Carolyn Plemitscher ’78 is in her 40th season of working with the Denver Center Theatre Company! She’s spent the last 30, or so, years makings patterns from the sketch designs and seeing the garment through completion, as a draper.

Congrats Carolyn on your tenured career!

Thomas (Allen) Christensen ’74 is retiring from the practice of Law with Marshall & Melhorn, LLC in Toledo, Ohio after 45 years as an estate planning and tax attorney in OH and MI. Congratulations Thomas!

Tom Wetzel ’72 received the Silver Beaver from the Pathway to Adventure Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which represents Chicago and over 100 suburbs. The award is the highest given by a council to adult volunteer Scouters for their distinguished service to youth and their community. Tom has been active in Scouting for over a quarter-century having served in many leadership positions.

Jerrilyn McGregory ’71 recently had a book, “One Grand Noise: Boxing Day in the Anglicized Caribbean World”, published about the first comprehensive study of how Boxing Day is celebrated across The Caribbean. You find the book here. The book was also the winner of the Chicago Prize in Folklore in 2022. You can read more about the award here.

Roscoe (Ross) Fraser ’78 a larger-than-life presence in the Chicago communications, non-profit and theater arenas for more than four decades, passed away on Jan. 1. He liked to say he found his people when he arrived at Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) in 1974 as a theater major. Ross had a memorable role in Truman Capote’s Among the Paths to Eden and directed his senior show, the Steven Tesich play The Carpenters. But at IWU, he is best remembered as a genuine force of nature on the social scene. Ross seemed to know everyone and everyone knew Ross. The dramatic training helped Ross later in life, but all the skills for getting on in this world were forged at Illinois Wesleyan. You can read the full obituary here.

Community Players Theatre is celebrating 100 years on stage. Bruce Parrish ’74, president of the board for Community Players Theatre, recalls how participating in theatre at IWU helped pave the way for his involvement with the local group. You can read more here.

A three-week retrospective art event at Windsong Acres celebrates the work of Shelly Rasche ’78, whose illustrations graced products around the world from greeting cards and ornaments to stuffed animals and yard flags, before dementia led to her retirement from commercial art. You can read more here.

Stew Salowitz ’76 had his painting When Winter Fades accepted for exhibit in the McLean County Arts Center’s 95th Annual Amateur Exhibition in March 2022. The retired Illinois Wesleyan sports information director won first prize in the adult painting category at the MCAC’s Annual Amateur Exhibition in 2021.