Love story in The Lamron: Madelyn Dewey and Cal Hoag

Photo courtesy of Madelyn Dewey

Recently, The Lamron had the opportunity to reconnect with the past Fall 2018-Spring 2021 Arts and Entertainment Editor and Fall 2019-Spring 2020 Copy Editor. Madelyn (Maddy) Dewey and Cal (W.C.) Hoag graduated in 2021 and 2020 respectively, and their time at The Lamron was marked by many positive memories—including the start of their relationship. 

Maddy started at The Lamron by becoming Arts and Entertainment Assistant Editor during the 2017 academic year at SUNY Geneseo, later becoming the Arts and Entertainment Editor in Fall 2018. She spoke on how she heavily relied on Cal to write for her each week because of his affinity for writing cultural commentary articles. 

Cal recalled a time that he went to Dublin Corners on Main Street and reported on its opening since he was the only e-board member that was 21 at the time. Cal knew that he always wanted to join The Lamron, but was unable to attend meetings because of class conflicts. He later joined and began as a staff writer before moving up to become Copy Editor. 

When Cal first began writing for Maddy, they were just friends who were secretly attracted to each other. After two years of working together and bonding over music, Cal invited Maddy to attend a Hozier concert with him. Cal happened to have an extra ticket and wanted to invite Maddy—intending for it to be a date. Maddy was not sure if the concert was intended to be a date or not, but this is now what they consider to be their first date! 

Cal continued to write for The Lamron and Maddy every week, which led to the creation of his own column, “WTF.” In it, he wrote about “whatever movie or music [he] was consuming that week.” Within this section, Cal pushed for The Lamron to allow for more writers' voice and authentic style within articles. He talked about how most of his attempts at having “creative control” got shot down by editors prior to having his own column, but he never stopped trying and is glad to hear that today’s e-board vehemently pushes for writers' voices. Upon his graduation, Maddy took over the column and kept WTF alive. 

They also spoke about the ambitions that they had for The Lamron during their time on the e-board. When Cal and Maddy were only writers for The Lamron, there were a lot of restrictions regarding writers’ voice and article choice. Both Maddy and Cal had many “opinions and visions” on what they wanted The Lamron to become, but neither were in a position to be able to make those ideas happen. Even when they voiced their ideas, it seemed as though they were often met with disagreement or neutrality, further stunting The Lamron. Once Maddy and Cal became a part of the executive editing chain, they were able to make many positive changes and make some of their ambitions a reality. They noted that from what they have seen of The Lamron now, it seems as though many of these aspects have changed for the better. 

The library was also a point of interest during the conversation: Cal asked The Lamron “Is the library open now?” To answer that—yes! Milne Library is currently open and is truly such an excellent addition to campus. Maddy and Cal were forced to go about half of their college career without a library and hope to visit it when they can.

Today, six years after they began dating, Maddy and Cal are preparing for their upcoming wedding. Currently, the couple lives in Washington D.C., but they will be having their wedding in the Geneseo/Avon area this July. The couple will be hosting many of their wedding events in the Geneseo area because Geneseo marks the start of their relationship. Their rehearsal dinner is set to be held at the Big Tree Inn and they are hoping to do an after party at Idle Hour. 

When asked about their biggest takeaway from their time with The Lamron, Cal obviously acknowledged that meeting his future wife was an unmatchable highlight, but he also thanked The Lamron for introducing him to a real work environment. Maddy seconded this by adding, “[The Lamron] taught me so much about collaboration in ways that I literally take with me to my job today.” The Lamron is more than a club, and that is something both Maddy and Cal reinforced throughout the conversation: every member is putting in unparalleled amounts of work and effort to create something beautiful each week. 

On a last note, the biggest piece of advice that the couple would give to anyone—on The Lamron or not—is to “shoot your shot.” Whether it be with love, work, or social interactions, take a shot because you never know if asking your editor to go to a Hozier concert may result in marrying the love of your life.