Class Notes

Name: Joel Miller

Class Year(s): 1977

Note: Joel Miller ’77 (CLA) is now living in Oak Park, I.L. and is the director of operations for North Shore Congregation Israel -- one of the largest reform congregations in the Chicago area.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Joseph Stevens

Class Year(s): 1978

Note: Joseph Stevens ’78 (GAP) retired on January 7, 2022. After 44 years of working in the printing industry, he am now volunteering at NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) as a facilitator. He also has 5 grandchildren.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Mark Higgins

Class Year(s): 1997, 2003

Note: Mark Higgins ’97 (SCB), MBA ’03 (SCB) and Ron Toper ’97 (SCB), MBA ’98 (SCB) hosted the 13th Annual Autism Open. This year’s event raised $23,500 for Autism Up, a local Autism support group in Rochester N.Y. In 13 years of the event, RIT graduates, including many from the Triangle Fraternity in the late 80s and 90s, have helped the event raise over $190,000. RIT Grads in attendance included: 1983 - David Payne 1988 - Brian Fox 1990 - Vince Hesketh 1992 - Dave Bardusch 1994 - Mike Derose, James Stroud, Mike Scorzelli, Trevor Young, Jim Senall 1995 - Chris Merz, Donny Gentilcore, Eric Schmidt, Jack Degrace, John Flannery 1996 - Ryan Shooshan 1997 / 1998 - Ron Toper 1997 / 2003 - Mark Higgins 1999 - Ryan Kiley 2000 - Eddie Aro 2001 / 2002 - Adam Platzer 2007 - Dan Christner ??? - Josh Zenkel, Dave Peneskovic, Dave Browne & Jeff Fitch The Autism Open thanks you for your years of generosity and looks forward to seeing all the RIT grads at the 14th Annual Autism Open in June 2023!

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Paul Chida

Class Year(s): 1984

Note: Paul Chida ’84 (KGCOE) retired from Boeing Company in 2020 after 35 years. He was married in 2020 and is now living in Florida.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Tom Fecteau

Class Year(s): 1976

Note: Tom Fecteau ’76 (SCB) recently became the membership chair and a board member for the Rochester Professional Consultants Network (RPCN) based in Rochester, N.Y. and supports consultants worldwide. RPCN provides fellowship, education, and coaching/mentoring services for consultants and professionals who have recently begun independently selling their expertise. They also support specialists who have ended their corporate careers and are investigating starting a consulting practice. Learn more at https://rochesterconsultants.org/

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Jeffrey Pollock

Class Year(s): 1966

Note: Jeff Pollock MBA ’66 (GAP) was recently elected as a trustee of the George Eastman Museum.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Kat Bastow

Class Year(s): 2004

Note: Kat Bastow ’04 (CIAS) and her husband are expecting their first child, due in October.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Kelly Petersen

Class Year(s): 2003

Note: Kelly (Schottler) Petersen ’03 (CIAS) and her husband, Brent, welcomed a new addition in April 2021. Their son, Wally, joins big brother Bernie. He is a curly-haired ball of fire and has been such a light in their lives!

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: Daniel Holmes

Class Year(s): 1982

Note: Daniel Holmes ’82 (GAP) has recently moved to Roswell, N.M. where he has taken a position as senior trial attorney in the 5th Judicial District District Attorney’s office. He is shown with two intergalactic residents who moved to Roswell in 1947.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022

Name: James TABBI

Class Year(s): 89, 97

Note: James Tabbi ’89 (COS), MS ’97 (SCB) shares that The Heroic Enthusiasts’ Fits and Fashions—the first of their two EPs to be released this year on Meridian/ECR Music Group—arrived June 24, 2022 on the heels of multiple successes for the celebrated duo. “Fits and Fashions is primarily about the personal and social dichotomies of the world we’re living in,” singer and songwriter, Tabbi, explains. “We all want to try to fix what we’re witnessing and experiencing, to fit it all together better, to fashion a better world regardless of the inherent challenges.” The two singles already released from this new EP have quickly become the most successful singles of The Heroic Enthusiasts’ career. “The Fits and Fashions EP is tantamount to ‘Side 1’ of our new album,” says guitarist and songwriter Thomas Ferrara. “And ‘Side 2’ will be coming later this year. The five songs on Fits and Fashions provide an opportunity to glimpse who we are as a band: one that pulls from 80’s-based nostalgia and turns it into something modern, new, and refreshing.” Co-produced and mixed by Post-Punk and New Wave studio legend Stephen Hague (New Order, Peter Gabriel, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys), Fits and Fashions harks back to the synth-and-guitar driven hits of the 1980’s which helped shape the duo’s own musical landscape. The Heroic Enthusiasts’ now well-established musical partnership with Hague began with an auspicious introduction. “So much of what I’m sent these days is basically beats with hooks, but the Heroic’s stuff was a breath of fresh air,” says Hague. “When I first heard their demos, I was taken by their song-craft and musicality. After a couple of introductory phone conversations with Thomas and James, I knew and said, ‘Buckle up boys, I’m joining the team.’” Hague, who has produced and recorded some of the most iconic pop music of the past half-century with Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Peter Gabriel, and Erasure, did, in fact, join the team—comprised of James Tabbi and Thomas Ferrara—to forge the collection of tracks on Fits and Fashions. Tabbi and Ferrara’s shared influences of Brit-pop, New Wave, and Post-Punk brought the duo together following celebrated solo efforts as recording artists, producers, composers, and multi-instrumentalists. Educated in computational mathematics and mathematical statistics, respectively, Tabbi and Ferrara’s creative collaborations deftly combine the intellectual and emotional, a dichotomy that has now caught the attention of listeners around the globe. Fits and Fashions dropped on June 24th on Meridan/ECR Music Group.

Submitted on: July 29, 2022