Jan/Feb 2006

If this fall's seemingly unending hurricane season is any indicator, this winter may be a long haul. Bitterly cold days remind me of Ithaca, and while those thoughts may not warm the toes, at least they warm the soul. If a jaunt to a sunny Caribbean destination isn't on your agenda this winter, try grabbing a Cornell buddy, hitting a local watering hole, raising a glass, and sharing some warm memories.

Classmates Samara Friedman and Daniel Turinsky are keeping very busy. Dan is an attorney at Kasowitz, Benson in New York City; Samara is chief resident of orthopaedic surgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and plans on completing a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia next year. On May 11, 2005, the couple welcomed son Zachary Ryan. Samara notes that Zachary is already preparing for his application to Cornell. She says, "It is difficult to say whether motherhood or residency is more tiring. Everything right now is sort of a wonderful blur." On August 8,Wynn Alexander Alsko made his grand entrance into the world.Wynn joins big sister Ella and proud parents Mike and Gillian Alsko.

Wedding bells continue to ring for members of the Class of '97. After meeting in March 1995 in the elevator at Sheldon Court and starting to date the following year, Rob Unckless, MS '99, and Heather Fiore got married on July 16 on the Terrace at Willard Straight Hall. The reception was in the Memorial Room. Cornellians in the wedding party were Amy Unckless '94 (serving as Rob's best man), Marc Gallagher '94 (groomsman and Amy's husband), Chris Littlejohn '98, MAT '99 (groomsman), and the groom's father, JimUnckless '66. Also returning to Ithaca for the festivities were classmates Colin and Elizabeth Soto-Seelig Cushing, Jennifer Thom, MS '04, Brad Marshall, Rob Glesmann, Russ Giasomo, Ruth Potes, and Tamarra Strawn, JD '01. The couple lives in Rochester, NY, where Rob is a biology and environmental science teacher in Penfield and Heather is a dietitian for Strong Memorial Hospital and the city school district.

Kyle MacLea married Holly Portland on Orr's Island, ME, on June 18, 2005; classmate Zachary Hubert and wife Julie attended, as did Joel D. Green '00, Edwin, PhD '98, and Katherine Plante Anderson '98, and Clayton Sparks '94, a fellow Cornellian Kyle didn't know on the Hill but who joined the festivities as the guest of Kyle's graduate school friend Kathryn Chatfield. Kyle collected his PhD in pharmacology/toxicology from Dartmouth in 2003 and then spent a year as a post-doctoral student in the pharmacology department at Penn studying cardiovascular pharmacology and proteomics. Kyle took another post-doctoral position with the US Dept. of Agriculture in East Lansing, MI, in their Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory, studying oncogenic viruses in poultry. Kyle and Holly met at Dartmouth; she is currently enrolled at Michigan State U.'s College of Veterinary Medicine. Keith Berger sent in word of his marriage to Ellen Higgins in Cape Elizabeth, ME, on August 6, 2005. Keith noted the following classmates in attendance at the wedding: Brad Hopper, Aaron Daru, Dan Resnick, Oliver Chang, Trent Collins, Ythan Goldberg, James and Maria Zavala Trujillo, Mike Demetriou, Dania Braunstein, Doug Cullen, Jennifer Mattucci Santoro, and Jess and Jennifer Brown Melanson. Keith works at the law firm of Davis Polk and Wardwell in New York City, and Ellen is starting a master's program in organizational psychology at Columbia U.'s Teacher's College.

Meghan Work Boedges sent in a big dose of news. She married Jeff in September 2002.More recently,Megan was a bridesmaid when Rachel Chansky wed Scott O'Reilly on August 13, 2005 in Bretton Woods, NH. Jessica Denham and Sharon Flicker also served as bridesmaids. Nikki Arvanites, Kim Kilpatrick, Ryan '94, JD '97, and Marci Klein Poliakoff, Stu and Rikki Lober Bagatell, Katie Fallon, and Rachel Laveman Manne also attended the nuptials. Jason and Amy Blye Cohen were unable to be there; the couple was busy welcoming daughter Sara Josephine that morning.

In May, Meghan collected her master's in public health from Columbia and marked graduation and her 30th birthday with a party in New York City. In addition to many of the classmates at Rachel's wedding, partygoers included Meghan's freshman-year suite-mates James Blanco and Mike Bedell, and friend Amanda Claremon '96. Meghan reports that James graduated with his MBA from Columbia's business school in May.Meghan is working as a healthcare consultant in Manhattan and living in Jersey City, NJ. Thanks,Meghan, for sending in so much news!

Congratulations to all of our newlyweds, new parents, new graduates, and new hires. If you enjoy reading the column, please take a couple of minutes to send in an update on where you are and what you're up to. (A convenient form came in the mail last fall--did you fill it out yet?) Help us make this column good reading material! You may not necessarily feel like your news is that interesting, but you've got a captive audience that looks forward to seeing our newsy tidbits, so chime in! -- Erica Broennle Nelson, ejb4@cornell.edu; Sarah Deardorff Carter, sjd5@cornell.edu. Class website, http://classof97.alumni.cornell.edu.