Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2004 July/August

Class Notes, 2004 July/August

July/August 2004

We here at the Class of '91 hope that everyone is enjoying the lazy, hazy days of summer ... though it seems our classmates have been everything but lazy as they continue to achieve and celebrate their personal milestones.We would like to share some of their good news with you, and hope that you, in turn, are inspired to write us with news of your own good fortune.

Fellow class correspondent Nina Rosen Peek shares that she and husband Michael '88 opted for a change of scenery and pace last holiday season when they moved from their Upper East Side apartment to a farm in northern Westchester County. Remember that old sitcom "Green Acres"? Their farm is complete with horses, chickens, roosters, guinea hens, peacocks, and every bird species known to man. Nina claims that though it may come as a shock that this native New Yorker (New York City, that is) has traded waking to the cacophony of garbage trucks and honking taxis to the dawn symphony of rural life, she absolutely loves her new digs. "It's pure heaven," she exclaims. It may come as no surprise that she also chose to eschew the commute to Manhattan. Instead, she switched jobs and is currently working as a senior associate at Saccardi & Schiff, a planning and development consulting firm in White Plains.

Eric Bluman is working at Brown U. as a clinical instructor of orthopaedic surgery. Last spring, he was elected to fellowship in both the New York Academy of Medicine and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. In order to get a leg up on the latter accolade, Eric plans to leave Brown at the end of the academic year so that he may do additional training in foot and ankle surgery in Baltimore. His fiance, Dr. Trimble Sutter Auger, will be working as a hospitalist in the area. Eric mentions that he visited recently with Phil Oettinger and Kevin Lyons '92, who both work hard and play harder in San Francisco. Eric also frequently visits Andrew Neuwirth '90, JD '96, who is a successful attorney in Boston, but lives in Providence, RI, with his wife.

Debi Epstein lives and teaches in Briarcliff Manor, NY, in Westchester County. Wedding bells will be ringing for her soon, but magazine policy dictates that the details must wait till after the wedding. Debi, please write and tell us all about it! Congratulations are also in order for Katherine Eskovitz, who recently became a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner in the firm's Armonk, NY, office. Andrew Stifel lives in Arlington, VA, and is working as a consultant with SAIC doing defense and national security-related work for the Secretary of Defense staff and the intelligence agencies. Outside of work, he continues to compete at the national level in fencing, which affords him many opportunities to travel. In addition, he has remained quite active in the Cornell community, serving on the Athletic Advisory Committee and the board of the Cornell Club of Washington.

Fellow class officer and self-professed non-runner Bob Baca has accomplished and surpassed a few milestones of his own, having recently run an 8K race with his wife in Virginia Beach. Actually, his wife bribed him to run the St. Patrick's Day race by luring him with a pot-o'-gold of sorts--green beer at the end of the race. It wasn't quite a Dunbar's experience, but they finished the race without injury, and though there was beer for those who crossed the finish line, Bob decided coffee sounded more enticing at 9 a.m. There are no more races in Bob's future, but he's sure that the warmer months will find him camping in the mountains of Virginia. Bob adds that the last time he ventured into the woods, he found himself within 40 feet of a black bear. Both bear and Bob were startled; Bob froze and the bear ran away. Don't hang up those racing sneakers yet, Bob--they may come in handy for a quick getaway on your next camping trip!

Spring brings babies as well, and the Class of '91 has seen its fair share. Ariane Schreiber Horn, JD '96, and husband Jeff welcomed their second child, Alexander, in April. Alex joins his sister Elena, who is now 14 months old. Ariane and family live in Chatham, NJ, and she will return to work as in-house counsel at Celanese International Corp. this summer. Anna Doyno Tague and husband Skip '90 live in Orinda, CA, and celebrated the birth of Nicole last January. Nicole will be joining the family alongside her siblings Caroline, Timothy, and Bridget. Finally, Jana Kierstead announces that she expanded her family last October with the birth of her second daughter, Alana, who is exactly two years and one day younger than big sister Olivia.

Last, but not least, our very own class co-president Paul Hayre reports that he and wife Jeannette Perez-Rossello, who serves on Class of '91 Council, live in Boston, MA. Paul started his foray into the catering world and Jeannette is a staff pediatric radiologist at Children's Hospital. Recently, they crossed paths with a few '91 classmates: "Kevin Fritzhand, his wife Kamsela, and their son Seth live in Houston, TX, where Kevin is an anesthesiologist. John Carpenter '90 is a software engineer in Fort Myers, FL, where he, Margaret (Alexander) '92, and their two daughters enjoy the sun. In Boston, Kevin Lemanowicz (whom you may remember as one of our former class correspondents), is chief meteorologist at Fox25. He recently hosted a group of local alumni to a behind-the-scenes look at Fox's new studios and discussed the art and science of live broadcast meteorology. At that event, we bumped into Colleen Brennan, working at General Electric, and Gordon Saksena, ME '93, working at Teradyne, both living in Boston."

With three children in tow as they head to our 15th Reunion in 2006, Jeannette plans to spearhead the children's activities of reunion to make sure that future Cornellians and their parents have a ball. Paul plans to take his marching orders from reunion chairs Jeff Weintraub, MD'95 and Dorine Colabella Scher ... yes, the same Jeff and Dorine who have co-orchestrated all of our past grand reunions. Jeff adds, "Planning is well under way for our upcoming 15th Reunion! It's not too early to start thinking about reserving the dates now: June 8-11, '06. We are expecting another record-setting turnout. We're planning many activities, including those for adults and families, and some just for the kids (if you bring them along). Gourmet meals, university lectures and events, class gatherings, a capella groups, free time to explore campus and Ithaca, and lots more. The campus has undergone quite a bit of change since our last reunion, and by 2006, the 'new' West Campus should be nearly completed. We hope to see you then. If you are interested in volunteering to assist in the reunion planning, please go to our class website (http://classof91.alumni.cornell.edu) and click on the reunion link for more information." *Corinne Kuchling, kuccori@hotmail.com; Dave Smith, docds30@yahoo.com; Nina Rosen Peek, nsr5@cornell.edu.