sweet briar magazine inside - Sweet Briar College

Lea Harvey ’90. Dughter Kathleen (8)
proudly proclaims she’s a member of
the Class of ’24. Kelly hopes to see
classmates at Homecoming and notes,
“it’s renewing to see the current students
on campus, cheer for the sports
teams and laugh during the cardboard
boat regatta at the lake.”
Tracy Tigerman Shannon, Brookneal,
VA: “I still teach, but have
gotten switched from 3rd to 1st grade,
which means that I won’t be teaching
my daughter in 3rd grade (blessing!)
Son Ryan will be taking driver’s ed. in
fall, stay off the road!”
Susan Detweiler is returning to
Antarctica after having taken last winter
off to care for a friend injured in an accident.
That winter she taught Nordic skiing
and led interpretive backcountry
tours in the Tetons. This fall she’ll be a
field instructor again for the U.S. Antarctic
Program and will return to the States
in time for her Nordic Center job again.
She enjoyed a road trip last spring
climbing and visiting friends in the
desert southwest and CO.
Mary Halliday Shaw says twins
Jack and Mike are heading off to coll. in
Aug. She and husband Brad still have
Kevin at home (9th grade). A highlight of
the yr. was seeing Beth Bennett Haga,
Paige Apple Montinaro, Kate Cole Hite,
Whitney Bolt Lewis, Kathryn Ingham
Reese and Maia Free Jalenak in New
Orleans last Jan. for a mini reunion.
Heather Gregory Skeens lives in
Raleigh, NC, where she is assistant dir.
for children’s services at Cumberland
County Dept. of Social Services in Fayetteville.
She and husband, Ed (H-SC ’86)
have 2 children. Daughter Mckinsey is a
sophomore at SBC and son Taylor is a
junior in h. s.
Melinda Sher: “I’m back in school for
a 2nd degree. This time in environmental
ecology and biology from UNC,
Asheville. I love being in school again,
but hate the math prereqs! I bought a
house in Asheville, my new official
home. I hope to find rewarding work saving
the environment and hugging trees!”
Jeanne Rovics Mexic e-mailed her
news from the beach in NC where she
and Kristen Petersen Randolph were
spending time together while their sons
attended surfing camp. Jeanne travels
to amazing places with her job for
Hilton. She traveled to China noting,
“Shanghai was my favorite city.” She
also writes that one of her new clients
is SBC grad. Kelsey Larus ’98. Jeanne,
husband Scott and son Blake (12) traveled
to a wedding in New Zealand and
fell in love with the country. They took
an amazing whitewater rafting trip there
and went diving at the Great Barrier
Reef in Australia.
Kathryn Ingham Reese had a fun
summer including poolside visits with
Leslie Corrado Stillwagon and Katie
Keogh Widener. Kathryn loves her job
teaching middle school English at Tower
Hill School. Daughters Landon (10) and
Elliot (8) are doing great, and “I had to
quit coaching this yr. so I could be their
full-time taxi driver. Depending on the
time of yr., I’m running Elliot to gymnastics
and soccer, and Landon to and
lacrosse and field hockey. They both
play basketball and sing in the church
choir (okay, I force them to go to choir, I
admit it).”
Denise Landau Blind: “Life in NJ
is busy, but I love it! I still can’t believe
my kids are 12 and 15! We lived
through a home addition, which gave
daughter Chelsea and I our dream walkin
closets! She deserved it, having been
an absolute trooper, living through 6
mos. in a back brace. As a competitive
gymnast, she stress fractured her L5
vertebra in her back. It was tough for
her to start middle school in such a condition
— then she got braces on her
teeth to match!” Son Tyler was the
freshman varsity catcher for his h. s.
baseball team. They won the league title,
and he was named to the 2nd
team All League. This yr. he’ll focus on
baseball and bowling, and get his driving
permit. Husband Fred is an avid fisherman
and golfer. They plan to
celebrate their 20th anniv. this yr. with a
romantic getaway. Denise competed in
her 1st biathlon. She was thrilled to participate
in the event, which raised nearly
$50,000.00 for Breast Cancer awareness.
Laura Schumacher Kasprzak lives in
Ramsey, NJ, and entertains me with
sightings of the cast from “The Real
Housewives of NJ” in her area. She
doesn’t watch the show, but knows I’m
hooked. She saw Dina at a local watering
hole and saw the whole crew last yr.
at a restaurant. Her oldest son, Jack,
starts h. s. this fall; Kenny, 7th grade;
and Ellie, 3rd grade. Laura is planning
to enroll in a master’s program in social
work.
Kristen Petersen Randolph: “life in
Virginia Beach is busy with 3 boys:
Ranny (14), Christian (10) and Peyton
(8). They’re into sports, mostly lacrosse
and basketball. I sell real estate part
time and do personal training part time.
My passion is with health and fitness
(guess it all started with the dairy route
runs with Mehla Oglesby de Ville de
Goyet at SBC). I talk to Jeanne Mexic,
Nici Pechman and Laura Kasprzak often;
we hope to plan a mini reunion.”
Kristen and Ran celebrated their 20th
anniv. this summer with a trip to Palm
Beach.
My son Jack will be a senior in h.s.
this year. Daughter Nina will be attending
middle school at the same school
that my son goes to — having them at
the same school for a yr. will be nice.
1989
Miss Emmy S. Leung
7102 Wynnewood Ct.
Richmond, VA 23235
Fan-han@prodigy.net
emmy@wakousa.com
1990
Kelly Wood Erickson
104 S. Winterberry Ct.
Smithfield, VA 23430
skjs2@charter.net
Glad I got back to SBC for Reunion in
May — great to see old friends. I’m still
teaching 1st grade and working my 2nd
job as chauffer and activities coordinator
for Jack (12) and Sophie (10). I hope
everyone is well and I look forward to
hearing from more of you for the next issue!
Chris Carriere Zazulak had lots of
fun at Reunion and coll. touring with my
oldest son. “I’m headed back to VA with
my 2 youngest boys to see D.C. while
my oldest is doing a lacrosse camp at
the Naval Academy. My 2nd and 3rd
sons will be at Fort AP Hill for the Boy
Scout Jamboree. While I’m there, I’m
getting together with Joie Tankard,
Squiffy Walker Christopher, Meg Caulk
Stephens and Chris Anne Spehar. Our
family will have 3 graduations this yr. My
oldest is graduating from high school.
My 3rd one is graduating from elementary
school. My 5th one is graduating
from kindergarten.”
Amy Kathleen Donnelly Tobik and
Steve have spent the past 12 yrs. living
in Winter Springs, FL. Amy is the Features
Writer for the Seminole Chronicle
newspaper and Moms Like Me magazine.
She’s been the Girl Scout leader
for daughters, Katie (14) and Emily (11),
since they were in kindergarten and
serves on several school committees
and local boards. Steve retired as a
Naval Commander and continues to
travel around the world with his work for
Siemens. They celebrated their 19th anniv.
in Jul.
Beth Pesiri Solomita has 3 children:
Grace (6), Jack (4) and Ava (2). “We
also have Rudy (4), a chocolate lab. We
live in Stamford; I continue to work at a
large preschool doing social work and
admissions. Sorry to miss this Reunion.
I’m on Facebook and have re-connected
with several alumnae.”
Amy Burton is busy during summer
tending her perennial gardens and day
dreaming during the winter.
LuAnne Hunt is still working for the
City of Lynchburg in communications
and marketing: however, she also
started a part-time photography business,
which she hopes to make full
time in 3 yrs. “Google my name to
check out my web and photo sites. My
son Chris is a bank manager for BB&T
in Southern Pines, NC, and daughter
Candice is an advocate for the National
Tourism Association in Washington D.C.
Husband Larry works for Clorox in
Amherst. Larry and I have helped plant
a new church in Amherst Co. called Oasis.
It meets at the local h. s. and is
growing weekly! Between church and
traveling to see kids and grandkids,
we’re always on the go, but it’s so nice
to live next door to SBC (the new gym is
great)!
Louise Bouldin Carter and Brian and
4 kids, Virginia (7), Brian Jr. (6), Jack (3)
and Lewis (1), still live in Huntsville. I
play tennis between driving and chasing
kids. I’m working part-time for a decorator.
Brian Jr. loves playing with Chase
Berkey, Amanda Chase Priddy’s son.
Amy Kroeger says “thanks to all who
made the effort to return for reunion. It
was awesome to catch up with everyone,
especially those who we haven’t
seen in the past. I recommend everyone
try to make our 25th. This returning to
campus and acting totally sophomoric is
so therapeutic! If anyone is passing
through St. Louis, please look me up.
I’m here for 2 more yrs.”
Gladden Adam Falivene and Phil are
still in NJ. “We’re busy with Ellie (11)
who enjoys tennis and James (9) putting
miles on the car with ice hockey. Sorry
we missed reunion.
C L A S S
N O T E S
Tracey Thomas Jones says “FL summers
are a lot like northern winters as
we end up being sequestered inside to
avoid the extreme weather (sweltering
heat and the ensuing storms). We’re
still living in our little Cape Cod on the
north side of Jacksonville, and recently
renovated. Jonathan is close to sitting
for his exam to become a licensed mental
health counselor and continues to be
resource counselor for our church. We’ll
celebrate our 20th anniv. this Sept. We
hope to visit Jonathan’s family in England
next spring. Oldest son Nathaniel
(10) is an avid swimmer and reader. We
both love Harry Potter. He came within 1
second of qualifying for Junior Olympics,
so we’re hoping he can make the cuts
this winter. Brennan (5) starts Kindergarten
this fall, enjoys competing in
meets much more than the weekly practices.
This will be the 1st yr. I won’t be
assisting at my boys’ school and can
just be Mom! We’ll continue homeschooling
2 days a week, doing yearround
swim and considering soccer too.
With both boys in school, I’m looking
forward to having a little time to myself.”
Anne Richardson Lackey says,
“Mark and I have been growing our real
estate firms. Stepson Andrew graduated
from GA Southern and is going back to
school to join ROTC and further his education.
Stepdaughter Jessica goes to
UGA and hopes to graduate next yr. I’ve
enjoyed reconnecting with other alumnae
on Facebook. If you’re ever in Atlanta,
please let me know.”
Julie Brooks Nyquist says, “it was
great to see our classmates the campus
at our 20-year reunion. I brought
husband Stephen and son Andrew (8
mo.) for their 1st trip to SBC. I’m still
working full time as the grants manager
for the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation in Miami. I’m also finishing
my M.B.A.
Sallie McIlheran Wunner writes, “I
keep up with a few from the class, but
since I’ve lived in Germany for many
yrs., it’s always hard to keep up with
everyone. Unfortunately I couldn’t
make it to Reunion in May as I’m
preparing for 2 larger art exhibitions
(one in Dallas and one in Vienna, Austria)
this fall. I send all my greetings and
best wishes to everyone who attended.
I’ll surely make it to the next one!”
Rachel Renzy writes, “it was nice to
bring daughter Rose (11) with me to Reunion
and show her what a special
place SBC is! Perhaps she is a future
SB girl! I loved being back on campus,
reconnecting with classmates and reliving
our experiences there! A walk
around the Dairy Route, a late night trip
to Daisy’s grave and, yes, we even had
security come and kick us out of the
boathouse … late, late night! Ahhhh,
the memories! I can’t wait to go back in
5 more years and do it all again!
SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE
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