Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Stone Newman '97 to Present to ENS June 27th in NYC


Stone Newman '97, President, Sababa Toys, will be presenting at the Business Forum and Reception in New York City sponsored by Union’s entrepreneur network – The Eliphalet Nott Society. This is an excellent opportunity for business leaders, professionals and current / prospective entrepreneurs to gather and network in a comfortable setting.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 6:00 – 9:00 pm - The Cornell Club - 6 East 44th Street
New York City

http://www.cornellclubnyc.com/about_directions.html

The title of his presentation is “Not just Kidding Around”

The Story of Sababa Toys and Next Steps in Their Meteoric Rise

Now in its sixth year, Sababa Toys is enjoying success rarely seen outside of the handful of toy giants. Sababa, which is Hebrew slang for cool, is a term Newman picked up while studying in Israel during his junior year in college. "I thought it would be a great, fun way to say that we make cool, innovative toys," he said. Sababa Toys product line includes a rapidly expanding line up of toys and games based on a number of popular licenses like MLB, NBA, Fisher-Price, Peanuts and Shrek, to name just a few.


Stone Newman is the founder and president of Sababa Toys, a New York City toy company that specializes in licensing classic games such as Uno and Etch-a-Sketch. Newman got his start in the toy business during college, when he interned at FAO Schwartz as a toy demonstrator and later with Tyco Toys. After college, Newman went to work for Hasbro, a toy company based in Pawtucket, R.I. Three years later, he found himself at the helm of Sababa Toys. A native of New Hartford, NY, Stone Newman majored in economics at Union College and is a member of the class of 1997.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Warren Bagatelle ’60, ardent Union supporter, dies

Warren D. Bagatelle ’60, a well-known investment banker, ardent supporter of Union College for more than three decades and founding member of Union’s Eliphalet Nott Society, died May 31. He was 69.

Bagatelle, a CPA, was a partner at Loeb Partners Corporation and served on many corporate and not-for-profit boards. Before joining Loeb, he ran the NYSE member firm of Rosenkrantz Ehrenkrantz Lyon & Ross. Prior to his Wall Street career, he ran several publicly traded and privately held companies.

He earned an MBA in accounting from Rutgers University in 1961 and began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co.

“Warren was a very social, active, successful, fair and honest man, with a lot of integrity,” said Charles Roden ’60. “He and I were frat brothers and classmates, and we’ve had an investment partnership together, HSB (named for his beloved wife, Hedy Bagatelle), for at least 25 years. In business, he was a tiger. He was also very helpful to Union graduates, hiring many students over the years. Warren was passionate about Union.”

As an undergraduate, Bagatelle was a member of Phi Sigma Delta and an accomplished athlete involved in football, wrestling and lacrosse.

“Warren was at Union when I played for the junior varsity lacrosse team,” remembered Stephen Zuckerman ’62. “Warren sagaciously advised me that when chasing a loose ball, first go after the opposing player, and once he was out of the way, then go after the ball. When we would meet in later years, he still had the same attitude toward me and others; that he was your big brother here to help you.”

As an alumnus, Bagatelle was chairman and member of the Graduate Management Institute Advisory Council, an Admissions representative and a Friend of Union Athletics. He helped launch ENS more than a decade ago to foster entrepreneurship through the Union community.

A native of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Bagatelle lived with his wife of more than 44 years, Hedy (Schwartz), in Wayne and then South Orange, N.J. He also is survived by a son, David; daughters Tracy Bagatelle-Black ’89, who earned a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy, and Adrien ’92, who holds a B.A. in Psychology; and four grandchildren. A funeral service was held Sunday in New Jersey.

Donations to the Warren D. Bagatelle Scholarship Fund may be sent to the Union Graduate College, Lamont House, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308.