Faith
Integrity
Diligence
Excellence
Service
Spring 2012
Vol. 75, No. 3
Entered as Periodical
at Post Office, Media, Pa.
The Williamsonian
A PUBLICATION for alumni and friends of The Williamson School
Williamson’s Flower Show
Exhibit Wins Four Awards
“American Roots: A Williamsburg Colonial Kitchen Garden,” Williamson’s
exhibit in the Philadelphia International Flower Show, received four prestigious
awards.
Lenfests To Deliver Address
As Class of 2012 Graduates
H.F. “Gerry” and Marguerite Lenfest, the couple who, in March 2008,
pledged $20 million to strengthen Williamson’s endowment, will together deliver the address at Williamson’s 119th
commencement on Friday, June 1, on
campus, as 78 seniors graduate.
Gerry Lenfest, a media entrepreneur
and philanthropist, earned a bachelor
of science degree in economics from
Washington and Lee University in
1953. After graduating, he served two
years in the U.S. Navy before earning
a bachelor of laws degree at Columbia
University Law School in 1958. He
H.F. “Gerry” and Marguerite Lenfest
then joined the New York law firm of
Davis, Polk & Wardwell.
In 1965, he became an associate
counsel at the large media company,
Triangle Publications, Inc., in Philadelphia, and, later, head of the Communications Division, responsible for
Seventeen magazine and several cable
television subsidiaries.
In 1972, he and his wife, Marguerite,
and several investors, created Lenfest
Communications and purchased Suburban Cable TV Co. and Lebanon Valley
Cable TV Co. Over the next 25 years
the company grew to become one of
the largest cable television companies
in the country. It was sold to Comcast
Corp. in 2000 for $6.7 billion.
Lenfest is currently board chairman
of TelVue Corp., a digital media company.
Lenfest has served on numerous
boards, including at Washington and
Lee University, the Mercersburg Academy, Columbia University Law School,
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Library of Congress, and the Curtis Institute of Music.
Marguerite B. Lenfest earned a
bachelor of arts degree in sociology at
Wilson College. She taught school to
help her husband attend law school and
served as an active partner in the LenContinued on page 3
Williamson’s exhibit in the Philadelphia International Flower Show,
“American Roots: A Williamsburg
Colonial Kitchen Garden,” won four
prestigious awards: the Award of Distinction — Academic-Education, for
an exhibit of unusual excellence (under
1,000 square feet), and Best Achievement — Historical Horticulture and
Garden Design from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society; the Special
Achievement Award of the Garden
Club Federation of Pennsylvania for an
exhibit of unusual excellence; and the
Herb Society of America’s Award for
outstanding use of herbs.
Chuck Feld, horticulture instructor
and exhibit coordinator, said he was
extremely pleased with the exhibit and
with receiving four awards. “I don’t
think many exhibits win four awards
often. It might even be unprecedented.
“The Award of Distinction is especially exciting to receive because to
win that award we competed against
exhibits from many categories. It’s a
show-wide award and the competition
is great.
“I think we captured Colonial Williamsburg and brought it to the show. If
anyone has ever visited Williamsburg, I
think they will agree.
“We have 17 seniors, which is the
largest senior class we’ve ever had.
They put their heads together, worked
well as a team, and worked hard. Forcing plants is not easy and they did a
remarkable job. We are all extremely
pleased with the end result.”
Feld added that the exhibit received a
perfect score of 100, losing out for Best
of Show to Temple University by one
point; Temple received a bonus point.
The exhibit featured a facade of a
kitchen; an outdoor garden with herbs,
heirloom vegetables, and fruits used in
colonial times; four hotbeds; espalier
fruit trees; and paths — all surrounded
by a fence.
In addition to demonstrating the variety of plants grown in a colonial kitchen
Continued on page 5
7 Win Gold
At SkillsUSA
Inside
Seven Williamson students won gold
medals, one won silver, and two won
bronze at the SkillsUSA state competition, in Hershey, Pa., April 18-20. The
gold medal winners will compete at nationals in Kansas City in June.
Winning gold were: Carpentry — Jesse Bolt 1W2, construction technologycarpentry; Masonry — Daniel Hobbs
1W2, construction technology-masonry; Job Skills Demonstration — Tyler
Rodkey 1W2, construction technologymasonry; Industrial Motor Controls
— Jonathan Wood 1W4, machine tool
technology; Automated Manufacturing
— Justin Aurig 1W2, Vincent DeVito
1W2, and Vincent Rambo 1W2, all machine tool technology.
Winning silver in Precision Machining was Ben Geenawalt 1W2, machine
tool technology.
Winning bronze in Technical Drafting was Thomas Bond 1W2, machine
tool technology, and, in Welding, Timothy Brammer 1W3 machine tool
Continued on page 5
President’s Message..... 2
Tufts University Study... 3
IV Club............................ 3
Ray 6W6 Retires............ 4
Career Fair.................. 4
Williamson on the Web.. 6
Oropeza 0W6............... 7
Habitat for Humanity.... 8
Class Notes............9-21
Obituaries.................. 17
Shop Notes................ 22
Sports....................... 23
Upcoming Activities... 24