March 2014 Update

Happy Spring fellow classmates!

It's time for another update, I appreciate all of the contributions to this edition of the blog.  Remember that this only exists because of all of you!

I'll post some fun pieces first and then near the end I will do a bit of business so please read through the complete blog.

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Bill Jackson has been in touch. I was happy to hear from him.  Here's an update on what he's been doing....

"In a few months, I'll be celebrating my 7th anniversary with Netflix. One thing we're particular proud of on the engineering side, is that we've just been awarded our 2nd "Technical Emmy!"  

"This photo was taken at the celebration of our
 40 Million customers milestone."

Here is the list of Emmy awards he recently earned : 

2013 - Personalized Recommendation Engines For Video Discovery

2012  - NETFLIX STREAMING OF MOVIES AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS

There is also a video you can watch -  http://emmyonline.com/tech_65th_ceremony - at the 45 minute mark

Congratulations Bill and co-workers on your awards!

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A shout-out of CONGRATULATIONS to Philomena DePalma Chillino and her husband Robert who are celebrating their milestone 35th Wedding Anniversary in May!  Philomena has kindly sent in some photos taken over the years.....

Philomena in 1979 while honeymooning

The Chillino Family in above 2 photos

Philomena now

Philomena the proud grandmother with her granddaughters Eleanora on the left, Isabella on the right

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Joe Fagan's son Shane has followed in his older siblings' footsteps and is a great speller!

Shane, shown above, second from the left.  Shane and these schoolmates were victorious in their school bee and earned the right to represent their school at the Tri-State Spelling Bee on March 16th. This was Shane's second time advancing to the Tri-State Bee. Thanks to the suggestion from Joe, I was able to listen to Shane being interviewed on WYNY Radio that day.   This process of advancing through the spelling bee is harder than one might think. Shane said that it began with a written test in mid-February to prepare for the school bee; the top 5 students then moved on to the regionals (Tri-State).  He used a study packet that had 1400 words and studied 2-2.5 hours per day in preparation.  

While most of the Bees go 20 rounds, this Tri-State Bee continued for 59 rounds.  Shane was defeated at the end, achieving 2nd place but his effort was stellar! He gave it his all and made his family and friends proud!

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It has been a somewhat long winter (depending upon your location), so it becomes a good time for crafty-type people to come up with new ideas and projects.

If you are familiar with Etsy, you may know LindaEve. Our classmates know her as Linda Swickle. She does outstanding work re-purposing fabrics into lovely bags among other things...a true Eco-Etsy gal.  

Linda and her husband Mark Everett are dyeing to tell you all about their newest project - over-dyed scarves made from bamboo/organic cotton fleece, bamboo/organic cotton jersey, and re-purposed pure linen. These delicious, colorful scarves are currently for sale at Ebb in Hopewell NJ and at Through the Moongate in Highland Park NJ, as well as online at Linda's Etsy shop. 

These scarves of bamboo are soft and welcoming....many color choices available to go with any outfit.

Can't you just imagine the feel of these wonderful linen scarves?

Contact Linda and Mark through Linda's Etsy shop or visit the shops above if you are in the NJ area. If you have any questions, they will be happy to answer them and also to discuss your needs!  These make the perfect gift for your graduate, Mother's Day, birthdays or just for yourself.  

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Congratulations to Mike Dooley's son, Michael!

Michael competed in the state championship for soccer
 the past 2 out of 3 years.  

Here's Michael as he signs his letter of intent for 
the University of Tampa.

Here's Michael and his proud Dad, Mike.

Congratulations to the Dooley Family! 

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This past week some classmates went out to dinner to celebrate Lynn Savino's birthday. They regularly celebrate with each other and always enjoy themselves.

Here we have (left) Todd Cochran, Lynn Savino, (right) John Baker and Patty Menz Levys. They enjoyed the meal and the company at Bobby Q's in Suffern (formerly known as O'Henry's).

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Since the next update won't be until October, I wanted to take a minute to wish Diane Jessop Fisher and her husband Brian a Happy 35th Wedding Anniversary in September.  Congrats on this upcoming milestone!!

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The annual John Carty golf outing is being held on July 14th at High Mountain Golf Club in Franklin Lakes. This fun event raises money for the scholarship fund.  If you would like to participate or want more information, please email me at mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com and I can have someone get in touch with you. If you go back in the blog pages, you can see some pictures that were taken during previous outings.

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Now time for a little bit of business...

If you have moved or are moving please keep us updated regarding your new address.  We want to be able to contact you when reunion time rolls around and it is easier to do updates from time to time rather than scramble at the last minute or have mail returned by the post office.  Also if your email address changes, please let us know so we can continue to reach you with news or messages.  Please send changes to mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com  or just reply to my personal email address (the one that sends you out messages.)

Thank you to all who assisted with the MHS Class of 1974 list of missing classmates. Terri appreciates your help!

Remember, if you want to share any news about your job, family, new grandkids, travel, etc., please do! You can send it to me whenever you'd like, the blog gets updated each March and October.

Ok, now for a blast from the past from our yearbook.....

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You can find many of us on Facebook, we have a class group page and there is also a group "You know you're from Mahwah if..."  And I found that MHS is on Twitter so if you are interested in what's happening at the school, you can follow MHS there. They post photos and info about school events such as sports on their account.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and if you have any suggestions, I would like to hear them since this is YOUR blog. 

Have a wonderful spring and summer!!

Sue 

mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com