Class Notes

NEWS OF 1982

From the Alumni House:

Julie Van Vliet created her own nonprofit organization, Gift of Sunshine Inc. The two-year-old company trains service dogs for patients with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and other conditions.

NEWS OF 1981
Reunion May 19-20

NEWS OF 1980

NEWS OF 1979

NEWS OF 1978

NEWS OF 1977

A note from the Alumni House:

Kathy Ozzard Chism's roundup of class news was inadvertently omitted from the Winter 2005 issue of the magazine. In this issue, her winter and spring columns have been combined.

From Kathy:

Christmas 2004 brought a lovely array of cards and notes from Moravianites, many with wonderful family photos.

It was so nice to reconnect with Beth Glenfield Strohl, with whom I had lost touch for several years. Her oldest son, Jon, is 21 already! It feels like only yesterday that I was holding him as a newborn. Her Christmas photo was of her entire beautiful family: Beth, husband Tom, children Jon, David, and Jenny, and a new puppy. Don't know how she does it, but Beth looks exactly the same as the day we graduated!

It was also great to get a card from Janice Vuola Esposito, whom I had also not heard from in a long time. She now lives in Colorado Springs. She and her husband, Doug, sent a photo of their four gorgeous girls, Katherine, Jennifer, Lisa, and Danielle. Janice teaches in a learning disabilities resource program for fourth and fifth graders, which she loves. She and Doug were able to travel in 2004 to Las Vegas and Fort Myers Beach, Fla. They drove to New Jersey last summer with stops in Kansas City and St. Louis to visit friends.

Another great family photo arrived from Carla and Vince Pantalone, of their five children: Rob, Phil, Rachel, Julia, and Nick. Vince is in his 28th year of teaching with a focus now on British literature. After 25 years of coaching football, Vince retired from that activity in December. The entire family enjoyed a vacation last July at Topsail Island.

Jane Carole Newschwander and Gregg sent a Christmas card with a photo of their children, Tim and Chloe, from the deck of their new home in Huntington, Vt., to which they moved earlier this year from Kennett Square. Behind them was a stunning view of mountains in full autumn color. The family is very excited to be only ten miles from Sugarbush!

Georgene Mitilenes Bonard and Tom Bonard also sent a Christmas photo that featured their beautiful children Katie and Tommy Jr.

Another photo came enclosed in a card from Pete and Joyce Kavjian Stephenson. They sent their gorgeous daughters Christina and Michelle, with their dog, Mackenzie. Joyce has had a rough year, medically, and has had to stop working. Ever upbeat, she says she is doing OK. I can speak for everyone in our class, Joyce, in wishing you only the best.

To Lise Zinkham Lanceley, I never cease to be amazed at your creativity and artistic talent. Thank you for another exquisite handmade card. I've saved them all. Kathy Kichline Parks and her husband, John, sent a great letter with their card. Kathy worked last summer in their local school district with a group of children with multiple handicaps. When the school year started up, Kathy was asked to sub for four weeks as the high school's Spanish teacher. She said it was a good thing she had paid attention in her own high school Spanish classes!

Thanks also to Denise Torma for her annual card, which I always appreciate.

I am so glad to get cards from Professor George Diamond and his wife, Roberta, as well as Esther Burkhart, widow of the late Professor Lloyd Burkhart. The Diamonds took Esther to the annual Moravian Holiday Gala in 2004, as they have the past few years. Esther's granddaughter, Kate, graduated from Moravian in 2004, so the legacy continues.

Irene Silverio Kane '76 sent a fantastic photo of her entire family: Irene, husband Mike, and children Alexa, Jackie, Michael, and Sean. Irene loves her job as a guidance counselor; she says it's wonderful to be working with children again after raising four of her own. As the result of a grant Irene received for a program to teach students about mental illness from the perspective of Christian values, she delivered a paper at the National Catholic Educational Association in Boston in April. The entire family was able to spend Christmas 2004 in Key Biscayne, Fla., with Irene's father, her sister, and her sister's three children.

In January, I was delighted to receive an email from Christopher Solop, from whom I hadn't heard in more than 20 years! Chris works at the Armstrong Allen law firm in Jackson, Miss., where he lives with his wife, Juanaree, and their 15-year-old son, Harper.

Long before Christmas, it was so nice to hear from Sandy Sterner Bendzlowicz, who has graduated from Marywood University with a master's degree in social work. She continues to work in geriatrics and recently moved to Nazareth, Pa.

Sandy has kept in contact with several sisters from Sigma Theta Chi since graduation. Every summer, she meets Amie Norsk Adler, Susan Hermann Cupo, Marta Balazs Storm, and MaryLou Gorscan Raiser for a family picnic.

MaryLou continues to teach elementary school in the Lititz, Pa., area. Her guinea pig is the star of the class! Marta teaches in the Stroudsburg, Pa., area, while her husband, Jim Storm, now is a principal in the region. Susan is a researcher with Merck Pharmaceuticals. Amie continues to live her dream of the arts and is involved with stamping and creative scrapbooks.

They all continue to celebrate weddings and other milestone events with one another, and they are grateful for the sister relationships created at Moravian.

I also enjoyed hearing from Leo Herbstman, father of Bob Herbstman, who attended the Robert Martin Herbstman Hall of Fame ceremony at Moravian on November 5, 2004.

It has been wonderful to reconnect with Dennis Koze '76, who has two sons, Drew, 28, and Taylor, 25, and lives in Breinigsville, Pa. Dennis just got his master's degree in medical radiesthesia (a new discipline that deals with the patterns of energy waves) and is working in the fields of parasitology, pollution and disease, and cleansing. In 2004, he attended a health conference in Mexico City and a sclerology course in San Diego. Dennis is now in a Ph.D. program, continuing his studies in energy medicine.

After many years, Tony Villani sent a wonderful email with lots of updates. He is presently serving as the assistant superindendent for curriculum and instruction for the Bethlehem Area School District. He had been the principal at East Hills Middle School, and then Freedom High School before assuming his present position two years ago.

Tony has a son, Vincent, who graduated from the University of Maryland three years ago with a degree in broadcast journalism. He is presently the evening sports producer for the Fox Network in Baltimore, Md. Tony's daughter is currently in her junior year at Penn State University, with a major in broadcast journalism and public relations.

Tony has also been very active in the PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association), serving on the District XI committee for the past five years. He oversees wrestling and boy's and girl's tennis. Tony has also been singing with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem for the past 22 years, which he enjoys immensely.

In the previous issue of the magazine, the Bahamian Children's Trust Fund I created to help hurricane victims was mentioned. I am pleased to report that we raised more than $10,200—and many thanks to those from Moravian who contributed! They include: Gwen Thomas Bolger, Kathy Kichline Parks, Esther Burkhart, Professor George Diamond, Jeff Epstein '76, Janice Vuola Esposito, Irene Silverio Kane, Dennis Koze, Lise Zinkham Lanceley, Susie Hyer '76, Joyce Kavjian Stephenson, and Denise Torma. Abbie Higginbottom Slaman '78 said she had used the online charity store link at www.bahamianchildrenstrustfund. org to purchase Christmas gifts and help hurricane victims through those purchases. Thanks, Abbie!

I have now gone global with my charity work, and have created a nonprofit corporation called Dream One World, Inc., to assist persons or communities in need that are not known by the news media, or perhaps forgotten. Please check out my new site at www.dreamoneworld.org. I am grateful to Dennis Koze, who connected me with a school and clinic in Sri Lanka with which he is affiliated so we can continue to send funds directly there for the tsunami victims of 2004 as one of our projects.

In addition, I have cofounded a nonprofit foundation called Trust... Then Heal with a friend in Florida who was completely paralyzed from the neck down in an accident over three years ago and is now walking without a cane. Please visit www.trustthenheal.org to read his story and connect to healing resources all over the country for conventional and alternative healing. We are also raising funds to assist other accident victims and people in need of financial assistance with their health care.

I also realized, in the creation of these charitable organizations, that I love making websites, so I started a new company called Site to Life (www.sitetolife. com) to help first-timers get simple websites up quickly and inexpensively. With the continued work of selling therapeutic portable spas and my private massage therapy practice, I am having a busy year!

Despite all this activity, my husband, John, our puppy, Ditto, and I managed to sneak away for ten days and drive to Baja, Mexico, where we looked at retirement possibilities. It was wonderful, and there is a lot to choose from there!

I am also the proud owner of a new painting by Susie Hyer, who works under the name Susiehyer, and whose artwork continues to grow more beautiful. She had several gallery shows in Colorado recently. By the way, Harry Douglas '75 is not only the art teacher for Susie's niece but also for one of Dennis Koze's sons. Such a small world.

Now for an announcement— this is the last column I will be writing for the Moravian College Magazine. My life is so busy, and as much as I have loved creating this column off and on throughout the years, I feel it is time to focus more fully on all the other aspects and projects in my life.

So the job is open. I hope somebody will be willing to take over this position soon, so we do not become one of those class years that never has any news. Please contact the alumni office if you are interested, and you can certainly contact me at mrmrschism@aol.com if you would like me to assist you in the transition.

Thanks to all of you who have read my column faithfully through the years and have sent me information to share with others. My hope is that we can all still stay in touch!