May 26, 2023 Hello, Friends,   What a wonderful Reunion we had last weekend! The weather cooperated and many friends gathered to share old memories and create new ones. I hope all of you who attended had a great time. For those who were unable to join us, we’ve recapped the events below.

Athletic Hall of Fame inducts new members We kicked off the weekend with our Class of 2023 Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, May 18 at the Crowne Plaza Albany – The Desmond Hotel. This event recognizes and honors alumni, alumnae, coaches, and teams for outstanding contributions to athletics and their dedication to the ideals of The Albany Academies, including the highest level of sportsmanship. This year’s outstanding inductees included Dave Rider ’73, Bill Marks ’83, Michael D’Amelia ’83, Patrick Bryant ’98, Trevor Ortolano ’03, Teagan Ketchum ’13, and Maura Mulligan ’15. Rodger Wyland of NewsChannel 13 served as emcee. Please Click Here to view their tribute videos from the event.

Celebrating the Classes of 1973 At noon on Friday, members of The Albany Academy Class of 1973 and prior years got together at the Old Guard Luncheon in Caird Chapel for a special celebration honoring the Reunion class. A highlight of the event was when the entire student body came in to sing the “Old Academy’ song. Also on Friday, several members of the Albany Academy for Girls Class of 1973 celebrated with a 50th Reunion luncheon in the Drawing Room. Both were lovely events with friends reconnecting and sharing memories of their time on campus. The classes also joined together on Friday night for a dinner in the Class of 1970 Pavilion.

Arts Hall of Fame inductees honored Also on Friday, we inducted five artists into the Academies Arts Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Please join us in congratulating Theodore Bouloukos ’80, Ashton Holmes ’96, Armen Garo ’73, and Stephanie Bortis Stoltzfus ’98 on their induction. In addition, Robert LuPone P’24 was inducted posthumously. Videos of all the inductees with their incredible accomplishments were shown prior to each honoree making some brief remarks. A highlight of the ceremony was the student performances throughout the event. Please Click Here to view their tribute videos from the event.

Pen Pals have in-person meetings Alumnae and alumni from the Classes of 1973 enjoyed time Friday afternoon meeting their fifth-grade pen pals in the courtyard at Albany Academy for Girls and at the McNamee Library at The Albany Academy. The fifth and sixth graders have been writing to their pals for the past several months and finally were able to meet them in person during Reunion.

Outstanding Young Alumnae & Alumni and Distinguished Alumnae & Alumni  On Friday evening at the Welcome Reception Samantha Miorin ’10, President of the Alumnae Association, and Cdr. Joseph Fitzgerald ’74, President of the Alumni Association, presented our Outstanding Young Alumna and Alumnus Awards, as well as our Distinguished Alumna and Alumnus Awards. Please join us in congratulating Omar McGill ’08, Nicole Van Slyke ’03, Karen Avery ’83, and Steven Ranney ’63 on receiving these accolades. Videos of the winners with their incredible accomplishments were shown prior to each honoree making some brief remarks. Please Click Here for the Alumnae tribute videos and Click Here for the Alumni tribute videos from the event.

Head of School presents State of the School We kicked off Saturday morning with Head of School Chris Lauricella’s update on the State of the School, where he shared the Master Facilities Plan and talked about the bright future of The Albany Academies. Renderings were shared with the attendees. A recorded video will be sent under separate cover of the presentation.

Class of 1973 inducted at Alumnae Luncheon The Courtyard at Albany Academy for Girls was the setting for the annual Alumnae Luncheon and Jane Lathrop Stanford Induction Ceremony of the Class of 1973. Congratulations to Wendy Muhlfelder ’67, P’94, ’98, ’99, ‘00, this year's recipient of the Fredericka V. Slingerland Volunteer Service Award, and special thanks to Margaret Lamar King ’65 for sharing information from the archives.

Barbecue lunch was a fun time! The Class of 1970 Pavilion was the site of the annual Alumni Association Barbeque. Alumni from all classes gathered for some food and conversation in an informal setting.

Class dinners bring classmates together Chris Lauricella and Joanne DelCarpine visited many of the individual class dinners held around the Capital Region and enjoyed seeing so many of you. We apologize if we didn’t make it to your event – there were so many and it was difficult to get to all of them. Please visit the website to see photos from the class dinners.

Presentation of Highest Class Giving and Participation Awards  The classes with the highest level of giving and the highest giving participation were also announced at the Welcome Reception on Friday night. Joe recognized the AA Class of ’63 for the Highest Level of Giving and the AA Class of ’73 for the Highest Level of Participation. Samantha recognized the AAG Class of ’83 for the Highest Level of BOTH Giving and Participation (way to go, AAG!)    We are grateful to everyone who has made a gift to The Academies Fund. These donations provide opportunities for all our current students, just as they have always enabled academic, athletic, and artistic achievements. Please lend your support at boostmyschool.com/academies-strong or call 518-429-2391 for further assistance.

13 student-athletes signed their national letters of intent during a ceremony on Tuesday afternoon. View the news coverage here.

Golf Outing to be held on June 19 Onto another event… We hope you’ll join us on Monday, June 19 for our annual Golf Outing at the Colonie Country Club. The format of this event is a four-person scramble and golf will be followed by dinner and drinks. For more details or to register, please CLICK HERE.

Class notes

As mentioned in the previous Happenings, we will include Class Notes in each issue of Happenings rather than in the A2 Magazine. Here is the first of the notes from the Class of 1963.   Fourteen members of the Class of 1963 checked in for some or all of the Reunion events over the course of the weekend. Here are some notes on their activities, shared with us by Hank Evans:   It was a grand reunion for The Albany Academy Class of 1963 with 14 classmates checking in for some or all of the events over the 4 days we were in town. Thursday evening saw the Athletic Hall of Fame party and banquet which saw about 100 people in attendance, including Steve and Linda Ranney and Hank Evans with his companion Beth Elliott. Hank's son, Mark ’83, presented his hockey stick, signed by the team, to The Academy for inclusion in the Michael B. Picotte Field House trophy case. Mark was captain of the ‘83 hockey team that won the state championship. Legendary Hockey Coach Dave Rider ‘73 accepted the stick and was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.  At the Old Guard Luncheon on Friday, classmates Gerry Fassett and Don Morris joined from their homes locally. Burt Wilcke was from Burlington, Vermont, and Charlie Stewart was from Skaneateles, New York. Sandy Macomber came from Denver and Sandy Carpenter all the way from Germany to join Hank and Steve for the event. It included a reading of the roster of those who had departed over the past year and classmates Bill Horan and Mike Maguire were noted.  The Friday evening formal reception under the tent on the front lawn was well attended. In addition to those previously mentioned, we were joined by Mike and Patty Vaughn, who had driven in from their summer home on Lake George; John and Jenny Van Orden, in from their home in Bath, Maine; Steve Sumberg and his fiancée, Jane, in from Washington, D.C.; Ken Levinson from his home in Tucson, Arizona; and Jon Rogers from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Steve Ranney received a Distinguished Alumnus Award for his support of The Academy. Many gathered for an evening visit in the atrium at the Crown Plaza Albany – Desmond Hotel to wrap up the busy day. Saturday saw several class members at the State of the School address by Head of School Chris Lauricella. While much has changed from our days, the schools are progressively moving ahead and providing a fine education to the youth of the Capitol Region. The barbecue at the Class of 1970 Pavilion was well attended by our class. Paul Epstein and his wife, Grace, drove in from Connecticut to join us for the day. A number of us toured the field house to look at the Hall of Fame inductees’ pictures. Included were George Chelius and John Van Orden for football, swimming, and track, along with our 1963 Championship Football Team. Several in attendance were on that team, including Van Orden, Wilcke, Carpenter, Vaughn, Stewart, and Evans. We also saw the bronze plaques of all those who served in the military. Our class had many names listed. (Hank was personally moved to see his father's name there from the class of 1938 when he became a Navy pilot in World War II.) Thanks to all in our class who served their country in the military and especially those who gave all, Ned Consolver and Dave Anderson.   Unfortunately, Tommy Evans and his bride, Pam, who had just returned from Mexico, managed to catch COVID, and our cocktail party at their home had to be canceled. We had hoped to gather again in the hotel atrium but were displaced by a couple hundred teenagers and their prom. We settled for a far back corner of the bar and almost all our attending classmates gathered there for the farewell evening party.  Thanks to all who made the trek to Albany for a memorable Reunion. And to the rest, we missed you and hope to see you next time (that includes George Chelius, Morgan McKenzie, and Tom Mauet who dropped out at the last minute due to illness or injury). Many thanks to Steve and Linda Ranney who worked very hard to ensure our reunion was a success!

Please visit the website to see photos and videos from all the reunion festivities. It certainly was a great weekend!

Be well, friends. Please stay in touch and enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Best,

Ann Wendth Chief Advancement Officer

albanyacademies.org

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