S. Forest Service, for whom he worked in Missouri’s Region One. He has been married to his wife, Carolyn, for 52 years and has three sons – a civil engineer, a Catholic priest and a production manager for Nike, respectively.

We want to hear from you! Email class notes to alumni@paulsmiths.edu, send to PSC Alumni Office, P.O. Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970, or fax to (518) 327-6267. (Pics welcome!) Richard Gilbert ’57 wishes his classmates

well. He remembers a professor he had at North Carolina State University who told him “Go west, young man”; these words are still sound advice for him. He had some memorable years at Paul Smith’s. Charles English ’59 says he is still living

in Taftsville, Vt., and spending the winters in Stuart, Fla.

60s

Bill Botti ’62 writes that he has stayed in

Michigan since graduating from Michigan Tech in 1964. He spent 32 years working for the state and took an early retirement in 1997. He has been serving as the executive director for the Michigan Forest Association for 10 years but plans to retire from that this winter. Bill plans on retiring to the Christmas tree farm and doing some forestry consulting as long as he is able. Floyd K. Hopper ’62 retired in 1999

after 32 years in education.

Richard Russell ’62 recalls being on

campus the morning of the hotel fire. He was in the old Cooler dorm when he heard the explosion. He ran over to the hotel and helped Dr. Buxton get as much as he could save out of his office. There were quite a few papers floating in the air, so after they could not do any more, they got out and watched the fire. He says it was a terrible loss. David Pawling Smith ’63 writes that he

is working part-time as a school bus driver. John M. Gillen ’64 moved to New

Providence, Pa., in August 2014.

John Glenn ’65 writes that he is celebrating

10 years of retirement as the academic dean for Allegheny County Community College in Pittsburgh, Pa. He enjoys living in the Del Webb community in Summerfield, Fla., and also enjoys traveling to see his grandchildren in Memphis, Tenn., and Buffalo. He is active with his church community, his homeowners’ association board of directors, golf and many other activities in his community.

Before he passed on Dec. 7, 2015, Thomas “Tom” J. Neff ’65 sent in a note. After earning a pre-pro forestry degree, he continued his education and received his master’s in forestry from the University of New Hampshire. During his career, he was county forester, taught at UNH and retired in Peterborough, N.H., after a running a successful consulting business. Regarding the 24/7 days he devoted to his consulting practice, Neff wrote, “Monday through Friday forestry is my profession, on Saturday my hobby, and Sunday, my religion.” After permanently protecting a significant parcel of Peterborough forest land, he added, “And now, my legacy.”

Trail markers BIRTHS To Mary Elizabeth (McLean ’02) and Michael Latona ’01, a son, Mac Apollos, on Aug. 5, 2015. To Ruth (Blakeslee ’07) and Skyler Schmidt, a son, Skyler Steven, on Dec. 17, 2015. / To Teri (McMullen) Richolson ’07 and Brad Richolson ’08 a son, Aaron Andrew,

on Dec. 18, 2014.

Joan Karley Thompson ’66 says she

To Meghan (Jackson ’04) and Christopher Reuther ’04, a daughter, Adi-Ann Catherine, on Sept. 4, 2015.

Michael A. Rechlin ’66 writes: This

To Lydia (Johnson ’07) and Andrew Huntress, a son, Lemuel Lloyd, on Oct. 15, 2015. Welcomed home by big brothers Lincoln (5) and Lewis (3).

moved from New York last year to The Villages, Fla., and is enjoying a very active retirement. She urges her fellow classmates of 1966 to come and visit. year marks the 40th anniversary of the first graduating class of EETers at Paul Smith’s College. To mark the event, we are carving out space at the Alumni Reunion for a gathering of the tribe. We plan on arranging for a tour of the Adirondack Watershed Institute, an outgrowth of the lake research begun by the EET program. There will be fun as well, like pipetting competitions and wader races in the lake. So mark your calendar with the date (Friday-Sunday, July 22-24). You’ll be hearing more form us as the time approaches. And don’t be late now, “Ma Flath” will be taking attendance.

To Brittney (Ravenscraft ’08) and David Pittman ’08, a daughter, Daisy Jane, born on Oct. 15, 2015. To Christine Blakeslee ’12 and Steve Bolton, a son, Luca Patrick Bolton, on Nov. 28, 2015.

MARRIAGES Karla Van Leaven ’04 to Tony Gallina on

Sept. 24, 2015.

Ann Ritzel ’05 to Danielle Jacobs on

Oct. 11, 2014.

Matthew Keberling ’07 to Joe Brock on

Oct. 17, 2015.

Anna Mae (Hunt ’07) to Carina Petokas

McNally on Sept. 4, 2014.

Crystal (Pannebaker ’07) to James

Knight on Oct. 3, 2015.

> Kleigh (Orzolek ’10) to Zachariah Brown ’09 on Sept. 12, 2015. Amber (Cox ’11) and Seth Albee ’09

on Sept. 14, 2013.

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ CLASS NOTES ]

Trail markers MARRIAGES

greetings to all! Doug just turned 77 years old and is still enjoying nature, birding and photography. He wishes peace and happiness to all.

Nicole (Thompson ’11) to Robert Culyer ’14 on Sept. 18, 2015.

Frank B. Lesniewski ’66 writes that he

Heather (Knox ’13) to Jeffery Lyons ’13 on Oct. 17, 2015.

DEATHS Henry W. Parnass (former trustee) on July 21, 2015, in Saranac Lake. William B. Hale (trustee emeritus) on Aug. 20, 2015, in Saranac Lake. Eleanor R. Leavitt (former employee) on Aug. 13, 2015, in Gabriels, N.Y. Marvin Rosenstein ’48 on Jan. 1, 2015. Owen E. Murphy ’48 on Sept. 26, 2012, in Franklin, Tenn. Frederic I. Rowe Jr. ’49 on Jan. 14, 2014, in Freehold Township, N.J.

is still stuck being alive even after all those extended cocktail hours he had at Smitties and a quad bypass in June 2014. He is in the same log cabin a couple miles from Wells, N.Y., living in the woods, a life of “One Man’s Wilderness.” He notes that he actually met the guy who authored that book during a visit to Twin Lakes, Alaska, in 2000! Hands down, the two best years of his life were at Smitties. No other eras of his life compare – hell raising, hunting and fishing, meeting friends for life, and a quality education to boot! Reed Adams ’68 and his wife Pat (Orr ’68) are happily enjoying retirement and are out fishing and hunting with Bill Achet ’68. He says that 2016 will bring 50 years

of great friendship through PSC with Bill and, of course, Royen Cachouh ’68.

but he is loving it! Eric J. Hill ’70 is mostly retired but still does

electroneurodiagnostic testing. His newest interest is biking, and he typically bikes over 100 miles each week. He has two grandchildren. David F. Gunderson ’72 writes that he

retired from Boise Cascade in August. He plans to work in the woods part time. He and his wife plan to spend summers in the state of Wyoming, where their daughter and son-in-law live and work. He is still active with the Society of American Foresters and the Forest History Society as a volunteer. They attended the 2014 Reunion and enjoyed it immensely. Warren Phillips ’73 says he is living in

Ringwood, N.J., and is employed as a quality engineer at a medical service company. He remembers the good times at Lambert house with his roommates Bob and Dan. Richard Henry ’74 writes that he is

Blair M. Steele Jr. ’50 on Aug. 14, 2015, in Guilderland, N.Y.

on his healthy cooking book. He sends best wishes to all.

Donald R. Cowles ’51 on June 1, 2015, in Littleton, N.H.

70s

working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an environmental toxicologist who looks at the ecological impacts of contaminants on non-human receptors (i.e., bugs and bunnies). His projects range from mining sites in Alaska to former military training ranges in the Caribbean. He would love to hear from any of the Currier dorm and the Airport Trailer Park folks.

busier in retirement than he was working,

Kevin Glanz ’74 retired from the Forest

Henry S. Eighmey ’49 on July 29, 2015, in Ithaca, N.Y.

Douglas P Blakelock ’51 on July 28, 2015, in Hillsborough, N.C. John S. Russo ’51 on April 14, 2014, in Boynton Beach, Fla. Bruce A. McCaffrey ’52 on Aug. 3, 2015, in Fort Covington, N.Y. Theodore D. Potter Sr. ’53 on Aug. 5, 2015, in Allegany, N.Y. J. Bruce Dudley ’54 on Oct. 30, 2015, in Camden, Del. Gerald H. Sevits ’54 on May 14, 2015, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Alfred N. Anderson ’55 on Aug. 25, 2015, in Candlewood Lake, Conn. George T. Burke ’55 on May 10, 2015, in Saint Petersburg, Fla. Donald E. Gordinier ’57 on March 18, 2011, in Hampstead, N.C. Robert J. Mac Farlane ’59 on July 16, 2015, in Burnt Hills, N.Y. Thomas J. D’Onofrio ’61 on July 16, 2015, in Bolinas, Calif. Noel J. Smith ’61 on November 8, 2015, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Douglas Gillespie ’66 sends holiday

Sequel | Winter 2016

Homer R. Reese Jr. ’68 continues to work

David A. Bates ’70 writes that he is

? Franklin K. (Skip) Whitson ’70 visited PSC for the third time since July 2012. He is still locating Paul Smiths Fire Department history from 1963 through 2015, including newspaper articles about the department or its members, such as Carl “the Prankster” Steffen ’70, who is Tupper Lake’s current fire chief. Frank would like to hear from members of the PSFD, especially those who know the back stories about the department; he says, “Ask Carl about the exploding (jet) fuselage in Old Forge, N.Y., in the fall of 1969.” Frank joined George King III ’68, the first PSFD fire chief; Fran Parish Robinson ’68, who flew in from Hawaii; and Peter Cerf ’69, all charter members of the PSFD, at Arlington National Cemetery on May 8, 2015, where Mark David Kesley ’68 was laid to rest on the 70th Anniversary of V-E day. Kesley was a charter member and assistant fire chief of PSFD. The deadline for photos, etc., for missing PSFD history is April 2016. Items submitted after that date will be added at a later time. Frank’s new phone number is (772) 334-0672, and his email is fkwhitsonpsfd6770@gmail.com.

Trail markers DEATHS Eric J. Erikson ’62 on May 13, 2012, in Natick, Mass. Jon F. Ash ’62 on June 4, 2015, in Houston, Texas. Paul J. Asher ’62 on July 30, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. Donald J. Schramm Jr. ’63 on Sept. 22, 2015, in Throop, N.Y. Charles W. Cole ’64 on Aug. 12, 2015, in Coudersport, Pa.

. Christian Houck ’84 sent in a remembrance of Keith Simmons Myott ’84, who died on Oct. 31, 2014, surrounded by “family, friends and music from the Grateful Dead.” Myott’s love of the outdoors led him to Paul Smith’s, where the Adirondacks were his playground and mentor; here, he “met many like-minded friends who enjoyed weekend outings on the lakes and High Peaks, learning science, and going to Grateful Dead concerts.” After graduating, he studied at SUNY-ESF and Albany College of Pharmacy before moving to Helena, Mont., where “lived the life he had dreamed. Backpacking, fishing, skiing and hunting.” He married Cathy Bakeberg in 1988 and spent 20 years as a pharmacist at the VA Hospital at Fort Harrison before retiring in 2012 because of complications from cystic fibrosis, which he fought his entire life; while he received a lung transplant in September 2014 after waiting 11 months, “it proved not to be the miracle that would extend his life.” He is survived by family and friends who miss him dearly and have fond memories of many good times together. His widow, Cathy, can be reached at myottbakeberg@msn.com.

Service on June 30, 2015, after 37 years of service. He says he is now a contract driver with a pickup truck hauling supplies to fires during the summer. Life is good!

by managing a number of projects for the Historic Hudson-Hoosic Partnership. Old friends are always welcome at his home in Greenwich, N.Y.; call (518) 692-8238.

David W. Gagnon ’74 and his wife,

Frances Rice ’76 writes that she is mar-

Lorna (front desk clerk, 1974), celebrated their 41st anniversary last month. Still going strong after eight children and 11 grandchildren. They have been living in their new, off-the-grid, totally independent, green, underground home for a year. By day he a licensed speech language pathologist and the director of a rehabilitation facility. When he’s not doing that he farms their 187 acres and raises sheep and cattle. Lorna stays busy gardening, canning and also helps on the farm. Life is great in Tennessee. Joe Finan ’75 writes that after 36 years

with the National Park Service he retired from his position as the superintendent of Saratoga National Historical Park on July 3, 2015. He and Mary are enjoying spending time with their grandchildren who are ages 5, 3 and six months old. He has been working on the Finan homestead’s deferred maintenance list and volunteering

ried to Vaughn, who is a real estate broker and a certified general contractor. They live in Brandon, Fla., a suburb of Tampa. She is working as a children’s director at Kings Avenue Baptist Church and is watching her 12th grandchild. She sends shout-outs to her forestry buddies, Bill, Clayton, Melissa, Sue, Patty and the rest of the gang. Steven Durocher ’77 says he retired

after more than 30 years at the Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM) in Miami-Dade County, Florida. He was originally hired as a pollution control inspector in 1980 and retired as an environmental code enforcement officer. He says that some of his cases included the prosecution and restoration of industrial wastes, groundwater contamination, wetlands, coastal resources and many other issues. Steven thanks Paul Smith’s for the start of a productive and satisfying career.

Norman D. Gay ’65 on Dec. 2, 2015, in Sodus, N.Y. Charles F. Gardephe ’65 on Aug. 13, 2015, in Hendersonville, N.C. Robert L. Miller ’65 on Oct. 16, 2015, in Chazy, N.Y. John C. Palmer ’66 on June 24, 2014, in Ilion, N.Y. Richard M. Carl ’67 on Aug. 13, 2015, in Leeds, N.Y. Peter W. Field ’67 on March 13, 2011, in Branchville, N.J. Robert L Griffin ’67 on June 5, 2010, in Rainbow Lake, N.Y. John S. McConnell ’67 on May 29, 2015, in Stockholm, N.J. Ralph B. Metzger ’67 on Aug. 15, 2012, in Philadelphia, Pa. Thomas J. Neff ’67 on Dec. 7, 2015, in Peterborough, N.H. Robert “Doug” Fowler ’68 on July 13, 2015, in Woodbury Heights, N.J. Frank V. Sherwood ’68 on March 29, 2015, in Winchester, Va. Milton J. Langlois Jr. ’68 on Sept. 18, 2015, in Massena, N.Y. David S. Countryman ’68 on Aug. 5, 2015, in Gloversville, N.Y. James R. Samuel ’69 on Nov. 21, 2015, in Wilkes Barre, Pa. Gary M. Garuana ’71 on Feb. 1, 2010, in Rochester, N.Y. Charles N. Colasurdo ’71 on May 25, 2014, in Belchertown, Mass. Charles Lejcek ’72 on April 29, 2015, in Lake Placid, N.Y. Richard “Dick” Ladue ’72 on May 25, 2015, in Tuscon, Ariz.

Sequel | Winter 2016

[ CLASS NOTES ]

Trail markers DEATHS Joseph A. Randi Jr. ’74 on May 7, 2015, in Canton, N.Y. James E. Woodcock ’75 on Dec. 7, 2015, in Morristown, N.Y. Robert E. Meyers ’76 on July 2, 2015, in Attica, N.Y. Allen M. Kimble ’78 on November 10, 2015, in Watertown, Conn. Edward J. McCarthy ’78 on April 28, 2015, in Manchester, N.H. Joseph P. Carney ’78 on June 15, 2015, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Douglas J. Pennington ’80 on July 25, 2013, in Canandaigua, N.Y. David R. Ebel ’81 on Aug. 24, 2015, in Bloomington, Ind. Edward R. McManus ’81 on July 10, 2015, in Schenectady, N.Y. Robert C. Wesolowski ’82 on June 28, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. Mark P. Talbert ’83 on Oct. 19, 2015, in Ithaca, N.Y. Daniel J. Karlok ’83 on Sept. 11, 2015, in Schenectady, N.Y. Michael J. Duh ’84 on Nov. 6, 2015, in Monroe, Conn. Keith Simmons Myott ’84 on Oct. 31, 2014, in Helena, Mont. Bruce W. Mavus ’84 on June 17, 2015, in Cliffside Park, N.J. Ian C. Towse ’93 on Sept. 24, 2015, in Whitman, Mass.

Paul B. McMorris ’78 had his latest

nautical action and adventure novel, “Some Go Beneath the Sea in Ships,” published in August. It’s a tale of dedicated marine environmental activists who acquire a stored German World War II U-boat and use it to confront marine environmental criminals on the high seas. He plans to make it a trilogy. Paul Norton ’78 says he is far from retire-

ment. He is restoring antique trunks, hauling motorcycles from Connecticut to Denver, and giving shows to midland America. He has been picking across the country with an office in his pocket; “what a change during 40 years,” he says. Paul regrets that he missed the NYC get together but hopes to attend the 2016 gathering. Clarence D. Swearengen ’78 writes that

he retired from the U.S. government and is now working part-time at Home Depot in Hendersonville, N.C.

80s

As some of you may know, Mike Duh ’84 passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Nov. 6, 2015. A memorial fund has been established to assist his four children, whom he was raising by himself. Donations may be sent to: Mike Duh Memorial Fund c/o Webster Bank, 495 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe, CT 06468. Call (203) 445-2751 for more information.

90s

William Scannell ’91 says that he has spent

the last 22 years on the road with United Parcel Service. He always looks forward to returning for kayaking at the Alumni Campground.

Renee K. (Shone ’91) Sevor writes that

she married Allan Sevor on August 7, 2015, in a beautiful sunset ceremony on Myrtle Beach. “We now have 3 teenaged boys Max, Sam and Riley. Sam has shown some interest in a culinary education and will be visiting PSC soon!” David Stilson ’97 writes that he is operating

his own business and serves as a local town judge. He is divorced now and raising his son. Simon D. Zimmerman ’98 says that

after working together for 15 years, he is sad to see his good friend, Jeffrey A. Fabian ’98 (forest rec), depart from Heartwood Tree Service in Charlotte, N.C., to start a new career in his hometown of Buffalo. With that, Heartwood will need about ten Smittys to leave New York and come down to Charlotte to replace his position. (Faint of heart need not apply.)

00s

Nick Dolata ’00 is enjoying life with his

wife and two crazy kids out in the wine country of California. He invites friends to come out and visit. Teri (McMullen) Richolson ’07 and Brad Richolson ’08 welcomed Aaron

Andrew on December 18, 2014. He was 8 lbs., 2 oz., and 20 ½” long – perfect and healthy! He’s already been sporting his PSC pride! (See photo on page 27). Paul Wichert ’09 writes that his book,

“Italian Cooking for the American Housewife,” is available on Amazon as an e-book or in paperback. The recipes in this first volume are authentic Italian from the south of Italy. He next plans a translation from the Italian region of Umbria. There are 12 lessons in the book, each featuring a five- or six-course meal. The last of the 12 meals features medieval cooking. Enjoy the food -– ciao.

10s

William “Drake” Pregnall ’14 moved

to Kentucky to complete his master’s degree in wilderness recreation. He was a rock climbing guide in summer 2015, and moved back to the Adirondacks in fall 2015 to be an adjunct professor at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake!

> Players at the annual golf outing held during Reunion at the Saranac Inn Golf and Country Club. This year’s Reunion is July 22-24.

Sequel | Winter 2016

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[ PARTING SHOT ]

Double

Vision In

January, the New York Public Library made more than 180,000 high-resolution images from its vast collection available for download – including several relating to Paul Smith. This stereoscopic image, taken by famed Adirondack photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard, shows a carriage in front of one of the original Paul Smith’s Hotel buildings. (The NYPL’s site even simulates the 3-D effect of the image.) To search for more, visit digitalcollections.nypl.org. »D o you have a Paul Smith’s-related photo, artifact or other item with a story behind it? Share! Drop a line to kaaron@paulsmiths.edu.