BC Alumni Newsletter

February 2022
 Rising Alumni
Caitlyn Tashman ‘19 Burke Catholic
prepared me
for college be-
Rising alumni
cause it not on-
Caitlyn Tashman ly shaped me
has a lot to be as a student
proud of since but as a person
graduating from of faith. There
are a lot of in-
Burke Catholic. In
credible classes
addition to mak- and teachers at
ing the Mary- BC who played
wood University a part in my
Dean’s list every development
and my career path. Taking Spanish ig-
semester since freshman year, she has been
nited my interest in traveling, and hav-
inducted into Marywood’s Gamma Alpha ing amazing teachers inspired me to
Chapter of Phi Sigma Iota-National Foreign want to become an educator. Religion
Language Honor Society and into The Beta classes helped me build upon my faith.
Epsilon Chapter of Delta Epsilon Sigma at Art classes inspired my passion for creat-
ing. Public
Marywood University, the National Scholas-
Speaking clas-
tic Honor Society for Catholic Colleges and ses gave me the
Universities. The inducted students must confidence to
have a 3.75 GPA or higher. Caitlyn is pursuing speak in groups.
a degree in Secondary Education/Spanish Mrs. Breitfeller
introduced me
Major with a Special Education Minor.
to the Mary-
We caught up with Caitlyn, and she shared wood University
what Burke Catholic has meant to her. experience from
an alumni per-
spective. I can
honestly say all
my teachers at Burke Catholic have in-
spired me in different ways. BC allowed
me to grow independently as a student,
person, and as a Catholic.

After I graduate from Marywood Uni-

versity in May of 2023, I plan to get my
master's degree and teach Spanish at a
local middle or high school.
 Voice of Eagles Past
Maire Ullrich ‘88
One of the Class of '88 gradu-
ates that remained local is
Maire Ullrich. Maire currently
has two students in Burke
Catholic, Dermott '23 and
Onoria '26. Maire shares hav-
ing her children and BC and
what she is doing now.
The decision to move her chil-
dren from public school was
based on Burke's ability to
keep teaching through the
pandemic, reducing the wild swings in schedules and
learning curves. Through the education platform Can-
vas, Maire liked the real-time monitoring of homework
completion and grades. Maire admits it is "fun" that her
kids have a few of the same teachers she had and that
current teachers, administrators, and parents were her
classmates too. She recalls fondly how lucky she was to
have Mr. Keating for 2 classes and a homeroom. Sadly,
he passed away recently but is remembered by Maire as
a great instructor of English and Literature while being a
student-focused and thoughtful man.
Currently, Maire is the Agricultural Program Leader for
Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orange County. She
referred to herself as a "plant veterinarian" for many
years since much of her work was production diagnos-
tics and problem-solving. Her work now involves work-
ing with farmers to help them produce more, sell more,
and manage regulations. She also works with legislators
and the public to understand the food system and im-
prove it to benefit farmers and consumers locally and
federally as she prepares input on legislation such as the
Farm Bill. She notes that the pandemic certainly
changed the way many appreciate food availability and
the workers in the system responsible for getting food
on tables. Hopefully, those new views will change the
system by making it more resilient.
For almost 20 years now, Maire has managed the Glean-
ing Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension. Current-
ly, it covers several counties for pick-up and deliveries.
Last year they collected over 300,000 lbs. of products
and distributed them to pantries and soup kitchens in
the Hudson Valley. Additionally, because of the relation-
ships and contracts for the Gleaning Program, CCEOr-
ange has been awarded money to buy products for emer-
gency feeding agencies from local farmers. Marie feels
this has been a very rewarding culmination of years of
work-being able to get super high-quality foods to folks
who need it the most. Maire wanted to share that there
is always help needed in the Gleaning Program if
anyone is looking for volunteer work!
Maire is also on the Cornell Hemp Team, a state-
wide group of faculty and staff helping prospective
producers in all aspects of hemp (Cannabis sativa
with less than 0.3%THC) production. Some of her
old classmates find it quite entertaining that some-
one who was pretty "straight-laced" is now an ex-
pert in this area. In 2019 Maire was invited into Mr.
Debold's science class to talk about agriculture,
and hemp quickly became a popular subject for
questions from the students.
Much of Maires' work is outreach. Sharing the lat-
est research with producers, responding to a call
from a newspaper or television news editor on cur-
rent conditions, or having programs for the public
on topics ranging from GMOs to organic regula-
tions. A few years ago, that outreach evolved into a
weekly radio program. For many years, Farm Talk
had been a radio show on WTBQ (1110AM, 93.5FM
or stream at WTBQ), a local station based in War-
wick. When original hosts Bill Johnson and John
Sandford, both local farmers, retired, Maire was
asked to "fill-in" while the local farming communi-
ty found another local producer to take the reins.
That was 6 years ago this spring! You can tune into
Maire every Wednesday from 12pm-1pm. Often
Maire interviews someone involved in agriculture
production or research. She can also be heard talk-
ing solo about agricultural news of the week or div-
ing deep into pest, policy, or economic issues.
"I am conscious of the advantages my Burke educa-
tion has given me, allowing me to compete aca-
demically at Cornell and SUNY for my BS and
MBA. The rigorous education that focused on the
basics of researching, interpreting, and developing
solid conclusions has served me well. And for my
children, I appreciate those fundamentals as well as
the honestly practiced Christ-like emulation of
love and respect for others and inclusiveness."
 A message to former students
Professor Gilmore has issued a challenge to the
BC Classes of ‘04, ‘05 & ‘06 this month he shares
a message...
20 years ago, Monday, 25 January 2002, I stood in front
of many of you for the first time as your new teacher,
and pontificated on life and education!
The first lesson you would have received concerned the
slug and its similarity to High School Freshmen: the slug
craps on its own head…comparable to a High School
Freshman; slugs might have a favorite food, but will eat
just about anything…again, comparable to a High School
Freshman; and “…when a slug wants to reproduce, do
you think it slimes up to another and says, ‘Hey, baby?’
NO, because a slug is hermaphroditic…it has both sex
organs!!!” OK, hopefully freshmen don’t want to repro-
duce…THEN…but it was a point!!!
The next lesson you should have learned was that the
teacher was responsible for morphing the freshman from
slug to Homo sapiens…a thinking human. Hmmmm!!!!!
Periodically, I asked you to write three positives and
three negatives of your life’s recent experiences, and per-
haps “who did you think you would be today from six
months ago, AND who do you want to be six months
from now?” Why? Because at ANY age, we tend to focus
on the here and now, and that is important, BUT we
have to understand the issues and events that brought
us to the here and now. Understanding that, we can…we
don’t necessarily…but we can begin to plan actions that
can hopefully make us a better, happier person tomor-
row!!!
Over time, I wrote several “thoughts” on the board…
another lesson…
“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we
do for others and the world remains and is immor-
tal.” ― Albert Pike
“It is better, of course, to know useless things than
nothing.”—Seneca
AND, the last important thought and lesson I ex-
pressed to you was simply:
“Get your head out of your fourth point of con-
tact!!!”
I have reflected upon my experiences at Burke and
with all of you for these 20 years and will continue
to do so until such time as I have “run the good
race!” Obviously, you have been a very important
part of my life these 20 years or I would not take
the time to write this missive. While I met you as
“the teacher,” you taught me much about myself
that I had not realized before…and I was 49 years
old!!! I have been blessed by God to have you in
my life…I thank Him and I thank each of you.
Now, for these 20 years you have been experiencing
life and (hopefully) evolving into the wonderful
adults I and the other teachers “knew” was possi-
ble. You are now 34 or 35…where did the time go?
You are still or have returned to singlehood, mar-
ried with or without children. You are teachers,
business executives, political buffoons, lawyers,
Police Officers, Ph.Ds, Chefs, Military, whatever.
Some of you are happy or very happy, or not so
happy with your life. You probably bear the scars
of physical and emotional “slings and arrows” of
life. You have probably experienced death of fami-
ly or friend. You may have experienced or witness
others experience illness and disease. You may
question your life’s experiences, wondering why
you did or didn’t do something. Could you have
done better and what would that mean for your life
today…would your life be better and you be happi-
er or not as good and you be less happy? Ah, wel-
come to life!!! Hopefully the religious lessons
learned at Burke have helped you grow and man-
age well the issues that have confronted you and
will continue to confront you throughout your life.
My experiences in life have shown me that faith in
the Good Lord and Blessed Mother have strength-
ened me in dire circumstances and enhanced the
exhilarating experiences.
Just for fun, as I had you do so long ago, look at who you
thought you would be today from six months, a year, 5 Time does pass, and with it we do change!!!
years, whatever ago. Are you that individual? Then,
look forward whatever timeframe and take action to be-
come the person you “think” you want to be. It can be
an awesome experience!!!

Lastly, what actions have you undertaken to help oth-

ers…and yourself by helping others…whether “others”
are people or organizations helping people? Remember,
Non Verbum Sed Votum!!!

That leads me to my final lesson, for this letter at least.

This is probably the most important lesson…

“You are who you are because of who you were!”

Don’t dwell on the past…Live the present…Prepare for Me, 1981…A rugby player and in the Army!!! 28
the future. Keep evolving. years old!!!

God and the Blessed Mother bless all of you and your
families. Please know I am proud of all of you…here’s to
the next 20 years…and longer!!!

Happy 20th anniversary of our lives together.

Me, today, 23 Jan 2022, at 10 am

Slainte!!!
For all of you, IF you have email addresses of others
from the class, please pass on this missive to them, Me, today, 23 Jan 2022, at 2:30 pm…
and let them have my email address...I would love evolution???....oh…ah…almost 69 years old!!!
to hear from all of you...I don’t do other social me-
dia formats: How fast the time went…hope it keeps going
for ALL of us!!!
blueeagle0203@yahoo.com
 Attention Class of ‘04, ‘05 & ‘06
Who doesn’t love a challenge...

To make a donation to Professor Gilmore’s challenge visit www.burkecatholic.com

or contact Karen at kdwyer@burkecatholic.org

 The Class of 1972 Announces its Fiftieth Class Reunion
July 22 – 23, 2022

After months of planning, we are pleased to announce that the Burke Class of 1972 will celebrate it’s Fiftieth Year
Reunion with an exciting weekend of events July 22 – 23, 2022.

Festivities will begin with an informal gathering on Friday night July 22 at Equilibrium Brewery 2-8 South St. Mid-
dletown, NY beginning at 7 pm. This event is open to all classmates, alumni and friends and will offer music and
a tented area. Expenses for food and beverage are on your own.

On Saturday, July 23, we will honor classmates who have died with a Memorial Mass on the BCHS campus begin-
ning at 11 am. Details are still being finalized, but we are planning an inclusive celebration of our departed class-
mates and families. Following the mass, there will be a campus tour for all persons interested.

On Saturday evening, celebrations will begin at 7 pm with an elegant dinner and entertainment at The Stagecoach
Inn, 268 Main Street, Goshen, NY from 7pm – 11pm. A cash bar will be available.

All events have been planned with the safety of classmates, guests and families as the top priority and will be in an
open-air environment.

Early Registration will begin March 14, 2022. Price for the weekend events will be $135.00 per person and include
dinner at The Stagecoach Inn, the Memorial Mass and a class gift. Additional details and suggestions for hotel ac-
commodations will be included in the registration materials.

Classmates for whom we have contact information will be contacted directly by email
(Burkeclassof72@gmail.com). Additionally, information and announcements will be available on Facebook (JS
Burke Class of 72 – 50 Year Reunion, and periodically at the Burke Alumni Newsletter.

To update your contact information or to obtain additional information, please contact

Burkeclasof72@gmail.com or any of the
Planning Committee
Louise Valley-Luck, Chair Janet Russell-Barberio Sheila O’Brien Glenn
Ron Bittner Kevin Dougherty Mary Kingsley
Chris Perrello Winnie Schleider Jeanette Strinati-Litts
Greg Traphagen

Remember to be on the lookout for your Invitation and Early Registration On March 14, 2022.

All registration and payment will be due June 6, 2022.

Cheers to 50!
 Burke Catholic is proud to announce our latest
Articulation Agreement with Manhattan College.

Manhattan College will guarantee admissions for bachelor’s level programs to BC seniors who have a
3.00 GPA. Students who meet or exceed a 3.00 GPA will receive, at minimum, an annual $20,000 schol-
arship with a total value of $80,000 over four years

Thank you Ms. Nemeth and our BC Guidance Department

 Alumni Business Spotlight
Stagecoach Inn
Faith Ferguson ‘82
Ladies Night is this Thursday 3/3
at the Inn.

Grab a few friends and come enjoy an

evening out.

3 Course Prix Fixe Menu: $49 + +

Menu is posted on our website:

www.stagecoachny.com

Includes a complimentary glass of

wine or champagne.

Call 845-294-05526 for reservations

please reference “Ladies’ Night”

Our virtual art auction was a tre-

mendous success!

Thank you to our amazing BC

Community.

Looking forward to next year!

 BCHS Family, Friends & Alumni Gala
May 21, 2022

We are looking forward to gathering together with new and old friends
to celebrate all things Burke Catholic. Please join us for a wonderful
evening.

Ticket and sponsorship information below.

 The BC Connection
Fridays at noon on WTBQ
You can connect at 1110 AM or 93.5 FM

Innovation. Education.
 Save the Date
Join us June 18th on Fletcher Street for a great day of
Food, Fun, and Friends

Families welcome!

Planning a reunion?
The Alumni BBQ is a great event to include in your festivities.
BC Alumni Newsletter
2020- 2021

ReVitalize, ReEngage, ReConnect

Office of Alumni and Advancement

Your gift will have an immediate impact on all BCHS students.

Light the way for today’s students, so that they can find their way to impact
the world.

To make your gift today, please visit

www.burkecatholic.com

To double the impact of your donation check to see if your company participates in a matching
gift program - please visit

https://doublethedonation.com/BCHS
 If you would like to be in-
cluded in the next news-
letter or have a Milestone
or story you would like to
share, contact Karen Dwyer:
kdwyer@burkecatholic.org

Contact Information
John S. Burke Catholic High School
Office of Admissions, Alumni and Advancement
80 Fletcher St, Goshen, NY 10924
(845) 294-5481 ext 132

burkecatholic.com
facebook.com/burkecatholichighschool
facebook.com/BCadmissionsandadvancement
twitter.com/burkecatholichs
instagram.com/burkecatholichs