Alumni in the News for May 2018

Leading a capella student groups to competition wins, providing insights into tea and beer entrepreneurship – and, yes, expanding market share of overcaffeinated coffee – Saint Rose alumni continue to make the news. Read about their recent achievements.

Molly Biggs Celani ’61, currently the vice president for the Granville Board of Education, was mentioned as a candidate for the upcoming board elections. The notice, in “Locals eye board seats in three school districts,” appeared in the Manchester Newspapers on April 19.

Kim Murdick ’17 and her husband, Tim Murdick, visited Saint Rose on April 18, to speak about the shame and stigma associated with a disease affecting families in all demographics: substance abuse. The Murdicks talked about the tragedy of losing their young son, Sean, to an addiction to painkillers that began with prescription opioids for a broken arm. The story, “West Sand Lake parents share story of losing son to drugs,” was written by Nicholas Buonanno ’14 and appeared in the Troy Record on April 18.

August Rosa ’08 talked about the evolution of his beer store, Pint Sized, in a Q&A with the Times Union on April 12, in “August Rosa strives for pretension-free vibe at his places.”

Jimmy Fallon ’09 garnered a mention in “The late-night evisceration of Donald Trump,” in the Times Union blog on April 11.

Mary Darcy ’88 revealed “20 things you don’t know about me” to the Times Union on April 9.

Mike Brown G’08 and his popular Death Wish Coffee popped into the news with the opening of Albany Distilling Company’s new retail space. Death Wish Coffee vodka appeared in “Albany Distilling Co. opens $1 million tasting room/bar and bottle shop” on April 9, in New York Upstate and in “A look around the new Albany Distilling bar and bottle shop” on April 5, on All Over Albany, the blog founded by Mary Darcy ’88.

Death Wish Coffee also was mentioned in “Pop Roc, a new kind of comic shop owned by a WWE wrestler, opening in New York on Friday,” in Bleeding Cool on April 4, and in “Organic coffee market 2017 – industry trends and forecast to 2025” in The Financial on April 5.

Brown also made news as his coffee company expanded its national reach to 2,000 grocery stores after inking new deals with major retailers Walmart and Safeway. The highly caffeinated brand will appear on new supermarket shelves on the east and west coasts beginning in early June. The news was reported in “Death Wish Coffee will be in 2,000 grocery stores by the end of 2018” in the Albany Business Review on March 30, and “Death Wish Coffee expanding to Walmart” in the Times Union on March 29.

Laura Falkowitz ’14 appeared in “BH-BL grad Laura Falkowitz named Union College volleyball coach,” on April 4 in the Troy Record, and in “Burnt Hills grad Laura Falkowitz named Union College women’s volleyball coach” in the Community News, also on April 4.

Schuyler Bull ’10, Dan Cancelliere G’05, and Jordan Yanatos ’09 were profiled in “40 under 40 – where they went to college” in the Albany Business Journal in April.

Kerry Dineen ’91, the first female mayor of Altamont and Voorheesville, was featured in “In Altamont, coming for the schools and staying for the community” on March 27 in the Albany Business Review.

Elizabeth Schultz ’13 was mentioned in “People news: Schultz promoted at LP&M Advertising” on March 27 in the Business Journal News Network.

Thomas Schuttenhelm ’92 became the new artistic director for the Network for New Music. His new position was mentioned on Philly.com on March 27.

Colonel (retired) Marty Dinan ’86, director of veteran enrollment at Saint Rose, was featured in “Veterans transition to civilian life with help from the College of Saint Rose,” on March 26 on the News 10 site.

Nicole Gabriel ’05, G’09 led For Good Measure, the a capella singing group she founded at Mohonasen High School, to victory at the Northeast Quarterfinals of the International Championships of High School A Capella competition at Rensselaer Polytechnic’s EMPAC. That win qualified the group to travel to Worcester, Massachusetts, for the semifinals in April. “Mohonasen group hitting all the right notes” appeared in the Daily Gazette on March 26.

Joyce Zacharewicz (Soodkanong Muongmee) G’05 recently opened a second location of her Short and Stout tea shop in a popular local mall. Her newest enterprise was featured in “Western Ave. tea shop opens second store at Crossgates,” in the Times Union on March 25.

Joe Milazzo ’85 was mentioned in “PGCBL names new President, Vice President” in the Utica Leader-Herald on March 25.

Tracie Killar ’86 was interviewed on WNYA about the South End Children’s Café, her community dining center and after-school haven for kids and families in Albany’s South End. In 2015, Killar started the café, which provides healthy meals, homework help, and TLC for the area’s children at no cost to them or their families, and runs primarily on volunteer power. The café has served about 20,000 meals to date. The interview aired on March 25.

John Antonio ’71, G’80, longtime music educator and currently co-conductor of the Empire State Youth Orchestra’s Repertory Percussion Ensemble, was one of three expert percussionists who mentored and coached students at A Day of Percussion in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. The event allowed young percussionists to learn from professional musicians and perform with the Rutgers Percussion Ensemble. Working alongside Antonio were Rutgers percussion department head Joseph Tompkins, and Albany Symphony’s principal percussionist Richard Albagli. The story, “Rutgers University percussionist leads Day of Percussion at New Jersey Youth Symphony April 14,” ran in Tap into Berkeley Heights on March 22.