Justin Mazzella

Justin Mazzella

In early June 2001, Tony Blair and his Labor Party held on to power after Parliamentary elections; President George W. Bush and his Republican Party signed a trillion dollar tax cut into law; and Justin Mazzella found himself just 13 days from his high school graduation. Twenty-five years later, he finds himself Zooming in to “Red & White @ Silver” as Ian, Jim, and Zack’s last interviewee. And what a final interview it was! After listening to this episode, you might think we saved the best for last, as the truly hilarious and zany Justin brought the goods. His post-NFA life includes catering, ballroom dancing, barista-turned-corporate-Starbucks-man, hula hoop making, DJing at Margaritaville, a labor dispute with a robot, a labor dispute over wearing pants, and his becoming one of the premiere magicians in southern New England. (And he’s available for your next event at FunMagicBirthday.com [http://funmagicbirthday.com]!) You’ll love listening to the journey. Then, Justin looks back at a Norwich Free Academy experience that he describes as “a blast.” He relays some of his favorite teachers, including yet another splendid description of the great Mr. Heffernan, and his gratitude at having such a quality culinary education. He also does some high-caliber introspection, as we all do from time to time, reflecting on young Justin and what he liked about him but also what makes him cringe. It’s a great episode, so don’t miss our final interview. (But fear not, RWS listeners. We still have two more episodes to go!) His name is Justin Mazzella, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Shailyn Guy Metcalfe

Even after 38 episodes we still had another NFA sending town to represent. Joining Norwich, Sprague, Franklin, Lisbon, Preston, Voluntown, and Sterling is now the beautiful Canterbury. Representing it is our wonderful classmate Shailyn Guy. In this episode, Shailyn walks us through the last quarter-century of her life. Included are adventures in masseusery, Covid disruptions to her business, and now nursing school. Shailyn also shares her passion for nutrition as Jim peppers her with questions about meat. As the sole Canterbury representative on “Red & White @ Silver,” she also has to withstand obligatory Canterbury trivia. Now married with children, Shailyn went deep into the memory banks to share what she remembers about her time at the Norwich Free Academy, including lots of extracurriculars, singing at coffee houses, and old friends. In the process, the panel dissects the modern relationships we have with old friends we only see on social media. Oh, and Ian predicts a deep Patriots playoff run a year before it happens. Her name is Shailyn Guy, now Shailyn Metcalfe, and she’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Barry Keenan

In mid-May 2001, “Shrek” topped the box office, Dido’s “Thank You” topped the music charts, and Barry Keenan topped our Class Musician rankings. He was a month from graduation, but what happened after Barry walked across the stage? Listen to this episode to find out. You’ll learn that he graduated from UConn, during which he led a Phish cover band, and worked at Mystic Seaport, during which he sang sea shanties. One such sea shanty, as you’ll hear, made its way into this awesome episode. Barry now works in special education, still fills in at the Seaport, and even married a fellow Seaporter before they produced a Seaporter daughter. With all this Mystic in his life, naturally he was subjected to some Mystic trivia. Barry also recounts some NFA memories, including great teachers, the foundation of some lifelong friendships, performing in his namesake band Barry’s Leaving, and soaking in the long walks between buildings. He also shared that when he describes our great alma mater to his wife, she might quip, “Oh, you mean Hogwarts?” Yeah, pretty much. His name is Barry Keenan, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Lauren Carlson Burhans

(A quick side note for RWS fans: we’re almost done! After our awesome guest this week, we’re down to the final FIVE episodes: three more interviews with classmates, followed by our final interview of one of the RWS hosts, and then the series finale on June 15, the 25-year anniversary of our graduation. Please join us for the home stretch!) This week we have our old classmate Lauren Carlson. In this interview, we get a sobering reminder that not everyone’s transition to the next phase of their lives was made seamlessly. Lauren opens up about her deep personal struggles experienced during freshman year at URI. A pivot to ECSU helped get her life back on track, and did she ever. She proceeded to ship up to Boston for not one but TWO Masters degrees, and she’s now a behavioral analyst. She specializes in parenting advice to all us parents who are trying to manage increasingly busy and messy lives. (Her business, Imperfect Parenting, can be reached at imperfectparentcoach@gmail.com [imperfectparentcoach@gmail.com].) She now lives in Rhode Island with her husband and three kids, a well-deserved richness of life made possible by her perseverance.  For trivia she’s quizzed about another, less quality podcast–Armchair Expert with Dax Sheppard–before then diving into NFA. Then hear Lauren’s memories about her Cranston experience, her positive experiences with teachers, and more. Her name is Lauren Carlson, now Lauren Burhans, and she’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Nate Paluck

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, “Red & White @ Silver” is thrilled to welcome a classmate who spent post-graduate years in Mexico: Nathan Paluck! He Zooms with the RWS trio to fill us in on everything he’s been up to for the last 25 years. How does a physics major at Fordham turn into a teacher in Honduras and bartender/salsa dancer in Oaxaca and a journalist in Hartford and the president of a chess club? Nate is like the Dos Equis guy: the most interesting man in the world. Then, after victorioso in a bit of Mexican history trivia, Nate has profound reflections on his time at the Norwich Free Academy. He reflects on our beautiful campus, his myriad of extracurricular activities, his valued NFA friendships, and he also becomes the latest guest to flatter Zack’s mom. Among Nate’s most cherished high school memories was working with a handful of classmates, including Jim and Zack, to record a song called “Brown Bananas” – a fawning ode from Dave Fan to a certain fellow 2001er. After listening to this episode, you’ll not only know to which classmate the song was dedicated (hint: her name rhymes with Banana), but you’ll also get to hear a 25-year-old recording of the masterpiece. You don’t want to miss it. His name is Nathan Paluck, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.