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SFR ALUMNI GROUP NEWS

• President's Message
• Candidates for SFR Alumni Group Board of Directors
• Penn State Forest School Patch . . . .Part 2!
• Former Mont Alto Math Instructor Feted on 90th Birthday

President's Message

Mark Webb '73

Greetings fellow alumni.

I hope this edition of our newsletter finds you all doing well!

Let me start with a word of explanation and thanks. For those of you who follow our Alumni Group activities closely, you will remember that Tom Yorke was re-elected for a second term as president at our meeting last spring. However, at our summer meeting, Tom decided to step down. This called for the board to elect his successor and I am grateful to the board for giving me this opportunity to serve as your president. Marc Lewis was elected to serve as vice-president.

Tom did an excellent job in leading our Alumni Group over the past couple of years! Tom also deserves a very special thanks for working very hard along with many other alums to make our Centennial Celebration a great success. I wish Tom all the best as he continues on in his support of our Alumni Group.

Thanks to any and all who worked to make our celebration a great success.

I believe most of you are aware the Dr. Strauss has announced his retirement and we thank him for his leadership and wish him well in this new phase of life. Chuck also deserves a great big thank you for his leadership of our School these last few years. Under his tenure we have seen the new building completed, new faculty hired, and he, too, played a major role in the Centennial Celebration.

The search for a new director is currently being conducted and we hope to have that position filled within the next couple of months.

As we enter into our second 100 years it is very exciting to anticipate what changes may take place. We are seeing significant progress toward The Arboretum at Penn State. Thanks to Dr. Kim Steiner for his leadership efforts.

Beyond the new building and the arboretum there are many possibilities for us to be involved. The board has discussed the need to increase our student scholarships, as well as becoming mentors, local recruiters, and advocates for the School within the University system.

The board welcomes your ideas to serve and improve our School of Forest Resources. Please feel free to contact any of us or communicate your ideas to Ellen Manno.

We hope you will mark your calendars for the upcoming alumni banquet. It promises to be a very special event!

Mark Webb
11021 U.S. Route 6
Union City, PA 16438
(814) 663-5393
mrkrwebb@earthlink.net

Candidates for the School of Forest Resources Alumni Group Board of Directors

The School of Forest Resources Alumni Group board of directors includes 12 at-large members who are elected to a three-year term and who may serve a second consecutive term if re-elected. The terms of four at-large members expire in Spring 2008 and therefore an election ballot is enclosed in this newsletter on page 18. Here are brief biosketches, in alphabetical order, of the candidates listed on this ballot. Incumbents are noted with as asterisk (*). Vote for no more than four candidates. Ballots must be postmarked by March 28, 2008. You can also vote online at http://www.sfr.cas.psu.edu/Alumni/Newsletters/Winter2008/Response.html.

Thomas A. Breslin (1957 FOR)
“After graduation in 1957, a brief stint with Pennsylvania DCNR, and a six- month tour of duty with the Army, I returned to Pennsylvania and worked with John Bitzer in the Pennsylvania DCNR on the statewide volume table project.

“In November 1958 my wife Lucy, son Vince, and I moved to Warsaw, New York, when I accepted an appointment as forester for New York State Conservation Department.  I served as a service forester for ten years in western New York, transferred to New York Department of Parks and Recreation in 1968, and was appointed park manager of Letchworth State Park in 1978.  I retired from that position in 1992.  We moved back to Pennsylvania in 1997 to be caregivers for my Aunt Betty, my mother’s only surviving sister who had no children but had been a ‘second mother’ to my brother and me.

“Lucy and I have three grown children who all have families of their own; we have five granddaughters and one grandson that we can spoil.”

R. Alexander Day (1967 FOR T)
“I graduated from Penn State School of Forest Resources with a B.S. in 1967. I worked two years (1965-1967) as technical forest adviser to Dominican Republic Forest Service with the U.S. Peace Corps and served three years in the U.S. Army (Signal Corps) in the United States and Germany (1967-1970).

“In May 1971, I began a career with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry. I retired in June 2007, after 36+ years of service in four different locations. My last position was manager of Forest Nursery Operations at the Penn Nursery field headquarters near Potters Mills, Centre County.

“I have been an active member of the Society of American Foresters since 1972. I am a member of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association and served on a variety of committees including chair of the annual fundraiser for ten years, ending in 2006.

“I am a member of The American Chestnut Foundation, serving as vice-chair of the Pennsylvania Chapter; a board member of the Pennsylvania Forest Fire Museum Association; a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association; and an active member of the Houserville United Methodist church where I am currently chair of the Church Council.

“My wife Sandra L. Day (Parkinson) and I have four grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.”

Ralph E. Heilig (1958 FOR)
“I am a native of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and a 1951 graduate of Ridley Park High School. I was a U.S. Merchant Marine with Sun Oil Co. in 1951, 1953-54, and 1955, and on active duty in the U.S. Navy 1952-53. I was enrolled at Mont Alto in fall 1951 and 1954-55. I graduated from Penn State in 1958 with a B.S. in forestry and began a 41-year career with the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters: Elk State Forest, Emporium (1958-61), Delaware State Forest, Stroudsburg (1961-65), Buchanan State Forest, McConnellsburg, assistant district forester (1965-80), and Rothrock State Forest, Huntingdon, district forester (1980-99).

“I am a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association, the Society of American Foresters, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, the American Legion, and the Navy League of the United States. I am a volunteer Admissions Officer with the U.S. Naval Academy.”

Jennifer A. Ottenberg Miller (2000 W F S)
“In December 2000 I graduated with a B.S in Wildlife and Fisheries Science and a minor in Forest Science. Upon graduation I moved to Galway, New York, to complete an AmeriCorps service term with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation at John Boyd Thacher State Park/Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center. My service hours focused on developing education curricula and trail guides and presenting weekly nature programs to the park visitors and local community.

“Upon completing my AmeriCorps term of service, I began my professional career in environmental consulting. Over the last seven years I have worked as an environmental scientist for engineering firms throughout the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Coastal Plain regions specializing in wetlands, habitat assessments, and rare, threatened, and endangered species. I am a member of The Wildlife Society and Society of Wetland Scientists, and certified as a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS).

“My daughter Danica and I reside in Baltimore, Maryland, where we are active ‘outdoorswomen.’ Our favorite past times include hiking, birding, and Penn State and Steelers football. I also enjoy returning to Penn State each spring to interview School of Forest Resources students for summer internships and entry-level positions.”

Denise H. Mitcheltree (1994 W F S and 1996g W F S) *
“I grew up in a rural township outside of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and developed an appreciation for nature at an early age. By junior high, I was determined to play a role in wildlife conservation efforts.

“My undergraduate studies in Wildlife Science at University Park commenced in August 1990 and I can remember vividly my first class—Biology 101 in Schwab Auditorium with 900 other students. During my junior and senior years, I participated in various independent studies by assisting graduate students with their data collection: Carolyn Mahan, quantifying chipmunk behaviors; Helene Harvey, inventorying woodlots to develop a biodiversity index; and Tom Serfass, compiling literature of fisher biology.

“I graduated in May 1994 and immediately initiated my M.S. degree in WFS at PSU with Dr. Robert Brooks as my adviser. My research focused on the chemical immobilization procedures, captive management, and reintroduction strategies for the Pennsylvania Fisher Reintroduction Project. I completed my M.S. in 1996 and continued working as an assistant coordinator of both the river otter and fisher reintroduction projects through 1997.

“In 1997 and 1998, I assisted with captive management of African hoof-stock, black rhinoceros, reticulated giraffe, and cheetahs at a unique conservation center in Texas. I returned to Pennsylvania to perform radio-telemetry monitoring of translocated elk and in 1999 I was accepted into the Ross Leffler School of Conservation where I spent 40 weeks training to become a Wildlife Conservation Officer with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“From 2000 through July 2007, I was assigned to 300 square miles in Potter County where some of my responsibilities included law enforcement of hunting, trapping, and wildlife laws, and providing public awareness presentations concerning wildlife conservation and biology. Recently I accepted a promotion within the Wildlife Habitat Management Bureau of the Pennsylvania Game Commission to become a game lands manager. My new responsibilities include the supervision of two habitat crews of six men who perform wildlife habitat maintenance on seven State Game Lands in Potter and Tioga counties that consist of approximately 45,000 acres of hunting grounds.”

Thaddeus M. Taylor (1997 FORSC)
“I graduated from Penn State in 1997 with a B.S. in Forest Science and from Texas A&M in 2000 with an MBA.  I am an SAF Certified Forester and a senior loan officer with forest products lender, AgChoice Farm Credit.  I live in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, with my lovely wife of ten years, Cynthia, and our three children.  I am a director with the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group, a member of the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association and the Penn York Lumberman’s Club, and was recently elected secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Society of American Foresters. I am the head wrestling coach for Coudersport High School.  I spent six years with International Paper in Texas and Louisiana.  I was forestlands team leader, and later procurement team leader and timber security leader for IP’s 345,000-acre East Louisiana Forest before deciding to relocate and raise our children back home in Pennsylvania.”

*incumbent

Penn State Forest School Patch . . . Part 2!

The introductory article on the Penn State Forest School Patch that appeared in our last newsletter prompted a trip down memory lane for several alumni.

Joe McNaney ’55 wrote, “My original patch is still on the Levi jacket I wore while working at the sawmill with Orville Schmidt . . . . The patch was purchased at Mont Alto in 1951 and has been on the Levi jacket ever since . . . . The jacket no longer fits . . . and was given to my grandson Colton who helps me plant seedlings on my Greene County Tree Farm.”

Rex McHail ’50 reported on the origin of the patch: “I have the prototype of the original patch since I designed it and had it produced while a first-year forestry student at the Penn State Mont Alto Forestry School. Our class was the first class after World War II and the majority took our freshman year at the Mont Alto campus. We began the fall of 1946 . . . . We started an Acer club where I believe the idea of a decal or patch was generated. I volunteered to create one with the help of Swede Lindahl, Norm Martin, Jack Lavin, Pat Mussmano, and probably had input from many others. I no longer have my original design sketches nor copies that were sent to the Standard Pennant Company, Big Run, Pennsylvania, not far from my hometown of Bolivar, PA. They made a prototype . . . and from that a run was ordered.”

Neither Jack Lavin nor Bob Lindahl had any further details to add to the story, and Pat Mussmano is deceased, but Norm Martin ’50 recalls “all of the fellas that Rex mentioned were housed on the second floor at the only housing at the time at Mont Alto. The married men were housed off campus. We did meet frequently in one of our rooms to relax and go over the happenings of the day, so I presume Rex would have started the design of the patch in this manner. . . . My recollection . . . is a little fuzzy, but I do recall Big Run, PA, as the patch producer. I had one of the first patches, but I did not have a decent jacket to have it sewn on so the patch was put aside . . .”.

Additional questions about the origins of the patch arose when Harold Birch ’51 provided this information from the 1951 Sylvan: “Then came February 1950 when our class of 1951 took control of the [Forestry] Society with the election of the following officers . . . . The first big innovation of this semester was the adoption of an emblem for our organization. The new emblem was designed by a committee composed of ‘Sunshine’ Shogren, Bob Zarr, Hal Birch, Al Steinle, and John Kalafus. The design chosen was a green fir tree in the center of a white keystone with an ax and oak leaves superimposed upon the tree.”

The “emblem” appeared on the cover of the May 1951 Penn State Forestry Society Annual Banquet program, and in the 1951 Sylvan yearbook, also published in May by the Society.

Paul “Sunshine” Shogren confirmed, “As noted in the minutes of the Forestry Society, a patch committee was organized. . . . I did indeed prevail upon my younger sister [Sandra], about 13 years old at the time, who was taking art classes at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), to help us design the patch.” Shogren sent a photo of the patch that his sister still has at the bottom of her sewing box!

Hal Birch ’51 hypothesizes that the pieces of the story fit together this way: “Paul’s sister translated McHail’s patch into black and white and the committee and the Forestry Society immediately accepted it. I could never explain why the double-bitted ax handle in the black-and-white version was swollen below the head. Was it a mistake by an inexperience young artist? The original patch, by a forestry student at Mont Alto, did not have that minor distortion. The ax, pinecone, and oak leaf on the original patch, however, are poorly placed, and the young artist did a better job of positioning them on the pine tree.”

The Class of 1950’s inaugural issue of The Seedling, a student newsletter at Mont Alto, dated November 11, 1946, reports on the organization of the Acers Club (mentioned above by Rex McHail). That issue featured an Acers emblem on the front cover, and this emblem also appeared on the first page of the 1947 Forest Echoes Mont Alto yearbook. The keystone outline may have been carried forward to the Forest School patch design.

The patches have a “The Standard Pennant Co.” label on the back, so there is no question about where they were produced. Unfortunately, two floods in Big Run—one in 1977 and another in 1996—wiped out all the company’s historical files, including old stock samples.

According to James Casady, current president of The Standard Pennant Company, the older patches were “pieces of art”—each made individually, sewn by hand with a sewing machine. Each patch had two penciled numbers or initials on the back—one marking indicated who did the actual embroidery and the other marking indicated who finished that patch (that is, who stitched together the embroidered piece and the felt and the buckram backing, and trimmed it.) The older patches were of wool yarn that was looped (chenille). The company advanced to a more automated production process in the early 1990s, and today, Orlon, an acrylic yarn is used.

The Forest School patch design had some longevity. Karl Lutz ’78 sent an e-mail indicating that he bought a patch around 1977 at University Park—that’s 30 years after the patch was first produced! The patch had been sewn on his denim jacket, but in more recent years it was tacked to his bulletin board. Lutz’s patch is cotton twill and includes the text “Forestry School” instead of “Forest School.” Where it was produced is not known.

Individual class patches also existed. A phone call from Bob Frank ’54 and follow-up with classmate Rod Cobi confirmed that Cobi designed a circular patch for the class of 1954 that was also produced by The Standard Pennant Company. Temp Reynolds ’54 describes the class patch as follows: “A circular patch, 6 inches in diameter. Like the Forest School patch, it is chenille. Around the edge, white letters set in a circular blue background one-inch high say ‘PENNSYLVANIA STATE FOREST SCHOOL.’ In the center (about 4 inches in diameter is a green maple leaf with a double bit axe and a peevee crossed and a red keystone about 1.75 inches high with a white ‘’54’ centered. A black-on-white banner at the bottom of the center is a cursive ‘Mont Alto.’”
“A mystery maze of memories of many old men” is how Rex McHail ’50 described our efforts to piece together the history of the Penn State Forest School Patch.

Articles such as this aim to preserve that history. We also plan to frame a sample of the Forest School patches for display in the new Forest Resources Building. Some of the patches we have on hand to date are depicted here. If you have a patch from the 1960s or later, or one that is different from those shown here, please consider donating it to the display. Contact Ellen Manno at exr2@psu.edu or 814-863-5831.

The Class of 1950’s inaugural issue of The Seedling, a student newsletter at Mont Alto, featured an Acers emblem on the cover page.	Patch designer Rex McHail ’50 donated this patch (chenille wool on a felt keystone) produced in his freshman year at Mont Alto by The Standard Pennant Company in Big Run, Pennsylvania.	This patch was donated by Diane Peterson Ritchey, wife of the late William A. Ritchey ’50. Note the slight differences from the McHail patch, such as the lettering and tree outline. The patches were hand-sewn and therefore had variations.
Glenn Haney ’51 had the same wool patch as McHail’s and Ritchey’s depicted above, but he also had this felt-on-felt patch (year unknown) produced by The Standard Pennant Company. The letters are embroidered and the tree, axe, leaf, and acorn are appliqués.	The first page of the 1951 Sylvan includes this artwork prepared by Paul Shogren’s (Class of 1951) sister, presumably drawn from the Forest School patch.	Earl Reinsel ’56 donated this felt patch to the Centennial Silent Auction on behalf of Tau Phi Delta. The School successfully bid on the patch and acquired it for the collection. Also made at The Standard Pennant Co., this patch has a ragged trim.
		?
This Class of ’54 patch was designed by Rod Cobi ’54 and donated by Temp Reynolds ‘54. It is wool chenille and was produced by The Standard Pennant Co.	Karl Lutz ’78 donated this patch of cotton twill with embroidered lettering and design. Where it was produced is unknown. Notice the text has been changed to “Forestry School.”	Do you have a different patch to donate to the collection?

Former Mont Alto Math Instructor, Harold Jarrett, Feted on 90th Birthday

G. Siehl, K. Schell, and R. Heilig (standing, left to right) with Prof. Jarrett on his 90th birthday.

“Anyone attending the Mont Alto campus from 1947 through June 1959 should remember Harold Jarrett, algebra and trig instructor.  You may also recall Jarrett led the glee club, helped coach the baseball and basketball teams, and played a mean game of ping pong.

“In 2003 we located Mr. Jarrett at Dover, Ohio, and invited him and his wife, Evelyn, to attend the 100th anniversary reunion of the Mont Alto School of Forestry.  We were elated when the Jarretts accepted the invitation.

“In 2007 someone suggested that we dedicate a Founders Tree in honor of Harold Jarrett.  A few phone calls were made and e-mails were sent to fellow alums who had attended Mont Alto during the Jarrett era.  We also learned that Harold would celebrate his 90th birthday on December 9, 2007.

“After realizing we could (and did) raise the required $5,000 for a Founders Tree, three alums from the Mont Alto class of 1954-55 (George Siehl, Kerry Schell and Ralph Heilig) were invited by Cathy Knoop, the Jarretts’ eldest daughter, to attend the party hosted by their elder son Boyd at his home near Dayton.

“The party was a great success.  Harold was genuinely surprised with the dozens of birthday greetings from alums, and the Founders Tree Award. He later commented this was the most memorable birthday celebration in his entire life.  He also stated that his years of teaching at Mont Alto were the most enjoyable years of his working career.”

--- Ralph Heilig ‘58

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