When Mark Pronovost ’81 started working at HCC in 2010 as director of Aramark dining services, the only place on campus to get a hot meal or beverage was in the old cafeteria, where you pulled your try along stainless-steel rails, conveyer-belt style, past the a la carte offerings under the heat lamps. Over the years, Pronovost shepherded major changes in food service delivery at HCC, such as adding Subway and Grille Works options. “We changed the concept from a cafeteria to a food court,” he said last fall, not long after hanging up his apron and retiring from Aramark after 48 years in the food service business, his last 11 at HCC, where he earned an associate degree in hospitality management. Pronovost was also responsible for launching the P.O.D. (Provisions on Demand) in the Donahue building and the Forum Café outside the Leslie Phillips Theater, as well as providing catering services for countless campus events. “It’s been a complete enjoyment being here, especially being an alum, knowing everybody and seeing the changes that we’ve made,” he said. In retirement, Pronovost plans to concentrate on the “Three Gs — Granddaughter, Golf & Guinness,” he wrote in a farewell message to friends and colleagues. “Outstanding Ride! Sláinte, Mark.”
Mark Pronovost ’81 in the HCC Food Court shortly before his retirement as director of HCC dining services.
HCC Built Me
The fall 2021 production of “Jesus Hopped the A Train” marked a return to the stage for HCC’s theater program after one cancelled season and two semesters of pandemic-friendly, virtual, live-streamed performances. The show also marked a return to the HCC stage for theater alum Axel Cruz ’11, the play’s guest director. “It’s nice to come back to the place where I started and do something that I love to do,” said Cruz, who hails from Chicopee, teaches fine arts at Holyoke’s Metcalf Elementary School, and sits on the board of Holyoke’s Enchanted Circle Theater, where he also directs. After HCC, Cruz went on to study theater at the University of Massachusetts. “Everything I learned in the theater program at HCC has driven me to where I am today,” said Cruz. ”I’ve always said, HCC built me, and UMass shaped me. HCC produces amazing students and amazing work. I’m so excited and proud to be among the HCC theater alumni, which is a pretty close network.”
Director Axel Cruz ’11 on the set of “Jesus Hopped the A Train,” HCC’s fall 2021 theater production.Brianna “Brinny” Couture ’21
Brinny’s Hand Pies
In the midst of the pandemic, Brianna “Brinny” Couture ’21 opened a new business – “Brinny’s Hand Pies,” an online pickup and delivery food service company based in Agawam, Mass. As a student in HCC’s culinary arts program, Couture found a passion for hand pies as she learned that successful chefs had a focus that drove their restaurants and menus. “But I loved everything,” said Couture, a 2021 National Restaurant Association Scholarship recipient. “I couldn’t decide what my focus was. I knew I would have to create something different for myself.” She finally found inspiration from Latin street food expert and food historian Sandra Gutierrez and became intrigued by hand pies. Her mind raced with all the possibilities. “I couldn’t sleep. This was it,” she knew. “I could take the flavors of my travels and create unique fillings, make them portable because they’d be wrapped in pastry. I thought maybe people like me, who like to travel through food, would like hand pies too?” She went to work on her own creations – Chicken Tarragon Pot Pie, The Argentinian, Mushroom and Leek, and one of her favorites, Banana and Dulce de Leche. “What could be better?” Enjoy Brinny’s creations at brinnyshandpies.com
Flying Higher
Linda Markham, at the Hyannis Airport
On January 1, Linda Markham ’83 assumed the position of CEO of Cape Air, making her one of the few female CEOs in the world to run an airline company and the only one at a major or regional airline in the U.S. “It’s the right time for the organization and for Linda,” retiring CEO and company founder Dan Wolf told the Cape Cod Times. “She’s just a wonderful person and leader.” Growing up in Westfield, the youngest of six children, Markham majored in business and retail management at HCC. “There were students from all over Massachusetts of all different ages,” Markham told the Alumni Connection in 2017. “It was diverse. People wanted to help each other.” She joined Cape Air in 2002 as vice president when Wolf hired her to build a human resources department at the Hyannis-based business. She was named chief administrative officer in 2004 and president in 2013. “I look forward to assuming my new role and helping Cape Air soar to new heights,” Markham said in a press release. “I am humbled by the opportunity to lead such an outstanding organization.”
Not a Sidelines Guy
As a young father, Steve Richter ’75 famously founded a medical testing company in the attic of his Feeding Hills home while working full time and going to graduate school. Microtest Labs would eventually employ some 100 microbiologists, chemists, product safety analysts and support staff at a 50,000-square foot facility in Agawam, where they tested medical devices and pharmaceuticals for bacterial contamination. Richter, the president and CEO, sold Microtest in 2014. Since then, he has been enjoying his grandchildren and “retirement” but has not been idle. Richter now runs a consulting business called RichCo Laboratories as its senior scientist. “I’m not a sidelines guy,” he said in October during a visit to HCC’s Center for Life Sciences, where he was testing Thor, a mobile device that uses ultraviolet light to sterilize enclosed spaces such as operating rooms. Richter said he could think of no better place to do that than HCC’s biotechnology cleanroom, which he had a hand in planning. “There’s not too many facilities like this around here,” he said. “It’s great for students. You put down cleanroom training on your resume and there’s a lot of job opportunities out there.”
Steve Richter ’75 stands outside the cleanroom in HCC’s Center for Life Sciences while Thor goes to work cleaning up.
On The Air
Zydalis (Zayas) Bauer ’09 is host of NEPM’s “Connecting Point.”
Zydalis (Zayas) Bauer ’09 was in her first semester at HCC when she began a year-long internship at WGBY, the public television station in Springfield, now New England Public Media. As part of its Latino Youth Media Institute, she started in production, learning to operate cameras, soundboards and all the other equipment required to put on a broadcast. Later, she was part of the team that created the local bilingual series “Presencia.” Two years ago, she joined the team at “Connecting Point,” the station’s cultural affairs program, as a reporter and host. Last year, NEPM promoted her to main host. “I haven’t really left since my first semester at HCC,” she said. “It’s surreal to literally work your way up from the bottom to be the host of a show.” Naturally shy but with a lifelong interest in media, Bauer, a liberal arts major, took a few communications and media-related classes at HCC, including public speaking. “Those courses pushed me out of my comfort zone and really helped prepare me for this role,” she said. Check out the show on your local PBS station, Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.
