Network Amherst: The Lehrer Report

By Phyllis Lehrer

Published on May 18, 2007

Garden report: The two peonies - Shirley Temple and Sarah Bernhardt - are in after I dug out a section of daylilies to make room for them. I circled the plants with gardening cloth to prevent any stray daylily root from returning. I will put up some stakes to support the blossoms. I will plant some of the hanging pots and set them on the porch. It's great to be outdoors.

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The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce awards dinner had a full house at the UMass Campus Center. The warm evening had the women dressed in light frocks. Alisa Brewer wore a sleeveless leopard print dress with matching bag. Carol Johnson wore a long beige skirt with pink floral print. Martha Faison wore a pink straw hat. Tini Sawicki had beige linen dress and jacket. Judy Teraspulsky had a bright turquoise shirt. The speeches were warm and heartfelt.

Table center pieces were long clear cylinders filled with gauzy material topped with circles of red carnations. Metal structures decked with greens and red carnations flanked the doorway. Maureen Robb was in charge of decorations.

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Paul and Paula Lyons sent a card from New Mexico, where they visited their daughter, Kendra, who is a musical theater major at the College of Sante Fe. She played Roxie in "Chicago," the same role she did stunningly at Amherst Regional High School. She was named outstanding sophomore in the theater department for academic achievement, leadership and service. Next semester she will study theater in London.

Carol Lee and Dick Mudgett, of Amherst, sent a card of an Egyptian hippo from Dynasty 12 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they also viewed the Dali and Venice exhibits.

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Ashley Patterson, the daughter of Barbara Cooper, of South Valley Road in Pelham; Lindsay Singer, the daughter of Howard and Terry Singer, of Harkness Road in Pelham; and Amy Vernon-Jones, the daughter of Russell and Lydia Vernon-Jones, of Gaylord Street in Amherst were named to the dean's list at the University of Delaware. Patterson is a senior history major, Singer is a sophomore economics major, and Vernon-Jones is a junior elementary education major.

ARHS senior Leah Wilner, the daughter of Therese Leger, of West Pelham Road in Shutesbury, has been accepted into the Elliott School of International Relations at George Washington University.

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Peter Johnson, the son of Roy and Jeannie Johnson, of Blackberry Lane in Amherst, performed on piano as part of a quartet in a senior recital at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he is a freshman. He played in the band at Wildwood and was in the ARHS Jazz Ensemble directed by music teacher Brian Messier.

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Christina Cathey Schutz, the daughter of James Cathey and Sigrit Schutz, of County Lane in Pelham, is graduating twice from Columbia University with a master's in international public affairs and a law degree from Columbia Law School. She has been hired by Shearman and Sterling in New York City, where she will start in September. Christina, who is also a German citizen, will begin working for that firm in Frankfurt in January.

Have you observed a random act of kindness, or something that was just plain funny? The Bulletin invites readers to send brief, true tales of life in Amherst to Network@gazettenet.com, for possible use in Phyllis Lehrer's weekly column. Please include your name.