1990
Kenny Crochet, at left
Kenny Crochet, at left in photo, is a top member of the competition barbecue team, GQue, led by Jason Ganahl, right, of Superior, Colorado. The team recently competed against nearly 600 top barbecue teams from around the world at the American Royal World Series of BBQ in Kansas City. GQue took home awards for third place in chicken and fifth place in pork, and came in 18th overall. The team won the Rocky Mountain BBQ Association’s Team of the Year award in 2014, beating more than 300 teams in the nine-state region.
Will Gadd, left
Will Gadd, left, and Gavin McClurg were finalists in the 2015 National Geographic Adventurers of the Year competition. The awards go to people whose achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation, or humanitarianism have distinguished them in the past year. The pair spent 35 days paragliding 400 miles along the spine of the Canadian Rockies, a record for the sport. Read more about the awards at adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2015.
1993
“The Fun Kids” — eight CC graduates,
their spouses and 10 future CC students
— gathered in Colorado’s Summit County
for skiing and “badass bowling.” Front row,
left to right: Lucy and Monty Bonz. Second
row, kneeling: Lilah Hughes, Emma Bonz,
Raleigh Coburn ’94 with James and Scarlet
McElrea, and Mandy Elliman Bonz ’95.
Third row, standing: Vincent and Desmond
Mangat. Back row: Julia and Lindsay
Mangat, Erin Bonz, Cole Hughes, Rob Bonz
’94, Kishen Mangat ’96, Jay Bonz ’95, Yuri
Kostick ’94, Sacha Kostick, Bosier Parsons
’95, and Dana Abrums Hughes ’95.
Richard Tango-Lowy, a master chocolatier and owner of Dancing Lion Chocolate in Manchester, New Hampshire, was appointed to the faculty of Ecole Chocolat to teach its new online Chocolate Bootcamp course. Ecole Chocolate is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Most recently, Richard was appointed to the Board of Directors of the internationally based Fine Chocolate Industry Association. By educating people about fine chocolate, Richard is working to improve the lives of cacao growers in developing countries.
1999
Kurt Haas and Ben Duhl co-wrote, produced, and starred in a feature film that is being distributed by Filmbuff. “Here Comes the Night” is available on iTunes, Amazon, HULU, Xbox, and other outlets. The film was shown at the Woodstock Film Festival in New York and the Ojai Film Festival in California, and was one of a handful of films featured at the Lone Star Film Festival in Fort Worth, Texas. The film tells the story of two estranged friends in their early 30s who reunite at a funeral of a mutual friend in Los Angeles. In an attempt to discover the city and have one last hurrah to honor their deceased friend, they get caught up in a variety of hijinks. Along the way, they come to terms with their friend’s suicide and learn something about each other and themselves. Kurt and Ben were English majors who were heavily involved in theater at CC. (Longtime chairman of the CC Drama Department, James Malcolm, has a cameo in the film.) After CC, Ben attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Kurt got his master of fine arts degree in directing from the American Film Institute. They both live in Los Angeles.
2000
Alex Adema
Alex Adema is the director of finance and operations with Launch NY (LaunchNY.org), a venture development organization that identifies, supports, and invests in high-growth, high-impact companies and catalyzes the entrepreneurial culture of upstate New York. The organization is based at the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
J. David Creswell received the Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Contributions to Psychology from the American Psychological Association. The award was presented “for outstanding and innovative research on mechanisms linking stress management strategies to disease,” according to the November 2014, edition of American Psychologist. The publication explained that his research “examines neural mechanisms that underlie the link between active stress regulation and adaptation, with special emphases on the roles of mindful awareness, self-affirmation, cognitive reappraisal, and rewards as stress management strategies.”
Stephen G. Layman has joined the Tulsa, Oklahoma, law firm of Richards & Connor as an associate attorney. He received his juris doctor degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 2008. His practice is in civil litigation with an emphasis on defense of bad faith and breach of contract claims.
2001
Travis Rummel was among nominees for the 2015 National Geographic Adventurers of the Year. The awards are given to people whose achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation, or humanitarianism have distinguished them in the past year. Working with Ben Knight and Matt Stoeker, Travis
created the film, “DamNation,” which brought the topic of dam removal to the forefront of conservation efforts. Read more about the awards at 2cc.co/ng-adventurers.
Edmund Sherman has been named to the Board of Directors of the Energy Trust of Oregon. Edmund is a principal with Against the Current Consulting Group of Portland and works with clients interested in improving the quality of life in Native American communities. He is a member of the Navajo and Omaha Nations and grew up on the Navajo Nation Reservation. The Energy Trust designs and delivers programs that help residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers save energy and generate renewable power.
2003
Kyle D. Marshall, M.D., is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Center in Denver.
Sam Caldwell ’03 and Jessica Rubin were married in October in Bolton Landing, New York, and Sam’s classmates, also from the Class of 2003, helped him support the bride. From left: Mitch Brown, Zach Paquette, Sam, Arlen Ginsburg, Daniel Gargan, Ryan McKeon, and Chris Crowley. Also in attendance: Scot Grossman ’03.
2004
James Cleland has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Montecito Family YMCA, a branch of the Channel Islands YMCA in Santa Barbara, California. James moved to Santa Barbara in 2013 and is president and manager of Big Seed Farms, one of Montecito’s largest commercial avocado and lemon orchards. He previously worked as an investment manager and commodities trader in the Bay Area. He is involved with the Orokawa Foundation, a private family foundation focused on health, education, human services, and the environment. In his free time, he is an amateur winemaker and enjoys heli-skiing.
2005
Josh Nickell and his wife, Elyse, have created a company called Sankalpa Yoga Community. The couple creates artist-designed yoga products to support independent yoga teachers and connect people through yoga. Each product is a unique design that represents an individual teacher. Both the artist and the yoga teacher receive a royalty for each product sold bearing their design.
2007
Corty Devereux has been living in Pennsylvania and painting for the past seven years.
Elena Mihaly ’07 and Justin Strauss ’06 were married in August 2014 in Shelburne, Vermont, surrounded by CC friends. From left, front row: Moriah Cowles ’07, Heather Churchill ’07, Jess Wilson ’07, Besha Deane ’07, and Paul Myrow, professor of geology. Second row: Erik Wortman ’06, Aiden Doane ’06, Katie Steinberg ’07, and Elena and Justin. Third row: Sarah Wolfskehl ’04, Caroline Alden ’07, March Thompson ’07, Clara Carroll ’08, Meriwether Hardie ’09, Deb Hunter-Mitchell ’83, and Alex Lowther ’05. Fourth row: Ryan Vaillancourt ’06, Cody McGrath Wayland ’06, Tim Barker ’06, Rob Backlund ’05, Nate Popik ’07, Kevin Brumbach ’07, Trevor Farmen ’06, and Paul Greer ’06. Fifth row: Conor Miller ’05, Rich Brereton ’08, Michael Wejchert ’08, Phil Armstrong ’07, and Dane Stevens ’04.
2010
Eli Cherner is the teacher engagement associate for DonorsChoose.org, which was named one of Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World. This is the first time a charity was ranked in the top 10, along with such companies as Google, Nike, and Yelp. Eli works to make sure partnership opportunities in the western region reach as many teachers as possible. Previously, he was a Teach for America high school teacher in a low-income area of Denver. He has a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado, Denver.
2011
Alexis Johnson was featured in a Portland, Oregon, Tribune story, “Soft Power: Women Techies Fit Right in at Portland’s Jama Software.” Alexis is part of the information technology team at the growing company, which creates software for project management.
2012
Rob Shapiro is an associate at Carl Marks Advisors, a leading consulting and investment banking advisory firm to middle market companies. Rob joined the consulting team at Carl Marks in 2012, and focuses primarily on providing financial advisory services to companies and their capital providers. His experience spans numerous sectors, where he assists clients in Chapter 11 bankruptcies, loan restructurings, and operational improvement.
