Archived News for 2007
Check the other years for archived news from that era.

December 22, 2007 -  Happy Winter Solstice!  Rejoice... The days are already getting longer!

Congratulations:  To Tom Yole, '52, and Potter Club Pres. '51-'52, was recently inducted with five others at the 6th annual induction for the Hudson Falls School system's "Wall of Distinction" honoring past graduates of Hudson Falls High School.  Tom ended his educational career as Principal of the Hudson Falls Middle School.

Donation:  A check for $100 was sent to Farmers' Museum from Potter Club Alumni Association for the benefit of the Empire State Carousel and in honor of Gerry Holzman.

In memoriam:  Word received that Edgar Bernard O'Hora, 1939, and member of the Potter Club, passed away October 9, 2007, in Naples, FL.  His daughter, Toya, thoughtfully sent the information to us.  If you need information about contacting her, send a note to the webmaster.

Address changes:  Roger Klimek, `69 sent info on himself; for Howard Smith, `71; and for Joe Clement, `60.  We had made contact with Howard earlier and are waiting for confirming info from Joe regarding his address and email.  See address changes link at the left.

December 2, 2007 -  [Apologies from the webmaster for the delay in getting this info to you earlier.]
Reunion 2008:  Now set for September 23-25, 2008.  Planning and arrangements are already underway.  Follow the progress at the link to the left.
Potter Luncheon, Latham, November 13:  A nice turn out of Pottermen to: share another luncheon; hear about the status of the Potter Room Refurbishing Project; get a final report on the Cooperstown Reunion; and to meet and enjoy the fellowship with Carlton Coulter, 1935, accompanied by Tom Benenati, 1953.
Four Presidents Attend:  Shown below:  Tom Benenati, `53, who accompanied Carlton; Paul Ward, Pres., 1953; Carlton Coulter, Pres., 1935; Ken Doran, `39; Tom Yole, Pres., 1952; Fred Culbert, Pres., 1965.
                        

See more about the meeting, with pictures and details of the conversations about Potter Club's early days at PotterLuncheon11132007. And check out the latest info on the earliest Potter House at the link to the left.  A new page has been started with information and pictures of the Edward E. Potter Memorial Room at Alumni House.  See link at the left.

Another Potterman Surfaces:  An email was received from Lou Peluso, 1982, who found our web site after chatting with Potter Classmates at the 2007 Albany Homecoming.  Check the Address Changes link for more info.

UAlbany Alumni Online Directory:  The University offers a searchable Alumni Directory on the University web site.  You need to register with them first to use it, but once registered you can search for alumni.  Under "advance search" you can specify groups, such as Potter Club and get a complete listing of everyone registered with the Alumni Association as a Potter member.  Their list shows 818 entries.  Some of these are in error, and we have some names in our membership directory they don't have.  But this is where we found Carlton's address and reached him. 
Try it at the link that follows.  http://www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/UAB/   If you have any problems, send an email to them, or contact me.  And, update your record with them, if you haven't done so recently.  [By the way we have 943 bona fide Potter Club names in our directory.]

October 19, 2007 -  The pictures of the 2007 Reunion are now on the web site.  Click on the Reunion 07 link at the left and go to Photo Album.  The file is large so be patient with the download time.

October 17, 2007 -  Reunion 2007 plus one week!  Another Potterman surfaces, Kevin Hanley, 1977.  He found out about us at the Albany Homecoming last weekend, where he attended his 30th Anniversary Reunion. 

More donations have arrived for the Refurbishing Project, and several emails with congrats to the Reunion Committee.  Thank you, all, for the thank yous!!  We had a great time getting it all together.  We are still processing the Reunion pix and look for ones from you, if you have them to share.

October 14, 2007 -  Beautiful weather on Wednesday; a great group of Pottermen and wives; a wonderful presentation by Gerry Holzman as we visited, viewed and rode the Empire State Carousel at Farmers' Museum; an outstanding dinner and evening at the Otesaga; and we got through the Potter Club song again with the able directing of Milan.  Rain descended in the evening and skies were cloudy with some drizzle on Thursday, but many continued touring in small groups during the morning.  We hope all enjoyed the Reunion as much as we did preparing for it.

Pictures will follow soon on the link to Reunion 07.  Keep checking.  We have quite a large number of shots to process.  If you have pictures you can share with us, send them electronically, if possible, or paper photos by mail.  If you want paper photos returned, let me know.

On to Canandaigua in 2008!

Another Potter President Found!! -  Tom Benenati reached Carlton Coulter, President, 1935.  Carlton was listed in the UAlbany Alumni Directory, living in New Paltz.  Tom will visit Carlton soon and will bring us up to date on his life since Albany in 1935!

October 8, 2007 -  2 Days to go.  Another attendee... Sven Sloth, `54, now finds he can join us.  See you all in two days!

October 6, 2007 4 Days to go until Reunion time.  More donations have rolled in. 
                           WE HAVE REACHED THE GOAL OF $12,000!!
 
Nearly 100 Pottermen have risen to the challenge and made the campaign a complete success.  If you have not yet donated, please send your money.  The more we have, the more can be done.  Check the link at the left for the details.  Thank you to all.

October 3, 2007 -  1 Week to go!  Lots of news.  Bob Lanni, `52, suffered a heart attack on Saturday, 9/30.  He seems to be doing well and they are cautiously optimistic.  He is in Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY.

More Past Presidents have surfaced.  Dean reached Karl Pelikan, `81, who responded back to us.  Don McClain, `59, was reached at home by phone.  Check address changes at the left for all of these.  Another Past President, Lenny Nadelback, `84,  was identified, but we no other info on him.  Can anyone help us out here?

Reunion Registrations:  Two cancellations, Lynn Lewis and Bob Lanni.  More names added, and more Refurbishing money.  Check out the latest at the left.

September 30, 2007 -  10 days and counting.  More registrations and donations... And another Potterman finds us.  Another President, at that. Dean Greabell, 1983, found our web site and wrote to say he could fill in some of the missing vacancies in our Past Presidents list, including himself.  Check that out at the left for the additions.

See the latest 2007 Reunion Schedule of Events and Program at the Reunion07 link at the left or at:  Reunion07\Sched&ProgramwMenu.htm

Reunion 08 Plans are in the works.  Ron Graves, `58, convened a planning meeting on September 27.  Tentative location - Rochester area.  See new link at the left for details.

September 25, 2007 -  15 days and counting.  More registrations... And another Potterman is found!  Bob Ashfield, 1955, responded to an email triggered by the UAlbany Magazine info.  Bob, now living in Texas, will be in New York State at reunion time and plans to attend.

September 23, 2007 -  Welcome to Fall.  17 Days and still counting to the Reunion at Cooperstown.  Fall foliage should be near peak when we meet.  Keep tabs on the development at:  http://iloveny.com/foliage/   More registrations and donations received and more promised.  Check them out at the left.

Dick Willis, `59, reports another Potterman has been found who had slipped through the cracks.  William McGrath, 1960, now a retired Lt. Col. in the Air Force, left Albany before graduation.  Finished college at  C.W. Post then joined the Air Force.  He is in California.  We have added him to the database.  Check the address changes.  Do you know of someone we have missed?  Let us know.

September 20, 2007 -  20 Days and counting.  Numbers and donations keep creeping upward.  Check the latest at the left.

Sven Sloth, 1954, "found" again, right in Oneonta.  The recent UAlbany Magazine Alumni News and Notes contained the information that Sven's wife, Ingrid, passed away in December, 2006.  A recent email address for Sven was found in the latest UAlbany Directory.  Sven replied to an email indicating he may be able to stop by the Reunion briefly on Wednesday.  Our condolences to Sven.  We look forward to seeing him at Cooperstown.

John E. Bills, 1935, passing on March 24, 2002 reported by UAlbany Magazine.  Richard Feathers, 1950, passing also reported.  His death we had already noted, but the date was June 24, 2000.  Our condolences to their survivors.

September 18, 2007 -  22 Days to Reunion, and counting!  More registrations have arrived and several have contacted us indicating they will soon add their names to the list.  Check out the summary in the links at the left.

The Albany Committee met recently with the UAlbany folks and received an invoice for the furniture.  A check will be presented to them in the near future.  We continue our drive toward the $12,000 goal so that all parts of the refurbishing plan can be accomplished.  If your donation has not been made, send it along.  Check the links at the left for the latest details.

If you know of someone who has not shown up in the Registration List; or the Regret List (namely those from whom we have had no reply) contact them to see whether they may have forgotten about the Reunion or may have misplaced the paperwork.  If anyone is planning to attend and stay at the hotel, a call should be placed first to insure there is still room available.

If you are attending and indicated no choices for the tours (see the list at the links at the left, and check after your name), you can let us know now and be listed, or you can wait and decide when you arrive.  If you have choices in mind now, let us know so we can give each respective venue a "heads up" as to numbers expecting to visit.

September 6, 2007 -  The Albany Group Refurbishing Committee will meet with the UAlbany folks on Monday.  At that meeting a determination will be made as to how close we are to the goal as compared to final figures for the cost.  Meanwhile, more mail has arrived.  Check out the latest totals.

September 2, 2007 -  Lou DelSignore, `59 checked in with his new address.  Another lost EEP found.  More donations have arrived.

We split up the archives by year for easier access to the old news.  Check it out at the link at the left.

August 31, 2007 -  We are up to 33 Pottermen attending with a grand total of 62.  A very respectable turnout, indeed!  The refurbishing tally is $10,215, or 85⅛% of the goal.  There are still a number of guys not heard from.  Have you replied with your donation?

We are very close to announcing the location for the 2008 Potter Alumni Reunion.  The date is still to be determined, but we are leaning toward the Fall.  Does Rochester sound good to you?  There seem to be a lot of energetic EEPs in that area champing at the bit for an opportunity to play host.  Stay tuned for more info.

August 27, 2007 -  More mail, more donations and more registrations.  Keep `em coming.

Membership CD Directory -  A couple of guys asked about it, since they were not on the original mailing list.  If you do not have a copy of the CD or do not have the 75th Commemorative Program and Candle favor, let us know and we will mail the package to you.  As guys have contacted us since the 75th we have tried to mail the package, but we may have missed some.  You can see the complete program and the candle favor at the Reunion 06 link at the left.  The CD is now dated, but we are trying to keep you up to date with changes under the Address Changes link.  If we missed yours, or you know of someone else's let us know.

In Memorium -  The list of Potter deceased has been updated. 

August 25, 2007 -  The deadline mail is in.  More donations and registrations have arrived, and more on the way.  Keep the donations and registrations coming, but check with the Hotel if you have not reserved by the deadline date.

We have updated the list of Past Presidents and added the list of Distinguished Alumni who are also members of Potter Club.  Check the list for errors and notify me of any changes.  See the link at the left.

August 24, 2007 -  1 day left.  More mail.  Another address change.  More Registrations and Regrets.  Check out all of them.  

August 23, 2007 -  2 days and counting.  Mail is arriving and the phone is beginning to ring.  More donations and registrations.  Check them out!

August 21, 2007 -  4 days and counting.  Three more donations and one more registration arrived today.  Keep the mail coming!  Check the address changes, too.

August 20, 2007 -  5 days and counting to the deadline for donations, registrations and hotel reservations.  Do we have your donation and registration, yet?

A couple of people have received confirmations from the Otesaga that would seem to indicate the hotel would be levying an additional charge of $17.50 per person.
Our rate listed on the hotel form is ALL INCLUSIVE.  Thus, there will be no additional charges beyond that listed on our form.

Bert Jablon, 1952, sent an article from Newsday (LI) about his jogging.  Bert was quoted:  "While nursing an overused tennis elbow at age 50, I decided to try jogging as a substitute sport while the healing process took place. Thirty years and 1,422 foot races later, and now in the first year of my octogenarian life, I find myself taking more cautionary care in maintaining the state of my eyes, skin, teeth and most importantly, my legs. Maintaining good health is no doubt the single most important factor at this stage of my life." "In a spirit of giving back, I find it satisfying to offer my part-time employer, Empire State College, SUNY Old Westbury, my 24 years of professional experience as a former hospital administrator. In this position, I am able to assist their health-care students take related courses that will help them obtain future degrees."

August 14, 2007 - Another Potterman has checked in.  Julius Picardi, `79, received our mail.  See the list below and check for his address and email at the left.

August 12, 2007 -  We are 60.3% on the way to our Donation Goal.  Our deadline is August 25, 2007.  Have we received your donation?  Remember... Give until it hurts.  It's for a great cause

More address changes received.  Check them out at the left.

Ben Jackson, 1950, wrote indicating he has Potter memorabilia he would like to donate.  Paul Ward will be in touch.  Do you have memorabilia kicking around that needs a permanent home?  Let us know.  Many items are in the Potter archives, but we want to be sure we have everything that is available.

Aug 1, 2007 -  More Pottermen surface.  Richard Margison, 1938, sent a reply and regret.  William J. Murphy, 1964, reached us and said we had the wrong picture for him in our directory.  Thomas Gessick, 1977, checked in.  More regrets and more registrations have arrived.  Check them out.

July 23, 2007 -  Two more Pottermen found!  Dick Willis, 1959; and Mark Turrisi, 1984.  Thanks to Franz Zwicklbauer, 1962, for leading Dick to us.  Mark turned up in checking out returned envelopes (see revised list below).  We have found new addresses for several of the guys below and have resent the envelopes to them.  Now we wait to see if we get a response.

July 20, 2007 -  The Albany Group met on Wednesday in Latham.  Attending were:  Milan Krchniak, `53; Claude Palczak, `53; Jim Panton, `53; Bob Umholtz, `51; Bob Lanni, `52; Paul Ward, `53; Ken Doran, `39; Fred Culbert, `65; and Jack Higham, `57.  Fred noted he has a newer email address since the Potter Directory was published.  Reach him now at: cculbert@stny.rr.com

Milan and Claude updated us on Tom Benenati.  Tom has been ailing for several months with a cancer of unknown origin.  He has had some surgery and is currently undergoing chemo treatments.  Send Tom a get well note or email.  We wish him a speedy and complete recovery, and send our warmest regards to Vivian.

We have received notification of several changes of addresses (PO or email).  In the future we will list them here, or indicate a change has been made, to preserve privacy.  If you are suspicious of the data for a given person in the Directory, please contact me for the latest in the database.  Frank Penski, `67, checked in with a new address and email.  See the list of Address Changes at the link to the left.

A discussion was reopened about inviting widows of deceased Pottermen to the Reunions.  In the recent past at least three such ladies have been invited, and depending on the location of the event several of them attended.  It was suggested, and approved, that we encourage each Class to invite widows that class members feel would be interested in attending our get-togethers.  Copies of mailings will be available to class representatives, either online or from Jack, that can be sent to the respective widows identified.  The current mailing for the Cooperstown Event are on the web site now.

July 16, 2007 -  Refurbishing Project Donations and Reunion `07 Registrations have been arriving, almost daily...  And, we have received a few orders for Potter merchandise.  If you are interested in ordering, please allow several weeks for us to complete your order.  We usually need to wait until we have sufficient quantity to keep the costs down.  We do not keep any inventory of items.

Check the Reunion 07 link for the latest on the Donations, Registrations and Regrets.

Mailing Update:  About 3 dozen envelopes have returned by the Post Office as undeliverable.  Several had expired forwarding addresses to which we have mailed the envelope a second time.  The remaining list of Pottermen is in limbo. 
Can you help to locate any of these guys? : 
[N.B.  An asterisk indicates we have determined the individual to be deceased.  Name in blue indicates person found.  Underlined indicates we are still looking for an address.]
John Burrington, `72;
George Clark, `41;
Victor Cohen, `68
;
Richard M. Cox, `38;
Donald E. Decicca, `68;
Louis Delsignore, `59;
*Leonard Doyle, `64;
Willie Draughton, Jr., `77
;
Harold Duffey, `42
;
Don Fearman, `61
;
John R. Flanagan, `56
;
Dean Greabell, `83
;
David Gunson, `73;
Paul Ianiri, `68;
Roger Klimek, `69;
*Peter Marchetta, `43;
Richard L. Margison, `36;
Don Matthews, `73;
James Morgan, `73;
Bruce Pfaff, `59;
Julius Picardi, `79;
Richard Platt, `40
;
*Arthur Root, `49;
William Shufelt, `62;
Mark Turrisi, `84
;
Leroy VanRiper, `70
;
Rudolph Vido, `78
;
Thomas Wallace, `72;
David Wheeler, `70
.

July 6, 2007 - Dr. James Conway, 1954, passed away on June 28, 2007.  Jim was the first person to receive an earned doctorate from Albany.  This information received from Hal Smith.

Also deceased:
Fred Shoemaker, 1944, on February 1, 2007.  A relative sent notification to us.
Alan Terho, 1944, on April 3, 2007.  Alan was President of Potter Club, 1946-1947.  Alan's wife, Eloise, sent the information.

Our condolences are offered to the families of these Pottermen.

Mailing Update -  Mail has been coming in as a result of our letter.  So far, we have 20 replies with a little more than $1600 in donations.  A summary will appear on the Refurbishing Donation Summary in the near future.

June 22, 2007 -  Lots of news, so read carefully! 

Letter and Brochure in the Mail:  About 540 letters went out with info for the 2007 Reunion and the Potter Room Refurbishing Project.  Be on the lookout for your copy.  You will find the same info under the Reunion07 link at the left.  If you do not receive the mailing (was sent 1st Class) let us know.

Another EEP President checks in, and...  Alan Brassard, 1978, now in Bonsall, CA, contacted us by email.  He can be reached at: allanbrassard@attwb.net  And yet another past president has been identified, this by Paul Ward.  He is Jeffrey D. Peters, Pres. of EEP in 1979.  We are still searching for a good address for him.  Any help?

April 20, 2007 -  The Potter Room Refurbishing Committee, consisting of Paul Ward, Milan Krchniak, Bob Lanni, Jim Panton, and Bob Umholtz has been meeting with Albany Alumni Office officials and vendors about the cost of the project.  They have determined the cost will be in the neighborhood of $12,000.  Go to the Potter Room Update page for more details.  A letter will go out to all Alumni on our good address mailing list with the brochure for the 2007 Reunion.  The letter will include accurate costs and amounts we would be seeking from Alumni through donations.  The mailing is anticipated for mid-to-late June.

June 10, 2007 - The Albany Group met in Latham for lunch on Wednesday, March 28.  Attending were:  Ken Doran, Bob Umholtz, Dick Jacobson, Ted Bayer, Milan Krchniak, Paul Ward, Tom Yole, Fred Culbert, and Jack Higham.  Preliminary plans for the Fall 2007 Reunion were presented and discussed.  You can see more details of the planning at the link Reunion 07

Paul showed some photos and figures on the potential cost of the Potter Room refurbishing project.  The Committee has since met with the UAlbany Alumni officials (see above).

Another missing Potterman has surfaced in Austin, TX.  Jim Banks, 1971, recently discovered our web site and sent an email.  We look forward to getting a complete update from him.  He can be reached at jbanks@austin.rr.com 

Apr 18, 2007 -  In memorium:  Francis O. Streeter, 1953, passed away on Sunday, April 15, 2007.  He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Mary Battisti Streeter, 1955, Dryden, NY.  Fran's funeral will be Saturday, April 21, 2007 in Freeville, NY.  Our condolences to Mary and his family.

Feb 05, 2007 -  An email message went on Jan. 28 to all who attended the 75th Reunion; responded with regrets, but were not able to attend; and to those on the 75th mailing list who did not reply.  The message contained a list of the guys who fit the categories above, but who do not have email (at least we do not have an email address for them).  A second list contained all of the guys in the categories above with email addresses.  We have received some bounce back for bad email addresses; have had some replies; and await more response from any who are able to reach the non-email guys for us.  As the "dust settles" we will keep you up to date on changes forwarded to us.  A fresh list will be emailed.  In the meantime, if you need any of the corrected addresses, send an email to me.

We are still looking for guys who have not responded to our mail.  If you reach any of these guys, let us know.

We also have some new pictures from the 75th that will be added to the Reunion 06 Photo Album, soon.

Settling Dust -
Replies:
   
R. Kloepfel, 1949; W. Lindberg, 1956; J. Sweet, 1956 (via R. Graves in FL):
    H. Bagley, 1957; (sent an email address for J. Anderson, 1957);
    R. Alexander, 1958; R. Graves, 1958: W. Arthurton, 1964;
   
J. Finnen, 1954 (new street address,
18 Moor Dr., same 5 digit zip, same phone);

Bad email addresses:
    P. Bullock, 1951 (corrected);  J. Persico, 1952; G. Schaertl, 1952 (corrected);
    G. Lagrange, 1953;
    J. Lindberg, 1956 (corrected); P. Schatzle, 1956; R. Gorman, 1956;
    P. Barbagelata, 1958;
    R. Benton, 1964, (corrected);  R. Ruthman, 1964;
    J. Blackman, 1966;
    F. Penski, 1967;

Full inbox:
    R. Sage, 1955

In memoriam:  Our Chi-Sig friends notified us that Kay Oberst McManus, wife of Peter McManus, 1954, passed away Jan. 26, 2007.  Her funeral was Jan. 30, 2007 in Schenectady.  Our condolences to the McManus family.

Jan 26, 2007 -  We have been dormant for too long!  So it is time to bring you up to date on Potter happenings.  We have opened a new link, Reunion07, where we will keep you informed of the developing plans.  In short, we will convene in Cooperstown, NY on Wednesday October 10, at the Otesaga Inn.  We will be hosted by Gerry Holzman at his newly relocated Empire State Carousel on the Farmer's Museum grounds.  We will have ample opportunity for seeing the sights in Cooperstown and for renewing those old Potter friendships.  Put the date on your calendar, now.  We will have more detail; including registration and reservation information, and the status of the Potter Room refurbishing project, for you in the near future.  Keep checking the Reunion07 link.