CLASS NOTES
CLASS NOTES
winter 2014 | St. Lawrence University Magazine 55
54 winter 2014 | St. Lawrence University Magazine
1995
Samantha C. Bixby ’95
PO Box 5365
Breckenridge, CO 80424
307-699-4699
Next Reunion: 20
th
, 2015 (cluster with ’94, ’96)
1996
Tanya R. Parrott ’96
9712 Handerson Place, #405
Manassas Park, VA 20111
571-292-1072
Next Reunion: 20
th
, 2015 (cluster with ’94, ’95)
No news to report this time, classmates. Drop me
a line, giveme a ring, or shoot me an email and see
if we can beef up this empty space next time.
1997
Kerri Williams ’97
400 Fingar Rd.
Hudson, NY 12534-4271
(h) 518-828-0842
(c) 518-567-9940
Next Reunion: 20
th
, 2018 (cluster with ’98, ’99)
Laura Koch Kasparian
has been busy in Mas-
sachusetts with husband Chris. Laura has taken
many different positions at her company, Chubb
Insurance, and has loved every minute. When not
working, Laura has been renovating her Belmont,
Mass., home while being a mom to her 4-year-old
daughter and 2-year old son. "Life has been busy
and it is wonderful to see how happy apple-pick-
ing and swan boat rides can make my two little
kids," she says.
Denise Durant
, husband Merrick Hard and
daughter Piper welcomed Jonah Hard to their
family on August 23, 2013. Big sister is loving him
(most of the time). Denise thinks he'll be ready for
the Saints soccer team in 2032, and reports life in
Burlington is good! Piper reminds Denise to slow
down and rest on her maternity leave: "Mommy,
you can't be the doctor right now!"
Kristen Caracoglia Culver
, who married Brian
in November 2012, has become a full- time Mary
Kay independent beauty consultant, qualifying to
become a sales director by the end of the year and
developing her team across the country. Kristen
spent a few days last summer in Dallas, at Mary
Kay headquarters during their super-huge 50th
anniversary seminar. She was honored with rec-
ognition as an all-star consultant as well as No.1 in
her unit for sales. Her national area was debuted
on the main stage, which is a significant honor. Go,
Kristen!
CraigAdams
writes that he and JennyMariewel-
comed a baby boy, Alasdair Joseph, last March 24.
He is their first, and they reside happily in Rocka-
way Township, N.J.
SLU taught Craig, and so many of us, how to
be advocates for change and how to stand up
for justice. At age 38, Craig found his cause in
spreading awareness about the harms of rou-
tine male infant circumcision. The U.S. is the only
country in the world still doing it for non-reli-
gious reasons. Craig would like to know if there
are classmates out there who share the same
concerns, or are raising awareness, and encour-
ages anyone who would like to know more to
contact him at
.
Kelley Bordeleau Lamb
welcomed a son, Gus
Raymond Lamb, on May 15, 2012. He is a very ac-
tive toddler who loves to follow his older brother,
Linus, everywhere. Kelly and Jason and the boys
live in East Calais, Vt. In January 2013, Kelley was
promoted to director of development and alumni
affairs at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpe-
lier. She has been at the college since 2008, first as
assistant to the president, and then as director of
development. In June, Kelley had a great visit with
Julie Cutler-Caldwell
inTilton, N.H., and sister-in-
law
Carrie Carr Bordeleau
.
Shawn Cummings
is in Gouverneur, N.Y., teach-
ing high school earth science and coaching cross
country and wrestling. His “baby” girl, now 12, is
running on his modified team! That's crazy. Shawn
tells us
Nate Hopper
was inducted into the Gou-
veneur High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Todd Parker
has joined Toshiba as an account
executive. He and his sweetie enjoyed an amazing
week in Bermuda over the summer.
Kate Paterson Parrott
is living in the East Berk-
shires of Massachusetts with husband Jonathan
Parrott '96 and daughter Sophie. They are raising
Scottish Highland cattle, along withmakingmaple
syrup and honey on their farm. Kate is teaching
seventh grade science in Northampton, Mass., and
life is really good -- busy, but good.
Chantelle Roy Kimball
has been keeping up
with St. Lawrence friends via Facebook. She says
life is pretty good and busy with two children,
9 and 11.
Rebekah Abrams
is living in Park City, Utah, with
her dog and wonderful husband, running her own
personal chef company. At a mini-Greenhouse
reunion, she met up with
Amanda Patterson,
Dave Hoffman, Erik Johnson, Matt Fellowes
,
Cristianne McKenna Fellowes '99,
Josh Gannon,
Keith Krejci
and
Mike Tremberth
. They all
brought their families together at Lake Winnipe-
saukee, N.H., last summer.
Keith has settled in the mountains of the Pacific
Northwest with his wife and children, in an at-
tempt to work less and play more. Amanda is run-
ning a small circus (two kids, one dog, plus hus-
band) and teaching high school English. Dave is an
assistant professor at Mississippi State University,
researches in Costa Rica, and enjoys life with his
wife and two kids. Josh is living a double life as
a stay-at-home dad, “but am really a soldier of
fortune!” Matt is CEO and founder of HelloWal-
let (he was profiled in the magazine a few issues
back) and he and Cristianne have two daughters.
Mike lives in Leavenworth, Wash., with his wife
and son, while Erik is an assistant professor of so-
ciology at Washington State University.
Keep all of this incredible news coming. I know
some of our classmates have more to share. You
knowwho you are!
1998
MelissaWilson MacGregor '98
4648 N. 23rd Road
Arlington, VA 22207
703-527-7525
Next Reunion: 20
th
, 2018 (cluster with ’97, ’99)
Another busy summer for the great Class of 1998!
Lots of people making big moves!
I heard from
Kalia McLaughlin Perse
on Face-
book. She is married to
Joe Perse
and they
moved to Kennett Square, Pa., last summer. Kalia
and Joe have two boys, 3 and 5. She has worked
for Forrester Research (headquartered in Cam-
bridge, Mass.) for 11 years.
Kalia had three great reunions last summer. The
first was a visit from
Denise Egan Shedlock
,
who lives in Florida. The second was in New York
City, with
Julia Love
(currently living in Malaysia),
Kelly Mullaney, Larisa Ruoff Wood
and
Kerry
Hutchinson Crombie
. The third was a week-long
get together with
Christine Dickinson Harris
and Barbara Hornig Trudel '99 and their kids at
the Hornig family home in the Berkshires. The kids
went to camp for four hours a day while Christine,
Barbara and Kalia explored quaint towns and en-
joyed coffee uninterrupted.
Kalia and Joe also said goodbye to
Matthew
Thurston
and his family as they relocated from
D.C. to Houston. Kalia says “We were sad to see
them go but are planning a visit to Texas!”
I have been remiss in failing to report that
Le-
anne Davis Smith
and her husband, Bryan, had
a son, Evander Sylvan, on October 7, 2012. Leanne
and Bryan live in Cherry Hill, N.J. Leanne is the se-
nior director of the Insights and Analytics depart-
ment for Communications Media, Inc. a healthcare
media agency.
Carol Hosley Shogren
made her annual sum-
mer trip east from Wisconsin to visit family and
friends in Long Lake, N.Y., in July. She had a great
weekend visit with
Tracy Hatch Giordano,
Bridget DonahueCooley
and
MeganWilliams.
Sarah Zimmerman McElfresh
and her family
moved to Farmville, Va. Sarah is the national mem-
bership co-chair for the Association of Concert
Bands, and recently picked up the onlineweb con-
tent position for them as well. She volunteers fre-
quently at her children’s school and as a Girl Scout
leader. She also plays in the Longwood University
Wind Symphony and was hoping to start a com-
munity band there in the fall. Over the Labor Day
weekend, Sarah hosted a cookout with Andrew
Owens '99 and his family, who live about an hour
from the McElfresh family.
My husband,
Jim MacGregor
, had a great sum-
mer visiting family and friends around the North-
east and Mid-Atlantic. Our daughter, Elizabeth,
started second grade in September and our son,
Alex, started his last year of pre-K.
Please keep in touchwith updates fromour class-
mates, area events, and reunions on our Facebook
page,
St. Lawrence University Class of 1998
.
1999
Genevieve Shaw Brown ’99
177 East 77th Street, Apt 3B
NewYork, NY 10075
646-275-0016
Next Reunion: Next Reunion: 20
th
, 2018 (cluster
with ’97, ’98)
Michael Cronk
wrote that he and wife Sara Con-
stantine '00 have been in Lexington, Ky., for 10
years now. They have a son, Ian, 4. Michael's still
working at Transylvania University’s career center,
and was recently named chair of the board for
Bluegrass Greensource, an environmental edu-
cation non-profit serving central Kentucky and
focusing on water and energy conservation, recy-
cling and pollution control. Congrats, Michael!
Christine Stell-Strong
has been busy doing
good! She wrote to say, "I’m involved in a few or-
ganizations in my community that work with chil-
dren. I recently did a talk at Boys Town in addition
to ‘companioning’a grant for themwhich resulted
in a $75K award from Yahoo!” She was scheduled
to talk with the Tri-Delta chapter at Creighton Uni-
versity for their career event.
Liz Bowman Moysey
wrote in that she got
married on May 16, 2013, in Cape Hatteras, N.C.,
to David Moysey. Best wishes to Liz, my FYP
next-door neighbor!
Kelly Stranburg
moved back to her hometown
of Allegany, N.Y., last summer, and made a career
move. She accepted a position with Sodexo as an
area general manager supporting wellness pro-
gramming for retirement communities through-
out the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest.
After eight years with Habitat for Humanity
International,
Court Clayton
took a new job as
the associate vice dean of campaign and devel-
opment at the Harvard School of Public Health,
and said he's excited to be staying in Boston for
a few more years. "I had a great time connecting
with old friends at our 15th Reunion," he wrote.
"My only disappointment was to learn that
War-
ner Boutin
had shed his signature green pants
for jeans now that he lives in LA...but I guess
we've all changed a bit."
Stephanie Carr Goulet
writes, "I recently reg-
istered my new company, International Business
Connections (IBC). I'm working directly with inter-
national commodity traders, who place buy/sell
orders, in the financial world. It's been a challenge,
launching an international company and raising
our little guy, Maxwell, all alone. Tom's been down
in Oklahoma at our oil and gas company, Beacon
Energy Partners. I hope everyone is doing well!"
After nine years in Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho,
Stefanie Leif
left the mountains for the prairie
when she relocated in 2011 to the greater Kansas
City area to be closer to family. She's the commu-
nity development director for the City of Atchi-
son, Kan. "My courses at SLU piqueed my interest
in land use and community development, and I
have worked in this field for nearly 13 years now,”
she says. In December 2012, she and Glen Web-
ster ’01 welcomed“our amazing son, Lukas."
And speaking of amazing sons,
Ryan Brown
and
I recently welcomed our own. William Michael
Brown was born Aug. 31, 2013, and joins big sister
Adelaide as the lights of our lives.
Keep sending those updates!
2000
Joe Kerper ’00
8156 Centaur Drive
Evergreen, CO 80439
303-674-3181
Next Reunion: 15
th
, 2016 (cluster with ’01, ’02)
I was recently sent an article summarizing the
amazing cultural and musical experiences of
Pey-
ton Tochterman
. Peyton was in Afghanistan as
a “cultural ambassador” for the U.S. in mid-2012.
A musician from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains,
Peytonmakes his living“writing, teaching and per-
forming American folk music.” Peyton played in,
among other venues, The Citadel, which was built
a few years ago by Alexander the Great.
A State Department officer said that Peyton’s
visit did “more for diplomacy between Afghani-
stan and the United States than any diplomat had
done, more than any road that was built, or any
power plant that was constructed in the last year.”
I’m not up on music review terminology, but that
sounds like high praise to me. The only negative
reviews of his work came from the Iranian press,
which described his music as “dangerous” and
“evil.” In Peyton’s defense, I’ve heard that the Ira-
nian press can at times be a little harsh.
“[The Afghans] have great pride in their heritage
and culture, but they also have a thirst for Ameri-
can folk music, for the stories we tell, our instru-
ments and the way we play. The Afghanmusicians
with whom we played are some of the best in the
world and were eager to share their masterful
techniques and songs,”wrote Peyton.
Craig Lamb
was recently named dean of distrib-
uted learning at Genesee Community College in
Batavia, N.Y. Craig earned a master’s degree from
SUNY Plattsburgh and is working on his Ph.D., at
SUNY Albany. He was the recipient of the SUNY
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional
Service in 2011.
Personally, I like my learning to resemble my
morning coffee: a nice concentrated espresso that
I don’t have to distribute to anyone bymyself. Seri-
ously, distributed learning, which I had to look up,
is another name for online learning. See, you just
learned something. Irrespective of my commen-
tary, congrats, Craig.
Next up,
Monique Nichols Porter
wrote in to
announce the birth of her son, Chase Allen Por-
ter, last August 17. “Chris, Maya and I are thrilled
to have him as part of our family and Maya is es-
pecially enjoying the role of big sister,” she said.
“Everything else is pretty much the same here—I
still work at the same hospital that I've been at
since finishing up grad school at Hopkins and
love the areas I oversee (outpatient orthopedics,
oncology and women's health) and still live in
Cambridge, Mass.”
Lisa Smith Schmidt
released her first album,
Edge of the World
, on January 18. Look under “Lisa
Hillary” on iTunes. While I haven’t yet listened to
the entire album,“White Collar Cowboy”and“Rab-
bit Hole”are worth a listen if you like engaging lyr-
ics and a strong guitar.
Sarah Lester-Guzman
writes in to say,“Ezequiel
joined our family on Oct 25, 2012. He is a sweet
jokester with a smile that will melt your heart. His
older brother Guillermo is an awesome helper and
loves to play with him. I have a hard time leaving
to go to work with such sweet boys waiting for me
at home. Guillermo is in aWaldorf-inspired kinder-
garten charter school. I am feeling old. It seems
like yesterday I was roaming the halls of Interna-
tional House in search of
Elena Corona, Sarah
Vincent Preston, Kelly Johnston
and the like.
I volleyed emails back and forth with Sarah and
Elena.They are both doingwell. Sarah has an ador-
able son and teaches high school Spanish. Elena is
excited to be an aunt.”
Jacqlyn Rebecca Rovine and
Andrew Douglas
Harms
were married September 28, 2013, at the
Prospect Park Boathouse in Brooklyn, N.Y. Jacq-
lyn will be keeping her maiden name. She is a
litigation associate in the Manhattan office of
the Cleveland law firm Baker Hostetler. Andrew
is a litigation associate at the Manhattan law firm
Lazare Potter & Giacovas. He received his law de-
gree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of
Law at Yeshiva University.
I’m still in Colorado. We ceded the garden to
the realm of the pocket gophers last summer,
though top-secret plans are in the works for next
year. Those little rascals may have won the battle,
but the war is far from over. A tip for anyone suf-
fering from a similar affliction: jumping up and
down on their burrows while swearing does little
to scare them away, though neighbors will point
and laugh. According to the local Cooperative Ex-
tension office, each pocket gopher may move as
much as two tons of dirt to the surface each year,
which does little to endear these furry, rat-sized
bulldozers to my heart.
2001
Bridgette Holmes Gallagher ’01
11 State Street
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-4375
518-727-4527
Next Reunion: 15
th
, 2016 (cluster with ’00, ’02)
Tessa Mellas
has won the
prestigious Iowa Short Fiction
Award, presented by the Uni-
versity of Iowa Press, for her
collection of 12 short stories
contained in her first book,
Lungs Full of Noise
. The stories
are in the “magical realism”
genre, which incorporates
fantastic or mythical elements
into otherwise realistic fiction. “It’s a realistic set-
ting with a touch of magic woven in,” she ex-
plained to a
Watertown Daily Times
reporter from
her home in Columbus, Ohio, where she taught
during the 2012-13 academic year at Ohio State
University. She holds amaster’s degree fromBowl-
ingGreen State University inOhio and a Ph.D. from
the University of Cincinnati.
