Greetings from Molloy - Week 21

The week started off quietly, but as with every week at Molloy it slowly grew into a general frenzy...

The Jim Kinnier Stanner Golf Classic Committee Report

The Golf committee held its regular meeting and approximately 15 members were in attendance. Special guests included Denise and John Gibbons ‘84. This year will be the inauguration of the John Gibbons Trophy and the establishment of the John Gibbons Memorial Scholarship. Topics for discussion included reports from the Corporate Sponsorship Committee, the Program Committee and the Journal Committee. The overall feeling was that this should be the biggest outing ever for the Jim Kinnier Stanner Golf Classic. Check your calendars and set aside the date — Monday, May 5th for one of the best Stanner Reunions held each year. The event will be held at two of the areas best country clubs, Plandome, and North Hills. Special thanks to Dr. Peter Harvey at North Hills, and Brother Pat Hogan's cousin at Plandome for sponsoring us at these clubs. Bring your classmates together, invite corporate sponsors and support the new Scholarship in honor of Mr. John Gibbons.

Non-Scholae Sed Vitae — Gino ‘81 and John, ‘87 Fazio hosted a meeting of the Building and Grounds Committee of the School Directory on Wednesday night. Six Stanner Engineers and Construction Experts took a tour of the heating systems and the overall infrastructure of our 50 year facility. Mario Magnan ‘56, St. Ann's, Keith DeMatteis ‘79, Stephane Audrin ‘85, PE and Paul Mulyk, '01, were on hand to look over blueprints and crawl through the basements of the building. Their goal: simple -evaluate the HVAC infrastructure and create a proactive plan for service and replacements where necessary. From where I sit, it was one more opportunity for Stanners to give back to the school. This look-see visit and their commitment will save the school thousands of dollars in repairs and energy savings in the years to come. What a gift. Thank you all for your service and for setting an example for others — Non Scholae, Sed Vitae.

Academics — Mid Year Reports

The grade reports are out and there is great reason to celebrate at Molloy. There are many bright and talented students at the school. This marking period alone there were 26 Freshmen, 13 Sophomores, 32 Juniors and 18 Seniors on the Principal's list. For those of us not familiar with this particular list, in order to gain a spot on this list you needed a 99% or greater average — Whew! The Honors with Distinction list which requires a 95% - 99% average had 80 Freshmen, 81 Sophomores, 104 Juniors and 85 Seniors on it — Still a pretty steep climb. Honors students, those with grades averaging 90% - 95% included 161 Freshmen, 119 Sophomores, 132 Juniors and 137 Seniors. Trust me when I tell you that there are MANY outstanding students at this school, and academic competition is alive and well. The future reputation of Stanners in Colleges and University and then again out into the workplace is in good hands. Congratulations to all!

Spiritual Life at Molloy

One of the daily rituals in our office involves Brother Regis. A Marist Brother for 54 years, he is a man on a mission. In addition to his peer group work with the students, Brother has made a tradition to stop into various offices around the school and deliver his blessings. It provides a both a quiet moment and an opportunity to reflect. I have grown rather fond of these moments in time. When I asked him when he started his "rounds" he told me it was five or six years ago. These minutes he takes from his life and gives to others reminds me, personally, that we can and should serve as a blessing to one another. His life is a testament to St. Marcellin's call to his brothers to serve one another. Thank you, Brother Regis, for being you. You are indeed a blessing to us all.

Volunteers Needed

Alumni volunteers are needed for the St. Ann's/Archbishop Molloy ANNUAL FUND phonathon scheduled for Monday - Thursday, the first two weeks of March. Volunteers are needed to make telephone calls or do clerical work. Dinner, orientation, and training will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by two hours of "Stanner Outreach!" We would appreciate if you could volunteer to work our phonathon for two evenings. Please call Maria Ford at 718-441-9210 to schedule the evenings you can volunteer.

Coach Curran's 50th Anniversary

Reservations will close for the Jack Curran 50th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday at noon. There is no charge for the reception which is scheduled to begin immediately following courtside presentations at the end of the Varsity game against St. Francis Prep. The charge for the game that evening will be $5.00 adults and $2.00 for students. At the present time approximately 150 people have signed up for the evening. We are anticipating a full house for the game and would encourage our Alumni to arrive early and check in with the gate keepers to let them know you will be at the reception.

Special Note: There will be no special parking arrangements the evening of Coach Curran's event.

Visits and News

In addition to the invasion of engineering types we heard from a few other alumni.

Marc Garlasco '88 sent in a notice that a documentary he was in last year has been nominated for an Oscar. In his note he writes; "I hope this isn't too self-serving! I was in the film "No End In Sight" and it was just nominated for Best Documentary at this year's Oscars. Keep your fingers crossed!" All I can say to that is "That's Hollywood". In addition to his career playing himself on television and the big screen, Marc has been a guest speaker at Molloy in Mr. Diorio's class and has visited Mr. Sheldon's classes as well. Best of luck to you, Marc.

Chris Rini, '96, Artist and Musician stopped in to tell us about his first one man art show at the Art Bar at 52 8th Avenue, NY. His show opens on February 7th and runs for 90 days. He welcomes all Stanner Alumni to visit his 40 painting show. He started his painting career as a draftsman at a young age and started painting while at Molloy. His work has been hung in group shows. His music career revolves around an all instrumental band called The Equation. He has cut three albums with that group and last year returned to his first love, painting. His works can be found at www.onehundredpaintings.com

Shandue McNeil ‘93 was inducted into the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame over the weekend. According to the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame press release, "One of coach Jim Baron's first recruits, McNeill was the first in a long line of great point guards that played for the Brown and White since the early 90s. McNeill made an immediate impact in his first season with the Bonnies and was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team. One year later, he helped lead St. Bonaventure to its first postseason appearance in 12 years, an NIT berth that resulted in a win over Southern Mississippi at the Reilly Center. The only player in program history to lead the team in assists four-straight seasons, McNeill broke career records for assists (616) and steals (281), while scoring 1,049 points. McNeil was named to the A-10 All-Defensive team as a senior and was a three-time Academic All-Conference selection."

News from Iraq — Stanners in Service.

From time to time we hear from Andy Lyons, class of 2000 on his work in service to the children of Iraq. I believe a few pictures speak volumes compared to the words I might use. A copy of his e-mail appears below. If you can find a way to help Andy, contact him directly. drew.lyons1@us.army.mil

Greetings,

I am Captain Andy Lyons (class of 2000) and I am on my second tour in Iraq ( just outside of Kirkuk city). Recently I had a chance to visit a local school where my Battalion (Triple Deuce Infantry) was able to donate school supplies to elementary aged kids. The supplies were donated from the friends and family of 1LT Sean Kane, who is from our Delta Company. The supplies were a huge success and I am trying to see if I can get other schools involved as well.

Andy Lyons