Markus Bates Checks In

I was wondering if we would ever get a 20 year reunion together and then I literally stumbled on the site. I figured I would be receiving a written invitation on bonded paper in the mail from Bruce Hall for the 20 year reunion. I guess it does not work that way – not in the 21st century

I’m glad to see so many of you doing well from your blogs. Everyone looks great and the kids are adorable. From Tokeneke to Mather to our class being the first 4-year class at DHS, I spent 9 years in Darien, so it is a big part of who I am. Therefore, I have a lot of fond memories of Darien High and my classmates.

After DHS, I attended Stetson University in the tiny town of DeLand, Florida. DeLand is right in between Daytona Beach and Orlando. I studied abroad my junior year in Freiburg, Germany, which is in the southwest corner of Germany right on the Swiss and French borders. I woke up every morning overlooking the Black Forest on the 6th floor of my dorm, and the city was a small university city with a third of the population (35,000) being college students , so there was always something fun going on – hiking, hang gliding, soccer, etc. Plus, I went to the Berlin Wall one week before it fell and Germany won the World Cup a half year later, so I saw history in the making and the mood in the country and Europe was tremendous.

I came back to Stetson for my senior year in Florida. Talk about culture shock? The only real good thing was the weather and the beach. I graduated with a Poly Sci/German degree right into the middle of the recession of ‘91, so I took a job at Macy’s at the Mall in Stamford. I worked with Jeff Howie selling raincoats for about 9 months looking for a job that matched the four year investment my parents made. I have not seen Jeff in years. I hope he makes it to the reunion. He had a great sense of humor that I never really saw when we went to Darien High together.

I took a job with a German Coal Trading Company, Ruhrkohle Trading Corp., in Manhattan right across from Smith and Wollensky’s at 49th and 3rd. I lived on the Upper East side at 73rd and York. One of my neighbors and friends was Michael Wildman '88 . I was brought in to learn the business and a year and a half later, my boss quit his position. Before I knew it, I was traveling around the world to China, Europe, South America, etc. learning the international coal trading business. It was due to one of those trips that I missed the DHS 5 year reunion. Sorry guys.

In Dec. of 1996, I met my wife future wife, Claudia, in Salvador, Brazil on one of these business trips.. I saw Claudia again several months later for Carnival and about every 4-6 weeks thereafter. My knowledge of Spanish helped, but let’s say I was now getting a crash course in Portuguese. In May of 1999 we were married in Brazil. Six months later my company moved to Baltimore. We moved down to Upper Marlborough, MD just outside DC for 3 years. In August of 2002 we moved back to Danbury, CT. I am now working as the head of an international commodities business trading coal, met coke, and iron ore for the utility and steel sectors. In May of 2005, on the date of our wedding anniversary, we were given quite an anniversary gift when our son, Marcello, was born.

I have lost contact with a lot of my friends from my class, so this reunion will be great. Jennifer Boggs (Wanamaker) sent me an e-mail a couple of years ago. It was great to hear from her. It sounds like she is enjoying married life with her sons in Texas. Most of the people I see from DHS these days are from the Class of ’88. Ken Worst '88 went to Stetson Univ. as well and worked with me for many years. Ken is married and lives on the Upper East side. I see Matt Bondlow, Mark Markowski and Scott Graham, who all live in Manhattan. Michael Wildman lives in Norwalk, CT and is married. Matt Edwards is married as well and lives in Redding. He has a little boy, Cooper, who is a couple months younger than my son. Another friend, Bill Bieluch '88, is married to Julie Papazian ’91. They live in San Jaun Capistrano, CA and have 3 lovely daughters. Those Papazian genes are strong. Many of you may know that Julie was the “Baby” in a family of 3 girls. Jen was in our class and Jessica was in the class of ’88.