Merry Christmas from the Templons

Dear Family and Friends,

This will bring you up to date on the happenings in the Templon household. Three Templon children are living in the Midwest. John is at graduate school in a one year Journalism program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He is really enjoying it. He will graduate the middle of June. Matt continues to work for Clark Products and will be starting an MBA program at Marquette University part-time in January.

Megan is attending Marquette University. She and her roommate Nicole get along very well. Nicole is a dancer on the Marquette dance team. She lives about twenty minutes from campus, so Megan has gained a set of parents close to Milwaukee! Megan has been singing with the Liturgical choir and had a solo in their Christmas concert. Next semester she will be singing in the Marquette University Choir. She enjoys having her older brothers so close. Last March she traveled to Lyon, France and spent two weeks living with a French family. She really enjoyed it and hopes to study abroad in France as part of her Marquette experience. She sang in Carnegie Hall last June with the High School Orchestra, graduated from high school, attended work camp in Maine in July with a group of teens from our church and worked at Rita’s scooping water ice for the summer.

Andrew applied to six colleges, and has been accepted at four so far. He will not be in the Midwest as he didn’t apply to anything further away than Pennsylvania or DC. He received a varsity letter for Spring Track last year, the service award for the band and took a trip to Virginia with the High School Band (he plays clarinet). He continues to be an active member in his Boy Scout Troop, helping with the younger scouts. He volunteered for a week of vacation bible school last summer at our church and continues to attend the youth group there. He played recreational soccer this fall and just started the winter track season. Andrew has grown very tall and is now taller than Rod and his older brothers.

Rod was an adult leader at Scout camp this summer, and took more Japanese language classes at the Princeton Adult School. He really enjoys taking them and has become a fan of Japanese food. He continues as an Assistant Scoutmaster and merit badge counselor with Andrew’s troop. He and Andrew took the Troop for an overnight canoe trip on the Delaware River. Rod took Andrew on his college visits and in September. They went to Lycoming College to see the Lycoming vs. Susquehanna football game (two of the schools that Andrew applied to). Rod continues to work at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. In May, Rod chaired a peer review team that assessed the purchasing system at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. In October, he attended a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He now knows for a fact that Wyoming is “where the deer and the antelope play” (and buffalo, and elk!).

Michelle’s Girl Scouts were honored at a dinner in May to celebrate their 13 years of scouting. She had two girls in her troop receive their Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. She continues her duties as the Treasurer of the Music and Theatre Parents Association. At Princeton she is currently dealing with three vendors that the University has contracted with to do billing and consulting services for some of the Treasurer’s office systems. She attended a conference in Pittsburgh in June sponsored by one of the vendors. She spent lots of time at Avon by the Sea this summer and fall as the weather in NJ was unusually warm. She spent almost a week in the Midwest in September visiting her three children and spending some time with friends that had moved to Chicago. In October she went to Maine for a long weekend with her friends from college. It was great to be able to spend the entire weekend with them and catch up.

Some of us traveled to Pennsylvania in August for Rod’s family reunion. Everyone came home for Thanksgiving and we spent it at Michelle’s dad’s house with her brother Conrad cooking dinner. It was delicious and a treat for Michelle to not have to cook. For Christmas Michelle's dad and brother came to the Templon house.

Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2008. Come visit if you are in NJ.

Blogosphere: College Grad "Real" World

Please check out College Grad "Real" World, John Templon's regular blog. John has a little something to say about a wide variety of topics. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes sarcastic, but always insightful and entertaining, this "unbiased" reviewer highly recommends it!

If other family members have blogs that they would like to share (cough...Betty...cough), please send me a link and I will post it.

The Davic-Kollias Wedding!

Bob and Betty Davic are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Melissa to Peter Kollias on May 31, 2008.


The ceremony was held at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lexington, Massachusets.

Snavely family descendents attending were brother Steven Davic and grandmother Gladys Kidston; aunts and uncles Gin McGinty and husband Ern, Richard Kidston, Bill Kidston; and cousins Brian McGinty and Ern McGinty Jr. with wife Monica and daughters Hannah and Ashley.


The newlyweds will make their home in Amsterdam, The Netherlands where they have both accepted new positions with their employers.

Minutes of our 2008 Reunion

Secretary Elizabeth Davic provided the following minutes:

The 79^th Snavely Reunion

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Morrison’s Cove Memorial Park

Martinsburg, PA

Attendance: 70

President George Snavely called the gathering to lunch at 12:25 p.m. in the banquet hall and Rod Templon led the invocation. Games for the children were held after lunch.

Business Meeting

President George Snavely called the business meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.

Betty Davic, Secretary, read a summary of the minutes. Minutes were previously distributed by email and posted to the Snavely Blog maintained by Rod Templon.

Carol Snavely Zangrilli, Treasurer, reported expenses of $100 for all rental and $45 for gifts leaving a total of $604 in the treasury plus what is raised in the auction today.

George Snavely presented the Recognitions:

Most Senior Woman: Isabelle Snavely Stiffler, 91

Most Senior Man: George Snavely, 93

Youngest Child: Nicholas James Brown, 4 months old

Born April 9, 2008 to Lana Lolos Brown, husband James, and big sister Angelina. 9 lb. 7 oz., 21”

Lana is great-granddaughter of Eleanor Snavely Smith.

Largest Family: Babe Stacey and family had 15 in attendance.

Traveled Longest Distance: Sonia Munchak and daughter Christina from

Sebastian, Florida

Candy Jar Guess: Winner is Laura Snavely with guess of 27.

Actual count is 28.

Announcements/Good of the Order:

· Melissa Davic was married to Peter Kollias on May 31, 2008 in Boston, MA. They are moving to Amsterdam, The Netherlands this month.

· Neven Kelly, son of Michael Stacey, was born July 8, 2007.

· Gracelyn Mae Stacey was born September 8, 2007.

· Dick Stacey celebrated his 60^th birthday August 2 and wore a hat claiming “Mom Likes Me Best”

· Today, August 3, is Rich Verner’s birthday.

· Today, August 3, is Violet Snavely Demauree’s birthday. She would have been 103.

· Joseph Martin Stiffler, son of Jonathan and Jessica Stiffler, great-grandson of Isabelle Snavely Stiffler, was born January 28, 2008.

· Donna and Troy are planning a long trip out west this next year.

· Megan Templon sang at Carnegie Hall this year. She is a freshman at Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

· NEXT YEAR, THE 80^TH SNAVELY REUNION WILL BE HELD AUGUST 2, 2009.

The meeting closed with the singing of BLESSED BE THE TIE THAT BINDS and was adjourned at 3:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth Kidston Davic, Secretary

Granddaughter of Edith Snavely Thomas

Snavely Reunion Reminder

The 79th annual Snavely Family reunion will be held at 12 noon on Sunday, August 3, 2008 in the Weaver Banquet Hall at Morrisons Cove Memorial Park, 201 South Walnut Street, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. Come early to socialize, catch up on cousins' doings, and make your candy jar guess!

Bring along family memorabilia (photos, letters, knicknacks) that we can display. Don't forget your donated items for the auction!

News from the Brown Family

Lana Brown [(great grand daughter of Eleanor (Snavely) (Smith) Siebert, grand daughter of Joyce Anderson, daughter of Cynthia Thurston, and my niece] sent me some new pictures of her children, Angelina (age 2-1/2) and Nicholas (age 16 weeks). Enjoy!

Brian Robison is New Vice President & GM at Mandalay Bay!

I recently received news that Brian Robison (son of Donna Higginbotham, grandson of Eleanor Snavely Smith Siebert) has been promoted to Vice President and General Manager of Mandalay Place/Special Projects in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since it is a little hard to read, here is the text of his official promotion announcement (pictured at right):

"Please congratulate Brian Robison on his promotion to Vice President & General Manager of Mandalay Place/Special Projects.

In his new role, Brian will oversee development, construction and operations at Mandalay Place. He will perform leasing for the mall, Mandalay Bay and Luxor, and continue to focus on special projects, including venue remodels and new construction across property. Brian most recently participated in the room-renovation project of the Mandalay Bay tower and the pool renovation. He is heavily involved in ADA compliance across the resort.

Brian joined Mandalay Bay as Director of the Shark Reef Aquarium in July of 2001. He and his then-talented team's efforts resulted in the institution receiving the first and only Association of Zoos and Aquariums Accreditation in the State of Nevada in 2003, an effort repeated in March of 2007, as well as four Best of Las Vegas Awards and a Zagat rating in 2004, in addition to a Governor's Tourism Development Award.

Brian has more than 26 years professional experience in the development, construction, operation and administration of facilities of all types; form super regional shopping centers to high-rise office buildings, rides, theatres and one-of-a-kind destinations like Shark Reef Aquarium. Brian is a graduate of IUPUI as a licensed Power Engineer, is a Certified Operations Director from the Institute of Real Estate Management, and is a Professional Fellow Member of the AZA. Brian is a 2006 graduate of the prestigious MGM MIRAGE Leadership Institute program, a Diversity Champion and a VOICE Foundation co-chair for the 2008 campaign.

Brian and his wife Susan, call Summerlin home and, in their spare time, enjoy exploring the Southwestern U.S. on their sport/touring motorcycles."

Way to go, Brian! Now, about that little cousin-to-cousin loan....

Hopewell Valley CHS Senior Prom Pictures

Here are some pictures of Megan Templon and her friends, all ready for the senior prom on June 6th, 2008.

Latest Kara and Sara Photos

Here are the latest photos of the Snavely twins...

Templons Head West

It's now official. In June, our son John Templon will be heading to Evanston, Illinois, where he will begin work on his graduate degree in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. If all goes according to his plan, he will graduate in about one year and begin living his dream of being a professional sports writer.

Son Matthew is already living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, working for Clark Products, a paper goods supplier. In August, Matt and John will be joined by daughter Megan, who will be a freshman at Marquette University in Milwaukee, following in her brother Matt's footsteps.

In an ironic twist, we also found out that Megan's choral director Kenneth Elpus is leaving Hopewell Central High School to accept a doctoral fellowship at Northwestern, where he and his wife Rebecca earned their Masters of Music Education. The Elpuses and their baby daughter will be moving this summer, after the school year ends.

So there will be large contingent of Templon family and friends in Greater Chicagoland!

The Sound of Music at Hopewell Valley Central High

On February 28, 29 and March 1, the students of Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington, New Jersey presented Rogers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. Megan Templon played the Mother Abbess, who counsels her unruly postulant Maria, and sets her on the path that will eventually lead Maria to the love of Captain Von Trapp and his seven musical children.

In the picture, Megan, as the Mother Abbess, closes the first act with a very moving rendition of "Climb Every Mountain." (Believe me -- by the end of this number, her dad was definitely so bleary eyed he couldn't hold the camera very steady!)

The cast and crew had great fun building and painting one of the most beautiful sets ever created for a high school musical, and putting on three evening shows and a matinee. The Templon parents pitched in with transport of properties and selling refreshments and T-shirts during the intermissions, not to mention Mom's duties as editor of the program and treasurer of the Music and Theater Parents Association, who paid for everything.

Now that the musical is over, on March 13 Megan will be depart for Lyon, France for two weeks as part of her high school-sponsored French language exchange program. She will also spend a few days in Paris.

This Fall, Megan will be attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she has has received the University's Ignatius and Magis scholarships. She plans to study French and, perhaps, public relations. She will probably sing, too!

明けましておめでとうございます｡

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! (Happy New Year!)

すみません｡ Sumimasen. (Please excuse me.) I am sorry for the length of time between posts. For part of that time, I have been struggling to wrap my middle-aged brain around the intricacies of the Japanese language. It's been fun, trying to master a totally alien syntax and grammar, not to mention two syllabaries (Hiragana and Katakana) and a set of 1500+ ideographs (Kanji). (OK, OK, I've only gotten as far as memorizing and writing Hirgana, like any Japanese first term, first grader. But I can recognize 20 Kanji!) Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to share some new information about family happenings. In the meantime, please enjoy this holiday shot of Sara and Kara Snavely with a certain well-known seasonal figure.

Here's a really great song, "Meoto Zanzai" by one of my favorite artists, Sayuri Ishikawa. You don't have to know Japanese to appreciate this!

In the meantime, がんばって　ね。(Gambatta ne.) "Do your best, OK?" and さよなら 。(Sayonara.)