[Ed. note: This column was written by Lori Winters Samuels and will be her final submission as class representative. Todd Brachman will assume the responsibilities of representative beginning in fall issue of Kellogg World.]

To all who attended the May reunion, thank you for making the trip. To those who didn't, please try to come to the 20th. Undoubtedly, we had the greatest class and every time we get together, I'm reminded of how lucky we were to have had two years together. Let's talk reunion. It all started with the TGIF. (What else?) I can report on some of the people there with whom I chatted.

If there isn't a lot of information about anyone in particular, it's because we either didn't get past photos of our kids or that I simply have forgotten; it's an age thing. It would have helped if some of you had sent in your "News and Notes" sheets, but here is as much as I can recall.

Let's start with Bob Michell, owner of four McDonald's franchises and soccer dad, Eugene von Kamarsay looking fab even after having had just flown in from the high tech world in Europe and Spencer Disher doing the money management thing in New York. Bob, Spencer and Eugene spent the first few minutes on the phone threatening Clifton Chang if he didn't get up to Evanston at once. He complied. Also sighted was Roger Clark who drove down from balmy Milwaukee. Tom Moore, is employed by Morgan Stanley in New York and on the board of his alma mater, Pitzer College. Marlon Brownlee was seen toting some cute photos of his adorable children and trying to explain to me what he does -- something very smart and high tech, so he obviously lost me. Lori Collins works at LendingTree.com and happily back in her hometown of Charlotte, N.C. Brad Kime is COO of Irwin Union Bank & Trust. Trae Anderson gets the "trooper award" for making it to Chicago after his first two planes were canceled from Seattle. Todd Brachman is back in the beer business and loving it. Tony Mann and wife Sally flew in from Greenwich. Tony [hail to the chief] is president of EJ Electric in New York and enjoyed sharing stories of home videos with Gordon Kane, who serves as the elder statesman of a sports marketing internet company. Ann Hewett is back in the medcal field and living in Chicago. Garrett Gifford -- happily married and still with Rustoleum; Fred O'Connor is back in Chicago with his wife, Jill, and two boys. They loved living in Europe but are happy to be home. John McDonough is living in Ohio and running the manufacturing arm of Hobart; Greg Paulus lives in Chicago with wife and two sons and practices real estate development along with some community service. Leslie and Bill Barker (a.k.a. coach of the "Dragons") are having a great time in downtown Chicago with their two children. David Palmer is apparently a man who doesn't age. He's loving life in Chicago with wife and two children. Others that made the trek to Evanston included: Laura and Bruce Zimmerman (they overcame some last minute babysitter shortages to attend), John Palmer, Jeff Bartlett, Susan Zuckert Hennes, John and Holly Garnish, Pam Friend, Roger Fuhrman, Liz Krimenhdahl, Diane Kyker (back from some amazing voyages), and Lauren Woods, whose married name I don't have. She looked so young that I assumed she was a current student.

We were fortunate to round up a few more folks between the festivities and meet with new mom, Liz King, for brunch. Liz and her husband Rick Kiley are the very proud parents of a beautiful 4-month-old daughter named Kristen. A bunch of girls and Charlie Baker had brunch with Liz and spent most of the time oohhing and aahing over her adorable child. Charlie has found thrills and many exciting times as CEO of a nonprofit health plan. After spending over years in advertising, Lauren Schadt Baker is home with she and Charlie's three children and devoting whatever time is left over to managing some major work on their home in Swampscott. Christina Schmidt Fawcett is loving her work in residential real estate in Chicago's North Shore. She and husband Pete have two sons. Rounding out the brunching crowd were Cindi Biglow, Ruth Rossman and Allie Shemitz Schieffelin. Cindi is just spending most of her time hanging out on the couch and watching TV. Yeah right. Packing each day and night to the fullest, Cindi is doing great things at Bigelow tea, where she has been since graduation, actively involved in her community and spending every other after-school and weekend moment with her family -- husband Tom O'Hara and children, Meghan and David. Ruth is living in Orlando with husband Anthony and sons, Jacob and Adam. She is working in commercial real estate and having a great time. I'm sure she learned everything she knows about real estate from way back when she and I did a project together at Kellogg. Allie arrived at the reunion after returning from a trip to Africa. She's taking a deserved break from 15 years of intense investment banking. She is and always will be the same Allie: looks great, tons of energy and enthusiasm and, of course, fabulous accessories.

How about those amazing men from Europe? Several made the trip across the Atlantic to join the festivities. There was Dr. Heinz Felder, who along with his wife flew in from Paris. I don't remember what it is he is doing, but I did notice that he is looking a lot like Hugh Grant. We also got to spend time with Eugene von Kamarasy and Marcus Jaeger. I can't remember what these guys are up to either (again, it must be an age thing), but they are happy, healthy and looking marvelous. Gerhard Schmid was all smiles when he spoke of his daughter Vera (2). Gerhard is in strategic planning with Schindler Elevator Ltd.

Of other, non-reunion note, I heard from Mike Nielsen. He and his wife, Lynn, have two small boys, Andrew (6) and Connor (4). Mike is a managing director in project finance at Bank of America in Charlotte. They advise clients and arrange stand-along financing for large industrial projects around the world, such as power plants, refineries and petrochemical plants. He has been in Charlotte for 12 years, during which the company has gone from being NCNB to NationsBank to Bank of America. For seven of those 12 years, Mike has been in project finance. He would love to catch up with old classmates. You can send e-mail to him at: mnielsen@carolina.rr.com.

Todd Brachman faxed me an article from Ad Age in the "comings and goings" section which included a little blurb about Nikki Pope. Nikki is vice president of marketing and product development for Hiwire in Los Angeles. A lot of people both at the reunion have been asking about Nikki, so maybe she could fill us in on some more updates.

This will be my last entry as class rep. I don't want to hog all the fun and with three kids, three schools, three dogs and way too much chaos in my life. I thought that five years in this role would probably be enough for me. Todd Brachman has graciously agreed to take up this position and all of its incredible perks, so from now on please send your updates to him. I very much have enjoyed hearing from people, some of whom I had not seen or heard from in years. I hope that despite my early retirement, you all will continue to keep in touch.

I also hope that Todd will continue my tradition of somehow sneaking a mention of Ruth Rossman in each article (a la Alfred Hitchcock). I think it drove her crazy, but the fan response was so overwhelming that I couldn't let it go. It has been a pleasure. Stay well.