1984

For the second time since taking on the responsibility of class representative, I must begin the column with wishes that you and your loved ones are safe after a devastating world disaster. I thought of our Kellogg community often, especially those in Southeast Asia, as I watched the news coverage in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. My best wishes for good health and safety are with you all.

Rick Smilow's culinary academy hosted a tremendous fund-raiser for the tsunami victims. He and the community of The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) raised funds for Action Against Hunger's Tsunami Relief Fund. Rick writes: "I am happy to report that the effort was quite successful! As of this writing we have raised $30,400." The ICE held a three-part demonstration cooking class and a five-course American dinner on two consecutive days in New York City. ICE's chef-instructors prepared the dinner and the attendees heard speeches from Food Network television personalities and Action Against Hunger's executive director. The school donated 100 percent of the money raised to AAH.

After a decade as a free-lance journalist for the Daily Herald's DuPage bureau, Diane (Marchiori) Dassow has taken on a new challenge. Her company, Binding Legacies, helps people who would love to document the story of their life or their business success, but are too busy to do it themselves. Visit her Web site at www.bindinglegacies.com.

	Karl Mills '84 and Baby Kai
	Scott Nicholas '84 with twins Connor and Katie, big brother Tommy and wife Caryn

We had some happy baby news from Karl Mills: "Little Kai Thomas Mills was born on Jan. 14. He was 7 pounds, 11 ounces. His two brothers are thrilled to have a little brother, just like they asked for, and now that we have three boys, I think we are ready to close up shop. Kai Hammerich is convinced that we named the child after him, but frankly we chose it because it's easy for me to pronounce. Life is good in other respects. Everyone is healthy and happy. Life at the opera is like an opera in many respects and I hope to organize a Kellogg event there in the spring."

Scott Nicholas and his wife Caryn welcomed twins Connor Scott and Kathryn "Katie" Taylor Nicholas into this world Aug. 6. Both babies are healthy and doing the things that they do best, including keeping their parents awake the better part of the night. Big brother Tommy, age 3, is most excited at the prospect of having 24/7 in-house playmates. Scott thoroughly enjoyed our 20th reunion this past April and commented that our classmates had aged remarkably well!

Rori Grosse writes: "I have owned my own direct sales business with Creative Memories for several years. Business is great and my Web site is creativememories.com/rorigrosse. I'm planning to build a new house this year and move to a more rural area."

On a high after the class' 20-year reunion, James David Lynn checked in with this newsy update: "The high point of my last year was seeing many of my former classmates at the 20-year reunion. For those who were not there, here's my news ... After leaving Booz Allen in 1989, I joined Kellogg classmate Rick Smilow in a specialty pet products company he had started two years earlier. Strategically, our business was not a great idea, but we worked hard, had a lot of fun and sold out to a private equity firm in our third year.

"Rick went on to buy a N.Y.-based cooking school, now called the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). Today, ICE is considered the top culinary school in the country. If you eat in an expensive East Coast restaurant, odds are ICE trained one of the chefs. After the sale of our business, I worked with another private equity firm, co-founding Colortech Labs, a service business that applied high-tech color-computer and spectrometer technology to the decidedly low-tech world of women's dress shoes. This business was actually a good idea, and it grew quickly to serve some 7,000 retail stores from Payless to Penney's to high-end bridal shops.

"When Colortech saturated its category, I left active management in my partners' hands and tried to figure out what to do next. Stuck in indecision, I filled the time by helping various former Booz Allen and Kellogg friends with consulting projects. Seven years later, the consulting work has grown and I find myself heading a boutique strategy consulting firm, serving clients such as J&J, HBO, Nasdaq, Amex and Janus. I really love the work and love the control I have with my own firm.

"I am married to a wonderful woman and have two great daughters who benefited genetically from my marrying up. (I met my wife through Kellogg classmate Joan Bolz, to whom I am still indebted.) I coach soccer, play tennis and sail when I can. I live in Greenwich, Conn., near classmates such as Rick Smilow, Dwight Hilson, Steve Zales, Birgitta Hannon and Katherine Ventres. Anyone in the area, please call. I would love to keep up."

	Mohamedusman Baki '84

Mohamedusman Baki writes with the news that the James C. Kirie Water Reclamation Plant in Des Plaines, Ill., won second place for outstanding operations in the EPA's 2004 Clean Water Recognition Award competition. Mohamedusman writes: "I have been associated with this plant as the plant manager (2001–present) and operations manager (1995–2001). There are 16,000 publicly owned and operated wastewater treatment plants in the country. The Kirie Plant is one of the seven treatment plants serving the people of Cook County under the direction of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. It has been a very humbling experience to be recognized by this esteemed national agency."

Ana Antonieta González lives in Caracas, Venezuela. She retired from Petroleos de Venezuela in 1998 and now works as a free-lance management consultant.

My own job search ended in September, when I agreed to work as a consultant to a Chicago-based market research company. The company provides qualitative marketing research services and strategic insights to a variety of companies, particularly within the consumer packaged goods and service industries. I've gone from reporting on the lives of my peers (through this column) to analyzing and evaluating other people's business ideas. In television terms, I guess you could say I've gone from being Mary Alice, the dead narrator of "Desperate Housewives," to being Carolyn Kepcher, the straight-talking, eye-rolling adviser to Donald Trump on "The Apprentice." Being a desperate housewife was fine for a while, but I am thoroughly enjoying life back in the work force.... and trying to keep my eye-rolling to a minimum. Thank you to everyone who wrote me with employment suggestions — yet another reason that it is so great to be part of this Kellogg community.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you. Remember, you don't have to have a career or life change to write to me. Your classmates also want to hear about hobbies, travel, community service work and anything else you do.