 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Site Designed by:
|
Chatham Connections
Chatham Central Alumni Association P.O. Box 208, Chatham, NY 12037 Click Here for the Summer 2011 Newsletter
FALL /WINTER 2008 Newsletter EDITOR: MARGARET SAWYER, CLASS OF 1966
Click Here for a Printable Version
Dear Classmates and Members:
As we begin a new year, I want to thank you. You have chosen to enjoy our Association’s newsletter, and/or participated in our myriad activities during the year, and/or supported our worthwhile fundraising with membership dues and other contributions. We have had a successful year, and hopefully our Association will become bigger, better, and more integrated with members, the community, and the schools in 2009. Please let us know if you have ideas that should be addressed by the Directors.
We want to introduce all of you to “a very close cousin” and hopefully long-term partner in our pursuit of “giving back” to Chatham schools. The Chatham Education Foundation supports projects that enrich and supplement learning within the Chatham public schools. The goal of the foundation is to ensure support for innovation and creativity that would not otherwise be available through the regular school budget. The foundation includes two funds: The Arts and Humanities Fund (specifically dedicated to supporting projects in the creative realm; it has funded artists and musicians in residence, film and media projects, literary classes, faculty development, and student performances and publications), and The Alexander M. White Fund (supports innovative projects across all disciplines; it has been key in developing a high school engineering curriculum and a highly praised Interplay elementary program which uses metaphor and story telling to promote intellectual and social growth). The Board of Trustees is composed of community members, parents, school personnel, and students who oversee the raising of funds and awarding of grants.
The Alumni Association Board received a very informative brief from Chatham Education Foundation Board members Bill Wolf and Elizabeth Macfarlane. We anticipate that two Alumni Association members will join the Foundation’s Board. We agreed unanimously to “get the word out” on the great work the Foundation does, and make sure that our members know that they can make tax deductible gifts in the name of the Chatham Alumni Association to the Foundation. The Foundation does not employ fundraising professionals that can charge very high expenses, but does use money management professionals to properly execute Foundation work and safely invest endowment money.
I hope you will join me in adding The Chatham Education Foundation to the list of worthwhile charitable organizations that receive annual contributions. You can contact the Foundation at (or send tax deductible contributions to):
The Chatham Education Foundation c/o Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation 271 Main Street, Suite 3 Great Barrington, MA 01230-1606 Phone: (413) 528-8039 Website: www.berkshiretaconic.org
Wishing you a safe, happy, and healthy 2009, Dave O’Connor ‘77
Down Memory Lane
Although my classmate, Kim Westover, provided a great recollection of Chatham Class of 1977 highlights, I’m going to weigh in with some of my own (since we didn’t have any other volunteers!). Rather than start with high school I wanted to share some earlier remembrances of my time in Chatham schools.
Being a little village knucklehead made Kindergarten a blast. A short walk to school, half-a-day of play time, with easels of big paper to draw on, having stories read to us, and those graham crackers and milk ... things could have started out a lot worse! We had BIG classes when I went through elementary school. My third grade class picture with Mrs. Longo shows twenty-nine of us dressed up for “picture day.” With big classes it was always easy to find a best friend for the year, and you certainly had to learn to get along in large groups. And some teachers always went above-and-beyond. In fifth grade, Mrs. Farnum would organize an annual class play/musical that would focus on the always important topic of “oral hygiene.” I won the lead role as arch villain Mr. Tooth Decay, and we brought the house down with the title song, “White Teeth, Bright Teeth, Really Out of Sight Teeth.” With limited special education services and teacher’s aides and assistants, I have to commend the great work my elementary school teachers did in preparing us for tests, next year’s curriculum, and eventually applying for college or our first full-time job.
Middle School was a social and demographic leap for us. Our elementary school (which I always remember everyone simply referring to as MED ... you would never say you’re in elementary school, you’d say you’re in MED [for Mary E. Dardess Elementary School ... and this was when Mary Dardess was still alive, respected, and omnipresent in our community]) was grades K-thru-5. Sixth grade was not junior high school yet, but our classes were on the top floor of the high school on Woodbridge Avenue, and in that building would be junior high and high school students. When we moved on to junior high, the student population of Chatham was too big for our two buildings, so we went through two years of split-sessions while the new high school was being built. What a great time that was!!! Since the high schoolers were convening classes in the early morning and get out around lunch time, we’d be able to be off goofing around in the village all morning until we’d go to school around noon and then get out in the late afternoon. I remember my friends and I playing tons of pick-up basketball games shooting at driveway mounted baskets, racing home for a quick lunch, and then going to school. Our teachers were great, the curriculum was getting more sophisticated than elementary school, and the social interaction was greater now because all the kids from the satellite community schools – Ghent, Spencertown, East Chatham, Canaan – were now all together in one building. My fondest recollection of this period though was how much fun and how rowdy the Varsity basketball games would get at the Bruce Bowes Gymnasium. Seating capacity was around 900, and with those wooden bleachers the foot-stomping could be deafening. There were some fun Varsity teams to watch when I was growing up, and that gym was a great place to enjoy high school basketball.
High School was marked by our class being the first to complete all four years in the new high school. What a great place CHS was for me! Academics were strong at Chatham; for a working class town we had excellent teachers to help prepare us for college or moving into the work place. There was a wide array of extracurricular clubs and sports where caring adults helped us mature and continue our development outside the classroom. And, there was a great sense of order ... you rarely stepped through the front doors of CHS without having Mr. Kraham greet you good morning, and you knew without ANY doubt who was in charge of this place! There were numerous role models for me at CHS who taught me many good values and proper decision-making in my life; the mistakes I’ve made were not taught to me by, or to be blamed on, others. My public school education was a tremendous learning experience for me, and it is why I hope to give back and help contribute in a positive way what is accomplished in Chatham schools today and in the future. I hope as alumni we can find ways to work together on projects of mutual interest. EVENTS
third annual alumni picnic: The Chatham High School Alumni Association had its 3rd annual picnic at Crellin Park on the 13th of September. Pictures of the event are on the next page. In an Arbor Day fashion a Northern Maple was planted. Pictured below are some of the attendees:
The annual meeting was called to order by President David O’Connor and election of officers was held for the ensuing year. The Alumni Association re-elected the following slate of officers to continue in office for the upcoming year. OFFICERSDave O’Connor – President and Chair of Community Relations Committee, Phone No. (518) 392-0174Nancy Jones Knabbe – Vice President and Chair of Education Support Committee, Phone No. (518) 392-2235Joan Sherman Simard – Secretary and Chair of Communications Committee, Phone No. (518) 325-4337Henry Binzer – Treasurer and Chair of Finance Committee, Phone No. (518) 475-5198DECADE DIRECTORS1940s – Doris Witthoft, Phone No. (518) 392-4544 1950s – Pat and Henry Binzer, Phone No. (518) 475-90011960s – Sallie Snyder Friedman, Phone No. (518) 672-5198and Nora Felpel Van Brunt, Phone No. (518) 392-26571970s – Steve Walsh, Phone No. (518) 766-33871980s – Karen (Keller) Engel, Phone No. (518) 392-9039 1990s – Kelly Cox, Phone No. (518) 794-0424 AT-LARGEMargaret Sawyer – Chair of Social Events Committee; Editor of Newsletter, Phone No. (518) 783-9524
Concert on the Lawn: As we reported to you in the last newsletter, on June 6th the Alumni Association sold hot dogs, soda and water to attendees at the annual Concert on the Lawn at the High School. The money that was realized from the sales at the event are given to the music program. The Alumni Office received a letter from Lee A. Bordick, Interim Superintendent that said: “On behalf of the Chatham Central School District Board of Education, I would like to express our appreciation for the Alumni Association’s generous donation to the children and music programs at your schools. Your $1,000 donation will be distributed equally to each school’s music department.” In addition to raising money to help the music program, this event is a lot of fun to attend and work at.
WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL STORY??
WE HAVE HEARD FROM MANY OF YOU – THANK YOU very much AND HERE’S WHAT YOUR FELLOW ALUMNI HAVE TO SAY:
Ø Maryanne dropped a note wanting to know the correct lyrics to our Alma Mater. Ø Joe wanted to know if we knew if they were having a 30th year reunion…Yes, Joe they are. Ø The Director of Crellin Park wanted us to offer our support with the EPA on a new renovation project. Ø I love this one…My E-Mail is the same but I am moving to Hawaii. Ø We have also notes from alumni who try to explain Arbor Day to a love one who had never heard of such a thing, Ø Al Grab, who is in Texas, along with many other alum wanted us to put names under pictures. He wanted to try and guess who they were but just in case he needed help. Ø Many alum just wanted the web site: chathamcentralschools.com Ø Many of our classmates have gone far and done exciting and different things. Ø Donald Brown, PhD. (Class of 1941) Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan writes that he has fond memories of growing up in Chatham where his parents owned to shoe store. Donald is a Harvard graduate, a veteran, an honored professor, and a Chatham Graduate. Ø Mark Pierce, Class of 1977, Graduated from Brown and went on to join Catholic Relief Services and is now with Plan America. He has spent most of 25 years overseas in Africa, Ethiopia, India, Cambodia and the Philippines. He is now working and living in Hanoi, Vietnam. Ø We would like to hear from you and tell us what you are doing, where you have been and any interesting tidbit you would like to share Just send it to alumni@chatham.k12.ny.us
REMINDER – DUES FOR 2009 ARE NOW DUE
The alumni association’s fiscal year is the calendar year which means that the alumni association needs your dues to continue to send you this newsletter. Please fill out the form below and mail it in with your 2009 dues.
Thank you!
Membership Application
Yes, I want to join the Chatham Central Alumni Association And I Enclose My Annual $10.00 Dues And I Want To Get Involved By Serving On the Following Committee(s):
Please mail this form or facsimile to Chatham Central Alumni Association, P.O. Box 208, Chatham, N.Y. 12037
If you have any questions, please e-mail the Alumni Association at: alumni@chatham.k12.ny.us Thank you for your Support
The Alumni Association extends a special thank you to John Miller, Class of 1964, of Solutions by Miller (Johnny@solutionsbymiller.com) for all he has done for the Alumni Association in the way of setting up our program for our data base and transferring our newsletter to a disk to be put on the web.
|
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT:
