Alumni from the Cook College Class of 1980 celebrated their 45th reunion at the CCAA Fish Fry on July 19, 2025. Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
Summer months on the George H. Cook campus are quieter than most, with many students on break, completing internships, and traveling before the start of the fall semester. There is one day each July, however, when decades worth of stories and favorite songs are heard wafting across Ryders Lane from Rutgers Gardens. It’s the Cook Community Alumni Association’s annual Fish Fry, an event known for food, fun, and fellowship, held every year at the Log Cabin and Alumni Pavilion at Rutgers Gardens. This year’s gathering on Saturday, July 19th also featured the 45th reunion of the Cook College class of 1980.
The Cook Community Alumni Association, or CCAA, is an alumni organization open to all who attended Rutgers schools on the Cook campus through the years, including the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES 1965-1971), Cook College (CC 1971-2007), and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS 2007-present). The CCAA “is very passionate about stewarding the legacy and traditions of the schools and the Fish Fry is one of the most time-honored traditions,” says Brian McGonigle, Manager of Alumni and Community Engagement for SEBS. “It brings together alumni from many different eras of the school for networking and camaraderie at beautiful Rutgers Gardens, a main philanthropic interest for the alumni association.”
Volunteer fryers from left to right: Ted Wendin (SEBS’11), Patrick Kenny, who earned his master’s degree in public health at Rutgers and is married to event coordinator Laura (Gladney) Kenny, and Perry Pawlyk (CC’80). Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
Each year, fresh seafood is prepared by volunteer fryers, most of whom are alumni who have been attending the event for decades and have the trove of anecdotes to prove it. Whether attendees are anticipating a batch of fried clam strips, voting in new CCAA officers, locating the bricks they donated to the Log Cabin patio in tribute, or passing photos around with lifelong friends, the Pavilion is alive with energy. Thanks to an infusion of support to Rutgers Gardens made by the CCAA, the structure was also breezier and sporting a refreshed look this year.
Guests are accustomed to attending the Fish Fry in warm weather, though in recent years the elevated temperatures have proved more of a challenge. “In 2024, that July afternoon was particularly sweltering; the heat inspired conversation amongst the CCAA about how nice it would be in the Alumni Pavilion if there were ceiling fans to circulate the summer air. From this idea came a very generous donation from the CCAA to Rutgers Gardens,” shares Lauren Errickson, Director of Rutgers Gardens and Campus Stewardship.
Laura Kenny (CC’08) has been a volunteer fryer alongside her husband Patrick and serves as the event coordinator for the Fish Fry. “CCAA is a philanthropic organization, and we have always felt especially connected to Rutgers Gardens. Our funding built the Pavilion at the Log Cabin years ago, and now we are proud to contribute again to give the Pavilion an upgrade.”
David Earl (CC’76) and MaryLou Earl, retired Rutgers staff member, attend the Fish Fry annually and believe strongly in the CCAA’s philanthropic mission to support future generations of Rutgers students. Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
With financial support from the CCAA, the Pavilion was power washed and painted, and new ceiling fans were installed to keep air circulating during events. Errickson, who helped coordinate the refurbishments and donation with the alumni organization, says, “The fans are a beautiful addition that were enjoyed by our student interns almost immediately. The benefits of this generous gift extend to the multitude of guests who visit the Log Cabin and Alumni Pavilion throughout the summer. Some of the first to enjoy the newly installed fans were the hundreds of youth participants who attended 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens this summer. The ceiling fans offered a sweet retreat within the pavilion, which serves as their camp headquarters. I couldn’t wait for the CCAA to see the improvements!”
The 2025 Fish Fry marked the 45th reunion for the Cook College class of 1980, and alumni traveled from near and far to celebrate together. “We encourage alumni to use this event as their own class reunions, and the class of 1980 has kept that tradition in force! They had a great turnout,” noted Kenny.
Cook campus alumni forge lifelong friendships and work hard to stay linked across distances and the passage of time. Social media, as well as the tenacity of alums who coordinate group dinners, fishing trips, and tailgating at Rutgers football games, helps keep these ties strong. There were “honorary alumni” in attendance including folks who loved being on campus so much that their friends assumed they were also Rutgers students. Others are “married into” the Cook circle. Alumni at the Fish Fry have been members of each other’s wedding parties, helped each other network and make career connections, and watched their children enroll at Rutgers.
Some even met their soulmates at Cook College. Jane Rothfuss (CC’80) says, “I married a Cook alum (Kirk Rothfuss, CC’79). We met at the Oktoberfest.” Dave Broderick (CC’80) adds proudly, “I believe that I might be part of the only couple that started dating freshman year at Cook College. We’re still together. Jill Cherry (CC’80), my wife, is now Jill Broderick. We just knew, whether it was the second or third day that we were here. We ended up getting married the year after we graduated in 1981. A bunch of other Cook folks were there. We had a wonderful time here.”
Members of the Class of 1980 cheer on their reunion announcement. Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
Cook campus life not only fostered long-lasting friendships between students, but with faculty and administrators too. Many count their deans and professors from Cook, CAES, and SEBS as support systems and inspirations.
Roger Locandro’s name is mentioned often at the event, and his legacy looms large within the CCAA. Russ Chapman (CAES’82) has been coming to the Fish Fry since 1977. When asked about a favorite memory, he shares one about his former dean. “Roger Locandro goes, ‘Chapman – there’s something in the cooler in the truck.’ I look and it’s a whole turkey. He says, ‘Cook the turkey.’ I see the big pot of oil. I went over, put the turkey in the oil, and he goes, ‘You get an A.’”
Perry Pawlyk (CC’80) speaks about the event’s humble and faculty-led beginnings. “I’ve been attending since before my son was born and he’ll be 31. There was a time I would pick up Dean Roger Locandro, we’d go to Fulton Street and buy the fish, and then we’d have the Fish Fry.”
Jane Rothfuss (née Darden, CC’80) catches up with David Broderick (CC’80). Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
Jane Rothfuss tells the story of how she switched from majoring in environmental studies to education. “I was not a teaching major until I took this class from Arthur Edwards. It was called ‘Environmental Education in the School Curriculum.’ Dr. Edwards, if you showed the slightest inclination or talent, he just got his claws in you, and that was it for me. I became a teaching major. When Dr. Edwards retired, I went back. He was great.”
When Patrick Kenny was asked how long he’s been frying the fish at the event, he responded, “More than 10 years. I married into it. My wife (Laura) went to Rutgers for her undergraduate. I’ve enjoyed working with these guys, I think the organization is great, I think that working with Rutgers Gardens has always been amazing.”
If you ask anyone at the Fish Fry what their favorite memory is of their time at Rutgers, or from previous CCAA events, each has a tough time narrowing it down to just one.
Carline Titus-Thermitus (CC’99) brought her family to the Fish Fry. Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
“Ag Field Day. Me and my friends would go out and enjoy the whole day. Being by Passion Puddle. I even wrote a poem about Passion Puddle for a competition, and I won. I have good memories here,” shares Carline Titus-Thermitus (CC’99).
Margaret O’Donnell (CC’93) says regarding fellow Cook graduate, Danny Klein (CC’87/’88), “We were not classmates here at Cook, but we did take an MBA class together, and there’s a sort of magnetism about Cook alumni. We had a huge class of 36 people, but you just end up gravitating towards your Cook people. That means that we’ve been friends for over 20 years because we stayed in touch after that class in 2003.”
Danny Klein shares, “My favorite memory of the Fish Fry is about two hours from now because we’re going to have such a wonderful time today. The rain’s going to hold out. They’ve got good drinks and good food, and other friends are showing up in a few minutes so it will be a lot of fun.”
Brian McGonigle (left), SEBS Manager of Alumni & Community Engagement. Photo credit: Moira Keihm.
“I really enjoy meeting and interacting with the many alumni in attendance. It’s great to learn about the various professional endeavors of our graduates and to hear their cherished memories of being a student on the Cook campus,” says Brian McGonigle, SEBS Manager of Alumni & Community Engagement.
“We came to the Fish Fry right after we graduated, then we didn’t come back for 30 years. I’m a season ticketholder to the Rutgers football games so I started doing tailgates then I started reaching out to people who are in the area to come back. Homecoming is the day we get together. Then we started doing dinners throughout the year wherever we could. I say that’s a uniquely Cook thing that people find each other,” shares Tom Scarpa (CC’88).
Laura Kenny, CC’80) adds, “In my experience, Cook Campus has always been a particularly tight-knit community; it’s a unique place at Rutgers. We were proud to distinguish ourselves as Cook alumni, and we see this pride in the classes that come back for their reunions at the Fish Fry.”
Rutgers Gardens shares that pride as a unit of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the official botanic garden of Rutgers University. Rutgers Gardens is grateful for the continued partnership with the Cook Community Alumni Association, and to have the opportunity to welcome alumni back to a place that many still feel so connected to through the years.
“It was the relationships we had with each other and with the administration. It was a family. And it still is,” says Alyson Sappington (CC’80).
This article originally appeared in the August 2025 Friends of Rutgers Gardens newsletter. Subscribe to Rutgers Gardens here.
