1988

Hi again everyone. Hope you are having a fantastic election year for those in the United States, and a fantastic Olympic/leap year for those of you who are not watching the melee called presidential campaigning. May the man with the most electoral college votes ─ who still has any dignity left ─ win.

I’ll need to be short and sweet here, as I’m in the cab on the way to the airport, and the staff at Kellogg World are very serious about deadlines. So, I’m waiting for the last minute here to let those final juicy bits make their way into this tome, and wait, yes, here they are...

Had a nice email chat with Michael Zink, who is still in Jakarta on his fifth year with Citibank, et al. I think Michael and I are the only classmates still working for our original post-KGSM employer. He’s inquiring about writing articles for Kellogg World. He and Betsy have three daughters ─ Emily, 14, Katie, 12, and Alexandra, 10. Their son Gabriel, 7, is blessed, surrounded by sympathetic ladies.

Scott Ableman and I enjoyed some Garrett’s popcorn and dinner in downtown Chicago during one of his recent convention trips here. Scott is still directing marketing for Network Solutions, and he’s been enjoying a bit of a hobby in buying and selling stuff on the Internet. Scott and Debbie are raising two children. Ethan, the cerebral, conservative 9-year-old brother, is worshiped by his younger, social, future party-organizer 7-year-old sister Hannah. They live in McClean, Va.

Hanne and Mark Proudfoot crack me up. On a holiday card they said, “If you’re ever in Reading, Pa., let us know.” Ha! Same to you Proudfoots ─ If you’re ever in Reading Pa., let us know. Case in point: This year they’re planning to go to Finland, Denmark, Rhode Island, Minnesota, the Jersey Shore and Phoenix. Amazing ─ I’m not even sure where we’re going for spring break and I’ve got six weeks to figure that out. Anyhow, it was a great shot of the gregarious family at Christmas. Someone always dons the red Santa hat!

It was great to hear from Amy Wahlert Principi and husband Joe, and see her kids grow. Their daughter Molly (going on 13) and my Jamie were classmates at Montessori School many years ago! Molly is into cheerleading, piano, and is loving school. Their boy Nick is 10, and doing the normal 10-year-old thing ─ Boy Scouts and getting severe cases of poison ivy. Amy continues her volunteer work with her church, learning/making up new things in desktop publishing.

Pat Crick’s family had a fun 2003, I’m here to report. Pat sold his company to a firm called Creation Technologies. He is doing GM work for the company, as well as design engineering and leadership. Not too shabby. Their son Kevin plays in national volleyball tournaments. He’s about as tall as Pat and made varsity as a frosh. After attending a national tourney in Phoenix over the Fourth of July, the family followed with a tour of Colorado, including the obligatory rafting/hiking/Hummer driving/fly fishing, and then swung through Mt. Rushmore. Fifth-grader Jennifer enjoys volleyball, basketball and loves to read. Kelly keeps them all in line. The family lives in Wauwatosa, Wis.

Tom and Diane MacDonald’s kids are growing like weeds in Lake Oswego, Ore. They also added another child of sorts, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy. Their children, ages 3, 6, 8, and 11 are now potty trained ─ just not the dog. The kids stay busy reading, being aspiring engineers, dancing and performing in plays. I’m exhausted thinking about it! Tom is still GM of Advanced Components in Intel’s enterprise products group, which makes chips for servers/workstations. While Tom has traveled a bit to Asia, including Taiwan and China, Diane is busy managing the house, and with activities and volunteering a bunch. Tom’s still closing in on one of those Intel sabbaticals. Consider Chicago. I’m writing this in February, and the sky is blue, at least.

Fred Nelson is still consulting in health-related fields and has found another love besides Debbie ─ fly fishing. He’s still taking piano lessons as well. The next quest ... find time to go skiing early and often with the kids. Their boys are 14 and 11, and they are enjoying music. Erik, 14, plays double bass, has started playing jazz, and formed a jazz group with a couple other classmates. The group composed their own piece and won a talent show with it. Connor, 11, is now on a traveling hockey team. No home renovations to report!

Brent Koehler founded a company called Equi-Tran, an electronic exchange for the wholesale used-car market that helps companies sell their portfolios in a different way than traditional auto auctions. But the new business might mean less time for fishing, biking, and soccer coaching. He and Becky will figure it out. Son Matthew, 6, enjoys soccer, gymnastics, swimming and video games. Michael, 10, is home-schooled and loving it. His forte is writing comic books.

As far as my family goes, Jamie has decided to add guitar to piano, and wants to start using her dancing in community and school musicals. However, we’ll have to balance that with other commitments to her time this year. She is animating Japanese Anime style, and writes stories in that genre with expressive characters, romance, and moderate violence. Rosemary had LASIK surgery, which worked very well. It is amazing to see her without glasses or contacts!