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Volume 4, Number 5,
December 1999
MIDNIGHT SUN ONLINE
-The Online Newsletter
for Robert E. Peary High School Alumni-
MSO WEB SITE - http://www.pearyhs.org/
Page 3
From:
Patrick Casteel <patrickcasteel@hotmail.com>
(1983)
Date:
Mon, 22 Nov 1999
Subject:
Update
Occupation:
Banking, Significant Other: J Mcdonald
Memorable
Incidents: The thing that stands out the most would be the ride to school
in Henry Talaveras Chevy with fur on the dash, also hanging out in Aspen
Hill shopping center on weekends just riding back and forth.
Since
High School: I have moved to Wisconsin... don’t ask why. I took classes
at Montgomery College in Rockville and Germantown in Accounting and
Banking. I also became a Driving Instructor... I most have been crazy but
it worked in to school hours.
Future
Plans: I hope to have my own business some day maybe a Bed and
Memorable
Teachers: Mrs. Lynn (Leeds), Mrs Snodgrass, and Mr Baker but
From:
Judy A Ridgway <jamjar1@juno.com>
(1968)
Date:
Mon, 22 Nov 1999
Subject:
Midnight Sun Online
Bob,
as always thanks for the update!
On
October 27th, I become the proud grandmother of Andress Sean
Ridgway, Jr.! My youngest
son, Sean, proudly announced the birth of his son to a room full of people
that cheered when we all heard it was a boy!
They live in western PA and I’m in Annapolis, MD, so it’s a
4-hour drive to see them and I try to do it as often as possible.
Of course, the birth of this grandson also means that Art Ridgway
(Class of 1966) is a grandfather! Art
is now in Anaheim, CA, so definitely has a long drive.
Missie
Rubin (Ruth Ann Ridgway - Class of 1968) and her husband Larry Rubin
(Class of 1966) are now Great Aunt and Uncle.
They reside in Ft. Lauderdale,
FL. Another Class of 1966
graduate, Dave Spurlock, is an honorary Great Uncle whether he likes it or
not! (He’s not too fond of
babies).
Merry
Christmas to all my Peary friends! Judy
Ridgway, Class of 1968 “Every day is a gift.
Treat it kindly. Share
it with Joy.”
Judy
Ridgway
Independent
Kitchen Consultant
Pampered
Chef
From:
Lisa Wilson <lwils@clarkus.com>
(1980)
Date:
Tue, 23 Nov 1999
Subject:
Update
I
found out about the website from Dody Seleski. Occupation: Project
Manager/Construction Spouse: Harold “Hump” Plotts, Children: Michael
(step) 20 1979, Tammy (step) 23 1976, Kenny 4 1995, James 2 months
(9/16/99), Sarah 2 months (9/16/99), Grandchildren: Kevin 4 (9/20/94)
Memorable
Incident: Volkswagon in the courtyard
Since
High School: College, Following Bruce Springsteen around the
country,
traveling, making babies
Future
Plans: Building a 5 bedroom home
Memorable
Teachers: Mr. Gibbs, so theatrical. Ms. Tamm, her unique approach to
Chemistry, I become a Biochemical Engineer because of her influence. Mr.
Hill- so calm. Ms. Wilson- so determined to make me understand trig.
From:
Kristin Lucas <kristinlucas@earthlink.net>
(1966)
Date:
Tue, 23 Nov 1999
Subject:
Update
I
found out about the website while surfing about three years ago.
I
Occupation: Administrative Assistant
I got
on-line this morning and found out that my favorite Peary teacher, Carol
Bauer, has recently died. I
loved her classes (8th and 9th grade girl’s
chorus) and I was on the stage crew of THE LOWLAND SEA, an operetta she
put on in the spring of 1963. I
can still sing all the songs.
From:
Bob Callahan <pcalahan@shentel.net>
(1967)
Date:
Tue, 23 Nov 1999
Subject:
Update
I found out about the website from my brother.
Occupation: Chef,
Memorable
Incidents: Undefeated football season, School production “My
Fair
Lady” Teachers: Mr. Roberts, Miss Bauer, Ms. Hardesty
Since
High School: Owned Two Restaurants, worked as Chef and Lodge manager with
several resort operations.
Future
Plans: Retirement with wife and second (part-time) career as
Memorable
Teachers: Mr Roberts, for his dry humor and commitment to teaching brats
like us. Miss Bauer (who just passed on) for her dedication to her
students and subject. She was
a true inspiration for all who knew her.
From:
JEANNIE BROWN RHODES <JER926@YAHOO.COM>
(1985)
Date:
Tue, 23 Nov 1999
Subject:
UPDATE INFO
I graduated from WHEATON HIGH and found out about the website from MY AUNT EILEEN CARTER.
Occupation: CAFETERIA WORKER, Spouse: PHILLIP, Children:
LARRY JR.(14) TIMMY(12), ASHLEY(9)
Memorable
Incident: TRYING TO KEEP PEARY HIGH OPEN
Since
High School: WORKING AND RAISING MY CHILDREN
Future
Plans: MOVE UP IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM
Memorable
Teacher: MR. HILL HE WAS TOUGH BUT ALWAYS FAIR.
HELLO
HOW ARE EVERYONE DOING? JUST FINE HERE. I HAVE THREE CHILDREN LARRY
JR(14), TIMMY(12) AND ASHLEY(9). I JUST GOT MARRIED TO MY SECOND HUSBAND
WHO IS ASHLEY,S DAD.I WORK IN THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA AND BEEN THERE FOUR
YEARS. I WOULD LOVED TO HERE FROM OTHER 85 CLASSMATES.LETS CHAT SOMETIME.
From:
Steven Becker <steve32@webcombo.net>
(1983)
Date:
Wed, 24 Nov 1999
Subject:
Update
I
found out about the website from my dad, who as pres. of Aspen Hill
Occupation: Chemist
Memorable
Incidents: The list of things is long, but one sticks out.
Early in spring semester of Mr. Clarke’s Modern World History
class, the “pop” quiz bonus question was “describe the person
sitting in front of you in one word”.
Well, she was a cute cheerleader or pom (looking at the yearbooks
didn’t jumpstart my memory), so I wanted to be a little careful on this
one. Unfortunately, my mind
completely blanked and before you knew it, Mr. Clarke was calling for the
quizzes to be handed forward. Really
wanting that bonus point, the only thing I could think of in that final
second was my favorite skit on Saturday Night Live that I had seen
recently—the Coneheads; so that is what I scribbled quickly.
Well, of course Mr. Clarke reads them all out for everyone’s
benifit, and he just loved my description for her, probably encouraged by
her reaction of it. He spent the rest of the semester calling her “Conehead”,
“Coney”, “CH”, etc. Needless
to say, I wasn’t her favorite person.
Since
High School: Got my Eagle Scout award soon after graduating.
Attended Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana (yeah, that
little school that made it into the NCAA basketball finals the last two
years), joining Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity and Phi Mu Alpha
Sinfonia Music Fraternity (technically a professional fraternity, but
essentially a social fraternity too—enough that the national office
officially converted it to a social fraternity last year), graduating in
1987 with a B.S in Chemistry. Having
loved the “home stomping grounds” and what I considered to be the
location in the country with the widest variety of things to do and
resources to be tapped, I returned to Montgomery County.
Worked for two years at the Naval Ordnance Station, Indian Head,
Md. as an analytical chemist in “energetic” chemistry (propellants and
explosives). After a
reorganization I didn’t like, I switched agencies and did most of three
years as a forensic chemist specializing in bomb incidents for the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms at their national lab in Rockville (and
bought a townhouse in Olney). After
ethical differences in their procedures, I decided to try the private
sector, and signed up with Varex instrument company, running their lab.
They got absorbed a year later, and everyone was soon spit out.
I took a contract job with Microbiological Associates (MA) in their
Analytical Laboratory Division (Bethesda) for a year; and my boss liked me
so much he helped me to stay on by transferring into the newly forming
Bioanalytical Services Division (Rockville) in a new department.
I was never excited about biological chemistry, felt
underappreciated and restricted in learning potential there ($ went toward
instrumentation, not training), and through a former co-worker found a
position back in the federal government.
A week after I gave notice at MA, I was asked by the department VP
of my first position there if I might be able to stay, as I had been
(secretly) tapped by my previous boss to succeed him as Director of
Analytical Chemistry when he retired in another year.
I hopped back to the federal government, except to the Legislative
Branch, doing mostly analytical chemistry again for the Chemical &
Environmental Division (labs) of the U.S. Government Printing Office, and
am pretty happy there, having learned that the people and atmosphere that
you work in are very important for quality of life.
I’ve
been an assistant scoutmaster for my home troop, as well as having
assisted with another troop and an explorer post.
I am on the Board of Youth at my church.
Two months ago I was elected to be an officer on the Corporation
Board of the Valparaiso University Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
fraternity, which manages the assets and guides the chapter.
As
for hobbies/activities, until a couple years ago I had a policy of adding
at least one new one each year—I can’t keep up anymore.
One big one has been scuba diving, with several trips to the
Bahamas and Florida Keys, including one where my buddy and I tried to
(nighttime) photograph underwater fluorescence of corals and other sealife
with improvised gear. We only
gave ourselves two months from the idea to the already scheduled dive trip
in the Bahamas, and the finishing of the underwater ultraviolet strobe
case on the way down I-95 with the windows rolled down to vent the solvent
welding fumes so we wouldn’t be overcome was only one of many dive trip
antics that we have had over the years (some of which can be read on my
website, at http://www.americasisp.net/hp/steve32/bot-time.html).
Now I understand why research dive expeditions may take a full year
of planning before actually doing it!
Unfortunately, the strobe battery casing developed a leak (it was
too early in the season for us to have done test dives in local quarries
with the equipment), but his underwater UV light “staff” (three foot
long and 2.5-inch diameter is too big for a “wand”) worked fine, so we
were able to eyeball the phenomenon, at least. (You can see “professional” pictures of this phenomenon
at http://www.nightsea.com/home.htm)
Another
biggie has been regularly crewing on several different sailboats for
racing in the Chesapeake Bay (out of Annapolis and the Patuxant River).
I’ll soon be putting up a series of web pages on my sailing
experiences, starting on a replica Viking longboat, and including the
125-foot three-masted wooden schooner Alexandria, under my sailing alias
“Igor—Deck Slave” (a nickname I got some years ago, which I ham up
to on occasion).
Another
huge project (20 months, and looking like another three years!) I’ve
taken on is running an historical simulation of the British, French and
Dutch conflict in India in 1782-3 (a spinoff from the American
Revolution), with 31 players spread out from Arizona to the Netherlands.
The realism has been incredible, and I post a Gazette online (http://www.americasisp.net/hp/steve32/cfi-game.html)
to describe what has been going on. While
everyone agrees I could use it as the research for dissertations in both
History and Psychology, I doubt I’ll bother to that degree. (ooh,
horrible pun! :-) I’ll
probably just do a couple presentations on it when it’s over: a long one
for the players to discuss and debate what happened (popularly known as
“the court-martial and recrimination phase”), and then a shorter one
at a convention or two. Future Plans=Finally finishing the historical
fiction/romance novel that I’ve started.
The outline came from my answer to an essay question on a college
midterm, and I’ve finished most of the research for it.
I’m to the stage of writing a detailed outline of each section,
so I can get the timeline and intermingling plotlines straight.
Also, when I’m finished, I’ll be able to justify my run-on
sentences to all my former English teachers as my “style” as a writer.
:-)
Memorable
Teachers: While many teachers stood out at Peary, easily the most
memorable teacher was Mr. Clarke. Not
only was his class the most interesting and fun—remember the African
geography quiz “guys vs. girls”
challenge, where the losers (or their girlfriends and moms :-) had to make
and bring in cookies and brownies for the class, which inspired the guys
to study their butts off to win in four out of five periods, and we were
merciless to the guys that blew it—even while it made us work harder
than any other class, and taught us how to outline on the fly for college.
He also sparked a deep love of History in me that has burned bright
ever since. I got an
“accidental” minor in History by just taking courses that sounded
interesting, even though my freshman advisor had said there was no way I
could fit a non-science minor in my schedule; I only had to squeeze
another basic History course in my last semester, petitioning for more
than 18 credits that semester—no senioritis allowed for me.
History and historical fiction are my favorite reading topics, and
I caught Mr. Clarke’s Anglophile bug too.
I distinctly recall that he had a standing $5 bet with all of us,
that we could challenge anything he told us in class.
A few tried, and lost. I
distinctly recall learning, four years after college, about one of his
more fanciful sounding stories (we had been conditioned by then to pretty
much believe anything he said) being exactly true.
While I chose not to major in the field, I still consider History
as my favorite subject.
Other
alums I know about: While I’ve been living in my townhouse in Olney for
nearly 10 years, I’ve not bumped into anyone locally from the time I
went to Peary. I guess I
spend too much time running off doing other things.
I do know several alums from “awhile ago”—how did that
happen? Valerie Emerson
(1975), and Doug (1969) and Dennis Scheffler (1972) are all already on the
list. Hmm, Stacy Norris
(1983) was next door through school, and was killed with her fiance and
some friends in a private plane crash out west some time ago.
Had lunch with Becky Nachlas (1983), who is a lawyer, down in
Miami, Fla. when I went down the first time to sail/dive in the Bahamas
for a week. I might be able
to rustle up some more leads with thought, and digging through my stuff
from 1983’s 10 year reunion.
I’m
switching ISPs, so my new e-mail address is steve32@webcombo.net.
feel free to contact me.
Also,
I have more than 40 web pages on my personal site, and post a “gazette”
online as well as webmaster for the Washington School of Photography, so I
have an idea as to how much work Bob has to put into this endeavor.
All I can say is “WOW!” and “Thanks very much!”