met my mates

Here's a news release from Genesee Community College.

Nearly 200 long-term relationships have been formed from students attending classes at Genesee Community College. These "Met My Mates" began their associations as soon as the college opened its doors in 1967, and continue today with new relationships, marriages and connections made every year since.

Without Genesee, many of these alumni would have never met their girlfriends, boyfriends and spouses, or formed the interesting lives they lead today.

One of the first couples to have met at GCC was Dave Easton and Pat (Sarnowski) Easton, members of the first class at Genesee in 1967. They attended classes in the converted commercial building ('Valu Tech') on West Main Street.

Pat was one of the first members of the staff of the GCC newspaper, the Genesee Oriel. Dave was a business student who often helped President Stuart Steiner set up for mixers. After graduating from GCC, Dave and Pat were engaged and then married as Pat graduated from SUNY Geneseo. They have been married for 40 years and have one son, Bryan. Currently they live in Saint Peters, Mo., where Dave is a regional vice president for Family Dollar Stores.

A decade after Dave and Pat Easton met, Sue (Quick) Resig and Chris Resig found each other after both running for student government positions in 1979. Sue was the newly elected secretary and Chris was treasurer, and their desks were near each other. It didn't take long, working side by side, for Chris and Sue to become good friends.

They soon became known around campus as "chrisandsue" because they were rarely found without each other. By graduation the couple skipped over dating and went straight to engagement. They graduated from Genesee in 1980 and Buffalo State College in 1982, and now live in Liverpool and have three sons.

John and Patti (Mancuso) Michalak met while attending a GCC class together in the fall of 1969. Patti swears, "Love at first sight does exist. I saw those blue eyes of his and I was hooked." Patti and John had a short courtship of six months and they were engaged.

They married in October of 1970 and celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last year, ironically on the weekend of GCC's first Homecoming celebration. John and Patti have three children, two grandchildren and reside in Batavia.

Beverly (Ludwick) Dorman and Craig Dorman met while taking an English class together in 1972. Beverly quickly caught sight of the towering, 6'6" GCC basketball player wearing cowboy boots! Within months she and Craig began their courtship, which is still strong 31 years later.

Bev, originally from Salamanca, settled in Batavia with Craig just minutes from GCC on the Dorman family farm. Today, Craig is the chief operating officer of Corporate Floors USA, a commercial flooring company in Rochester and Bev is the co-manager. Bev is also an administrative assistant in an orthopedic surgeon's office in Rochester. They have three children and one grandchild and still reside in Batavia.

These lasting relationships were not just formed back in the 1960s and 1970s. Class of 2004 graduates Kate (Starkweather) Edwards and Darren Edwards developed an interest and relationship while studying Communications and Digital Arts. Over their two-year enrollment at GCC, they spent virtually all of their time together. From Darren's Monday night radio show on WGCC to "hanging out" on the stage in the Forum between classes, they were always together.

The summer they graduated from GCC, they moved in together and Kate started her bachelor's degree at SUNY Brockport, while Darren began working for Wyoming County Bank (now Five Star Bank). Darren is still with Five Star Bank, and Kate joined him there in 2006. Darren is now a regional operations manager and Kate is an assistant branch manager for the Attica branch. On July 12, 2008, they were married at Terry Hills in Batavia. They have since bought a home, and live in the area.

"It's always exciting to find our married alum and hear their romantic stories," Alumni Coordinator Jackie Christen said. "Their connection to GCC will always be very special and unique to them. We hope that other GCC "Met My Mate" couples will share their stories for future e-newsletters and The Forum magazine."

In celebration of all the "Met My Mates" at Genesee, the Alumni office has sent out special Valentines to all Cougar couples who met at GCC. To be added to the list, please contact the Alumni office at 585-343-0055, ext. 6265 or email alumni@genesee.edu.

The Alumni office is always looking for new Cougar couples to highlight in the bi-annually printed alumni publication, The Forum.

For photos of all the above mentioned 'Met My Mate' couples visit the GCC Alumni Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GeneseeAlumni and view the Met My Mate photo album.