September 25, 2007

I have spent the last year working on the St. Lawrence University (SLU) Geology Alumni Conference as one of the cochairs. We had a very successful conference in September. This is a unique event where alums return to campus to connect with students and let them know the type of things they can do with their BS in geology and fill them in on things they wish they had known as a student. We had about 40 alums return for two days of talks and panels with the students.

During the conference I was honored with the William T. Elberty Jr. Medal for service the to the university through direct service and support of the Department of Geology. This is a huge honor for me as it reflects how my fellow alumni feel about the work I have been doing for them and the department. I also received this award at the same time as two people who are very special to SLU Geology and me — Mark Erickson, professor, and Alice Quackenbush, who was a long-time secretary for the department.

I am also continuing to maintain the Web site for SLU geology alumni (http://it.stlawu.edu/~geoclub/alumni/).

That is the extent of my geology these days, as I am spending time with my family. Scott and I have two girls — Katie, now 4, and Eliza, almost 2. The keep us pretty busy with school, story time at Phipps, and Kindermusik.

As a family, music continues to be a high priority and Scott and I are busy with our community band — the East Winds Symphonic Band. We were just selected to perform at the National Convention of the Association of Concert Bands this coming April in Corning, N.Y. It promises to be an exciting time.

We also continue to work on an organization that we created with another area musician — the Southwestern Pennsylvania Band Partners. This organization serves to connect regional community bands and to highlight and promote community music in Southwestern PA. We have a Web site and quarterly newsletter which I work on. For more information: http://swpabandpartners.pghfree.net/

For those in the Pittsburgh area, our band promotes the annual Three Rivers Community Band Festival. This year the festival will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at Upper St. Clair High School. Come join us for an afternoon of music. For more information see: http://www.ewsb.org/festival/

Contact Information

sarah_mcelfresh@hotmail.com