December 9, 2004
Joe Teno, '83 (or '84) and Brenda Anne Phelps '97
Dear Plymouth Magazine:
This conversation took place in our office about two months ago. Our office is located in sleepy Petaluma, Calif., about 40 miles north of San Francisco and right next to the town of Sonoma.
Joe: Hi, looks like we are going to be in the same van.
Brenda: Yeah, I’m pretty excited, have you run the Relay [a 200-mile team relay to raise money for organ transplants] before?
Joe: A couple of times. Van One, the one we’re in, is really the better van. The legs are much shorter and you have more time to rest between them.
Brenda: I’ll need all the rest I can get!
Joe: Right. The person who won Barb’s Race [a local women’s triathlon] is worried about running in the Relay?
Joe: Where are you from?
Brenda: East Coast
Joe: Where?
Brenda: Massachusetts.
Joe: Really? Where?
Brenda: Leominster.
Joe: I’m from Medford. I had an apartment in Acton when I was stationed at Fort Devens.
Brenda: Wow, it’s a small world!
Joe: Did you go to school out East?
Brenda: Yeah, in New Hampshire, how about you?
Joe: I went to U.Mass as an undergraduate. Where did you go?
Brenda: A small college in northern New Hampshire.
Joe: Which one?
Brenda: A place called Plymouth State
Joe: Really? Really? So did I! I got my graduate degree there!
Brenda: Wow! That’s amazing! When did you graduate?
Joe: 1983 I think-could have been 1984. How about you?
Brenda: ’97! That’s amazing! Where did you live?
Joe: Well I did the graduate program at night so most of my courses were in Hanover. I bet you were on all the sports teams?
Brenda: Yeah, I was on the lacrosse and basketball teams.
Well, we talked and talked about our Plymouth State experience. And we both really enjoyed the Relay. Turns out we both enjoyed our time at Plymouth as well. We both felt it was an important event in our life.
For my part, I feel grateful for Plymouth State’s graduate program: the professors who spent time with us, the foresight that Plymouth had to even start such a program.
Just thought you’d like to know that somewhere on the opposite side of the country, two people from different generations both went to your school and both enjoyed the experience. What a small world.
By the way, I really enjoy the Plymouth Magazine. You do a good job with it.
Joe Teno, Class of ’83 (or ’84, not sure which one)
Brenda Anne Phelps, Class of 1997
