A Relic from the Past

So this one has got to make my top-ten list for great email stories... just in the way the issue is phrased, if nothing else. The key player? Henry Neale '94, with whom I did my student-teaching up at Mooresville High School long ago. Henry, did you lose something on Spring Break once upon a time?! Hopefully we can get it back for you. Stay tuned.

From: Michelle and Rick Shiver
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 1:17 PM
To: Wagner, Peter
Subject: Henry W Neale Jr.


Hi,


I'm wondering if you have any alumni information on a Henry W. Neale Jr., birthday 9/14/70, student number 0156365 having attended Davidson College in '89-'99? I live in South Florida and several months ago fished his student school ID out of my backyard canal. Before I discard it, I wanted to make sure he was not in the same place I found his ID.


Thank you for your help,
Mrs. Shiver

OFF the Road

I anticipated that by this hour we'd be well down the road from the Holman/MacGarvey home... but as we climbed in the Nissan to depart this morning we found that the starter in the vehicle had gone bad. So it looks like we might be in Dorset for one more night while the car is fixed. As I write, John is out cold on the hammock -- the sound of the rain surely did him in -- and Dodger is laying quietly on the deck next to him. I'm inside with a cool breeze while I try to plow through some of the email that's been accumulating over the past two weeks.

And the photos I've been hoping to add to this blog? They're tied up on my phone... there isn't cell phone service so I can't upload them mobile-ly... and I can't seem to make my computer and my phone talk to one another. So that will have to wait. But for any of you following along, we've hit a bit of a snag in the itinerary.

On the Road

So John Syme '85, Dodger, and I started our 2010 Road Trip on Monday with lobster at Five Islands followed by a wonderful event in Portland, ME. After spending time with Nat May '95 -- the executive director of SPACE Gallery in Portland -- and then hitting Portland Head Light on the way out of state, we made it as far as Loudon, NH on Tuesday. Today's visits have included Elena Bell Wagner's alma mater (New England College) in Henniker, NH; a stop in Hanover, NH to chat with Kelly Sundberg Seaman '85 at Dartmouth College; and a wonderful night with Georgine and Steve Holman '78 at their beautiful home in Dorset, VT. Kelly is a writer for the Dartmouth communications operation, as well as a Class Secretary for Davidson's Class of 1985. Steve is a master craftsman in the world of contemporary furniture, and is highly skilled in restorations of pieces dating back to colonial times.

It's been such a treat already being on the road and meeting so many Davidson people, and I'm thankful that John thought of including me on this year's venture. It's a great combination of alumni events (along with Portland, we're doing Lancaster, PA this Friday night), scheduled interviews/meetings like the ones with Nat May and Steve Holman, and serendipitous and spontaneous drop-ins with volunteers like Kelly and -- fingers crossed -- Stephanie Moffett Hynds '84, who we hope to see on our way south tomorrow.

Now before I get to some gratuitous photo posting, please be sure you take some time to follow our trip a little more closely on John's blog, Daybook Davidson. Great stuff -- he's a professional. Please keep up with us, and be in touch!

Number One. Yes, Number One.

THANK YOU, Davidson alumni, for a remarkable year in supporting the college and the Annual Fund. Together we raised record-breaking dollars, received a record-breaking number of gifts, and... wait for it... we've made Davidson NUMBER ONE in the country in Annual Fund participation (this year, 61%). Think about that -- of all the colleges and universities in America large or small, no group of alumni supported alma mater in a more convincing way. Thank you, and congratulations!

Road Trip!

So today Elena, Shea, Gabriel, and I leave for Virginia Beach to see Colby's all-star team in their SE regional baseball tournament. We'll have a minimum of two games in the double-elimination format; at best we'll have four games and win 'em all by midday Saturday; at most we'll have five games stretching into Saturday evening. From there we head to Maine for a week and a half (Elena and the boys will be there longer). On Monday, August 2, John Syme and I kick off our Road Trip 2010 with an event on Casco Bay in Portland... and then we take a week or so to drive back to Davidson, visiting alumni and colleagues along the way and doing lots of writing and taking lots of photos. John put together a fun map tool for tracking the trip -- as of this moment he has just his first solo leg, going from Davidson up to Pittsfield, MA. You can follow us here:


View Road Trip 2010: The New England States in a larger map

It's going to be a crazy and fun few weeks. Be on the lookout for two guys and a dog in the Caliente!

The Kid Sells (2)

At an alumni directors' conference at the College of Wooster last week I had the pleasure of meeting Sara Dresser, a 2009 Wooster alumna and the daughter of Davidson alumna Mary Gilliam Dresser '78. Sara works in Alumni Relations at Wooster, and is clearly a Davidsonian at heart. She was good enough to send me some photos and information about her love affair with Davidson, and with one of our more recent and notable alumni.

Sara Dresser with Curry, her own personal #30. Please look at this photo and tell me that you would have guessed she's a Wooster grad who now works in their alumni office. Go ahead. Dare you.

She says:

"After growing up a Wildcat fan and more importantly a Davidson College enthusiast/fan/wannabe it was hard to explain to the average person what makes Davidson so special. No one really understood why I could be enamored with a school the size of a farm village. Then came Steph Curry. When Davidson made its magical run to the Elite Eight in Detroit, being from Michigan we had to go. So my parents (my mom is '78), myself, and my boyfriend all made the trip to watch Davidson play Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. What an experience. Normal Michiganders were on the Davidson band wagon. People came up to us and couldn't stop talking about how great Davidson is. My mom even made Charlotte Local News. After that weekend we decided we had to watch him play again. So when Davidson played Butler in the Bracketbuster, the four us made the trip to North Carolina to watch the 'Cats play again. When Steph announced he would go to the NBA the four of us were like, well, let's figure out when we can watch him again. We made the trip to NOLA, hung out with other alums, got a chance to meet him after the game - again, another unbelievable experience. We're in the process of planning our trip next year - different city, hopefully the same experience. Our plan is to watch him every year as long as we can. When Nate and I decided to get a dog, the only name we could actually agree on was Curry. So people assume we named him after the spice and when I inform them who his is actually named after, we tend to get funny looks."

Nate is also a Wooster alumnus and a big Ohio State guy -- you know the athletic-fan baggage that must come with that territory -- and a converted Wildcat. Here he is with Sara in New Orleans this past winter, sporting his Davidson game hat.

Here's our boy after the game in NOLA signing a fan's shirt while another unidentified Davidson person looks on. Steph was so gracious with Davidson folks all through his stellar rookie year.

The Kid Sells

From a member of the Davidson family in San Francisco:

"So at this weekend's annual art festival in Menlo Park the Warriors organization had a booth promoting tickets for the upcoming season. Any idea who their big drawing card is? :)"

Congratulations, Boys!

So yes, this all happened while I was in Ohio this weekend… I missed the whole thing, including (from what I hear) the most unbelievable individual performance that my son has ever had on the field. I’m currently trying to find a way to get to Virginia Beach for this week’s tournament – the boys’ first game is Wednesday evening – as we prepare to leave for Maine at the end of the week. Stay tuned.

A Sincere Thank You

Yesterday I received a very kind and wonderful email from Jim Bridgeman, from the Colby Class of 1961. Jim was a fraternity brother, teammate, and friend of my dad's, and he was writing to let me know that Diane Scrafton Ferreira had included a mention of this blog (and specifically the entry about my dad from this spring) in her latest edition of class notes. Thank you, Diane! I sincerely hope that I'll hear from some other folks with some good stories to share. Welcome, Colby College alumni - please be in touch.

Meet Me In New York!

Davidson basketball will play in the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival on December 20 (noon) and December 21(7 or 9 pm). On Sunday we play a pretty spry Cornell team, and on Monday we'll play either Hofstra (Coach McKillop's alma mater) or St. John's. This is our second straight year playing in "The World's Most Famous Arena." Let's hope for results similar to last year's win over West Virginia!

I'll be in town Saturday morning through Tuesday morning. If you're thinking of making the trip, let me know. We're having pre-game events both days, and game tickets are still available. Find out how to get into the mix. NYC, baby.