December 2012
5 Alban Mews
New Albany, Ohio 43054
NEW email address: roderickchu@att.net
A holiday note to my family, friends, and colleagues —
I’m delighted to report that all in my family continue to enjoy reasonably good health, enabling us to share many good
times with each other, friends, and colleagues throughout this past year. We keep in touch with each other and friends via
Facebook where I posted photos from almost 80 events again this year. As you can see from the highlights in this holiday letter,
my 2012 had been fully occupied with seeing family and friends, food, travel, and work on my many volunteer activities.
It’s gratifying to see the education policies that my colleagues and I
developed at the Ohio Board of Regents continuing to be advanced and adopted
by our successors. There’s still so much more to do, though, to deliver the dramatic
improvements needed for the bright future we seek for all Americans and so I
continue to search for opportunities to help to transform education in our nation.
My deepest thanks to my family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues for
filling my life with continued learning and much joy. My best wishes are with you and yours for a joyous holiday season and a 2013
filled with love, happiness, and fulfillment.
Sincerely,
Rod
JAN: Cornell’s Johnson Awards Dinner at Gustavino’s with
Dean Joe & Marney Thomas, honoring my fellow alumnus and
former Advisory Council Member Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint.
FEB: Zang Toi’s Fall 2012 collection Glamour at Gstaad at
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week drew Michael Richardson from
Chicago to join Mom & me to see Zang backstage. The crowd
gave Zang’s timelessly elegant outfits a standing ovation.
MAR: Mom & I were Miranda & Hamburg Tang’s guests at
the Asia Society’s Asia Week Gala at the Plaza Hotel.
JUN: At the posh Metropolitan Club, staff and my Trustee colleagues celebrated the 14 years Gaston Caperton has so capably led the College Board in connecting students with college success & wished him a happy retirement.
SEP: Mom’s first visit to a baseball game was with me as
Bob Gorman’s guest in the Yankees Owner’s Suite. We were
totally spoiled by the lavish spreads of fine food, great
view, and the Yankees’ overtime win in 14 innings. What a
magnificent way to partake in America’s pastime!
OCT: Mom hosted a table of friends at the OCA-LI Gala in
Flushing honoring Chester Mah for his volunteer efforts
supporting the Long Island chapter’s activities.
JAN: At Pelican Hill Resort in California for my last College
Board Trustees’ Retreat. Rated the #1 resort in the U.S.,
Mom joined me for the spectacular accommodations, spa,
and food. I got a few hours off to explore Newport Beach.
JAN: In L.A., Mom’s longtime friend, famed actress Lisa Lu
(Joy Luck Club, The Last Emperor, & many others), showed
us Hollywood from the inside. We went to 4 private movie
screenings and the world premiere of The Grey and party at
The Palm where we supped and met director Joe Carnahan.
JAN: Visited Michael Richardson & Alton Alexander in
Chicago. Toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. Saw the
Lyric Opera’s Aïda with supper after at Quartino’s.
FEB: Visited Garry Walters & his bride Sylvia in D.C. with
Jon & Sandy Tafel. Caught up with Ed Crowe over lunch and
sightsaw at the Nat’l Galery of Art and Int’l Spy Museum.
APR: In Oregon for a job interview, stopped to see Jack &
Sandy MacPhail who relocated there from CT. Grabbed a
box of notorious Voodoo Donuts to take home & share.
OCT: I took a few days in San Francisco to be a tourist at
the Presideo & the Exploratorium, & to visit Auntie Florence
Lin. Then to work at my State Farm Bank Nat’l Community
Advisory Council Meeting. Of course, a lot of exquisite
eating: roasted squid salad at Chez Panisse Café; crispy egg
appetizer at Gary Danko; Dungeness crab at R&G Lounge.
OCT: At Cornell as one of Henry Shum’s guests for Council
Weekend, where I stayed with Joe & Marney Thomas and
enjoyed fine wines & dinners - one with Wilbur Parker
Awardee Maynard & Imani Brown. My old Outdoor Ed group
zipped me on a Tyrolean traverse across a Fall Creek Gorge.
OCT: Tally Krumm & I visited with Tom Noe at his Nelsonville, OH residence. We nabbed two photos there.
JUN: Karen & Gian again rented the house in E. Orleans for
the family to vacation together. Took a rainy fishing trip
where Laura caught a bluefish & A.J. a striped bass that
Alex dared to touch. Steven came from TX to enjoy home
cooking, a dinner out, and the swans who remembered us.
AUG, NOV: Mom & I visited Laura & David’s home in Bolton,
MA and helped the kids pick garden peaches. Back for A.J.’s
& Alex’s school’s Grandfriends Day, worked with them there
& at home helping prepare a bounteous Thanksgiving dinner.
FEB; SEP-NOV: Sadly, I’ve seen only 6 performances at the Met so far this year, but they were good ones. Michael
Richardson & I compared the lavish Aïda with the one we saw 2 weeks earlier at the Lyric. Clifford & Francisca
Feng joined Mom & me for our favorite: Turandot. The new production of L’Elisir D’Amore with Dominie & Adrian
Tanovic (visiting from Copenhagen) and Adassa Richardson.
Un Ballo in Maschera with Ray Chen. The premiere of The
Tempest with Linda Tao. La Clemenza di Tito with Pat Shiah.
Worked with our Peace Lutheran Church groups that fed
over 200 homeless once each month at the YWCA Family
Center & 2,000 at our annual HOPE Picnic, and, with the Red
Cross, sheltered & fed power outage victims at our church.
FEB-JUL: Angela Liu & Steve Heubec’s “Peanut” brought
Angela’s Mom from Malaysia. She prepared traditional
Pigs’ Feet & Ginger in Vinegar to restore Angela’s vitality
& taught us to make Cantonese snacks: Fried Sesame Balls
and glutenous rice Joong. I will write-up the lessons in my
Choosygourmand.wordpress.com blog (‘Chu, ze gourmand’).
AUG: The Fête en Blanc white picnic - a fashionable event
for Michael Richardson to attend and to welcome Andrew
Schamess & Rebecca Flowers to Columbus. We fêted with
Sherran & Roger Blair & the fête’s Mandy & Shawnee Kelly.
Ate so well all year! Special New Albany Country Club
brunches with Lucy & Sam Chu, Michelle & Wan Liu, Drew
Thompson & Bev Campbell. Befriended Chefs John Dornback
(basi italia), Cai (Asian Taste), and Kevin Caskey (Skillet) via
Bethia Woolf’s & Andy Dehus’ Columbus Food Adventures.
JAN: Noted restaurateur Michael Tong’s Chinese New Year
dinner in honor of Auntie Juliana Koo at his Shun Lee Palace
in NYC. Mom & I joined Laurette Feng, Joan Fu, and many
other friends for luxurious dishes invoking good fortune
including auspiciously named cold appetizers, whole abalone,
and the most perfectly roasted squab I’ve ever tasted!
APR: I joined Bill Curlis, Carol Porter, Ruth Milligan, Herb
Asher, Stan Aronoff, Neal Zimmers, Bob Klaffky, Matt
Brown, Steve George, & hundreds of Reps & Dems at a
surprise party for Doug Preisse’s 50th birthday in Columbus.
MAY: Her daughter Patty and Henry Tang, & granddaughter
Penelope & Ben August held a tea dance to celebrate my
godmother Aileen Pei’s 100th birthday at NYC’s Colony Club.
Mom & I, and Kaity Tong were among the many there who
also celebrated I.M. Pei’s 95th with cakes modeled after his
Souzhou Museum and Auntie Aileen’s mah jongg table.
SEP: Relatives & friends gathered to celebrate David’s
mother Ruthie’s 90th at her Acton, MA assisted living
center, where Alex did splits and her first cartwheel.
SEP: Harriet & C.C. Tung flew in from Hong Kong to
celebrate his and Jim Chang’s big birthdays at a dinner
they threw at Bouley’s Test Kitchen in Tribeca, NYC. Fifty
foodies, including Patty Tang and Pamela Tung, savored the
delights prepared before our eyes at this culinary temple.
OCT: The highlight of the NYC Chinese Social Calendar is
always Auntie Juliana Koo’s birthday party hosted by her
children Gene & Shirley Young and Oscar Tang, this year
celebrating her 107th at NYC’s Pierre Hotel. My dragon-
embroidered silk jacket filled the “festive dress” request.
Classic Beef Wellington and modern party favors matched
her spirit: When Oscar asked if she felt up to a second
dance, she replied “Yes, please, but with faster music!”
I fit all the above into one double-sided legal sheet to include with my Christmas cards. I used Adobe InDesign to lay it out. If you'd like a hard copy, I'd be happy to mail you one - just send an email with your mailing address to me at roderick.chu@att.net.
