1973

You saw and heard it on tie evening news. You read about it in USA Today. But did you know that Val Armento led the parade of more than 500 accordionists who marched into the GuinnessBook of World Records as the world's largest accordion band played "Lady of Spain" last September at the opening of the Sand Hill Challenge, a high-tech soapbox derby in Menlo Park, Calif. The event raised money for Saferide, a program that gives intoxicated teenagers a ride home. Thanks to Marie Shaffer for sending in the story and photo from the San Francisco Chronicle. Marie reports that Val told her she knew "Lady of Spain" by heart from childhood. Despite her newfound fame, Val has no plans to quit her day job as city attorney in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Father Andrew Johnson has been loaned by the Trappist St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass., for three years to the Pontifical Liturgical Commission in Rome. He reports that, upon exiting Rome's St. Anselmo Church recently, he encountered a college-aged girl sketching the bell tower. A brief conversation revealed she is a Dartmouth student. "Tho' round the girdled earth..."

Gregg Brown was elected to a second term as president of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, which represents over 1,700 member companies employing over 220,000 people who build homes and communities in a six-county region of Southern California. He is the founder and president of his own Riverside building company and spearheaded his industry's 1998 Rose Parade float project, which won the tournament's prestigious Director's Trophy. An All-Ivy and AllNew England football selection in both 1971 and 1972, Gregg was recently inducted into Claremont High School's Football Hall of Fame. He lives with wife Debra Melton-Brown in Riverside, Calif.

George Kidder is managing director of Beacon Asset Management, an investment counseling firm, which has announced a joint venture with Boston's Eastern Bank Corp. to provide personalized investment management to high-net-worth in dividuals, charitable foundations, endowment, and corporate retirement plans. George earned his M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and began his career at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh. He later worked with several Boston-based investment companies. As president of KDK Capital Advisers he merged the firm with Beacon Asset Management in May 1998.

Forbes magazine must have a team of reporters covering Leon Black's moves in the business world. Leon was featured prominently in two Forbes articles last fall that analyzed the rise and the fall of Samsonite's stock prices in 1998 and Vail Resorts' consolidation of hotels, restaurants, and stores in Colorado. Leon is Vail's controlling shareholder. The conglomerate is doing very well, and the competition is feeling the pinch.

It's time to pinch yourself if you haven't made a pledge to the Annual Giving Fund. Do the right thing.

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