I work for Audio Systems of Florida doing work for Disney, and other major institutions.  I am involved in all phases of projects including surveying for retrofits, blue printing, installation, and trouble shooting and repair of existing systems.  My skills include layout, low voltage integrated wiring, networking proprietary systems, programming, and use of my knowledge of electronics/electrical engineering. I have recently been made the Test and Inspection Coordinator for life safety systems that are under contract with our firm along with my other duties.
 

My greatest personal moment was walking down the aisle at the Delaware Tech graduation ceremony wearing the Phi Theta Kappa sash while my family watched me from the audience.

The greatest physical challenge was perhaps the Adventure with the Oil Survey Crew.  It involved traveling the Appalachian mountain range in 6 states; climbing, hiking, carrying heavy coils of cables, setting up “geo-phones” in remote mountain side locations, working 14 hour days in the rain, and snow, (this might be why I’m in Florida now) and living in motels. It is not the work for a 42-year-old!

The coolest professional moment in my life was not the most difficult, or complicated. It was when I recently engineered a wireless security system for works of art I had seen in books my whole life. You could still smell the paint on some of them!

I will always be indebted to my senior roommate, Kevin Doyle, for his tutelage in guitar technique. I identify so much with the accomplishments of my guitar playing. In some ways, my advances on guitar gave me the courage to take on many other challenges in life. Kevin is the key element here. His brilliance on guitar at such an early age showed me the light at the end of the tunnel. I would not have thought it was possible for me to improve so quickly had I not watched Kevin so often, and so intently. I have kept in touch with Kevin (he changed his name to Tharpa {tar-pah} some years ago) ever since graduation. He, and I have lived in Washington D.C. together (had a band then), and we eMail, call, write on a regular basis, and visit when we can. He is a dear friend. 

Max Ziluca was my roommate during my first year at Westtown, and took me under his wing to “show me the ropes”. He was a great help to me in those days. He was, and is a masterful conversationalist. I have kept in touch with Max Ziluca since the 10th reunion. He is a blessing to know. He and I visit more frequently than Tharpa and I, and we eMail on a regular basis. I was a member of Max’s and Christine’s wedding party in November of 2001.

I really miss those classmates who made life fun, and I have lost touch with. Those classmates who do not attend alumni days, or touch base with the various Westtown periodicals, and/or web sites. 

I very much appreciate the recent correspondences I have had with Ted Duvall, and Tanya Reiner English. Tanya was my first best friend at Westtown; she was a great ambassador to me. She inspired me to believe that I had made the right choice coming to Westtown in the “early days”. Ted was a good pal on dorm which always makes life easier when you are away from home.

Becky Moore was a very positive energy as the singer in the band that I played Bass guitar in during my junior year. Her energy was infectious. Since her father, Master Clarence, was the music teacher, and her voice technique was so developed, knowing her seemed to “validate” my musical endeavors. I met Becky during the summer after graduation, at a 7-11 in West Chester, at which time she gave me some very important information that I had not gotten from anybody else before, or since, and I will never forget her for that.

I have been lucky to work with some fantastic drummers since my Westtown days, but to this day, Mike Zislis has been the most fantastic drummer I have ever had the pleasure to play next to. I have played guitar since 1968, but I had also played drums from time to time, so I thought I had an eye for good drummers. Mike’s blistering physical domination of his trap set, his drive for perfection, and his musical insight made him an eye-popping spectacle that I will never forget. His search for the truth of “that which is ‘the drums’ ” affected me greatly. I have striven to do the same on guitar during most of my life. Thanks for that Mike!

Hmmm…It all seems so relative.  Nothing we did had any malice, or malicious intent, so to me it was harmless. I guess shiking put a few gray hairs on teachers feeling like students were in harm’s way while “out and about." Really though, shiking was a lot of work, and was not that much fun other than the bonding that took place among fellow shikers.

I don’t really know if hitchhiking was breaking the rules, but these days it should be. Tharpa (Kevin) and I were hitchhiking home to Westtown one day after taking the bus to West Chester when we were picked up by two punked-out, ruff looking guys in black “t” shirts, tattoos, and earrings driving a Dodge Charger. They were bragging about shooting up crystal-meth the night before at a biker party, and offered us “kw” (which we refused. We had no idea what it was, and did not like the apparent result of it’s use as evidenced by these two). Within the first 2 minutes they had us sized up as limp-wristed, prep-school boys, and decided to have a little fun with us. During our approach to a steep incline, they lurched the car over into the left lane, and stomped on the gas propelling the car ever faster on to an uncertain fate awaiting us on the other side of the hill. Happily, we crested the hill to see that the road was clear for as far as the eye could see. When they pulled up to the school, we both jettisoned out of our respective escape hatches, and keeping true to form, they peeled off leaving us standing in blue tire smoke. To this day, I have never hitchhiked again.
 

Also, I had never seen a soccer ball before coming to Westtown (well, maybe once), and even though I only ever played second association soccer, I assimilated tons of soccer theory.  I have used this knowledge to coach youth soccer for 5 years. My teams usually place in the top 6 out of about 15, and I can attribute a lot of that success to my stay at Westtown. 
 

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