The Yellow Jacket
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THE YELLOW JACKET SPRING2011 The Alumni/ae Magazine of The Gilbert School Spring 2011 rev.indd 1 3/17/11 2:58 PM Page 2 Spring 2011 Sue Holcombe ‘87 Inducted Into CT Volleyball school in the 1980s and you are 5-foot- 6 and ¾ inches, you become a middle hitter,” Holcombe said in her acceptance speech. “And when your coach is Mary Ellen Vaccari, you learn pretty quickly that you are going to work hard to learn the game and become the best at it. End of story. And you do it because Mary Ellen Vaccari tells you to.” After leaving Clarion, Holcombe went on to become an assistant coach at Divi- sion I Bucknell University. Holcombe has taught English at Farmington High School for the last nine years. She lives in [ young children. Former Gilbert teammates and coaches joined Susan Holcombe ‘87 (far right) for her induction. Susan Holcombe ‘87, a former standout University in Pennsylvania, where she led athlete at The Gilbert School, was induct- the Division II Golden Eagles to various ed into the Connecticut Women’s Volley- championships and was elected captain ball Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony - Nov. 24, 2010, at the Aqua Turf Club in ing injury terminated her collegiate career. Southington. Also at the Hall of Fame ceremony were Holcombe starred for three years on several of Holcombe’s Gilbert teammates, the Gilbert varsity team. All three of those retired science teacher Craig Schroeder, teams won the Berkshire League champi- current volleyball coach Cindy Fixer ‘78 onship, while her senior-year team went and faculty member Mary Ellen Vaccari, on to win the Class S state championship. Holcome’s former coach who herself was That same year, Holcombe herself was inducted into the same Hall of Fame last Susan Holcombe ‘87 with her partner, April team MVP. year. Lewis and two daughters, Tate Lewis-Hol- Holcombe then went on to Clarion “When you’re in a Connecticut high combe and Tess Lewis-Holcombe. TABLE of CONTENTS THE YELLOW Holcombe in CT Volleyball Hall 2 JACKET HOMECOMING 2011 3 A twice yearly publication of: Thrilling Gilbert Football Season 4 The W.L. Gilbert Trust Corporation Class Notes, Deaths 5 200 Willams Avenue Winsted, Connecticut 06039 Class of 1960 - 50th Reunion 7 Volume 12, Issue 2, Spring 2011 Classes of 1979-82 Reunion 8 Editor: Terry Cowgill, Director of Matt Werner ‘98 Thinks “Abroadly” 9 Development and Alumni Relations. Class Notes, cont. 10 On the cover: John Barrett ‘58 and Lisa Gilbert Expands To Include 7th, 8th Grades 11 (Blanchette) Fragale ‘87 both played saxophone in the Alumni Band during Class of 1990 - 20th Reunion 14 homecoming in October. Spring 2011 rev.indd 2 3/17/11 2:58 PM The Gilbert School Yellow Jacket Page 3 Homecoming 2011 Mostly sunny skies welcomed about 150 alumni and friends back to the Gilbert campus during Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 23, for the annual Distinguished Alumni awards, followed by a luncheon and the football game against Windsor Locks on Van Why Field. Before the alumni award cer- [ emony, a group of graduates and current students gathered for the [ Run. It was an invigorating trot on the Gilbert team course. Coffee and donuts were served afterwards. Medals were awarded to the top [ “Tom Waterman ‘82 won the race in 13:56 over a hilly 2.1 mile course. Freshman Alec Goulet ‘14 was the top student in 14:01,” said organizer L.J. Briggs ‘82. PHOTOS BY DEBORAH GLYNN JONES ‘70 Flanked by Gilbert Trust President Tom Bot- AND TERRY COWGILL ticelli and her daughter, Jessie Harding ‘60, Anna Harding ‘28 received an honorary di- Former Gilbert coach Moe Morhardt intro- ploma and the Outstanding Community Service duced his son, Greg ‘81, who received the award. Outstanding Achievement in Athletics Award. The Gilbert Heritage Award Honorary Diploma George E. Case ‘53 (posthumous) Young Alumni Achievement Award Dongngan Truong, M.D. ‘98 Distinguished Professional Achievement Award John A. Bushnell ‘51 The W.L. Gilbert Award for Outstanding Community Service Anna O’Brien Harding ‘28 From left, Ann Bushnell, John Bushnell ‘51 and Outstanding Achievement in Athletics Award Claire Nader ‘46. John won the Distinguished Gregory R. Morhardt ‘81 Professional Achievement Award. Spring 2011 rev.indd 3 3/17/11 2:58 PM Page 4 Spring 2011 A Thrilling Gilbert Football Season The Gilbert-Northwestern Yel- low Jackets had an outstanding regular season record of 8-2. That in itself would have been a great accomplishment. But the annual Thanksgiv- ing Day Berkshire Bowl against Housatonic saw the Yellow Jackets - taneers 37-18 in Falls Village. That victory propelled the Jackets [ [ round, they dominated Plainville 41-6. In the second round, the Jackets squared off against Hillhouse, the New Haven football juggernaut. They lost 42-14. Coach Scott Salius and his play- ers are to be congratulated on an outstanding season. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM SCHMITZ Spring 2011 rev.indd 4 3/17/11 2:58 PM The Gilbert School Yellow Jacket Page 5 Around the Years: Class Notes and met his wife. John just retired with my wife Joanie last summer as a manager with the DMV after for our 10th anniversary.” 34 years. See Class Notes, 1973 page 10 Robert “Bob” Weih was ap- pointed by the governor of Arkan- sas to the Arkansas State Board In Memoriam of Registration for Foresters. Bob is a professor and director of the 1928 Spatial Information Program at the University of Arkansas. He lives in William Everts Flint Monticello, Arkansas, with his wife July 28, 2010 Marilyn and their three children. “I 1929 appreciate the high-quality educa- Dennis Defosie with tion I received at Gilbert,” Bob Lois (Pond) Johnson his horse in Florida said in a recent note to the Gilbert February 18, 2011 1961 !"O" 1931 my success at college. Thanks to all Dennis Defosie etired in July Eleanor D. 2010 and lives in Florida my teachers.” Bob can be reached at [email protected]. (Woodworth) Raymond 1978 January 21, 2010 Wayne Andrighetti writes: “My 1937 business partner and I sold our Franklyn John business, Global Analytics Corp. to Ernst and Young, LLP in August September 25, 2010 2010. I have assumed a role as 1938 executive director in the business Spencer R. Potter, Ed.D performance management practice, focused on the technology to en- December 20, 2009 able the solutions. I am currently 1944 $%" George F. Goetz On a personal note, my wife Laurie and I cycled across the Czech Re- May 9, 2010 public last summer in celebration 1952 of our 20th anniversary.” John D. Doyle 1982 July 29, 2010 Jim Langer just got a promotion 1955 to chair of the Art Deptartment at Allan Poulsen John Vennel ‘67 Greensboro College. Jim lives with and his wife Kathy. his wife and 4-yr old daughter on January 9, 2010 a small farm in North Carolina. 1957 Writes Jim: “We get back to Hart- 1967 Judy (Callinan) Koloski John Vennel has lived in Califor- land and even see a movie at the nia since he was in the Navy there Gilson once a year. Saw Joan Baez March 16, 2010 Spring 2011 rev.indd 5 3/17/11 2:58 PM Page 6 Spring 2011 Gilbert’s Annual Fund: The ‘Smart’ Way To Give Dear Friend of The Gilbert School, \ Hills is a glorious time indeed. It seems to bring out the best in all of us. For us at Gilbert, it is a time of renewal and rededication. Nowhere is that sense of rebirth and determination more evident than in our classrooms, where faculty members prac- tice their craft with an expertise honed from years of training and experience. In those same spaces, students busily gather the skills they will need to succeed in post- secondary education. to fund the purchase of four The consensus among educators The resources required to SMART Boards. For the uninitiat- is almost unanimous that SMART capture the attention and imagi- ed, SMART Boards are interactive Boards improve the classroom nation of modern students have whiteboards capable of projecting experience by creating a more changed over the years. Gone computer screens and allowing interactive environment for stu- are the days of dusty blackboards both students and teachers to use dents and reinforcing multisensory manned by lecturers with chalk touch-detection for user input. teaching techniques. Since that stains on their trousers. initial grant, the number of SMART In response to this reality, a The Gilbert School Boards in our building has almost few years ago The W.L. Gilbert quadrupled to 15. Trust funded an initial enhance- Annual Fund Education in action. See what ment grant of more than $8,000 ‘Smart’ Work On Display your gift to The Gilbert School Provides tens of thousands of dollars a 2010-11 Annual Fund can do? year in funds for items not covered by the Please give as generously as you operating budget. Past examples include: can. # An Apple mobile learning lab With all best wishes for a pro- # A training mannequin for use in forensics and EMT classes ductive spring and great summer, # '* Fame in Cooperstown for the base- Tom Botticelli ball team President, # A vibraphone for the school’s vari- W.L. Gilbert Trust ous music bands Corporation # Additional “Smart Board” technol- G ogy for enhanced instruction in the classroom Make checks payable to: Make your gift online at: The W.L. Gilbert Trust www.gilbertschool.org 200 Williams Ave Click on “Alumni” and Winsted CT 06098 then click on “Supporting Gilbert.” Memo: Annual Fund Spring 2011 rev.indd 6 3/17/11 2:58 PM The Gilbert School Yellow Jacket Page 7 Class of 1960 - 50th Reunion Sunday, October 10, 2010 Cornucopia Banquet Hall Torrington, Connecticut Spring 2011 rev.indd 7 3/17/11 2:58 PM Page 8 Spring 2011 Classes of 1979-82 Reunion What an enjoyable reunion we had with our honorary guest, Mr.