Wally Stevens ’62 Elected Alumni Trustee

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Plymouth State alumni have elected Wallace R. Stevens ’62 as Alumni Trustee to the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, replacing Larry Haynes ’86 who is stepping down due to time constraints. Stevens will assume the four-year term beginning July 1, 2011.

Wally Stevens 1962

“I will work collaboratively with University leadership and the entire Board of Trustees to meet the needs of the state, regional, national, and international communities,” Stevens said.

Always an active alumnus and strong supporter, Stevens has served in many other volunteer roles including as a representative on the Presidential Search Committee for Sara Jayne Steen. He and his wife, Meredith Bristow Stevens ’62, endowed the very first professorship at PSU, the Stevens-Bristow Professorship. He is also a founding member of the President’s Council, the volunteer group responsible for fundraising and advocacy on behalf of PSU, serving as its chair since 2004. He will step down from his leadership role on the Council in order to devote the time required to his new role as Alumni Trustee.

Stevens added, “I would like to think that I could continue in the role as an ambassador for Plymouth State as a Trustee within the University system, and I will do my very best to represent all of us as proud alumni of our alma mater.”

Cooking and seeing the city

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OK.....I promise not to post about food every time, but I'm just going to say how good the food has been here. The food is simply GREAT. Nothing fancy, but I am in total agreement that simple ingredients cooked right make all the difference. Fresh local cheese and just picked tomatoes on a simple dough cooked in a wood  stove makes pizza fantastico.

Cooking class

Cooking class

The head chef at Hotel San Luca gave us a demonstration on how to cook the prior nights meal. From ingredient selection to the importance of how long an item stays in the meal, he was amazing. Even though he spoke no English, we all understood his passion and expertise. He showed us how to cook a "simple" ragu with a hint of garlic (cook with whole cloves in their shirts) a touch of sausage (never removed from the casing) and fresh ingredients. He demonstrated the technique to braise beef in ragu while explaining that spinich with garlic and Tuscan olive oil can be spectacular. The ricotta pie was out of this world.

Local produce at the market

Local produce at the market

The local markets is a great place to get all the fresh ingredients you'd like.

Tuscany Italy....we are finally here!

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Well, it took us some time, but we did get here. After leaving Boston at 5:30pm on Tuesday night, we arrived in the beautiful city of Cortona at 7:00pm on Wednesday. Our travels took us from Boston, to Frankfurt, Germany; through Munich and then Florence, Italy. A short 2 hour bus ride and we entered the hillside villa of Cortona.

Evening one was spent having an amazing meal of chicken saltimbocca with grilled vegetables and Tuscan wine with with PSU alums the Scappotone's and Ramsey's. We are part of a group with alumni from Oregon State, Bay Path College, Western New England College of Law, Stetson University and Queens College.

Church in Cortona

Church in Cortona

The landscape is breathtaking and the architecture amazing. Churches abound, surrounded by olive tress and grape vines.

Cortona Theatre

Cortona Theatre

The city theatre is a striking example of a blending of the old and "new". Built in the 1800's, this is considered a "new" building.

Duomo at the foothills of Cortona

Duomo at the foothills of Cortona

This church was the first to stand at the base of a mountain, unprotected and welcome travelers. It was designed to look as if the wings were arms extended open to welcome visitors. This was very radical at the time.

Ciao til later.

Touring Italy with Plymouth State Alumni Travel

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In a few short days, I'll be packing my bags and preparing to board a plane for Florence, Italy. This year, I am hosting my first Plymouth State University Alumni Travel tour, Tuscany ~ Cortona and Florence with AHI Travel. . In 2008 PSU alums visited Ennis, Ireland and last year they enjoyed Provence, France. Over the last three years, 16 alums have taken part in this amazing opportunity to travel the globe.

Tuscan landscape

Tuscan landscape


I am excited and a little nervous (I’ve never left my kids for 10 days before) and honored to be representing the university on this trip. I am looking forward to meeting many travelers and embarking on this adventure with them. Funny thing is I've never met any of them before. Who knows, maybe this will be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Check back soon. I plan on writing about the trip and the people I meet there.

Are you looking to have an employment opportunity posted for PSU alumni and/or students

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Here’s how to post for free on our website:

Plymouth State University is pleased to offer you access to this online system so that you can reach our students with job and internship opportunities and maximize your recruitment efforts at your convenience.
Please bookmark Plymouth State University's Employer Login Page
https://plymouthcareers.experience.com/er/security/login.jsp

The following are the one-time steps to create an account and gain access to our eRecruiting system, called Plymouth Careers.
Step 1: Click this link to get started. https://plymouthcareers.experience.com/er/security/login.jsp
Step 2: Enter your email address and click "Submit". This will assure that you don't already have an account with Experience.
Step 3: Enter your Account Information including all required fields and click "submit". (You may be required to complete additional school specific require fields)
Step 4: To post your opening click the "Jobs" link then "Create a New Job"

HOW TO POST AN OPENING:
Once you have created an account, I will approve your link. You then can log into your account and post positions.
The system will allow you to post jobs and/or internships, review and accept applicants, view a calendar of your events, communicate with candidates and keep in touch with us.

When you log into your Experience Account for the first time after you have registered you will see your Experience Dashboard page where you’ll see a tab “Manage Jobs” at the top of the page to easily navigate to your linked schools. Select Manage Jobs and you’ll be able to connect to Plymouth State.
Note: Post a Job button. When an employer clicks on this button, he/she will be taken to a page that lists 3 options – free school post, paid post and paid proactive post.

Select: Plymouth State University
Select: Jobs

PLEASE NOTE: POSTING directly to Plymouth State through your account is free.

CAUTION: there is a link which is called Experience Network which is a fee based posting service option for employers.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 603-535-2436 or rdecotis@plymouth.edu

Bryan Funk - Class of 2011 - Journey into East Africa

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Current student Bryan Funk is currently in East Africa, in his own words: "I will be volunteering in Uganda bringing fresh water to village communities and aiding local schools. I hope that you will follow me on my journey to have a mind-expanding, life blowing experience." You can follow Bryan via his blog by clicking the following link. Crossing the Pond: My Journey into East Africa

Alumni Profile - Paul Guillemette

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Pigskin Paul & friends

(Photo courtesy of Paul, featuring Achilles and Mercedes)

  • Paul Guillemette
  • Class: 1971
  • Degree: BS in Social Science Education
  • Current job: Partially retired, Football commentator/blogger
  • Currently resides: Amherst, WI

I recently had a great opportunity to sit down and talk with alum, Paul J. Guillemette. I don’t get to conduct a lot of in person interviews; usually I get to conduct my interviews with a series of seven or so questions via e-mail. Paul made it very easy for me though, and after an hour and forty-five minutes Paul had given me plenty to write about, about his time here, his life out in Wisconsin and now as a football commentator/blogger.

Paul is almost a legacy student, his mother left Plymouth with a semester to go, she attended in the mid forties, but he says that’s essentially how he got here in 1967.  He knew of the campus and decided it would be a good fit. In the process of deciding what he wanted to do, he claims his dad did him a big favor; “he worked in the shoe industry in Manchester, and he got me a job in the shoe factory, big favor, because I realized quickly, that wasn’t what I wanted to do.” He joked that he remembers the starting wage of a dollar fifty an hour, which he got to keep as “spending money”, and his parents offered to pay for school. “Bottom line was, I guess I’m going to college, do I know what I want to be, not exactly. Then again that’s been a dilemma my entire life; what do I want to be when I grow up?” Paul commented and joked. As he tried to figure out what he wanted to do for a career he said he “found that what my mother had to talk about at the dinner table as a teacher was far more interesting than his dad had to talk about as somebody in the business world at a low management level.” So soon enough he was a student at Plymouth State College.

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