Alice Carol Williams Dennis
Alice Dennis was born on April 12, 1950 in Placerville, California. The family moved frequently, and by the time she graduated from High School Alice had attended 13 schools. Her childhood was filled with stories of family adventures related to her by both her parents.
Her mother gave Alice a love and respect for family ties, history and knowing one’s roots as well as the desire and ability to use what was on hand to create what was needed. Her father, a gifted speaker, encouraged his daughter to be unafraid of any challenge and to be fearless when trying new things. These life lessons helped Alice adjust quickly to new people and places as she was always ready to embrace the potential found tucked into any new environment. When Alice met and married Frank Dennis, a member of the United States Air Force, the tradition of moving continued. When finally settling in Rome, Frank, Alice and their two daughters had lived in 5 States, and 2 foreign countries. As she had in her early years, Alice greeted each move as an exciting adventure and each new place has influenced her creativity and added to Alice’s own life story. Being introduced to many new things at a young age helped develop Alice’s desire to create the back story in everything, whether object, location or person; all things have a history, a story to be told. When a doll; puppet or work of art comes to her mind its story unfolds as her hands form each detail the design will inherit and inhabit. Alice’s dolls and their stories have been featured in international publications, and have won awards in gallery shows, and at the Great New York State Fair. Her award winning art has been part of group and solo shows. Alice’s skill with puppetry and storytelling has delighted young and old alike at fairs, festivals, daycare centers and schools throughout New York State. Believing that all possess creativity, she encourages others to “just do it!” She finds great joy in the process of creating, whether it’s a doll, puppet or a story. She hopes her example can help others identify and embrace their own unique creativity. One of the best lessons her parents taught her was that it cannot hurt to try. Sometimes all that is needed to untether one’s own imagination is the permission to try…without the ties of “I can’t” binding one’s own creativity. Alice hopes her inspiration is evident in her endeavors, her efforts encourage others, and that her smile is contagious.
Bernie Hurlbut
Bernie Hurlbut was born in Rome in 1931. At the age of six his teacher noticed he had a marvelous talent for drawing. He painted a memorial for WWII Vets at the age of 10. Bernie graduated from Verona High School and then attended Albright Art School in Buffalo.
He spent two years in the Army as sign painter and charts maker and then worked at Nelson’s Department Store hand lettering show cards for displays. In 1957 he founded Rome Sign Company. Bernie fashioned some of Rome’s landmark commercial signs, billboards, and show placards, elevating hand-lettered signs to an art form. His street-scape renderings of downtown facades/storefronts can still be found displayed at the Rome Historical Society (and occasionally at Jervis Library). Bernie even did the lettering on stock-car racer Richie Evans’ car. Along with his late wife Ann, (a Rome Arts Hall of Fame member) he was involved in Rome Community Theatre for many years, designing and painting sets, as well as cartoons for The Prompter newsletter. He has illustrated six of his own books and has had work published in various area newspapers. He continues to share his positive outlook on Rome in the monthly 5 Points Compass periodical which he has done for the last 15 years. Bernie has been dedicated to refining his art by regularly attending Rome Art Association meetings over the past decade. This has resulted in some of his latex paintings being selected for exhibition, also at the Rome Historical Society. In addition to drawing, Bernie is a tenor/bass sharing his vocal talents with the Roman Rogues Barbershop Quartet for 40 years. In December 2018, he was presented with the Gregory P. Roberts ‘Harmony for Life’ award. Bernie continues to draw and illustrate on a daily basis, freely sketching animals and cartoons for events such as the Rome Humane Society’s Christmas adopt-a-pet events. He has illustrated Kerry Grant’s “Clarence the Eagle” children’s books, often touring with the author to speak and sketch for library groups, always with a quip or joke to complement his infectious smile and spirited personality. Bernie was an active member and officer in several community organizations including the Rome Lions, Rome Optimist, Oneida County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sylvan Beach Yacht Club, The Rome Historical Society, and the Rome Historic and Scenic Preservation Commission.
Carmen Amato
Carmen Amato was born Bethany Booton in 1959 in Rome, NY. She graduated from Rome Catholic High School in 1978 and from LeMoyne College in 1982 with a B.A. in history/political science (cum laude). Carmen earned her M.A. in international relations from the University of Virginia in 1984 and completed postgraduate work at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2011.
Joining the CIA in 1985, Carmen held positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of intelligence analysis, open source intelligence, international negotiations, and strategic communications. She was a member of the 2015 Agency Modernization Task Force, the General Secretary of the 22-nation International Open Source Working Group, and supervised employees throughout the Western Hemisphere. She retired in 2016 as head of one of the US national intelligence tradecraft schools. Recognized for multiple innovations leading to enhanced US intelligence capabilities, Carmen is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal. Carmen credits her 30 year career with the Central Intelligence Agency with giving her the experience and skill to write fiction sizzling with high-stakes relationships and fast-moving plots. She is a mystery author whose Detective Emilia Cruz series pits Acapulco’s first female police detective against Mexico’s drug cartels, official corruption, and culture of machismo. In addition to the Detective Emilia Cruz series, Carmen is the author of political thriller The Hidden Light of Mexico City and romantic suspense novel Awakening Macbeth. She also edited the nonfiction collection of travel essays The Insider’s Guide to the Best of Mexico. Critically acclaimed for unflinching portrayals of drug crime and social issues, the Detective Emilia Cruz series received the 2018 Poison Cup Award from CrimeMasters of America. Book 7 in the series, 43 Missing, was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for Best Procedural of 2017. National Public Radio called the books “A thrilling series” while Kirkus Reviews praised them as “Consistently exciting” (Cliff Diver) with “Danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away” (King Peso).
Gail Susan Tucker
Gail was born on May 9, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. She was raised in Queens and graduated in 1970 from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. In 1973 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St John’s University with a major in English and a minor in Mathematics. After graduation she was employed by IBM Corporation retiring in 1988 as an Executive Secretary. In 1974 she moved to Rome with her husband, Raymond whose first assignment upon graduation was to the Rome Air Development Center at Griffiss Air Force Base. Her second career was with the Rome City School District as a Teacher Assistant, working at several area schools until retiring a second time in 2009.
Gail has always had an interest in making things out of fabric. She is a self-taught sewer who still uses her old Sears Kenmore sewing machine for her projects. She made many of her children’s Halloween costumes and helped costume students at Stokes School, as well as cast members for the Capitol Theatre’s Rising Stars and SummerStage productions. Her third career, that of a theatrical costumer began in 2004 when Rome Arts Hall of Fame member, Peter Loftus asked if she would consider costuming Will Rogers Follies. From that time forward fifteen years, she has costumed two SummerStage shows each year. In 2009, she offered to costume The Wiz for Rome Free Academy and for the last ten years, she has costumed the RFA musicals each spring. In 2014, Clinton High School lost their costumer and Gail took over costuming their musicals as well. Gail also, on occasion has helped out with costuming at Edgewood High School in Maryland and at Rome Community Theatre, where she won a Henry Award for Nunset Blvd in 2013. In 2015 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the M. Proctor Theater Guild. She has created some rather unusual things for her shows including plates, pots, candles, whisk brooms, gargoyles, a tooth pillow, a cover for a table leaf, a skull, a two-person camel, 4 sheep, a goat, a “valentine” doll with rip off arms, two dolls to represent the General and Jojo and a large Duloc greeter head. In her “spare” time she quilts and is currently working on her fourteenth creation. Some of her quilts have taken several years to complete. In addition to being on the Rome Capitol Theatre Board of Directors for the past 30 years, a least half of that time as Secretary, she is Moderator for the Board of Deacons of the First Presbyterian Church in Rome, and Senior Director of Ticketing for Beneath the Sea. When not sewing, she enjoys spending time with her five grandchildren: Wesley, Jason, Fenna, Abigail and Anastasia.
John Clifford
John Clifford was born October 17, 1962 in Ilion and spent the first eight years in Frankfort until the family moved to LeRoy. John’s father taught him the process of black and white photography when he was 13 years old. He credits most of his photo knowledge to his artistic mother and father, the three semesters he spent at Genesee Community College in Batavia before transferring to Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and his own natural sense of curiosity. Clifford graduated from BGSU in 1986 with a B.A. in Communication.
In 1989 he started working at a weekly newspaper, the Suburban News, in Spencerport. It was there his eye for the art of news photography would develop so by the time John was hired at the Daily Sentinel in November 1992 he would hit the ground running in a daily environment. The past 26 years have been filled with endless photo opportunities. Newspaper general assignment photography requires a broad range of skills to handle all the different pictures needed on a daily basis. These might include hard news stories such as fires, motor vehicle accidents, murders, perp walks; general news such as political events, funerals, agriculture, festivals, fairs, presidential visits, funerals, court room drama; sports such as football, hockey, baseball, soccer, field hockey, bocce, the Boilermaker, Woodsman Festival, motorsports, PGA golf; and features such as how we deal with weather and all the depictions of everyday life in Central New York. All of these and countless other moments have converged to mold John’s career. Over the past few years John has become fascinated by all the vibrant nature available to residents of the Mohawk Valley. John has placed special emphases are on the local convocation of eagles and all the wild birds that live or migrate through our area. He has had photo shows and has been a guest speaker focusing on his nature photography. John is also a fixture at the local dirt racing tracks— Utica-Rome, Fulton and Brewerton Speedways, to name a few— where he thoroughly enjoys photographing the motorsports the area has to offer. This has prompted John to write a motorsports column during racing season.
Kimberly Nethaway
Kimberly Nethaway is a lifelong resident of Central New York. Singing and playing instruments were central to her family. She began piano lessons with her grandmother at age 5, and began singing in her grandmother’s children’s church choir at age 7. She continued to play for and sing in school choirs at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School until her graduation in 1973. In 1976, Kimberly graduated summa cum laude from Hartwick College, earning a BS degree in music education. While at Hartwick, she was a voice studio accompanist, sang in the College Choir
and was the recipient of the Cora Bresee Award in Music. She later completed graduate studies from SUNY Cortland and Potsdam in music and education. Kimberly’s teaching career began at Holland Patent Middle School, where she taught general music and chorus. After eight years, she transferred to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central Schools, teaching elementary general and vocal music for the next 25 years. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, and was selected to sing with ACDA Eastern Division Honor Choir in Providence, as well as ACDA National Honor Choirs in New York City and Chicago. Kimberly was organist and choir director at Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church for 20 years, and music director at First Presbyterian Church of Rome for 10 years. Piano teaching has been part of Kimberly’s life since college days. Currently she teaches in conjunction with the KEYS Program, an organization which supports and provides bedside music for children with cancer and their families. Kim was honored by KEYS in 2006, being named Music Teacher of the Year. Since 1995 she has served as Director of the Oneida Area Civic Chorale, a 100-voice adult community choir. The Chorale performs three major concerts each year in the Oneida/Rome area. Since 2003, Kimberly has led Oneida Chorale concert tours to Europe and Great Britain, under the auspices of American Music Abroad. Eight tours have taken Chorale singers to 14 different countries. After retiring from school teaching, Kimberly has had opportunities to try some new things as well as go back to her roots of piano accompanying. She plays regularly for several school choirs as well as for the Wednesday Morning Club Singers. For several years, she and her husband John led a weekly chorus for the residents at The Terrace at Woodland. For fun, Kimberly enjoys photography, plays dinner music regularly at Delta Lake Inn, and most of all, loves playing with her granddaughter!
Megan Anderegg
Megan Anderegg was born in Rome, NY on December 29, 1973 to Carol and Robert Griffin II. She attended Rome schools and graduated from RFA in 1992. Megan was active in high school as an artist, softball player and student. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from SUNY Geneseo in 1996 and a Master of Arts in Education from University of New England in May 2005. In the early stages of Megan’s career she was employed as a graphic artist and production assistant for nine years by former Rome mayor, Carl Eilenberg and his wife Susan for their publication the Rome Observer. “The experience at the Rome Observer is a very memorable one for me, working alongside Susan and Carl was a privilege and honor. Being involved with community events, covering stories, and designing the newspaper and advertisements was an enormous responsibility and challenge that I met daily with enthusiasm and diligence. They were inspiring mentors.” Megan began her teaching career as an art teacher in Rome Catholic High School. She is currently employed in the Rome City School District at Rome Free Academy and is the Teacher Coordinator for the Art Department. Throughout her 20 year career as an art educator she has shared her experiences and knowledge with students grades k-12 at several schools in the Rome district. Megan has played a supportive role in inspiring students to pursue their artistic ambitions and feels especially proud of working with the community’s youth in discovering and cultivating their skills in the visual arts. In the last few years Megan has done freelance work instructing painting classes for local fundraisers including the Alzheimer’s Association and American Cancer Society. She is a member of the Rome Art Association and produces one to two pieces of fine art annually. She has participated in local exhibitions including “The Common Thread” Art Educator Exhibit and various Rome Art Association Shows. In her role as RFA art teacher, Megan conducts classes in studio art, graphic design, advanced drawing and painting and computer art.