THE GREEN | PLYMOUTH STATE ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Jump to Decade
1950s
’52 & ’57: 70th & 65th Reunions–Summer Reunion 20221960s
’62 & ’67: 60th & 55th Reunions–Summer Reunion 20221970s
’72 & ’77: 50th & 45th Reunions–Summer Reunion 2022Mark Haynes ’72 was elected to a third term on the Laconia City Council and currently serves as mayor pro tem.
Nancy L. (Beegle) Badger ’75 was recently honored with the Romance Writers of America North Carolina Chapter’s Christine Hyatt Award for service in addition to publishing her 41st novel. Nancy also enjoys producing her own cover art.
Judge Richard D. Walton ’76, retired from the bench as a federal immigration judge in Houston, TX, on August 27, 2021. He was a judge for 26 years in Los Angeles and Houston after being appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno in 1995. He says, “I’m now looking forward to enjoying my life. Hopefully my wife Rosalind and I can resume travel soon. I also continue running marathons and playing tennis and golf.”
Cheryl (Adams) Cage ’77 spent over 20 years as a political consultant and in 2019 published her first children’s book in the Norman the Interested Cat series. Norman now has five books (with accompanying songs) in the series and his fan base is growing! Cage’s deep interest in politics led to her writing the story of Norman the Interested Cat books and developing Norman’s music. Cage says, “Anyone who does political or activist work clearly understands the importance of raising children, the leaders of tomorrow, to be centered, compassionate, and confident adults. The lessons I layer into Norman’s adventures are the same values I stand by in politics: Be true to yourself and others. Don’t fear differences. Handle problems with vulnerability, honesty, and compassion.” Cage was also named a Social Impact Author by Medium-Authority Magazine in 2021 and her third book, Happy Clothes, was named one of the Best LGBT books for preschoolers and young readers by PrettyProgressive.com.
The Honorable Jeffrey R. Howard ’78 has stepped down from active service on the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals. Read the Reuters story.
1980s
’82: 40th reunion–Summer Reunion 2022 ’87: 35th Reunion–homecoming 2022Susan Ballantyne ’82 retired in May from her position as a vocational rehabilitation counselor with DVRS after 38 years. She is building a home in McCormick, SC, and will be retiring there. “Looking forward to lots of biking, hiking, stand up paddleboarding, kayaking, and pickleball! Hard to believe that retirement got here so quickly.”
Ann (Kolden) Coletti ’88 earned her doctorate in organizational leadership in 2018. She now works in the ESOL department of her school and is the lead mentor for her district.
Scott Dustin ’89 majored in business management and was part of Lambda Chi fraternity and intramural basketball and softball during his time at Plymouth. Plymouth State helped him with “Confidence and exposure to a diversity of ideas and activities. PSC has changed significantly since I attended, and all for the better!” After graduating Dustin was employed with Progressive Insurance for 24 years. He is now New England litigation and large loss supervisor covering all of New England. Daughter Joanna is a freshman at UMASS Amherst and playing forward on the Women’s Hockey Team. Son Jordan, 15, is a sophomore at Concord High School, carrying a 3.3 average and playing defense on the back-to-back D1 state champion Concord Crimson Tide. His wife, Celeste (delightfully married 21 years), continues working as a paraprofessional at Concord’s Mill Brook Elementary School K–2 since their son attended 10 years ago!
1990s
’92 & ’97: 30th & 25th Reunions–homecoming 2022
Debbie (Manus) Love ’90 was able to check off another item from her bucket list this past November when she published her first children’s book, Milo, The Barnless Cat. This book is a charming true story, but more importantly, all sales of this book go directly to the Live & Let Live Farm Rescue and Animal Sanctuary in Chichester, NH, where Milo was adopted. The book can be found here.
Kristin (Binnington) Borselli ’92, an elementary special educator, met her husband of 29 years, Brian ’92, in their freshman year and got engaged senior year. They married in 1993 in her hometown of Bellport, NY, in the company of many other friends from Plymouth State. Now residents of Woburn, MA, the couple has three children ages 19, 22, and 26. “Plymouth State is a very special place to us and we just recently purchased a brick so we can leave our mark on campus and always come back to the place we met!”
Leanne Hill ’97 majored in English and in 2019 was inducted to the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society. She obtained her master’s from East Stroudsburg University, Professional & Digital Media Writing program, class of 2021.
Matthew Khoury ’97 received his doctor of education degree in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education from Valdosta State University in Georgia.
2000s
’02 & ’07: 20th & 15th Reunions–homecoming 2022Bradley A. Barker ’00 graduated from PSC with an art degree. He attended Plymouth, as his father is an alumnus, and they would visit the campus together. Viewing the campus with his father convinced both him and his brother to attend Plymouth State. Barker is now an elementary art teacher.
Michael Fabian ’03 recently obtained a position as a mortgage officer with Charter Oak Federal Credit Union in Waterford, CT. Michael and wife, Taryn, welcomed their second daughter, Leighton Tracy Fabian in 2020. See Arrivals
Jeffrey Dolan ’07 majored in accounting and chose Plymouth State for the people, personalities, and culture. Dolan credits the skills and values he learned at PSU for helping him in his career such as acquiring close friends that were working toward the same goals in life, in the same industry; learning to value his superiors’ knowledge and ingest as much wisdom from them as possible; that hard work pays off; and the ability to balance work and social life. Currently Dolan is the controller of Fox Hollow Ventures and also serves as controller of Valhalla Foundation, a private foundation committed to the Giving Pledge—a public committment to donate the majority of wealth to philanthropy.
On October 16, 2021, I was sitting in the departure lounge at JFK airport in New York, hoping to scratch one item off my ‘bucket list’ by embarking on a two-week safari to Tanzania and Kenya. Some friends and family questioned the sanity of an 84-year-old man traveling solo to two African countries and spending two weeks in the African bush. After a seven-hour flight to Amsterdam, a three-hour layover, and a nine-hour flight to Arusha in Tanzania, I was beginning to see their point. A driver for the one-hour transit to the hotel met me at the airport. The next morning, after five hours of sleep, I met our tour director and my traveling companions. The tour director’s name was Chris Mancini. I took that as a good omen, since my eldest daughter’s name is also Chris. He appeared young and energetic, and I wanted to go back to sleep.
The first day we had our first sightings of elephants, giraffes, and various species of monkeys in the wild. At a rest stop on the way to the hotel, bleary eyed from lack of sleep, I fell on some steps and injured my head and arm. It was time for another sanity check, but I decided to continue. As the tour progressed, a bond seemed to form between Chris and me. Chris grew up in Bridgeport, CT, where I spent most of my teaching career, much of it in Chris’ old neighborhood. It turns out that his brother and I both attended Fairfield University for our graduate work. One night at dinner, I mentioned that I grew up in New Hampshire. Chris shared that he graduated from a New Hampshire university. I asked which one, and when he said “Plymouth State,” I informed him we were alumni brothers. At that point, we just stared at each other in disbelief. This year I will celebrate my 60th reunion as a member of the class of 1962, and Chris will celebrate his 30th reunion as a member of the class of 1992.
The trip was amazing. We were able to spot all of the “big five,” and we saw over a hundred lions. What are the odds that two Plymouth State alumni would connect in Tanzania, Africa? I have enclosed a picture of Chris and me at a hot air balloon site in Kenya. Note the Plymouth State sweatshirt.—David A. Davio, Class of 1962
Jared R. Carney ’08 says Plymouth State helped him prepare for his career by strengthening his business acumen and providing him with the knowledge to compete for the opportunities he desired. Carney co-founded the company NIL Threads, a website development company for college and pro athletes. Athletes partner with NIL Threads to launch their brand and maximize their NIL (Name, Image & Likeness).
Patricia J. Murray ’09G notes, “Every professional I met at PSU was incredibly kind and supportive in helping me succeed.” After obtaining her master’s degree, Murray enjoyed a summer position as an adjunct professor at a local community college teaching field botany. She was honored with a Fund for Teachers Award, paving the way for her to join a team of scientists in their research, studying climate change and coral reefs in the Cayman Islands. The expedition was hosted by Earth Watch and supported by the Central Caribbean Marine Institute. “Immersing myself in field research enhances my skill set as an educator and hopefully inspires my students to embrace learning science. I’m so proud to know that two of my students this year have been accepted to PSU—I hope they enjoy it as much as I did!”
2010s
’12 & ’17: 10th & 5th Reunions–homecoming 2022Adam Rothbart ’10 shares that beyond his degree, his time at Plymouth State helped him learn about meeting people from different backgrounds and living independently while juggling work, sports, and education. Many of the connections he made at Plymouth are still intact today. Rothbart met his wife, Amanda, when they both worked at the Panther Pub, and they now have two children. He currently owns an independent financial planning and wealth management practice in Portland, ME.
Kristen Massaro ’11 was part of the American Meteorological Society (PSU Chapter) and Chi Alpha Zeta sorority. “The meteorology program at Plymouth State University is truly unparalleled. I will always appreciate what I learned from the faculty at PSU. They mean a lot to me, and I think of them often. To this day I am still so close with the meteorology students I graduated with. We went through a lot together and learned so much. I currently work for The Weather Company, an IBM Business. I am a trainer and consultant for weather software used for on-air and digital products. PSU also uses our software in the broadcast meteorology courses offered. My proud PSU alumni moment was being invited back to campus in 2019 to meet the students and give them some advanced training on the software. It was an amazing day, and I definitely stopped at Biederman’s for a cold beer and a Balboa afterwards. 
”
Alyssa K. (Mira) Choudhry ’12 recently became the new education manager at Tutor Corps. Tutor Corps provides one-on-one, personalized tutoring for students in all grade levels to help them achieve their educational goals. Choudhry also obtained a degree from SNHU in organizational leadership in 2020.
Brian Norton ’12 was named president and general manager of Loon Mountain Resort in March. Norton began his career with Loon working as a lift attendant while working toward his degree. Read the full article.
Sara L. Petersen ’12G after earning her MEd from Plymouth State, Petersen went on to write her first book, MOMFLUENCED, which is about Instagram ‘momfluencer’ culture and will be coming out in 2023 from Beacon Press. Petersen’s essays about motherhood have appeared in the New York Times, Glamour, the Washington Post, InStyle, and she recently wrote about momfluencer culture for Harper’s Bazaar.
Emily C. Fontaine ’18 majored in elementary education and went on to complete her master’s degree in educational studies from UNH in 2021. Fontaine will marry Zachary Sampson on August 6, 2022 in Strafford, NH. They had their first date on campus four years ago. See Exchanging Vows
Logan B. Edstrom ’19 majored in biology and was a member of the football team 2015–2018. He chose Plymouth State for the location, the mountains, and the science program. Edstrom thanks football for teaching him about discipline and how to overcome obstacles in life and in his work. Edstrom now works at Sanofi as a pharmaceutical research and development technician.
Fidaa Ataya ’20G is a storyteller. Her grandmother, forcibly expelled from her home and homeland in Al-Bourj, Palestine, in 1948, would tell her stories. As she listened, she would fly with her imagination across borders, across the occupation, to freedom. Ataya tells stories as a tool for survival, to pass on the anthropology of her people, to prove their existence and resistance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and psychology, diplomas in drama and education and playback theatre, and an MEd in integrated arts from PSU. She has produced and performed shows in Palestine, Europe, America, and the Arab world and performed in numerous festivals across the globe. She founded or co-founded numerous groups including the Art and Activism Residency, Hakaya Group, to revive traditional Palestinian storytelling, and the Palestinian American Children’s Theatre. She is a drama in education specialist and faculty member at the Arab School of Playback Theatre, a member of ITC4 in New York, as well as a puppeteer, filmmaker, and director. With Seraj Libraries, she is helping to open the National Storytelling Center in Palestine. Ataya has recently been named to the Georgetown University 2022-2023 Global Fellows Cohort.
Cameron Foote ’21 majored in business and was part of the residential life staff at PSU. In October of 2021, he began working as an agent for New York Life. While the classes he took taught about specific subjects like the economy, Foote says his main takeaways revolved around personal interactions and learning how to talk to new people. “That’s what I love about my current role. I have to talk to new people and go to events to share what I do for a living so I can help them.”