| 1990
— Full-Time
Happy winter, classmates. Time continues to fly by. It always amazes me how quickly the next Kellogg World deadline appears after the last one — even though the magazine is only published three times a year. And, can you believe that our 20-year Kellogg Reunion is just around the corner (April 30-May 2, 2010)? It has even been two years since hell froze over (my marriage to Stephanie).
Please know that the Reunion committee is hard at work planning an AMAZING reunion. It will be a weekend that you won't want to miss. Marie Pierre Bourginon has already bought her ticket and will be coming in from Switzerland. So don't be telling us that you can't make it from Philadelphia, Peter Miller.
Classmate news: Alex McKinnon (chief marketing officer of Hampton Products International Corp) wrote over the summer that she attended a mini-reunion in Orange County, Calif. Among the attendees: John Kennedy, his wife Emily '92, DeDe (formerly O'Neil) McKinnon and Tanja Herrera Cebula. Alex writes: "It was a fabulous time with spectacular company, wine, food, and dancing at a Latin music concert under the stars at the Mission in nearby San Juan Capistrano. If anything, we can report that this team from the Class of 1990 residing in Southern California understands that the real purpose in life is to enjoy it and provide that joy to others."
Another "mini-reunion" was reported by Andrea Kupferberg Brown: "I am living in Deerfield, working with my husband to grow our Vasowear business (a garment designed to assist in recovery from vasectomy and scrotal surgery, sold online at www.vasowear.com). Kids are 15 and 13. Looking forward to Reunion next spring."
On Facebook, I continue to connect with classmates and was very happy to hear from Brian Zalaznick. Brian gave me an update to share with you: "My story in a nutshell: left I-Banking (DLJ) in 2001 and moved to Sonoma to work in a winery (Artesa) to learn the craft. I quickly realized that wine is a better hobby than business. I got a job on the buy side with Barclays Global Investors (BGI) building the fixed income business. BGI was purchased by Blackrock earlier this year and I was fortunate enough to be able to take my chips off the table and now spend full time on my wine project.
"I purchased a ranch in Mendocino's Anderson Valley in 2005 and planted 13 acres of pinot noir grapes. The vineyard is called Angel Camp and this year was our first harvest. We will make a small amount of wine this year (50 cases) and slowly ramp up to a maximum of 1,500 cases over the next five to 100 years. We are two hours north of San Francisco and about seven miles from the ocean, creating the perfect climate for pinot which thrives in sunny cool climates."
Last issue, I offered a riddle about Craig Marino and me: what do Craig and I have in common? Craig wrote back: "Loved your sly reference in Kellogg World — very fun. Sorry for the lengthy absence, but it's been a busy year. First off — major congrats to you and Steph! I look forward to having a chance to introduce our respective better halves. 2009 has been pretty momentous. Opened up Citi Field. Met and married Kelly (OK, we met in late '08). 'Life changing' doesn't quite seem to capture it all."
So have you figured it out yet? No? I'm happy to tell you that Sam Sheagren did as did Christophe Jeannin.
Christophe writes: "Things with the Jeannins are great. Audrey is driving (yup, I'm THAT old), Alex started eighth grade and football has already started for what will be his last 'pre-high-school' season, and our baby is now 11 and definitely going on 17. Natalie is as wonderful as ever, and surprisingly she seems to be OK putting up with me so I continue to dutifully return home every night (when I am not out of town for work (with The Keystone Group), which is way too often). We are now 'permanent U.S. residents,' as we finally got our green cards 18 months ago. Citizenship is now 3 years away for us!"
I had lunch with Lindsay Bray Landsberg to discuss plans for our Reunion. She and I are the only local classmates on the Reunion committee. Lindsay is on a mission to ensure that our upcoming Reunion be ridiculously spectacular. OK, she didn't quite say "ridiculously spectacular" but that is my interpretation of what she said. Trust me, we guarantee that a good time will be had by all who are in attendance. And, please consider making your class gift to Kellogg sometime soon (like before year-end and receive a tax deduction!).
Please write! I, and especially our classmates, want to hear from you. You can find me as always at: CharlieF2@gmail.com. See you next spring! |
