FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04/13/2007

Bridgewater College Honors Six During Alumni Weekend

BRIDGEWATER, Va. — Six Bridgewater College alumni will be honored as part of the College's annual Alumni Weekend celebration on April 20 and 21.

Dr. Alphadine E. Martin of Navarre Beach, Fla., and Dr. Joseph M. Mason of North Manchester, Ind., will receive the 2007 Ripples Society Medals on Friday, April 20, at the annual banquet of the Ripples Society. Martin is a 1950 graduate of Bridgewater College and Mason is a member of the class of 1945. The Ripples Society comprises alumni who graduated from the College 50 or more years ago, and the class of 1957 will be inducted into the Society that evening.

During the Alumni Banquet on Saturday evening, Dr. Franklin E. Huffman of Washington, D.C., a 1955 graduate of Bridgewater, will receive the 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award. The 2007 Young Alumnus Awards will be presented to Cindy Pearson Ferek of Broadway, Va., and a 1996 graduate of Bridgewater, and Aaron M. Garber of Roanoke, Va., a member of the class of 1995. N. Paige Will of Dayton, Va., and a 1955 graduate of the College will receive the West-Whitelow Award for Humanitarian Service.

Alumni Weekend opens Friday morning, when all alumni of the College are invited to participate in special activities, which include campus tours, a juried student show in the Cleo Driver Miller Art Gallery and an exhibit titled "Hail To the Chief," featuring a number of interesting and sometimes quirky artifacts associated with the presidency of the United States, in the Reuel B. Pritchett Museum

Alumni seminars on Saturday include "Yes, We Have Horses" by Ashley Tantawi-Mayes, class of '05, at 9 a.m., "Lincoln's Assassination: Who Participated in the Conspiracy?" by President Phillip C. Stone at 10 a.m. and "A Bicycle Ride through the US _ Remembering Our Heroes" by Cindy Pearson Ferek, class of '96, at 11 a.m. The seminars are free and will be held in the Carter Center for Worship and Music.

A special tea will be hosted by the children of the late Dr. Raymond N. and Virginia Andes from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Stone Prayer Chapel in the Carter Center. Dr. Andes, class of '40, and professor of foreign languages, emeritus, taught French at Bridgewater College from 1946-83.

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For more information about Alumni Weekend, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (540) 828-5451.

Information about the honorees:

For Dr. Alphadine Martin, the study, practice and teaching of physical education have been lifelong pursuits.

Born in Monroe County, W.Va., and raised in Covington, Va., she excelled in sports. At Bridgewater College, she played with distinction for two years on the varsity field hockey team and four years on the varsity basketball team. She also served as player-coach for one year.

After obtaining her bachelor's degree in physical education from Bridgewater, Martin earned her master's in the field from Peabody College in 1954 and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1966.

Martin's teaching career began in 1950 at Montevideo High School in Rockingham County, Va., where she also coached field hockey and basketball. She remained at Montevideo until 1954 when she became an assistant professor of physical education at Central Missouri State University. In 1958 she attained associate professor status and in 1966 earned full professorship. From 1978 until she retired, Martin served as chair of the department for both men and women. Following her retirement in 1991, she was named professor emerita of physical education.

During her career at CMSU, Martin taught undergraduate courses; served as an adviser for undergraduate and graduate students; provided thesis advice for many master's and specialist degree candidates; served on graduate committees; worked as director of research problems; and contributed to course and curriculum development.

Additionally, Martin was intensely involved in CMSU government by serving on the faculty senate and administrative council, and on numerous committees, councils and cabinets.

Martin also coached CMSU's volleyball teams and varsity basketball team, and served as the university's representative to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. She was a member of the University Athletic Committee and coordinator for CMSU women's athletics before inclusion in NCAA competition.

Awards and honors that have been bestowed upon Martin include being listed in Who's Who of American Women and Outstanding Young Women of America; cited as Outstanding Emeriti Fac

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ulty Woman; having a scholarship established in her name and funded through an annual golf tournament at CMSU; and having a park bench erected in the CMSU quadrangle in recognition of her teaching and service.

She currently resides in Navarre Beach, Fla., for six months, and in Missouri for six months.

Retired minister Dr. Joseph M. Mason has traveled a long and distinguished road since his birth in Spotsylvania County, Va., on April 4, 1924.

Mason graduated from Bridgewater College in 1945 and taught in the public school system of Winchester, Va., from 1945-46. He married Gwendolyn Dewese in 1946 (deceased 1995), and three years later earned his bachelor of divinity from Bethany Theological Seminary in Oak Brook, Ill.

Since then, Mason has served pastorates at Mathias and Lower Lost River Church of the Brethren, Timberville and Mt. Olivet Church of the Brethren and Bedford (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. From 1967-79 he was district executive of the Middle Pennsylvania District of the Church of the Brethren, and area minister for the Center Association, American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was also district executive of the Southern Ohio District from 1979-89.

His denominational work has included membership on the Northern Virginia District Board and the Middle Pennsylvania District Board. Mason also chaired the Brethren Pastors Association from 1966-67 and the Council of District Executives from 1970-73.

Additionally, he worked on the goals and budget committee of the General Board from 1984-87, and from 1985-89 served on the Foundation Enabling Committee at the Church of the Brethren's Annual Conference.

Mason's ecumenical work includes chairing the Ministerial Association in Bedford, Pa., serving as president of the Bedford County Council of Churches, chairing the Evangelism Division of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, and chairing the Commission on Ecumenical Relations. Additionally, Mason was vice president of the Ohio Council of Churches from 1984-86 and president of the Ohio Council of Churches from 1986-89.

Throughout the years, Mason continued to pursue his education through many seminars and programs, and in 1977 earned his doctor of ministry degree from Bethany Theological Seminary.

Retired since 1989, Mason has remained active in the Church of the Brethren. Some of the positions he has held include interim associate general secretary in Elgin, Ill, interim district execu

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tive of the Northern Plains District in Ankeny, Iowa, interim director of refugee/disaster programs in New Windsor, Md., and moderator of the Manchester Church of the Brethren in Manchester, Ind., where he and his wife since 1997, Dorotha Winger Fry, make their home.

Mason is a member of the Manchester Church of the Brethren and has three children.

Dr. Franklin E. Huffman was born in Harrisonburg, Va., in 1934. He received his bachelor's degree in modern languages, English and secondary education from Bridgewater College. In September of 1955, Huffman joined Brethren Volunteer Service, and after several months at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., was assigned to Laos, where he served from 1956-1958 as a French interpreter for International Voluntary Services, an interdenominational organization that carried out village development and agricultural extension in developing countries. In 1958 he bought a motorcycle and rode from Laos across Thailand, Burma and India, where he sold the motorcycle and continued on to Europe by various means of land transportation (described in his book, Monks and Motorcycles: From Laos to London by the Seat of My Pants, published in 2004).

Beginning in 1960, Huffman did graduate study at Cornell University, the University of Washington, the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and received his Ph.D. in linguistics, anthropology and Southeast Asian studies from Cornell University in 1967. From 1967-72, Huffman was assistant professor of Southeast Asian languages and linguistics at Yale University, responsible for instruction in the Thai and Cambodian languages. From 1972-85 he was associate professor and then professor of linguistics and Southeast Asian studies at Cornell University, teaching Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Southeast Asian linguistics.

In 1985, Huffman joined the diplomatic service of the U.S., and served as assistant information officer in London, assistant public affairs officer in Rangoon, Burma, director of the American Cultural Center in Marrakech, Morocco, director of programs in the U.S. Information Service in Paris, policy officer in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at USIA in Washington, public affairs officer in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and public affairs officer in Wellington, New Zealand, before mandatory retirement from the diplomatic service at age 65 in 1999. He later served brief tours for the Department of State in both Chad and Cambodia.

During his academic career, Huffman authored nine books and numerous articles on Southeast Asian languages and linguistics. His Cambodian language textbooks are used to train diplomats at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute, and his English-Cambodian Dictionary, published by

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Yale University Press in 1978, was important for learning English for the some 100,000 Cambodian refugees who came to the U.S. following the Vietnam war. It also became the standard reference for translating English documents on democracy and human rights during the reconstruction of Cambodia following the Khmer Rouge regime.

Huffman currently lives in Washington, DC, where he works as a writer and consultant, and volunteers as an English teacher to immigrants from various countries to the Washington area. His wife, Sanda, is a professional interpreter for the U.S. Department of State. They are members of the Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren in Weyers Cave.

Cindy Pearson Ferek is a teacher and coach at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Va. A native of Alexandria, Va., Ferek moved to the Shenandoah Valley with her family when she was nine years old. She graduated from Harrisonburg High School in 1992 and came to Bridgewater to major in health, physical education and K-12 driver's education. She completed her undergraduate work magna cum laude.

While at Bridgewater, Ferek was a water safety instructor _ a position she continues to this day _ teaching private and group swim lessons to infants through adults. She also served as summer recreation program director in Richmond, Va., for Mennonite Volunteer Service.

Ferek's teaching and coaching background is extensive. Following her graduation from BC, she worked as a substitute teacher in Harrisonburg City Schools and Blue Ridge Christian School in Bridgewater; taught skiing at Massanutten Resort and was named Rookie of the Year there in 1997; provided behind-the-wheel instruction at the Shenandoah Valley Driving School in 1997; and from 1997 has taught the in-car section of driver's education at Turner Ashby High School for nine- and tenth-graders.

She also served as the assistant girl's basketball coach at Turner Ashby and has coached the girl's tennis team. She has also just begun to teach driver's education through Blue Ridge Community College.

She has won a number of Innovative Idea Grants and, in 2006, received the Governor's Transportation Safety Award in the category of pedestrian/bicycle safety. Also in 2006, she received the Outstanding Professional Award from the James Madison University department of kinesiology.

Ferek's services to the community include a cross-country bike trip from San Francisco to the Pentagon, in which she raised awareness for those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist

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attacks, and for the Christian Firefighters Association. Since 2001, she has also been a bicycle rider and supporter of the Special Olympics, and from 1999-2005 was a Big Sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Ferek's husband, Tony, was formerly the assistant aquatics director at Bridgewater College. They reside in Harrisonburg and are members of the West Side Baptist Church.

Aaron M. Garber, class of 1995, is founder and composer-in-residence of the Salem Choral Society and the director of music at College Lutheran Church in Salem, Va. A native of Weyers Cave, Va., Garber majored in music at Bridgewater with a voice and piano emphasis, and earned his master of music in choral conducting from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Garber won the 2001 Raymond W. Brock Student Competition Contest, a national contest held in conjunction with the American Choral Directors Association. The winning composition, "Stabat Mater," an a capella choral work, was premiered at the ACDA National Convention in San Antonio, in March of 2001. He is published by Concordia Publishing House and Yelton Rhodes Publishers, and has been selected for Who's Who in America, 2007.

Garber will make his Carnegie Hall debut as a composer and conductor on Nov. 18, 2007. The program will feature the world premiere of his composition, "Magnificat," which is scored for full orchestra, chorus and a soprano soloist. Recent world premieres under his baton have included his own works, "Job," "Mass for Peace" and "Mary, the Mother of Jesus," all written for full orchestra, chorus and soloists.

His professional experience also includes serving as past minister of music at Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Knoxville, and as organist/pianist for the Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren in Weyers Cave.

Professional organizations of which Garber is a member include the American Composers Forum, the American Choral Directors Association, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Rotary Club of Salem, Va.,

He and his wife, Melia, are members of College Lutheran Church in Salem. They live in Roanoke, Va., with their two children.

Nelson Paige Will is an entrepreneur who pioneered the discount retail furniture business in Rockingham County, helped establish the Dayton Farmers Market and has tirelessly served the community in numerous ways.

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Will was the first Bridgewater student to take part in the cooperative program with Duke University's School of Forestry, receiving the master of forestry degree from Duke in 1960.

In 1962, Will opened Town and Country Furniture in Dayton, Va., introducing discount retail furniture to Rockingham County. In 1987 he helped establish the Dayton Farmers Market and, in 1994, was a co-recipient of the Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Will has given vigorously of himself to the community. He served from 1996-2000 on the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors and chaired that body in 1998. He presided over the Bridgewater Little League program and is a charter member of the Central Valley Habitat for Humanity chapter, for which he served as hands-on construction supervisor coordinator for the first five homes built.

He built the Doug Will Tennis Center in Bridgewater in honor of his son, who died in an automobile accident in 1994. Bridgewater College students play tennis there at no cost.

Since 1990 (the year of hurricane Hugo), Will has joined mission trips sponsored by the Dayton United Methodist Church to assist in recovery after storm damage.

He and his wife, Ann, are co-recipients of the 2005 Citizen of the Year Award presented by the Bridgewater Ruritan Club, and co-recipients of the 2006 Community Builders Award presented by the Eureka Lodge of Masons. Will also received the 2005 Citizen of the Year Award from the Dayton Ruritan Club, and serves as vice chair of the Foundation Board of Directors of the Bridgewater Retirement Community.

The West-Whitelow Award was established in 2002 to recognize exceptional humanitarian service as demonstrated by Naomi Miller West, Class of 1929, and Carlyle Whitelow, Class of 1959, who received the first awards in 2003.

Bridgewater College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, enrolls more than 1,500 students. Founded in 1880 and located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was the state's first private, coeducational senior college.

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