Bridging the Gap

Leigh Gordon Wright ’86 and daughter Allie and Irene McDonnell Ayotte ’86
with daughter Mary.
singing and performing with
her band Bobcat. We need to
work on getting them into
town to perform for us during
reunion weekend this spring.
Molly Mednikow is settling in
as a new resident of Portland,
Ore., where she attending the
Lewis and Clark Law School.
Kathryn Haggitt Garrison and
Molly had a chance to connect
while Kathryn was in town
on business. Camille Lyon
Majors became a mom again
back in February; Evelyn Mary
“Evie” is now entertaining big
brother Bobby who’s 3. Recently
Camille’s parents sold their
house of 48 years in Memphis
and have moved up to Richmond
where her sister Natalie Lyon
Horne ’93 lives. Leigh Gordon
Wright and her family have
recently made the move back
to Tuscaloosa, where she has
continued to work part-time for
the same radiology group for the
last 17 years while raising John
and Allie. Recently Leigh got to
catch up with Irene McDonnell
Ayotte and her daughter Mary
who were in town visiting
Alabama. Elizabeth Cashman
Dickinson is busy supervising
as her son Robert is buried in
English and Latin at MUS. She
says it makes her appreciate
all she learned from Ms. O and
Ms. Stidham. Her son McRae is
a 6th grader at PDS this year.
Lynn Cashman Thurlow is still
the Director and Lead Teacher
for the Montessori School
Pre-School in Summerton and
homeschools her four children
(3rd grade to 10th). Kim Malone
Scott has written a new book,
Power is Dead, which has been
bought and will be published by
St. Martin’s Press in 2016. Kim’s
children Battle and Margaret
are now in the first grade. Mary
Helen Pender Moore and her
family are getting settled in
their new house in Knoxville.
Her kids Ashley Kate and Joseph
are both in middle school. She is
still working part-time in several
pediatric dentist offices while
the kids are in school. Traci
Sherman Keller is still working
as the Middle School Dean
of Students at Harpeth Hall in
Nashville while trying to keep up
with her boys. Traci recently got
to catch up with Kara Finnegan
Finnigan and Leigh Gordon
Wright, who were in town. Kara
has two middle school children,
Maya and Hugh. Susan Whitten
Graber and her husband Blair
took a belated honeymoon to
Italy this summer. She is looking
forward to Thanksgiving
this year, as it is the first time
she will have Anthony (eldest
stepson) and his family for that
holiday in five years. Irene, Liz
Whitsitt McEwan, and Elizabeth
Cashman manage to keep in
touch because our boys are all
in school together at MUS. Liz’s
oldest son Hastings has even
started driving my son Davis to
school in the mornings. Shawn
and I are continuing to grow
Hollywood Feed and now have
40 stores in the Mid-South. I
echo what Lynn Thurlow said
about a foot in two different
worlds as Carmen is learning
to read and Ellie is starting to
look at colleges. Ellie is also
playing soccer for SMS and is
now in third year Latin, stirring
up memories of Ms. Stidham!
Finally, we are heartbroken for
Hayes Peyton Olson, who lost
her son Will in an auto accident
in Batesville, Ark., in October.
Our prayers are with Hayes and
her whole family, including sisters
Chalmers Peyton Valentine
’80 and Hallie Peyton ’82.
–1987
Allison Tonkin
4altonk@gmail.com
Thanks to all of you for the very
sweet wishes on the birth of
Andras’ and my son Chip! We
are thrilled Chip could make his
debut with the help of our gestational
surrogate. Thanks also for
all of the great parenting advice,
even from folks like Margaret
Alexander Cone whose “little
ones” are now 19 and 16. Beth
Reynolds Bowen and family
visited South Africa. Son Tom
(8) plays baseball and Ella (12)
dances. Beth teaches preschool
for fun. Janelle Zarecor Ranieri,
very active in the PTO, serves
on the board of the Attention
Center which she helped start.
After much Lake Erie-house
fun, John John (7th) added cross
county to his usual hockey. Lucy
(10) plays volleyball and is a
great student. The family will
visit Puerto Rico where John
still works. Gail Borod Giacobbe
and family traveled in France
this summer — thank goodness
for all that SMS French with
Nanette Quinn! Gail still enjoys
working at Microsoft where she
recently launched the new Skype
experience for Windows 10.
Josh (1st) and Libby (Pre-K) keep
Paula Jernigan very busy. They
love their homegrown honey.
Kim Justis Eikner and Flip both
enjoy work at MUS. Kim begins
rehearsal for her first play in two
years, The Other Place, at Circuit
Playhouse. For Science, Nora
James (SMS 6th) has Kim’s 5th
grade homeroom teacher Mrs.
Brundige! Brooks (MUS 11th), bitten
by Mom’s theater bug, participates
in MUS and SMS plays
and is looking at colleges. Laura
Halle Nunnally’s Lizzie (11th)
is now visiting colleges, and
Anna is in 8th. Courtney Morris
Monaghan’s Stuart (16, SMS
10th) is driving, and Ellie (5th)
loves being across the street at
SMS middle school. Tom is “battling
through” MUS 8th grade.
Missy Huettel Carter’s Joe loves
Ann McCarroll McWaters as
his MUS English teacher. Missy
saw Laura at Seaside and often
sees Courtney in Memphis. Gigi
Gaerig McGown, senior counsel
litigation at International Paper,
was appointed to the Memphis
Bar Association Board of Directors.
Ryan (SMS 6th) is buddies
with Kim’s Nora James. Thomas
(Lausanne 2nd) loves soccer and
husband Will still designs/builds
wood furniture at his downtown
shop. Jay and Kristina Schultz
Weir and sons Jake and Charlie
swam with Caribbean dolphins
in Anguilla. They ran into Ann
Driscoll Prince in the Atlanta airport
on the way home! In NYC,
Mary Louise Mooney goes home
only for sleep, as stage manager
and assistant director of Doric
Wilson’s Street Theater, about
the Stonewall riots. ML also
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