Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2017 March/April

Class Notes, 2017 March/April

March/April 2017

As I write this column we are wrapping up 2016 and getting ready to ring in the New Year. Let’s take one last look at our classmates’ exciting announcements, endeavors, and adventures this year.

First, Cornell legacy news: Meagan Heaney Wise was nostalgic as she settled her daughter Mary ’20 into her dorm at Cornell this past fall. Mary is enjoying freshman year in CALS. Luckily, she has Skip ’90 and Anna Doyno Tague’s daughter Caroline ’19, a sophomore, to show her the ropes. Although Skip and Anna are 3,000 miles away from Ithaca, they get frequent doses of the Cornell vibe from Caroline. Anna notes, “While not everything is the same, it appears that Caroline is having as much fun as—or more than—her parents!” Joel Stevens is thrilled to announce that his daughter, Jane, will be joining the Class of 2021 as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences—and the crew team. Go Big Red!

Many of our classmates have talented high-school-aged children who attended the 2016 Cornell University Summer College Program. Among the graduates were: Mark Cisz and Linda Moerck-Cisz’s son Bryan; Paul Hayre and Jeannette Perez-Rossello’s daughter Jacqueline; Craig ’89 and Elizabeth Collard Richter’s daughter Sarah; Steven and Cindy Locker Samide’s son Brendon; and Jeffrey and Robyn Lipsky Weintraub’s son Bryan. Hallie Goldman Hohner and her husband, Doug ’92 , attended Cornell’s Adult University in July with their daughter, Caroline. Despite the Ithaca heat, they had fun biking the Finger Lakes, staying in the townhouses, and eating at RPU. Hallie and Doug then headed to the Canadian Rockies for a backroads hiking trip. In August they celebrated their daughter’s bat mitzvah, which was attended by fellow Cornellians Drew Ries ’92 and Gail Hohner ’86.

Kerry Nelson and her husband, Alan Milinazzo, welcomed their first child, Ava, in July. Kerry says, “She was worth every second of the wait!” Congratulations! Kirsten Blau Krohn has been spotted enjoying lasagna on a commercial for Stouffer’s. You can also hear her as the announcer on all the animated bear spots for Charmin. And for all the tri-state alumni tuning in, Kirsten can be heard on the radio for Cash4Life for the New York Lottery. Kirsten writes, “In addition to interviewing potential new Cornellians through CAAAN, I regularly commute to NYC with Jennifer Green Seltzer and will soon be spending a mother/son weekend away with Sandra Matthews Haas.”

Lisa Dale (New Haven, CT) has been the associate director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy for just over a year. Lisa’s older son graduated from NYU in May and her younger son is a sophomore at Brooklyn College. She is happy to be close to her two sons now that she is back East. Richard Rotmistrovsky ’87, DVM ’91, let us know that he is working as a veterinarian and has been enjoying studying ballroom dancing and traveling internationally. Matthew Sherman (Melrose, MA) writes, “I’ve been doing the college tour with our daughter looking for next year’s school.” Matthew is principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, an engineering consulting firm.

Julie Dugoff Waxman just launched her new company, Baked in Color. Julie is the first baker to envision chocolate chip cookies in color, versus the traditional doughy brown (think rainbow bagels in a delicious dessert). “I was a Business and Economics major at Cornell. As a senior, I founded and ran a cookie delivery business, Quickie Cookie. We baked, packaged, and delivered fresh cookies with a quart of milk. Though we offered five types of cookies, chocolate chip cookies were far and away the top seller.” Julie sold the company and spent the next several years working in corporate retail at Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s, where she honed her skills in business, financial and strategic planning, merchandising, and marketing, before starting her own business. April Horowitz Moulaert shares, “My husband and I are now small food producers! We opened a new company in Shelburne, VT, in June called the Vermont Tortilla Co. We produce freshly stone-ground, all-corn tortillas, made using locally sourced certified organic corn. Our tortillas are made the traditional way, from nixtamal, and are an artisanal food product.” On another note, April made it to Reunion with Beth Huizenga Shaz, Alice Michael, Sarah Abbe Taylor, and Hilleary Topercer. They loved being in Ithaca and look forward to a return.

On a personal note, I (Lori Attanasio Woodring) am living in Old Greenwich, CT, and recently opened a private practice as a child psychologist at the Stamford Hospital Tully Health Center. I love hearing and sharing news and updates from our classmates and am glad to have taken on the role of class correspondent. Hoping all of you are having a happy and healthy year! If your New Year’s resolution was to reconnect with friends, or if you have a minute, please drop us a note at: alumni.cornell.edu/class-notes. Or contact one of us at: Lori Attanasio Woodring, lori.woodring@yahoo.com; J. Tim Vanini, lavanooche@icloud.com; Wendy Milks Coburn, wmilkscoburn@me.com.