Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 30

Celeste Nadeau Baranyi’s Voice Brightens
Airwaves

On a rainy spring day Celeste (Nadeau) Baranyi ’84 proudly holds
her maroon and gold pom-poms from the 80s. Minutes after giving a
throwback Thornton cheer, Celeste grabs a microphone and resumes her
role as morning radio show host for 102.9 WBLM, Maine’s Rock Station.
She’s on location at the Pepperell campus to promote businesses and
festivals in Saco and Biddeford.
“We had to scrunch the pom-poms,” she explains while pointing to the
tassels, which were manufactured straight. In addition to her duties on
the sidelines of sporting events at Thornton, Celeste was a sorority girl
for Sub Debs and sang tenor in jazz choir. She first entered the radio
world at WHYR—her mom had been offered a job from the station,
but she recommended Celeste take the position instead. So for three
years Celeste learned how to hand splice and tape on reel-to-reels, while
developing her public persona. She even covered the iconic Rick Dees
Weekly Top 40. After a brief stint at a station in Waterville, she landed
her position at WBLM and has remained a show host for the past 26
years.
A resident of South Portland, Celeste lives with her husband Mark, an
engineer at IDEXX, and their two daughters: Sabelle, 9, and Anneliese, 5.
She’s a proud aunt of Caleb Bailey ’17. In reflecting on her former school
Class of 2006 Katie Janelle Fiorina and Joseph Fiorina were
married May 24th, 2014 at the Stone Mountain Arts Center
in Brownfield, ME. The couple both currently work at the
Florida Institute of Technology where Katie is a Financial
Aid Counselor. They reside in Melbourne, FL. Julia Gagne
Viger completed the Tri for a Cure in July and the REV3TRI
in August.
Class of 2008 Melanie Rose Renell McVety shares, “I have
recently moved to Northport, got married and accepted a
postion with the USDA Wildlife Services Office in Augusta.”
After graduating with the class of 2008, Craig Milliard
went on to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU)
in Daytona Beach, FL to study Aerospace Engineering and
to compete for ERAU’s Men’s Track and Field Team. While
at ERAU, he was deeply involved in engineer designing,
building, and competing with the university’s entry into the
NASA Green Flight Challenge, the EcoEagle. The EcoEagle
was the world’s first direct drive gas/electric hybrid aircraft.
Upon graduation from ERAU Craig accepted a position
at the National Test Pilot School (NTPS) in Mojave, CA
as a Graduate Assistant. Craig graduated from NTPS in
December 2014 with a MS in Flight Test Engineering and
a certificate as a Rotary Wing Flight Test Engineer. In May
Craig started a new job with Lockheed Martin with the title
of Aerospace Engineer in the job function of Test Conductor
for the new F-35 Lightning II fighter jet at Edwards Air Force
Base, in California.

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days she says, “I wish I had known I would be this
happy when I was a teenager.”

Class of 2012 Thao Thu Nguyen graduated from
Colby-Sawyer with a Business Administration Degree in
Spring 2015.
E-mail Class Notes to: brittany.brown@
thorntonacademy.org

L to R: Jon Pate ’11, Brad Rhoades, Nick Chen ’12, and Brian
Morgan played in the 3rd annual Thornton Academy Alumni
Golf Tournament, which paired up with the Don Fogg (Class of
1949) Memorial Golf Tournament on Monday, July 6, 2015. The
day brought 26 teams to the Biddeford-Saco Country Club to
support students at Thornton Academy.