Paddy Millen

Columnist Paddy Millen wraps up this week as a summer fill-in for Around Davidson columnist Brenda Barger.

Today, we catch up with Eileen Keeley and Pat Millen, who had a big anniversary trip to Rio de Janeiro. We also help celebrate the retirement of Wookie Payne from Davidson College’s admissions office. And we meet several Woodlawn School students who had success in the recent National History Day competition.

The Boy from Ipanema

20th ANNIVERSARY TRIP FOR THE MILLEN-KEELEYS

A few weeks ago Pat Millen and Eileen Keeley went to Rio De Janiero to celebrate their 20th Wedding Anniversary. They chose Rio because they had never been there before AND they could use frequent flyer miles. They did all the touristy things: They visited the 130-foot tall Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue which embraces and overlooks all of Rio,  sunned themselves on Ipanema Beach, sipped milk from freshly machete-ed coconuts, and sampled the incredible the local cuisine.

They've Got the Whole World in their Hands

They also went on some not-so-typical excursions including a tour of the gang-run favelas (slums) in the hills over Rio and watching former World Player of the Year Ronaldinho play in a loud and boisterous professional futebol match between his Flamengo team and their local rival Botafogo. They also enjoyed many various shopping trips to local outdoor markets and the famous “Feira Hippie,” or “Hippie Fair.”

Pat & Eileen were married 20 years ago in Haddonfield, N.J. Eileen’s cousin, Father Bob McDermott, and their good friend, former Davidson College Dean of Students, the Rev. Will Terry conducted the ceremony. Over the years, they have been very fortunate to have three extraordinary children: Cecil (13), Franny (11) and Sam (6).

Congrats to Pat and Eileen, (a.k.a. Dad and Mom)!

Wookie Payne Enjoying Retirement

RETIRMENT FOR ‘WOOKIE’

Eleanor “Wookie” Payne recently retired from Davidson College’s admissions office. Here’s a note from the college’s retirement tribute:

“After working for 10 years in the Information Technology Center at Davidson, Wookie joined the Admission and Financial Aid staff in 1989 as an associate dean of admission. For the past 20 years, she has represented Davidson in many areas of the U.S. and in more than 50 countries. She has loved learning about different cultures while spreading the word about the many opportunities at Davidson. She led the office Multicultural Team working with students of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

Having grown up in Davidson as the daughter of a faculty member, she has loved seeing how Davidson has changed over the years while maintaining its core mission.”

Ms. Payne looks forward to taking off a few months to enjoy Montreat and spend some quality time with her grandchildren. We hope she has a great time after her many contributions to Davidson College.

WOODLAWN’S HISTORY SCHOLARS

Thanks to our friend, Cambria Nielsen for this item: ”Three Woodlawn School students advanced to the national level competition for National History Day, held June 12-16 at the University of Maryland. The Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest is the final stage of a series of contests at local and state levels. The contest is named for Mr. Behring in recognition of his support of National History Day. Each year roughly 2,400 students and their parents and teachers gather at the University of Maryland, College Park for the week-long event. These enthusiastic groups come from all 50 states, Guam, American Samoa, Department of Defense Schools in Europe, and even Shanghai, China.”

• Sydney Bowman, daughter of Karen and Dwayne Bowman, competed in the category of senior paper. Her project was titled “The Treaty That No Panamanian Signed: The Consequences of Roosevelt’s Reign of the Canal.”
  
• Elia Ramirez, daughter of Annie Porges and Julio Ramirez, competed in the category of junior individual performance. Her project was titled “It Was My Cuban Paradise: Was the Revolution for Castro or Cuba?”
  
• Andrew Nielsen, son of Cambria and Jeff Nielsen, competed in the category of junior individual website. His project was titled “SALT I: The Nuclear Negotiation.”

Congratulations to these outstanding scholars!

My Summer Run is Done – Joy & Gratitude

This is the fourth column of my four-column pinch-hitting duty for Mrs. Barger this summer and all I can say is that these last few weeks have been very busy. Along the way I have met some very interesting people and I am so lucky to have been given this opportunity to write for an amazing column like “Around Davidson.”

I do have to say a few things before I hand the baton back to Mrs. Barger. First, I am honored to have been given a responsibility like this. Second, I have gained so much respect for anyone who can research and write a column twice a week for nearly every week of the year, because I was completely exhausted by doing just two weeks’ worth!

Each individual paragraph in the column would take me 30 minutes to write and more like 45-60 minutes by the time I would get on my bike to interview and research. When I talked to my Editor/Boss David Boraks and told him that I have been getting a lot done in my 45-minute interviews, he responded, “Paddy that’s great. But we’ll know when you’re really good at reporting when you can get the same amount of information in 10 minutes.”

Writing “Around Davidson” is HARD WORK. If you get a chance, say “Thanks!” to Mrs. Barger and Mr. Boraks. Their efforts to keep us all up-to-date on Davidson news is really amazing.

I look forward to getting back to “PaddySmack” in a few weeks. Until then, thanks for reading!

Paddy

Calling all Former Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center Students!

I am still looking for alumni from Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center (formerly Davidson-Cornelius Day Care), the community childcare center over on the corner of Jetton and Gamble Streets, next to Ada Jenkins Center. I’ve already heard from a couple! I’m working on an upcoming story about the Center and would like to interview some graduates. As DCCDC has been in business for over 40 years, I would like to interview young and old alike. If you know of any graduates, please ask them to contact me at padmancan@gmail.com.