Paul Brantley Jr. (agricultural engineering '51) was so proud of his class ring he wore it even before the ring dance.
After graduation, he wore the garnet ring to Germany, where he was stationed until 1954. When Brantley returned and went into farming in Ivor, Va., he began wearing the ring only on special occasions.
In 1957, the ring disappeared. He and his wife Frances searched everywhere, including a vacation spot on the James River. No luck.
In 1997, 40 years later, Brantley received a surprising phone call. Michelle Mutter of Deep Creek, Va., had found the ring while tilling her garden. Deep Creek is about 40 miles away and not connected to Ivor by any waterway. Brantley's name and hometown of Ivor were still barely visible on the inside.
How his class ring ended up in a town where Brantley had never set foot will probably remain a mystery. Brantley doesn't wear the ring much now, because it fits only on his pinkie.
During the years the ring was missing, Brantley told himself, "It's just a material thing. I graduated so it doesn't make any difference. I have the diploma to prove it." But Brantley is glad to have the ring back. "I keep it on top of my chest of drawers where I can see it once in a while and ask, 'Where have you been?'"
Engineering to host Industry Open House
Virginia Tech's College of Engineering will hold its second Industry Opportunities Open House on June 4 on campus. The event will include clinics, tours of research facilities, and opportunities for industry to interact with faculty. Industry representatives are invited to attend free-of-charge.
The clinics will address such topics as materials and structural design, materials and structural responses, industrial processes, sensors and measurement, signal processing, automation and control, and electronics.
For more information, contact Tom Caruso at (540) 231-6771 or e-mail him at Back to Contents
When you retire in Blacksburg, you get more than free lectures, weekly cultural events, and a place to stay during Tech's home games. Attend the Retire Blacksburg seminar June 5-7 and learn why Blacksburg has been rated as one of the best places to retire by Money magazine and Rand McNally.
At Retire Blacksburg '98, civic leaders and recent retirees will host seminars on a variety of topics, including cost of living considerations, real estate markets, recreation, cultural opportunites, and health care. This is an opportunity to evaluate a community with no hard sell.
Space is limited to 50 participants, and the cost is $95 (cost of lodging is not included) for seminars, tours, and several meals.
For an agenda and registration information, contact the Virginia Tech Division of Continuing Education at (540) 231-5182 or http://www.bev.net. For a Blacksburg Visitor Packet, call (800) 288-4061.
"I never tie-dyed in the '60s," says Jim Crumley (distributive education '69, M.A.). But the brown camouflage designs he tie-dyed onto gray work clothes in the 1970s evolved into Trebark, Crumley's multi-million-dollar business.
Crumley is now recognized as the founding father of camouflage clothing for hunters. Field and Stream recently called him "the guru of camo," and Outdoor Life hailed his original product as a "breakthrough."
A deer hunter since childhood, Crumley became dissatisfied prowling the woods in standard green military uniforms. The predominant colors of his hunting grounds were greys and browns. So he created bark-patterned clothing to match the trees.
The clothing was remarkably ugly, Crumley admits: "It actually looked like somebody had thrown up on you." But in the woods, the strange uniform was effective, and Crumley's friends started asking him to make them camouflage outfits.
That's when Crumley knew he had a money-maker on his hands. He spent several years studying the textile business before launching his signature Trebark pattern in 1980. The product was an instant success, creating a niche market and spawning competitors by the score.
Crumley remains humble. "I did not invent camouflage, obviously," he says, recalling the animal-skin garb of Native American hunters.
With two new products, Trebark is poised to remain among the strongest players in a highly competitive market. "Second Skin" is a camo covering for hunting gear. "Sniper" is photo-realistic, leaf-patterned clothing with a 3-d effect.
As chief operating officer and vice chairman of First Citizens Bank since 1994, James B. Hyler, Jr. (accounting '70) manages ongoing operations in all areas of the company. Now, in his spare time, he's heading a team of corporate executives to promote the 1999 U.S. Open golf tournament in Pinehurst, N.C.
The tournament will be the largest single event ever held in North Carolina and "the largest golf tournament in history in terms of sales of corporate hospitality," Hyler claims. At least 65 corporate hospitality tents, where executives host parties for clients, are expected to be sold at $125,000 each.
While at Virginia Tech, Hyler never dreamed of being the leader of a large, publicly-held financial institution. First Citizens, with $8 billion in assets, is headquartered in North Carolina and has branches in Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. Under Hyler's direction, the bank is growing rapidly through mergers and "de novo" expansion -- a gutsy strategy of opening branches in untried territory.
Hyler enjoys the challenge of seeing First Citizens and its customers through what may be justly termed the current banking revolution. The most important part of his job, he says, is to "try to instill in our company the idea that we're really a retail organization."
Hyler joined the bank in 1980 as chief financial officer.
Over the past dozen years, Kathy Swanson Coleman (elementary education '74), of Afton, Va., has told tales and played her jaw harp to thousands at schools, festivals, historic inns, prisons, and even at the home of U.S. Vice President Al Gore. In early November, she represented Appalachian storytellers on a trip to mainland China as part of the Civilian Ambassador program.
"I'm lucky," says the Wise County native, "to be able to make my living running my mouth. Some people have called me a 'culture keeper,' and that's the way I think of myself. I learned these songs and stories from my kinfolk and neighbors."
Coleman tours Virginia with three story shows: "Appalachian Tales and Tunes," "Patchwork Tales," and "Voices of Virginia." Her first cassette, "My Appalachian Sampler" was lauded by the Smithsonian as one of the distinct "voices of America."
One of Coleman's career highlights was taking her stories, quilts, and homemade toys to the Washington home of Vice President Al Gore in June 1995 to give some 140 foreign ambassadors and diplomats a taste of the Southern mountains.
Coleman concentrated on her music and Appalachian "finger game" toys in her presentations in China. "People across many cultures are familiar with the cat's cradle," she says. "They just call it by different names."
Katherine Keough (educational administration Ed.D '85), president of St. John Fisher College since 1996, is leading the Rochester, N.Y. college in a campaign to encourage "attitude."
Keough defines attitude as "character, drive, heart, insight, and guts." The 22,000-student, liberal arts college teaches these qualities through literature, interdisciplinary examples of innovative thinkers, and an environment that encourages risk-taking.
St. John Fisher guarantees graduates they will find a job in their field and in an appropriate salary range within six months. If not, the college supports them with a monthly stipend until they do. Over 95 percent of graduates find appropriate jobs within six months of graduation.
What does the 'attitude' have to do with this phenomenon? "It's what companies look for," says Keough. "What good is your 98 grade-point average if you don't have drive?"
Keough recently spoke on higher education at Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Center as the university's 125th anniversary celebration and was awarded the 1997 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Human Resources and Education. After her husband was held hostage for 444 days during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Keough served as president of the Family Liaison Action Group, Inc., and assisted in drafting the Hostage Relief Act of 1980 and the Omnibus Terrorism Act of 1985.
Last October, The Washington Post featured Amy Marshall (English '95) in an article about the challenges of being a first-year high-school teacher.
The article offered a detailed look at Marshall's first week teaching English at Gar-Field High in Prince William County, Virginia. It included Marshall's innermost thoughts such as "What if the kids hate me? What if I can't answer their questions? What if I don't know anything?"
To obtain this degree of intimacy, a reporter followed Marshall around for a week. "It was insane," says Marshall. The reporter chose Marshall from several hundred first-year teachers at a meeting before school started.
The publicity had a positive effect. "A lot of my students read [the article]. I don't think any of them realized how nerve-racking the first week of school is for a teacher, especially a new teacher," Marshall says. Community members wrote encouraging letters. A favorite Tech professor and a college dean each called to say "we're proud of you."
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