Blueprint 2020 - Atlantic Cape Community College

4
ClassNotes
Annie R. Smith ’73, was inducted in the Atlantic
County Women’s Hall of Fame this spring. After
graduating from ACCC, she completed undergraduate
and graduate studies at then-Glassboro State
College and took classes at Rutgers University.
Before her retirement, she was an elementary
teacher, guidance counselor and assistant principal.
Smith was the first African-American woman to
serve on Pleasantville City Council. She is a member
of Union Baptist Temple Church in Atlantic City
and belongs to many civic organizations, including
the Atlantic City Business and Professional Negro
Women’s Club, the Pleasantville/Mainland Branch
NAACP and Phil Delta Kappa Sorority.
Chef Andrew Tuano ’86 ACA, was named
executive chef for all food and beverage operations
at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Chef Tuano
brings years of experience to this multi-faceted
position with Well Bread Catering in which he oversees
all catering operations, banquets, weddings,
parties, corporate functions and concessions
for the 260,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art
convention and entertainment facility. Chef Tuano
most recently was the executive sous chef for
Congress Hall Hotel.
John Rellah Jr. ’89 ACA and executive chef at
Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone, was a semifinalist
in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or USA culinary
competition in September 2008. The Florida contest
was a pre-qualifying event for the international
Bocuse d’Or in Lyon, France. Rellah has worked
at the Lespinasse Restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel
From Hammering to Heart Surgeon
“I changed my educational focus to a technical
vocation and did not take any college prep courses,”
he said. “I worked as a carpenter until 1979 and
was doing well until the prime rate rose above
20 percent and the building industry became
depressed. I started thinking about going to
college to become a doctor, but I could not get
into a four-year school due to my [poor] high
school grades.”
His father suggested he attend ACC (now ACCC),
which changed his life.
“I spent two years as a biology major, which
allowed me to get accepted into Loyola College in
Baltimore,” he said. “I graduated in 1982 with a
and Le Bernardin Restaurant in New York City.
Rellah’s was one of eight teams to compete in the
two-day competition at the Epcot International
Food & Wine Festival.
ACA graduate Michael P. Williams ’92,was
named in Atlantic City Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40.
Williams is Executive Restaurant Chef and Culinary
Recruiter for Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. After
graduating from the ACA, he continued his studies
at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and Alain Ducasse
Formation in Argenteuil, France. He served as
consulting chef for Air Force One and mentors the
culinary apprentice and externship programs at
Borgata. Williams holds more than 40 competitive
medals including two gold medals won at the 2004
Le Salon Culinaire International de Londres in
London and a gold medal from the 2008 World
Culinary Olympics in Germany. He is active in charity
events, fundraising and several advisory boards.
He occasionally fills in as an adjunct chef educator
at the Academy.
Congratulations to ACA grad Douglas
Marandino ’93, of Vineland on his marriage to
Andriana Dimitrova of Bulgaria on Oct. 20, 2008,
at Isaac Smith Vineyard in Cape May. Both bride
and groom are employed by the Washington Inn
in Cape May.
ACCC grad Lou Mascioli Jr. ’01, and Cheryl
Cowles exchanged wedding vows on Nov. 8, 2008,
at St. Martin de Porres Church in Hammonton.
A reception followed at The Flanders Hotel in
When Don Crescenzo was in the seventh and eighth grades, he thought
he wanted to be a doctor. But while attending Hammonton High School,
from which he graduated in 1976, he became interested in pursuing a
career as a carpenter.
double major in biology and computer science. In
1984, I was accepted into Georgetown University
School of Medicine and graduated in 1988. My
high school guidance counselor is still in a state
of shock.”
During the next seven years, Crescenzo trained in
general surgery. He spent two of those years in the
lab at the Food and Drug Administration/National
Institute of Health facility in Bethesda, Md., as a
National Academy of Science Fellow. He finished
his general surgery instruction in 1995 and
spent the next three years at the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, Minn., training to become a cardiothoracic
surgeon.
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Send a Class Note to alumni@atlantic.edu for inclusion
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Ocean City. After a honeymoon in the Fijian Islands,
the couple is home in Hammonton. The groom is a
graduate of Hammonton High School. He received
an associate degree in Business Administration from
ACCC. He is dispatcher for the New Jersey State
Police Troop A headquarters in Buena.
Cailin Callahan ’05, recently released her album
“Next Time.” In an article in the Atlantic Cape
Review, Callahan cites musicians Bonnie Raitt,
Ben Taylor and Tracy Chapman as influences on
her music.
Did you graduate
from the Academy
of Culinary Arts
in Spring 1991?
If so, a group of former
classmates is planning
a reunion and wants
to hear from you.
Contact Stephanie Eberling
LaFrenier ’91 ACA at
chef.steph@rocketmail.com
to be included.
Dr. Don Crescenzo
Crescenzo currently is in practice in Toledo, Ohio,
as a cardiothoracic surgeon for the ProMedica
Health System – the seventh largest integrated
health system in the country. He is part of a threeperson
team, handling between 200 to 230 open
heart cases and 130 lung cases per year. He owes
it all to ACCC, which gave him a shot at the brass
ring when no other school would.
“I will forever be indebted to ACCC for allowing
me to realize my dream.”