EMP-25 members at dinner during a mini-reunion in North Carolina

EMP-25

Hello and Happy New Year to all! Bet you know how many years ago it was and what you were doing, right? Here is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to each of you 10 years ago on Dec. 24, 2000. Look how effective this appeal was: "After considerable review and reflection, I have decided to pass on the Kellogg World Student Class Representative position to someone else. For the past 10 years, I have enjoyed the challenge and the linkage with our class while submitting class notes to the KW publication. As time passes, more and more classmates drop out of sight and do not respond. I simply can't chase our lost teammates down and I don't seem to be getting much response from the class. I've tried to understand that things change and support everyone through our changing lives, but when I don't get many responses, I really don't have much of a choice other than find a way to get new energy back into the process." What have I done wrong here? Now it's been 20 years! I think I'm losing it, folks. How amazing! I only wish more of our classmates would have stayed in touch and shared with us where they are today and what they are doing. Since I'm all you have for now, here is what I know and who I've heard from. Ode to the "power of the pen!"

Thomas M. Prescott dropped me an e-mail about why would I keep an "old" bunch of EMP-25'ers updated. He mentioned something about retirement homes but was not clear to what he was referring. Tom said that he is still working away at trying to build Align Technology (Invisalign) into a terrific company. Given their strong exposure to the consumer market, he said he never believed that marketing research, channels, and consumer marketing electives would be so important. Who could have known that Tom wished he had studied! Tom said that he occasionally runs into Mary A. Gottenborg at Silicon Valley and medical device industry events. She is doing well at a start-up run by Align's former vice president of marketing/chief marketing officer. He mentioned that he has seen Mary doing her charity "Walk Across Pleasanton" and just has not stopped or had time to say hello. Other than Mary, he does not run into or hear from others since he spends so much time on the top of his building watching airplanes. On a personal level, his family is well and blessed that most of their problems are very small. He hopes that the years have been good to the entire EMP-25 team and that 2011 is a great year for all.

Speaking of Mary A. Gottenborg, she sent a note about how busy she was. She has recovered from her two-week long charity trip of "Walk Across Pleasanton" where she camped out along the road with two other lady friends and waved to the cars passing her by. Other than that, she said she wished she had some wonderfully exciting news to report, but she didn't. Go figure. Currently she is just working and walking away — and we all wish you and Rob well!

I received a nice note from Fred J. Brunk about a career change. Guess the normal corporate life was just not keeping Fred's interest, so in the midst of his mid-life crisis (mid-life, ha ha, Fred), he joined the French Foreign legion. I guess it did not take long for them to figure out that he was not very good at following orders (just like study group). And since he was 60, no one would buy his mid-life crisis story, so he left the legion and started a new company that distributes and markets tap water. He would not actually tell me where he got the idea but he did say that I would be surprised at how many people just prefer their water out of a bottle. Anyway, Fred also mentioned that his early thoughts of utilizing urban municipal wastewater facilities never really got off the ground, so he stuck with tap water and things are just great. He has ventured in on this with a couple of his study group members Nicki L. Schuh, William R. Knab and Peter Krol, to form PSWFP LLC. (Just so you know, Peter still has his pet pit bull, Girley Man and raises both pit bulls and pythons on the side.) So the new water industry company which will allow them to strengthen their brand marketing and distribution efforts. They purchased 47 minor ice companies and have cornered the ice and frozen water market in Illinois and Florida by launching their new product called ZICE. Distribution via some major grocery chains has been successful. As you will see from their tag, it incorporates the usage of the company name. PSWFP stands for "Pure Spring Water Frozen to Perfection." Good luck, guys and let us know how things are going.

I also heard from Scott S. Sarran, who is the chief medical officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. Scott appreciates the 25 hours a week he spends overseeing "medical things" as he calls them. Keep up the good work, Scott.

It was good to hear from R. Scott Blankenship recently. He shared the following: "Last August, our old study group got together to reminisce and see what everyone was up to. We had hoped to have a larger group but unfortunately, Anita A. Loch, John S. Strauss, Barry G. Stahl, Dan Leffert, Jim M. North, John A. Nickele and Michael W. Joyce could not be located. They keep moving and don't send their cell phone numbers or e-mails so that we can stay in touch. Anyway, we got together at Harry and Cindy's mountain home in Highlands, N.C., for the weekend. We all had a great time catching up and hanging out while solving world problems and drinking. We also had bets on how many seats the Democrats would lose in the fall election. Our guess was 65 lost seats so it will be interesting to see what the results will be in November. Unfortunately, we did not have Sally A. Faber and John C.T. Dodgen with us as they were not able to make it but we counted their feedback in our count of lost congressional seats. On the positive side, we did have Harry M. Johns and Cindy, Michael M. Nanney and Suzanne, Lee J. Spruit and Benita and my wife Cathy and I. Hope all is well and please be sure that when you come to Florida, plan to stop in and spend a week with Cathy and I. We would love to have company, any company since we really don't have any friends." Thanks Scott, let's see if we can get some takers to your offer.

Had a nice note from Donald R. Misner who dropped me a line about his last trip to Costco in Southlake, Texas. He happened to be at my local Costco buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for his loyal pet, Too-Too, the tiny Wonder Dog, and was in the checkout line when a woman behind him asked Don if he had a dog. What did she think — an elephant? So on impulse, he told her that he didn't have a dog and he was starting the "Purina Diet" again. Don said he added that he probably shouldn't do the diet because he had ended up in the hospital last time. But that last time, he had lost 50 pounds and needed to do some weight control maintenance. [Note: Of course, that was before he awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of his orifices and IVs in both arms.] Don told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way it works is to load your slacks/shorts pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works and he wanted to try it again. (I have to mention here that Don said that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with his story.) Horrified, she asked if Don ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned him. He told her no, he had actually stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's rear end and a car hit both of them. Don said that he is fine and has sworn off the diet.

Diana Walker and husband Bill shared that they participated in a spontaneous rave in Wyoming with classmates, Stephen Kells, Rachel M. Macha, Mary Paskell, Mike V. Schrock and Timothy R. Schulte, who all traveled last December to participate at the 3 to 11 p.m. spontaneous rave dance festival. You may recall that rave dances were very popular in the 1980s and were associated with acid house parties with fast-paced electronic music and light shows. It's rumored that they are making a comeback but time will tell. At these parties people dance to music played by DJs and occasionally live performers. The genres of electronic dance music played include house, trance, electro, hardstyle, drum and bass, dubstep, drum step, breakbeat and jungle, with the accompaniment of laser light shows, projected images and artificial fog, which remain popular with attendees. Bill videotaped the entire event, which is on his website. Everyone had a really great time.

I'm sure you will be delighted to learn of what has been uncovered in the Andes adventure that I reported on last year. Here is Greg A. Orlando's update: "I'm humbled and honored to finally share the story of our being lost in the northern Peruvian Andes, human strife of survival and the ultimate rescue, with worldwide notable Kellogg alumni. I think this is going to be remembered as a world-changing event, one you'll want your kids and grandkids to hear. After our rescue, the three of us, Brian L. Rucks, Mike J. Bauer and me (Greg) agreed not to talk about our experiences or what we did as a means to survive. But, now that it was briefly referenced in the spring issue of the Kellogg World (and will be released as a 3-D movie), it seems to be the right time to discuss our experiences.

"Before I begin, I must confess that after our rescue I had very difficult times mentally, and sought out the teachings of Eckart Tolle and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After spending countless months under their tutelage, my life has been consumed with these teachings and I have come to realize that all problems in the world originate in our thinking. The teachings have provided me the toolbox to open my mind and set myself free. This process also allowed me the ability to end all of my sufferings. I now am focusing on the awareness of the moment, instilling the notions of selflessness in action and the value of compassion towards fellow humans.

"As you all know by now, the four members (Mike, Vince A. Inendino, Brian and myself) of the original EMP-25 team "Who's on First" hiked to one of Andes mountains peaks. The sights during the early part of our adventure were very rich in flora and fauna, with a few large mammals. It was a beautiful and peaceful time except for the threatening mountain tapir, spectacled bear and yellow-tailed woolly monkeys, which from time-to-time would create havoc at our camp. After reaching the peak of Huascaran, a mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay, we settled down to for some much-needed sleep only to find the next morning a blizzard had overtaken us. Our guide, Alit, a beautiful green-eyed, brown-haired person, had abandoned us. Not only did she leave the four of us alone and scared, she left with our liquor, most of our food, all of our study notes from EMP-25 that we had planned to review, communication devices and our llamas. We only had a few chocolate bars, other assorted snacks, and several bottles of Argentinean wine.

"During the days which followed, we divided this food in very small amounts so as not to exhaust our meager supply and drank the snow for liquid nourishment. We were trying to use mirrors to signal anyone — several of our classmates have search and rescue companies but we could never reach Shishir C Babu, Raj L. Bajpai, Tom R. Bogusevic or Brendan Coyle. We devised a way to melt snow into water by using metal plates which we carried with us and placed snow on them. The snow melted in the sun and dripped into the empty wine bottles. During the first few days, we were divided on the best course of action — either stay put and wait for a rescue team or try to traverse our way down the mountain into Peru. On Day 13, Vince was 'crazy' from the cold numbing temperatures, lack of nourishment and sleep deprivation that he wondered away from camp, attacked by a gang of mountain tapirs and critically injured. Most gravely, we lacked any kind of medical supplies but he valiantly clung to life for three days before a combination of the climate, snow storms and lack of medical attention was too much for our conquered leader.

"At Day 23, we were faced with starvation and we assumed that the rescue search most likely had been abandoned. Even with this strict rationing, our food stock dwindled quickly. Furthermore, there was no natural vegetation on the snow-covered mountain. A decision had to be made. The three remaining survivors came together to share one last meal together. I won't be talking much about Vince at this point. I would like to mention that after this ordeal, we did hear from Ulrich Kammholz, Jeff F. Kahan, Jay Laiprasert, R. Ryan Mullaney, Brenda J. Mocny, Kris Kurschner (Krier) and Bob F. Lestina. We appreciated your kind words.

"At Day 29, we set out to go down the mountain and get to Peru but a large mountain lay due east of our site, blocking any effort made to walk in that direction. Therefore, we headed west with hope that we could turn east eventually. After several hours of walking, we unexpectedly found an injured tsetse fly that we quickly devoured. Please note that PETT (the Protection of Ethical Treatment of the Tsetse fly) was formed some 20 years ago by our classmates Ann Adams, Daniel E. Amedro, Pat F. Castor, Joe C. Czopek and Gregg H. Dorner.

(For those of you who are not familiar with the Peruvian tsetse fly, these tsetse flies have large beaks and are prehistoric looking creatures, which we saw regularly after our rescue in a small Peruvian town. They have tsetse flies down there the size of eagles that would pick small animals off the ground and carry them away. Peasants screamed as they chased these flies down the road, waving brooms. You can imagine the pathetic quality of this. We watched as in horror as these crudely fashioned brooms swept the sky at these enormous flies as they carried their pets off to a most certain end. A filming company owned by Vic G. Galvez, Deborah R. Fiori, Tom G. Huitink, Steve L. Hamilton, Mark S. Giesen and L. Wes Hayden, captured this. Teamwork seems to thrive within our EMP class for which we are all grateful. Mike took pictures of these creatures but left them in a jacket that he later sent to the cleaners. Sadly, while we attempted to help these poor peasants, there is very little you can do because of the tremendous red tape in the bush. These tsetse flies are protected against pilferage under the provisions of the Guacamole Act of 1954.)

"Let's continue with the adventure. While sleeping outside exposed to the elements, we nearly froze to death. After some debate the next morning, we decided that it would be wiser to return to our campsite to wait and pray for a rescue team. We felt as though we were on Picairn Island, only lots colder. Finally on Day 38, a helicopter spotted us and the rest is now history. Several of our classmates were able to support the recovery efforts: Karen L. Powell, Dave J. Pavletich, Erik E. Olson, Lai Raichand, Brian K. Reese and Steve A. Reimer. We appreciate your valuable time and energy and thank you for staying in touch with us.

"Mike sold our story to MGM and is working with Tom Cruise as a producer. I have the right of approval on the actor who will portray me. It is between George Clooney and Mickey O'Rourke. Last I heard, Brian was in Mexico running from the law for some type of misrepresentation and as for me, I am going back to continue learning from the Dalai Lama and play golf in Tibet. Any contributions for the Vince A. Inendino memorial may be sent to Deborah R. Fiori, who has again stepped up to provide memorial editing services and sponsorship. She is taking her time to go above and beyond, as always. P.S.: Greg was very fortunate to have returned for his daughter's wedding in June."

Breaking news: Mike J. Bauer is off the singles market. He tied the knot on the Fourth of July weekend. The beautiful and talented Lisa Quin accepted his proposal. All of Mike's eight children were able to attend as well as classmates Rich P. Teska, Steve R. Trenholm, John A. Trofimuk and Wendy Tweeten. The kids were to celebrate the honeymoon trip with the lovely couple at Six Flags. Now that Brian L. Rucks has returned from the Andes trip, he and his wife Donna have been spending time in Santiago de Chile. They plan to return to the U.S. and watch the Super Bowl on an iPhone.

Had enough? I suppose you think all I have to do is sit around and chase you around for an update, huh? Do you have any idea how much time, effort and financial support I've had to put in to keep this going for 20 years? Am I nuts or what? Please don't stay in touch with me so that I can share exactly what you have been up to in our next submission. Hope you enjoyed this. Let me know your thoughts.

Members of EMP-25 at a reunion in North Carolina at hiking.

The men of EMP-25 reunion in North Carolina