25 August 1996

Hello all -- Here's the scoop you've been waiting for!

Jennifer Bastolla sent me a postcard from London. She's having a great time touring Europe including the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Russia, and Egypt; the history buff (and shopper) in her is going wild. So far she has enjoyed Scotland the most -- it was very quiet and peaceful. As for life at home, her mom just married Mr. Perfect, and Jennifer loves her new dad and sisters very much. She also dating a wonderful guy named David.

Julie Pendergast Clayton writes from her new house in North Tarrytown, NY. She and her husband Bruce (Colgate '89) had lived in Manhattan for three years, but just bought a house ``upstate''. She's been teaching history at an all-girls' high school in Bronx for three years. She and Bruce are expecting their first baby in mid-September!

Natalie Mathis Criscione writes that much of her time is devoted to her daughter June (who is now 19 months old) and her husband John (Colgate '77), but that she continues to work part-time providing career counseling to disabled adults. Natalie joined the Catholic Church at Easter time after more than a year of ``Catholic classes''; John is Catholic and they had decided their children would be Catholic too. Natalie misses her kitty, Worm, who had to live with her aunt in Pennsylvania because John is allergic to cats. However, she does get progress reports and even gets to talk to her fat, orange kitty on the phone sometimes! Natalie, John, and June went to Colgate for reunion weekend and had a super time! This summer they may be (or may have) headed to the Cape or Ireland. To Kelly Frazier, Natalie apologizes for saying that she saw you drinking a beer in a health club...it was probably beer or rum and she was the one with the beer! She would like to see you at some Colgate Club events -- where they usually offer wine. After two years of being the President of the Albany Colgate Club (and treasurer too -- it was John's title, but she did the work!), she has passed the office to some qualified graduates. If anyone lives in the Albany area, giver a call at (518) 458-8046; she's still the only woman on the board and needs you to join!

Michelle Farrance sent me her Christmas letter (you can too!) so most of her news is from 1995. She's enjoying her new car and her new kitty who is always looking for a hug. She spent a week in Myrtle Beach at Easter and then went to Jessica Loomer and Steve Holmes's wedding and the subsequent week at a house on a lake in Vermont. Unfortunately, her grandmother had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and underwent surgery, but, sadly, passed away in December. Her good news through this was that she was offered a teaching position in a second-grade class at her favorite school.

Kelly Frazier writes from Burnt Hills where she and he fiance, Todd Stewart, live in the house that they built almost three years ago. Todd and Kelly met in Lake George five years ago and are getting married next February. Todd is an architectural engineer and homebuilder. They have a Siberian Husky named Tara and a new kitty named Rowland. They found him on a ski trip in North Creed. For fun, they ski, both downhill and cross country, and hike. Kelly works in the NYS legislature drafting all the new unnecessary laws for the state, but she may start job hunting again this summer. She is busy moving and planning their wedding and they are finishing building a new house for her parents in Lake George.

Karen Goldberg found out about a group of 10-15 women who were interested in starting another sorority on campus. They contacted Pi Phi, but National does not feel that Colgate can support another sorority on campus. Carol Warren, Grand Vice President of Membership who was very knowledgeable of the circumstances surrounding Greek life at Colgate. Both Carol and Grand President Beth Beatty have strong feelings for our group. She is thrilled by the number of New York Zetas who are active in alumnae clubs throughout the country and appreciates the donations our members make each year to the Pi Phi Foundation.

Elizabeth Heick writes that on June 1st, she got engaged to Christoph Belanger (Colgate '94). He proposed to her on rollerblades and then they went on a dinner cruise of Boston harbor to celebrate. They are planning to have their wedding at the Colgate chapel on August 10, 1997. This summer she has been working at Bingham, Dana \& Gould, a law firm in Boston. She really enjoyed working there and they have offered her permanent employment after she graduates from law school in June, 1997. She is also looking forward to her third year in law school. Susan Johns and her husband, Clark Bundy (Colgate '94), just bought a very nice townhouse near Princeton, New Jersey. Susan is continuing a PhD program in history at Rutgers University. Colleen Donovan is moving down to Athens, Georgia to finish her PhD in English at the University of Georgia. Elizabeth attended a bridal shower for Laura Lutz who is getting married in October in Arizona. Susan Johns, Elissa Haney, and Jen Minnerly were also there.

Lenore Henault is getting married! She got engaged to Dave Bernashe this April, and they've set the date for November 23rd. They met via Lenore's landlord who had been trying to set them up since she moved in. She'll be moving to his house in the country after the wedding. They have been spending time cleaning and remodeling the house -- he's owned it for 9 years and all the interior walls are still the original eggshell white. Lenore completed her MBA last August and received her degree in May. She still works at Aetna; she's the Northeast Region Program lead for Aetna Health Plans. She has a staff and they do project management for the northeast field offices. She keeps busy with softball twice a week as well.

Jessica Loomer Holmes is in her 3rd year of graduate school working on her PhD in Economics at Yale. Jessica and Steve Holmes were married last August; they rented a house for a week on a lake in Vermont and ``honeymooned'' with 25 friends from high school, college, and Yale. Some of those who were there are Michelle Farrance, Lisa Natkin, Elissa Haney, Ria Gazdar, and Jenn Fedin. Kelli Liccini was a bridesmaid, but couldn't make the honeymoon. Steve and Jessica celebrated their first anniversary in early August at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle -- they have a great revolving restaurant up top and they were there long enough to see daylight, sunset and nighttime Seattle from up there. Steve had been working as a computer analysts/programmer for a financial software firm in New Haven, but he just got recruited by another company, and they will be moving down near Stamford, CT. Kelli Liccini loves her job and her boyfriend of over a year (Lars) -- they work together at Andersen Consulting.

Lindsay Youker Levy is helping me put this newsletter together, even more so than the others, now that I live only a half and hour away from her! She recently visited Rochelle Ruffer, her husband and baby Nathaniel in Youngstown, OH.

Laura LutzElissa Haney, Jen Minnerly, Lisa Natkin, Rita Bilello, Heather James, Pat Chen, and Andy Haag in Hoboken. She also heard from Erin Kelley who is living in Madrid with her husband Goyo. Erin seems to be enjoying living there and teaching.

Kristen Max (via Nancy Wemmerus) is working at Macmillan Publishing, a division of Simon and Schuster, as a publicist/marketing associate. She is almost finished with her MA in corporate communication. She's been with her boyfriend Eric for about three years. He is an industrial engineer for Ciba-Geigy. Tammy Tonucci moved near Kristen; she seems happy with her new job. Toot Wood Saltzman is still living in SC with her husband James and is working with the prosecutor's office there. Kristine Olsevskis was in Latvia, but may be back here by now. Kristen saw Chris Bartoletta who was, at the time, happy with her work, love life, and living in Alexandria.

Beth Mazzei moved from her job as a publications coordinator at an art gallery to working at a publishing company for her Dad, and she truly enjoys it. She works with non-profits coordinating directories, newsletters and journals. She also recently started an investment club with Tammy Tonucci and Deb Enea. Besides that, she is suffering through Jazzercise.

Jenn Minnerly got engaged in February to her boyfriend Colin who is in law school at Georgetown Law. They haven't set a date for the wedding yet, but she is planning on moving to DC sometime this summer.

Lisa Natkin quit her job last week and is on permanent vacation until her vacation days run out. She is starting school at Yale Med School (correct me if I'm wrong!) on August 28th.

Christina Paterniti is moving to NJ; her husband Reggie got a great job offer that he couldn't refuse, so even though she loves her job and they love Boston, it's just one of those things they have to do. Ani Anandarajah is getting married on September 1 to her longtime boyfriend, Mark. They're getting married at an old inn in Connecticut and will then be living in Queens, NY.

Gretchen Hehn Schneider has recently moved with her husband Tom to their first home. Although that has been time consuming, she has still managed to do some traveling to talk about genetic counseling and also to help run a support group for families of children with a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis (NF). She has seen Martha Schatkowski, who now lives in Boston, and Aprile Gallant in the recent past. Also, the news from her former roommate Mary Ellen Lane is that she is moving back to the States from Germany this winter and will most likely be in the Big Apple.

Lauren Shanahan is still in New York and still at the same PR/marketing firm and still dating the same guy and having fun... Ria Gazdar moved back to NYC (2 blocks away from Lauren) and has started a new job in production for Channel 13 Traci Anderson and Tracey Lewis are moving (but staying in Boston), and Lauren thinks they are both looking for new jobs.

Vikki Madura Smith has a new job; she is now working in the tax department at PNC Mortgage in Louisville. The hours are great and she is learning a lot about the mortgage business. She has also been able to keep track of her own mortgage!

Rebecca Clarke Turner has had a busy few months. She started a job in the library at Russell Sage College, but left the job 6 months later because she was missing watching her daughter Carley grow up. Unfortunately, Carley was having terrible ear infections and had to have tubes placed in her ears, but is doing fine now. Her husband Michael seems to be quite busy with law school; so busy in fact, that he was accepted into Cornell Law School as a transfer student! The three of them are on their way to Elmira as I write this. Rebecca also mentioned that they all went to reunion and Carley loved the taters at Ye Olde Pizza Pub!

Kimberly Van Voorhees writes from Manhattan, where she has been living for the past 5 years. Her sister is a junior at Colgate, so she gets to visit Colgate annually and play parent. Colgate has bigger dorm rooms, a fantastic new workout facility, a winning basketball team, and an excellent co-ed singing group. As for Hamilton, the Jug is still around and there is a Chinese restaurant. Even though she's in NYC, she hangs out with pretty much the same crowd -- Andi Houlis, Betsy Whitehouse, Jessica Price and some Phi Delts. Todd Larsen is getting married to Kim Morris (Gamma Phi '90), Paul Petras and Drew White are both married, and Tom Lamperetta is still available Stu Nahas and Brian Stokes are also around. The guys seem to be settling down faster than the girls, although Andi took the plunge last August. Andi and Betsy are both teachers with Masters in Special Ed and English respectively. Kimberly is currently with Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide as the North American Finance Manager, with past stints in finance with A\&S, The Limited Inc and Marriott Corp. She is happily committed to a wonderful man who is a NYC native.

Nancy Wemmerus was married on April 13 to Carl Rosene (who, I have to mention, had one of my thesis advisors on his thesis committee).

Julie White recently moved into a 4-year old colonial house on a good-size piece of wooded land. Her husband Jason is deep into the FAA certification on his plane; he has also done some interviews with Success Magazine. Julie is still at HUD, but she was recently offered a new job working on some pilot programs that her office is handling. She reports that two years ago she finally learned to drive and passed the driving test just a few weeks after starting to learn. For almost two years she drove a '78 Nova because she was paranoid about having an accident. But Jason surprised her with a brand-new Saturn and the one thing she likes about driving is that the driver controls the stereo!

As for me, Rob and I moved at the end of July from Houston to Rockville, MD. Rob defended his PhD this spring and has started a two to four year postdoctoral position at the National Institutes of Health. I passed my proposal in April and am working on my thesis via the internet. It's interesting to work from home everyday -- not as many interruptions, but less social interaction. I hope to be finished next spring, but as for after that, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!

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