Half Century Club Honors 1958 Graduates

Nineteen YSU alumni from the Class of 1958 were honored at their 50th class reunion and three alums were recognized on their 60th when the Half-Century Club met for its annual 50-year reception and luncheon.  The event, held in late October during Homecoming Week at the DeBartolo Stadium Club, drew a crowd of 88 alumni and guests. Keynote speaker George Beelen, a 1958 graduate and YSU professor emeritus, shared stories and anecdotes from his days as a student at Youngstown College.

Class of ’58 alumni inducted into the Half-Century Club were, from left: front row - Robert Pegues, John Latell, Denise Bartholomew, George Beelen, William Carnie, Edward Evaniuk and Chester Feret; second row - James Leslie, James Lewis, Richard Marsico, Agnes Martinko, Richard McLaughlin, Ruth Mellett, Jack Menosky, Barbara Seely, Don Seely, Joan Twaddle and George Vasile; not pictured, James Basista.

Mark Your Calendar

Alumni Basketball Dinner - Saturday, Feb. 21: Penguin Women vs. Wright State; Penguin Men vs. ESPN Bracketbuster. Dinner at Beeghly Center, Room 119, will be served during the break between the doubleheader women’s and men’s basketball games.

Youngstown Day - Sunday, March 8: Office of Alumni and Events Management hosts the 2008 Youngstown Area Reunion in Sarasota, Fla. This popular event usually draws as many as 500 alumni and their family members who have relocated from the Youngstown area or reside in Florida for part of the year.

Norfolk/Virginia Beach Area Alumni at Norfolk Admirals - Saturday, March 21: Join YSU alumni and friends for YSU Alumni Night at the Norfolk (Va.) Admirals, hosted by Joe Gregory, ’01, vice president and governor of the Norfolk Admirals, and the YSU Office of Alumni and Events Management. A dinner buffet will be served at 6 p.m., followed by a hockey game featuring the Admirals vs. the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person and include the buffet and a reserved seat at the game.

Pittsburgh Alumni Reception: Monday, April 6- Pittsburgh area alumni meet for a wine-tasting event from 6-8 p.m. at Palate Partners, 2013 Penn Avenue in the Strip District. Light hors D’oeuvres by Big Burrito Catering will be served.

YSU Alumni Night at the Scrappers - Tuesday, June 23: Even with spring training still weeks away, it’s not too early to mark your calendar for the annual YSU Alumni Night with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  The traditional summer gathering typically attracts 400 or more alumni and friends to Eastwood Field for a hearty buffet dinner and a box seat at the game.

Call the Office of Alumni and Events Management at 330-941-3497 or e-mail jmleviseur@ysu.edu for more information.

Reservations are required for all events.

Thailand Alumni Chapter Initiates Networking and Service Projects   Thai-YSU Alumni Chapter members who helped to coordinate the group’s recent YSU Centennial Celebration dinner in Bangkok were, from left: Dusit Nontanakorn, ’68, chapter president; San Bhamorbutra, ’65; Niramon Nontanakorn, ’68; Ajarin Pattanapanchai, ’87; Pachitra Tienprasit, ’61; and Pornsit Sriorathaikul, ’68. Tienprasit, a retiree and owner of a school, was the first Thai to study at YSU.         They live in Bangkok, the bustling, metropolitan capital of Thailand, but 120 Thai YSU alumni find their thoughts returning to the changing seasons and rolling hills of Northeastern Ohio when they reminisce about their college days. The Thai-YSU Alumni Chapter is one of YSU’s largest alumni groups, with members representing every graduation year between 1961 and 1998. Most studied either business or engineering at YSU and then returned to their home country to pursue their careers. The chapter’s biggest event to date was its YSU Centennial Celebration last October, a buffet dinner that attracted 100 alumni and family to the Royal Bangkok Sports Club for a menu that included native dishes such as spicy papaya salad and spicy stuffed fish with rice.                             Phusit Kamolsoonthorn, a senior vice president and business development leader for GE Capital in Thailand, was the group’s first president and now serves as the Thai Alumni Chapter’s liaison with YSU’s Office of Alumni and Events Management. He earned his MBA in finance at YSU in 1989. He said YSU alumni in Thailand started meeting in 1998 to organize a welcome party for two well-liked YSU faculty members, Raymond J. Shuster and Linda J. Mohn, who were visiting the region. Informal meetings continued after that, and in 2004 the group elected Dusit Nontanakorn, ’68 BE engineering, as president. Nontanakorn is employed as advisor to the Management Advisory Committee for the Siam Cement Group and is vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. The Thai-YSU Alumni Chapter was officially organized in 2008. Kamolsoonthorn said its leadership has three main goals: to involve alumni in community service, to establish a support network for YSU alumni in Thailand, and to support Thai students interested in studying at YSU. Leaders intend to meet this year with the Chaipattana Foundation, a Thai government agency dedicated to community service, with plans to organize service projects for the alumni members along with their usual social and networking activities.                       “We have the full support or our senior members, especially our president Mr. Dusit,” said Kamolsoonthorn. “We all just love to help.”