2015 Update:   Retirement always seemed so distant for my wife Luisa and me but last year we both made the leap and we can truthfully say that we’re enjoying life with far less stress and daily drama. Luisa’s career was in finance with Eastman Kodak and later with Carestream Health. I was engaged for some 45 years in city planning and economic development activities across New York State and New England. Some of the more notable of my projects include redevelopment of the Quonset Point Naval Base in Rhode Island, resurrection of a bankrupt areawide planning agency for the Rochester/Finger Lakes Region, reuse of the former Seneca Army Depot, and conversion of Kodak’s Elmgrove Campus into Rochester Technology Park. I like to think that my efforts improved the quality of life in those communities where I worked but that’s for others to judge.

Luisa and I have become active in various organizations in our home town of Victor. I serve as a director on the area’s Economic Development Corporation and a regional park commission. Luisa sews dresses for young girls in need around the world and volunteers at Ganondagan, a Native American historical site that’s a stone’s throw from our townhouse. We also downhill ski, bicycle and kayak. We have no children but we’re completely devoted to and dominated by “CJ” - our Maine Coon cat.

Our real passion is travel and we have trekked to China and Southeast Asia, Russia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and a good portion of Western Europe. We have a special place in our hearts for Italy as Luisa emigrated from Milan and speaks Italian fluently. Most recently, we explored the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia on a freighter sailing from Tahiti. Our plans are to continue travelling for as long as we can.

I am pleased to co-chair the 50th Reunion Planning Committee along with Jan Hill. We will do our best to make the Reunion Weekend a fun and memorable occasion for all!