2014 Distinguished Alumni Luncheon

2014 Distinguished Alumni Luncheon
Welcome Dee Stone, FHFE Exec. Director Dan Carroll, Chopper 9 News Specialist
Program MC Our Distinguished Alumni •
•
•
•
Michael Brandy Pete Delois Mike Craycraft Stephanie Cone Laing Distinguished Staff • Mike Hall, AHS Principal 1985 to 2003 Distinguished Service Award • Jeanne Johnston Miller Award Presentation Forest Heis, FHFE Board President Special thanks to Dan Carroll, Sue Price, Stanley Jones, and the Forest Hills School District. Michael Brandy
AHS 1974
Michael moved to Anderson from New Jersey during his high school years and, like many of his classmates, he got an after-­‐school job on Beechmont Avenue. He worked at the Ontario Gas Station, which he eventually managed. (He even gave an educational speech to Mr. Harris’ speech class about pumping gas because back then, nobody pumped their own.) He went on to earn a business degree from the University of Kentucky before embarking on his corporate career with stints at General Mills and The Kroger Company where he rose to Marketing Director. At the same time, earning his MBA at Xavier University helped him develop a passion for entrepreneurship, especially as a result of a business startup course. George Hudson (also an AHS Grad) encouraged him and suggested he write a business plan for his New Life Water Company as a class project. That exercise taught him he wanted to start his own business, and in 1984, he started Brandicorp, a hospitality and commercial real-­‐estate company celebrating its 30th year in business this year. Some professional awards include “Best Hotel Opening” for Marriott Rookwood, Subway Franchisee of the Year, and an Arby’s 5-­‐Star Award Winner. Beyond his business interests, Michael’s charitable passion is Matthew 25 Ministries and The Center for Humanitarian Relief where he has served as Chairman of the Board for 15 years. He is also a faithful member of Mt. Washington Baptist Church. Personally, he is blessed to have a wonderful family with which he enjoys spending his time. Pete Delois
THS 1978
Pete began attending Anderson Middle School at the age of 13 when his family moved from Iowa for his dad’s career. Little did he know that he and his classmates would be part of a series of “firsts” for the Forest Hills School District: the first eighth grade class to graduate from Turpin Middle School and the first graduating class of Turpin High School in 1978. Like many of his friends, Pete played 3 sports during his high school career. He wrestled, played baseball, and was the fullback on the football team. His junior year he won the sectionals in wrestling, and he was credited with scoring Turpin's first touchdown with a 1-­‐yard plunge. But his proudest moment as a high school athlete was being a part of Bob Berta's first Spartans team to defeat Anderson High School. Pete graduated from Kent State University with a degree in criminal justice in 1983. While at Kent he was a walk-­‐on member of the wrestling team all four years. His first job after graduating from Kent was at Beech Acres Orphans Home, and it was there that Pete met his future wife, Lynne, and her daughter, Erin. Pete and Lynne married in 1989 and within a few years had three more children—Rudy, Sam, and Carly. Pete enjoyed working with kids, but also knew he had a mind for business and sales. With his father's help, Pete acquired the rights to the Invisible Fence dealership in Cincinnati. Over the next 10 years, Pete grew the company to 35 employees in Cincinnati and Columbus. He won Invisible Fence's Top Dog award five years in a row. Along the way he started additional complementary businesses, including Bone Appetite, a dog food drive-­‐thru; Stork News, a sign company announcing families’ new arrivals; Pop A Lock; and Recreations Outlet. Eventually he sold all his business interests except Recreations Outlet—a family-­‐ oriented business that sells commercial and residential play sets, basketball goals and trampolines. The business has evolved into 3 locations including 2 indoor showrooms in Milford and Powell, Ohio. Over the years the showrooms have been a destination for indoor play and children's birthday parties. Recreations Outlet’s motto is "We Build Fun". Pete believes in giving back and each month, Recreations Outlet donates 50% of its proceeds from Charitable Play to different charities in the Greater Cincinnati area. He also works with the Make-­‐A-­‐Wish Foundation to fulfill wishes in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Recreations Outlet is also a proud supporter of the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League. Mike Craycraft AHS 1990 Mike Craycraft was born and raised in Anderson Township. He attended Maddux Elementary School, was a proud member of the Maddux Mustang Unicycle Team, and went on to Forest Hills Junior School. At Anderson High School, he played soccer and his senior year was named as 1st Team All Queen City Conference, 2nd Team All-­‐City and 2nd Team by the Cincinnati Enquirer. His first official job in high school was at Ulmer’s Sohio. Mike attended Xavier University for Pre-­‐Pharmacy and continued playing soccer while being named to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Academic Honor Roll. He was then accepted to the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy and graduated with a B.S. in Pharmacy in 1995. As a Clinical Pharmacist, his career began at The Christ Hospital, and he has continued practicing mainly in hospital settings in Cincinnati and Florida. He has also worked in pharmacy management as Clinical Coordinator, Operations Manager, and interim Director of Pharmacy at two different hospitals. Mike founded Craycraft Consulting, a small business focused on preventive health screenings, such as bone density, diabetes and cholesterol screenings, and Home Health Screening, a website featuring preventive health screenings for home use. Mike was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2006 and immediately started reaching out to other survivors to learn about their experiences. In 2008, he founded the Testicular Cancer Society to help reduce the burden of testicular cancer by increasing education and awareness and to provide support services for fighters, survivors, and caregivers. Mike’s vision is a day when testicular cancer has minimal impact and no longer takes away men’s lives. Mike serves as a Mentor Angel with Imerman Angels, as a 4th Angel Mentor with The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative at the Cleveland Clinic, and as a survivor member of the Anderson Network at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for Camp Kesem at Ohio State University and volunteers for Love Hope Strength. As a Huffington Post Blogger, he contributes on issues related to adolescent and young adult oncology. Stephanie Cone Laing
THS 1987
A proud Ohioan, Stephanie was raised in Anderson Township. She attended Wilson and Newtown Elementary schools and spent her middle and high school years at Turpin. After high school, she attended both the University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University before taking leave of the Midwest and running away with the “circus” that is the film industry. After heading to Los Angeles, Stephanie worked on several films including Milk Money, which starred Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris, and Don Juan DeMarco with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando. Next, she produced Tracey Ullman's HBO comedy variety series, Tracey Takes On, for four seasons, winning her first Emmy in 1997. During their decade of working together, Stephanie and Ullman founded the groundbreaking online shopping website PurpleSkirt.com which was twice featured on Oprah’s “Favorite Things”. When her youngest child turned one, Stephanie went back to TV to work on the HBO series Little Britain, followed by Documental. When presented with the opportunity to join the producing team of HBO’s Eastbound and Down in 2009, she found herself working alongside the riotous Danny McBride, director David Gordon Green, Will Ferrell, and Adam McKay. She was later named an Executive Producer of the show during the 4th season. Soon after, she added Veep to her resume, a comedy powerhouse that perfectly suits her style. Later, between seasons, she worked on Season 1 of Cinemax’s Banshee. She expanded her repertoire during this time to include directing, most notably as the 2nd unit director on both Veep and Banshee. Stephanie directed an episode of Veep in Season 4. Though her love for producing is apparent, Stephanie’s three children—Watson, 7, Patterson, 9 and Maclaren, 11—remain her most important focus. She is also passionate about her philanthropic work, whether it means raising money for ALS patient care at the Forbes Norris Clinic in San Francisco, holding acoustic concerts in Los Angeles, directing PSAs for The Clinton Foundation’s “Too Small to Fail” initiative, or directing additional PSAs for Library For All, where she is a member of the board. Forest Hills Staff Honoree Michael D. Hall
AHS Principal 1985-2003
Mike and family moved to Anderson Township in 1982. Mike had been hired to be the Forest Hills School District’s Administrator of Athletics, Health, and Physical Education. In 1984, he became principal of Little Miami High School and in 1985 he was selected to be principal of Anderson High School. As Anderson principal for 18 years, Mike saw more than 5000 students graduate from AHS. During his tenure, Anderson High School was regularly in the news for its academic achievements, its athletic prowess, and for bucking the trend to change the Redskin mascot. Mike got more than the usual amount of press. He wrote three books for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and more than 350,000 copies of his “Team Up For Drug Prevention” were published and distributed. He was a consultant for the DEA’s Drug Prevention Programs for Athletes and since 1984, has been in 34 states and three foreign countries addressing seminars and school assemblies on the perils of drug abuse. Under his watch, Anderson was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at a White House ceremony for Drug Free Schools, and was a multi-­‐year winner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity award. After leaving Anderson in 2003, he became the founding principal of Miami Valley Christian Academy High School and later served as the principal of a Cincinnati intercity charter school. Currently he is “retired” and volunteers four days per week for different organizations. Mike and his wife, Ann, have three daughters, Barbara, Susan and Deborah (AHS 1984). Distinguished Service Jeanne Johnston Miller AHS 1959 Jeanne attended Anderson schools since kindergarten and graduated from Anderson High School in 1959 as an “outstanding senior”. She was involved in almost every activity Anderson offered including band, chorus, National Honor Society, and cheerleading. After high school, she attended the University of Cincinnati for two years, majoring in primary education. She married Bob Miller in 1960 and they had four children, all AHS graduates: Chris ’80, Jenny ’83, Rob ’86, and Becky ’87. Jeanne’s commitment to the Anderson Alumni Association and the AHS Class of 1959 is long and continuous. She helped organize the Anderson All School reunion in 1980, which was attended by over 1500 Anderson graduates. This successful event led to the formation of the Anderson Alumni Association in 1990, and Jeanne became its president. She went on to chair the All School Reunions in 1990 and 1995. Jeanne is still involved in the Anderson Alumni Association today, and when there is a question about the early years, Jeanne is the person to call. In addition to her commitment to the Alumni Association, Jeanne has chaired her Class of 1959 reunions every five years for eleven reunions, the most recent of which was in September 2014. Jeanne has volunteered for many other organizations as well, including the Brownies and Girl Scouts, Sherwood PTA, Forest Hills Bond Issues, Children’s Hospital, and various nursing homes. Jeanne’s contributions to our community caused her to be recognized as an “Honored Citizen” for the Anderson Bicentennial in 1993. Jeanne considers herself a “jack of all trades, master of none”. She has worked as a beauty salon shop girl, dental assistant, apartment manager, short order cook, bank teller, an accountant for a family business, and as a professional ticket seller for the Reds, Bengals, UC, and Cincinnati Gardens. Her most important job, however, has been her role as wife, mother, and grandmother to her eight grandchildren and three great-­‐ grandchildren. Distinguished Alumni & Staff
Past Honorees
2013
Dr. Howard Bell AHS 1966
Bob Coughlin AHS 1979
Michael Fortin THS 1981
John Hayden AHS 1975
Kristin Sherwin Meyer THS 1990
Laura Phelps-Sweatt THS 1998
Richard Wesp FHSD Staff 1954 to 2011
To nominate an Anderson or Turpin Distinguished Alumni or
staff member to be honored next year, go to www.fhfe.org and
download the nomination form.