WVHS production class welcomes alumni for TV show

At a time of year, when seniors are looking forward to graduation, those in Dan Cecconie’s production class at Warwick Valley High School chose to take a look back at WVHS life and graduations of the past. The seniors co-produced a special edition of “School Talk,” during which host and English teacher Nick DiLeo welcomed Warwick Valley alumni, local business people and Chamber of Commerce members.

The guests were Steve Pennings (class of `79) from Pennings Orchard, Kim Corkum (class of ‘85) from Keller Williams Realty, and Jerry Schlichting (class of `96) from Frazzleberries Country Store.

“We wanted to know what Warwick high school life was like at different times, and also what their plans were after high school and how those compared to the paths they took that brought them back home,” episode director Shane Crane said.

Schlichting arrived with the original press pass he was issued for access to the old production department, a facility, he noted, that has changed significantly since he was a student.

Corkum’s original plan was to get into agriculture after growing up on a dairy farm in Warwick. Her husband was also in her senior class.

“[We] decided to come back and we decided to have a family here,” she said. She also shared the career moves that led her to her current job of 25 years in real estate.

Pennings spoke a out the agriculture program and his teacher, John Buckley.

“I was just a farm boy at heart, and I just wanted to come back to good old Warwick, New York,” he said. “I wish I had spread my wings and gone around and seen the country a little bit, and maybe got a job off farm for a while, to experience it, but, something was calling me back and I came back to Warwick at the young age of 20 or so. My oldest brother, Jack, bought an apple orchard, so he was calling me. ‘Come back to work. We’re going to grow apples and have a retail market and have some fun!’”

Schlichting also left Warwick for a short period after graduating in the 90s, and returned to run the family business. He realized the boardroom was not the right fit for him. His mom and a classmate’s mom founded Frazzleberries Country Store in the spring of his senior year.

“I had gone away to school and [Frazzleberries] just kept growing and growing to the point where they had approached me -- as sort of the business guy in the family -- to say, ‘how do we sell this thing.”

He said that his mom and her partner had begun to feel a little bit of burnout and were thinking they’d close up shop.

“But you know, rather than trying to help them sell it... my wife and I decided to partner into the business,” Schlichting said. He and his wife now own the local shop and its sister location in Newport, Rhode Island.

The panel of guests also talked about favorite teachers and their influence, the natural beauty of Warwick, and the welcoming community that throws so much support behind the district. The unique episode included plenty of great memories, Wildcat camaraderie, and some applicable wisdom.

“I’m very proud of my production team,” Cecconie said after the taping. “They wanted to do something different this year for our final episode, and this was all their idea.”

Find the alumni episode of “School Talk” on YouTube by searching for Warwick Valley Television.