Ripon College Class of 1989

15 Year Reunion, June 25-27, 2004

2004 Fund Raising Goal for the Class of 1989

$9174 Raised - 61%

$5826 Needed - 39%

$0

$15,000

Memory Book Survey

Class Letter

RSVP List

 

	send web page corrections or suggestions to:
	honie@comcast.net

Joe Anderson '89 Alice Gallagher Archabal '89 Drew Peterson '89 Co-Class Agents Spring 2004 Class of 1989 Ahhh . . . Spring . . . for those of us living in Northern climes it has been a long winter. For those of you that haven’t been saddled with snowdrifts, slippery roads, and ice dams we’re really happy for you. Do you remember how much fun Ripon could be in the spring? The Quads would come to life with music blaring (INXS anyone?), a game of stickball, and most of us sitting outside soaking up some sun and getting ready to wrap up another school year. We remember class work seeming really unnecessary on those first warm days . . .and the beer tasting a lot better. Someone mentioned the other day that graduation is just around the corner at the old’ alma mater. Soon the class of ’04 will toss their caps, pack their bags, and head out into the real world as an adult on their own for the first time. They’re kids - just like we were 15 years ago on the verge of becoming adults and making lives for themselves. We hope things go well for them and they’re still communicating with classmates and involved with Ripon in 15 years. Did we mention they were in second grade when we graduated back in 1989? Did we also mention that some of you probably have kids that are in second grade right now? Sorry. Here’s the good news. All of us have a chance to reclaim a little piece of our youth by getting involved with Ripon College again. Whether it’s getting your picture on the Class of ’89 website (see below), attending our reunion in June (also see below) or making a donation to help us meet our class goal of $15,000. Reconnecting has been a great experience for all of us involved in the alumni program. It’s rewarding to stay up-to-date on what’s happening on campus or with our classmates. How do you get in touch or continue your involvement? Based on the replies to the e-mails we’ve sent, you are an Internet savvy bunch. We would encourage you to visit the Ripon College site (www.ripon.edu), or the Class of 1989 site at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ripon1989. Thanks again to Darlene Honie Gerick for all of her hard work on the 1989 site it looks great. We’re still looking for pictures of you and your family so email or send them to Darlene at honie@comcast.net or the old fashioned way to Darlene Honie Gerick, 47675 Martz Rd., Belleville, MI 48111. If you haven’t been contacted via e-mail drop us a note with your info to Alice Gallagher Archabal alice.archabal@stjude.org or Joe Anderson janderson@canterburyPark.com and we’ll get you on the list. You will notice on the website an update on our fundraising efforts for 2004. Once again we have to stress the importance of this effort. Ripon is a school at a crossroads. The new administration has made it clear that physical upgrades are necessary (they were 15 years ago so you can imagine what is needed now), and that keeping the cost of education down is getting harder each year. At $30,000+ per year it can be tough for good kids to afford the great education Ripon provides. That’s how we can help by giving those kids the same chances we had thanks to the generosity of the men and women that supported Ripon while we were students. If you haven’t had a chance to make a donation yet please contact Ripon to learn more about their needs and how you can help. We hope that each of you will take the time to make a donation in honor of our 15th reunion. Consider a gift of $104 (89+15!) Your support will truly impact the future of the programs and services provided to students. Finally, our 15-year reunion is coming up. General information on Alumni Weekend is detailed below, but we are still moving forward with plans for our gathering. It looks like a site for a Friday night (June 25) gathering is still being determined. It will be in Ripon, it will be fun, and it will be revealed soon. We do know that our officially sanctioned alumni gathering will take place at the brand new Bovay Terrace on Saturday night (June 26). Tammy Liska Jahns is doing the dirty work in planning this event and for that we thank her. We’ll have happy hour, dinner, and perhaps even some sort of program. Regardless of how things shake out we’ll have a good time. One thing we will feature is a memory book. Enclosed you will find a survey that will help fill the pages of this book. Please fill it out at your earliest convenience and if you have any questions feel free to contact us. We hope life continues to treat you well, we hope the note about the class of 2004 wasn’t too disturbing, and lastly we hope to see you in a couple of months in Ripon! Make your reservations now for what should be a fun-filled, sun-splashed weekend. Now we move on to the news from Ripon. Come and Celebrate Ripon During Alumni Weekend 2004 It is time for class years ending in 4’s and 9’s to continue their “Ripon College Experience” during Alumni Weekend 2004, which will take place June 25-27. All Alumni are invited to attend Alumni Weekend. The events this year will be the golf tournament, the Friday night Awards Banquet, the All-Alumni March, and the Alumni Association annual luncheon. On Sunday we’ll continue the great tradition that the Service of Remembrance has created, and we’ll wrap up the weekend at the Celebration Breakfast on Sunday. The College is always looking for new ideas for Alumni Weekend. If you have suggestions or would be willing to facilitate a discussion or host a presentation on campus during the weekend, contact the office of Alumni and Parent Relations via phone: (920)748-8126 or email: alumni@ripon.edu. We look forward to celebrating Ripon College with you all. Admission Numbers are up For the first time in 30 years Ripon College has surpassed a total enrollment of 1,000 students. This marks the fifth consecutive year of enrollment growth. Our teacher certification program is particularly healthy. The President Dr. David Joyce has expressed his idea of keeping the enrollment of Ripon College between 1,000 to 1,050 students. To date we have about 100 more applications for Ripon College than we had at this time last year. If you have a referral for a prospective student, please let the Office of Admissions know at admission@ripon.edu or call 1-800-94RIPON Quad Renovations The students and the rest of the College community are all very excited about the renovations made to Mapes and Smith Hall thanks to a generous contribution by Donald ’42 and Marilyn ‘45 Anderson. The name of Smith Hall was changed to Anderson Hall in appreciation of their support. Brockway and Bovay still need some renovation work, but the Bovay Terrace was completed in fall and is a great addition to the campus. It is a place for the students to socialize and relax. Student News Ripon College senior Sonya Sorich has been named one of the top three finalists for the 2002 Mark of Excellence Awards in the category of General Column Writing by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Sorich's 2002-2003 column in the Ripon College Days, "Sonya Says," joins columns written by Tai Shadrick of Towson University's The Towerlight, and Mariano Castillo of Texas A&M University's The Battalion, as the nation's best. A sometimes wild ride chronicling the author's experiences in small town Ripon, Wis. as her often nocturnal explorations related to the greater cultural and historical forces at work, "Sonya Says" early on established a distinctive voice in Wisconsin's oldest college newspaper that many students loved to read - whether they loved what she had to say or not. Check out Sonya’s work in the archives section of riponcollegedays.com Moving on, here is the news of the Class of ’89. I thought about alphabetizing these but in the spirit of these letters decided the scatterbrained method would work. Paul Donaldson is a surgical device consultant for Kyphon, specializing in surgical procedures for the spine. Paul and his wife Jennifer live in Holland, MI and have been married for 13 years with two children, Lexy and Parker, 6 and 5 respectively. Nathaniel White is currently consulting for several international telecommunications consortiums that are helping Eastern Europe upgrade their networks. He works with various companies and state agencies to assist in arranging contracts and continued improvements to the private communications market. Nathaniel has two children, Liviya (4) and Marko (2). Darlene Honie (Loyer) Gerick has a new job in Desktop/Workstation Support for Clinical Support Units at the University of Michigan Medical Center. She had been working with CSU for about 5 months as a contractor, helping with the XP rollout to about 1000 machines. When they had an opening on their team Darlene jumped at it. She no longer has to drive all over South East Michigan to service multiple customers. Less time on the road will give her more time to spend at home with her Husband, 4 dogs, and 2 cats; and more time for Little League. Darlene is now the Michigan Little League District 16 Information/Safety Officer and the Local Belleville Area Little League Safety Officer. John and Wendy (Gour) Vernon are doing great in New Berlin, WI with their four children. They actually got married in March of 1990 so we're coming up on 14 years. The Vernons have three boys ages 12, 8, and 3, and FINALLY a little girl age 1 1/2. They own some businesses including a Merry Maids franchise, a tax preparation service and several Subway restaurants, which in general keeps them pretty busy. Probably their most useful Ripon course turned out to be Industrial Organizational Psych! They need to figure out how to understand and motivate people at work every day. It’s really hard to believe it’s been 15 years, but they’re looking forward to reminiscing with everyone in bustling Downtown Ripon. Tim Wiedmeyer left Heritage Mutual Insurance in 1996 to join West Bend Mutual. In 2001, he was promoted to Assistant. VP Claims, and is now responsible for the entire claims organization. This April, Tim will be up for election to his third - three-year term on the Slinger School Board, which is his hometown board of education. Tim is also in his eleventh season announcing for the boys basketball team. That and his other activities have kept him from settling down, and he remains single, although his two nieces give him about as much a taste of parenthood as he can take. Finally, Tim recently went back to apartment dwelling, as he sold his house in preparation of building on 2.3 acres of land just outside of Slinger. Tim hopes to break ground in the spring. Lisa Stein Goldman and her husband Josh had their first child, Jacob "Jake" Goldman born on November 13, 2003. Congratulations hope you’re getting some sleep. Pat Broeske founded Lakeside Wealth Management, LLC in November of 2002 after spending the previous two years as a Vice President/Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch. Pat, his wife, Nellie, son, Bennett, and daughter, Alivia make their home in Brownsville, Wisconsin. Joe Anderson’s son Isaac (2) has discovered nose picking and responds to everything his parents say with the word why? Joe is on the verge of moving up the company ladder at the Canterbury Park Race Track and Card Club, as well as reaching new ratings milestones on the Bumper to Bumper show on KFAN Radio. Cliff Serwe writes: I feel like I've been at a year-long party, hanging out with 130,000 of my closest friends here in the heart of Iraq. I'm in a unit that's kind of the Schneider Trucking of the Army. We started the war by providing the fuel required for the attack into and through Iraq. Now we move all the repair parts and supplies to the combat divisions. The soldiers are inspirational, and the days fly by in an amazing way. On the social side of things,... oh, that's right, I don't have a social life! Actually, I ran into Major Mark Hirschinger ('87) and Lieutenant Colonel Joe Endrizzi ('87). Mark commands an aviation maintenance unit and Joe is a surgeon at a Combat Support Hospital. The three of us are assigned to the same base in the heart of the Sunni Triangle. I'm hoping we'll be headed home this February after 13 long months. Home is in Mannheim, Germany, so if anyone is headed over for a European vacation, look me up at clifford.serwe@us.army.mil. Kristin (Adomeit) Moore says: I’m teaching science (yes, with my English and history majors I am one of those statistics) to 7th and 8th graders here in Seattle. Believe it or not, I love it. I also do a lot with the outdoor education program at the school (hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, trail work, etc.) After 8 long years in the deep southern bayou Amy (Walder) Carrington is happy to be a Midwesterner living in the suburbs of Chicago. She is busy keeping her two boys William 7 and James 4 and two dogs and husband, Dave, in line and out of trouble. She can’t figure out her computer and refuses to reply to e-mails. Gigi (Schwartz) is married (Aug 2003) and is now expecting a baby boy in May 2004. Gigi is living in Cortez, CO running her business THE SILVER BEAN COFFEE SHOP. Laura (Storzer) Wolf lives in Pickett, WI while continuing to practice law in Fond du Lac. Laura has two daughters Samantha (6) and Megan (2). Michael Whitely lives in Genesee Depot, WI with his wife Rhea and kids William (8) and Lapri (5) where he is the Vice President of Sales for Hatco Corporation. Terri Pellatt-Whitaker lives in Wausa, WI with her husband Paul and sons Simon (10), Niles (7) and their daughter Mara (2). Terri works as a medical interpreter for the Health Department and a local hospital and their Spanish-speaking clients. It’s good to see she’s moved past her experience as a Spanish tutor for one of the worst students of that language Ripon has ever seen. It had to be a harrowing experience on a number of levels! Alice Gallagher Archabal and John Archabal ’88 live in Northbrook, IL . The little Arch is 5 and takes after dad. Alice is still working for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Alice Gallagher Archabal archabal@prodigy.net or Joe Anderson janderson@canterburyPark.com