Alumni at Large

Colby Magazine Volume 102 Issue 4 Spring 2014 Article 9 April 2014 Alumni at Large Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine Recommended Citation (2014) "Alumni at Large," Colby Magazine: Vol. 102 : Iss. 4 , Article 9. Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine/vol102/iss4/9 This Contents is brought to you for free and open access by the Colby College Archives at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Magazine by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. CATCHING UP | ALUMNI ProfILes Shaken, Not Stirred | Andrew Volk ’05 Behind the Hunt & Alpine Club bar— a bar, and his response was immediate 35 feet of brushed galvanized steel inside and unenthusiastic. “But then I thought, 75 Market Street in Portland’s Old Port— ‘Hey, maybe actually, between the skills Andrew Volk ’05 moves with staccato and what I’ve seen and what I’ve done … assurance. He taps to check if patrons this could actually work.’” need a refill, swings to wash glasses in a It took almost two years to plan, raise hidden sink, and moves his Boston shaker capital, and build out the space, but he with a speed and energy usually reserved opened his doors in September—and for maracas: over the shoulder, down, Portland’s food scene took notice. In back up. A pour through, then tap. You, November the Hunt & Alpine Club sir, have a drink. was featured on eater.com (a national Volk has been tending bar for almost restaurant gossip site) in a roundup of the a decade, since he landed a gig in Glacier 30 hottest cocktail bars in America. National Park the summer after graduation. Despite that acclaim, the bar exudes a “I remember saying to my parents, ‘Hey, certain cool. While the lights showing in I’m doing this for fun. If I’m doing this in the picture windows are dim enough to ten years tell me to get the heck out.’” suggest that the place may not be open, He’s still doing it, but now he owns the Andrew Volk ’05 at the Hunt & Alpine inside, Scandinavian-inspired food is place, a trendy newcomer to the Portland, Club, the cocktail bar he recently opened in offered on menu boards, and a wall of Maine, bar and food scene. Portland. The bar specializes in craft cocktails. bottles stretches toward the high ceiling. Volk’s path started in the mountains “[We wanted] to create a space that and maintained an upward trajectory. move to one. So offers in Philadelphia and was comfortable for conversations,” said After a summer in Glacier, Volk moved New York seemed temporary at best. “If Volk. “We want to have a place where to Oregon, where he kept bartending we moved to Philly,” said Volk, “we’d live people feel comfortable … and to be able — “dive bars, Irish bars, the spectrum”— there for two years, never see each other, to put out good drinks and good food and until he landed at Clyde Common, the and then we’ll move to a small town. So make sure people have a good time.” restaurant adjacent to the Portland why even spend those two years in the Shaking cocktails and checking on Ace Hotel. The bar program there city? … So we moved here.” customers, Volk makes things look was nominated three times for a James Portland, Maine, is reputed to have effortless, but he’s bartending four nights Beard Award, and, working under star more restaurants per capita than San a week and managing seven—not sleeping mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Volk was Francisco. The Volks relished the many much by anyone’s math. “Five or ten inducted into the smallish American craft fine establishments of Portland East but years ago,” he said, “I would never have cocktail world. couldn’t find a place they liked to go encouraged myself to do what I’m doing Volk and his wife, Briana, both grew for a drink. As Volk tells it, his wife was now. It was a bunch of decisions all rolled up in small towns, and they planned to joking when she suggested they open into one.” —Martin Connelly ’08 1930s 1942 I heard from three classmates! I was where William Penn really landed. Y Ruth Colby College Gerry Boyle ’78 overjoyed. Of course we are all at least 90 Parsons Van Hoek, who lives in Needham, Office of Alumni Relations [email protected] years old. Y Mildred Steenland Ellison, Mass., wrote that she lost her husband, 89, Waterville, ME 04901 who lives in Media, Pa., wrote that she in 2007. Her daughter Sandra is the mother has slowed down but not stopped, as she of her only grandson. Her other daughter, is on a walker and can no longer do the Deborah Van Hoek Abraham, graduated 1940 1943 volunteer work that she used to enjoy so from Colby in 1969. Ruth reminded me that Gerry Boyle ’78 Gerry Boyle ’78 much. She and her husband, Victor, have she only attended Colby for her freshman [email protected] [email protected] nine great-grandchildren who all live out and sophomore years; those were the last West. Their daughter and her family are in two years that Colby was still clustered on Washington state, and their son and his College Avenue in the heart of Waterville. 1941 1944 family live in Colorado. When their daughter Y Lois Peterson Johnson wrote that she Gerry Boyle ’78 Josephine Pitts McAlary and son-in-law visited recently Mildred lives in Boonville, Mo., where she has [email protected] [email protected] and Victor had the fun of showing them an independent-living apartment. She COLBY / SPRING 2014 37 [email protected] 37 3/7/14 3:58 PM alumniCATCHING at UP large | ALUMNI ProfILes Bean Reboot | erica eysenbach ’89 Erica Eysenbach ’89 says her earliest artistic inspiration was the board game Masterpiece, in which players aim to build portfolios and become successful art collectors. That didn’t happen to the art history major, but Eysenbach did end up putting art in the hands of millions every year. Eysenbach oversees the design of catalog covers for L.L.Bean, the iconic Maine company. She helps develop new ideas and solutions and directs their execution. With L.L.Bean’s constant catalog output and ever-changing audience, she describes the creative department as “the hub of keeping things moving.” Eysenbach has done just that within L.L.Bean, arriving in Freeport after graduation from Colby and a stint at an Erica Eysenbach ’89 with images used for development of catalogs at L.L.Bean. art-supply store and with other options beckoning. But, she said, “there were catalog always has artwork on the cover. Web, retail store, and advertising. opportunities at L.L.Bean, so I took One winter Eysenbach proposed the Her team develops graphics that the advantage of them.” cover’s snowy hill painting—inspired advertising department uses, and her Like many L.L.Bean employees, she by the landscape around the L.L.Bean involvement with L.L.Bean’s website started in customer service, learning the offices close to the Maine coast. “Even as design continues to expand with the needs of customers both in the United a manager, you still get to be creative, and company’s digital focus. “A lot of the work States and Japan, a major L.L.Bean that’s fun,” she said. we do is about making sure we create that market. From there she joined the The cover is just the exterior of branding essence of L.L.Bean,” she said. company’s creative department and Eysenbach’s catalog work. She collaborates “We’re really the caretakers of it.” started up the ladder: designer, senior with company analysts on the presentation She’s reminded of that often, regaled designer, associate creative director, and of products inside the catalog (backpacks on airplanes by seatmates who tell her now creative director design. during back-to-school season, for example) of their favorite L.L.Bean products Eysenbach commands the process that and the emphasis for the huge holiday and their personal experiences with the results in the catalogs that customers get season. “What are we going to go after this company’s renowned customer service. in a steady stream marked by what she year?” she said. “What’s our key message?” “They’re so devoted to the product describes as “cadences.” These are the Eysenbach speaks in terms of we carry and the story of who we are,” design motifs that L.L.Bean repeats each messaging, graphic devices, and hooks Eysenbach said. “It’s one of the reasons year, like the puppy cover, a customer that the company can convey uniformly why I’ve been here so long.” favorite. Similarly, each season’s core across all business channels—catalog, — Christina Dong ’17 uses a walker but is still active. She and O’Meara ’45 died Jan. 13, 2014, at 91. She five-masted clipper ship. It was fun! The wind 1945 her daughter sing in a 100-voice chorus, attended Colby for two years. Y Life without was spectacular for sailing. We sailed into Gerry Boyle ’78 which she enjoys tremendously. Her entire my daughter is whatever I choose to make it. the harbors of five of the islands and went [email protected] family gathered in Orlando, Fla., for a long At 90 I do consider every day precious, so I ashore. On one island I ziplined! Fourteen weekend together earlier in 2013.

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