EMP-35

Ed FiaIkowski would like to thank the EMP-35 members who sent him their new email addresses. Please send him any changes so his address book is current.

Greg Serwich and Greg Brown ask everyone to pray for our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. They need all the help they can get. Greg Brown writes that he hopes all is well with everyone in EMP-35 and sends us a little light-hearted information. With a wide smile on his face, Greg says he is in need of divine assistance! Women surround him on all sides. Besides his lovely wife, Shirley, three teenage daughters (14, 16 and 17, who are quite entertaining), Greg notes that even the family dog is female.

We can only offer a quote from the Bible in consolation and say, "Blessed are you among women." Greg has taken on a new assignment within The Kroger Co. as the director of reliability engineering, responsible for the improvement efforts of 36 manufacturing plants. Products include bread, sour cream, milk, cookies, peanut butter and jelly. Greg says "these are really busy times and the months are flying by too fast."

Bob Strickland says he can't remember his last update. He now lives in Palm Harbor, Fla., and works for WellCare HMO, a government products HMO operating in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Connecticut and Louisiana. The company just went public in August and the stock has been holding steady. Bob is also in a band called Stringworkz, which plays cover music from the '60s and '70s, a few tunes from the '90s and a number of original tunes. It is an acoustic band with an electric bass. Bob plays bass and guitar, and all three of the band members sing. You can check out the revised Stringworkz Web site at www.stringworkz.com. The site is still under construction, but at this writing it has the band's schedule and many other fun and interesting facts. Bob has also been doing a lot of sea kayaking and canoeing, exploring the barrier islands in the Gulf and many inland rivers.

As we reported exclusively in this column for the last issue of Kellogg World, Roneida Martin has her own company, Martin and Martin Marketing Co. Inc., and it is doing very well. They signed two retainer clients in August to perform ongoing marketing services. They are constantly on the lookout for more small businesses to help. Roneida writes that "everything Professor Rogers taught us about entrepreneurship is correct. Watch the income statement, cash flow, taxes and your time. It is the American Dream!" Visit her Web site at www.pursuitofprofits.com.

Roneida, Sherman and Christopher are all doing well. Christopher began high school Aug. 19 and is playing freshman football. All of EMP-35 will recall that Christopher was just starting kindergarten when EMP-35 had its first Live-in Week back in 1995. Time flies!

Chris Grier writes to tell us that he has had lots of changes in his life since the last time he sent information to this column. Chris is still working with Capgemini, formerly known as Capgemini, Ernst & Young. Work is keeping Chris busy. He just returned from New Zealand, which is populated with great people and has beautiful scenic landscapes. Last June, Chris moved to Arizona to live there full time. He is loving the sunshine, which is in the forecast nearly every day. Chris would much rather have the heat instead of the cold of the Midwest any day.

In June, Chris bought an airplane. He has been a private pilot, instrument-rated, since the mid-'80s, but this is the first time he has had his own plane. Chris has flown quite a bit this summer. His favorite trip was one he made to the Grand Canyon one Sunday morning for breakfast. He is still single, but reports that he has a wonderful female companion and is enjoying life to the fullest.

Nick Cray sends his best regards and says there are lots of changes at the Cray household. Nick took a new job in January as VP operations for Rath Manufacturing in Janesville, Wis. The company makes stainless steel and nickel alloy welded tubing for petrochemical, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Nick and his family have relocated to Madison, Wis., and are completely surrounded by the red and white of the UW Badgers, as well as the green and gold of the Green Bay Packers. They have already purchased their football tickets for the NU/UW game and look forward to proudly wearing the purple and white. They say they love living in Madison, but miss all of their friends in the Chicago area.

Scott Skie hopes all are well in EMP-35. He just wanted to update everyone, saying that he recently became the CFO for a new $115-million private equity buyout fund in Chicago. Visit his company's Web site at www.lasallecapitalgroup.com.