Alumni Association - 1995 to 2003 Class News

Spring 2004

Gathered and Written by Class Representatives

Sam J. Fryer III
2616 Lakeview Drive
Apartment G
Florence SC 29505
843.629.8372
SFryer@fsd1.org

Greeting Classmates:

Can you believe it, David and I have a daughter! Grace Maria Buckelew was born on December 13 at 4:40 p.m. She weighed 5 lbs, 13 oz and was 21 ¼ in. long. We weren’t expecting her until January but I guess she couldn’t wait and wanted to be with us for the holidays.

Jeffrey A. Claridge ’96 and I have been talking about getting an alumni group going in the Charlotte area. This would serve not only as a social outlet but also as a networking tool for anyone who is new to the area. We’d like to meet either monthly or quarterly at various locations in the metro area. If you are interested in participating please contact me buckeled@bellsouth.net or Jeff MrFBama@yahoo.com.
Well, that’s all I have to report. As always, if you have the opportunity, please write, call or send an e-mail and let us know what’s new. And as always don’t forget to remember Coker by sending a donation to the annual scholarship fund.

Ciao,
Heather

Pamela NeSmith Olson
1319 Grace Drive
Savannah GA 31406
912.355.6760

Thomas M. Reaves, Jr., a Navy Seaman Recruit, has recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes Ill. During the eight-week program, Thomas completed a variety of training which included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, fire fighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. An emphasis was also placed on physical fitness. Congratulations, Thomas!

Congratulations to Eric J. Caldwell who was featured in the JuneauEmpire with his comedy group “The Morally Impro-erivished”. In the tradition of groups like Second City or the cast of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” the five members of Morally Impro-verished believe there is an audience for improvisational comedy in Juneau.

Alison Wood
2400 Pine Haven Street
Beaufort SC 29902-6042
425.338.9760

Hey everyone! If you haven’t been to Hartsville lately, it’s worth a trip back. There are so many new and exciting things happening here. The new Governor’s School for Science and Math is a sight to behold, very state-of-the-art. And, we finally got a trendy coffee shop complete with a small stage for “theatre in alternative places.” I happened to catch our very own Adam Weiner, Deb Bloodworth and a few students performing there one night. Oh, what you’re missing. Besides that, I trust everybody has had a wonderful year so far. I have. As many of you know I am engaged and will be married this summer at Kalmia Gardens. The very fortunate beau is a laddie called Mike, and no he’s not from around here. He’s from Illinois and in Hartsville by way of the Robinson Nuclear Plant. Beating me to the wedding alter is Rachel Young who married her sweetheart, Trevor Rhodes from Columbia on September 13, 2003 on the beach in the Isle of Palms. It was a beautiful seaside ceremony with dozens of beach-goers turned onlookers. All the Coker graduates in attendance were able to get together for a picture.

Summer Josey Meetze (pronounced ‘mets’) has added an addition in the form of a little boy named Christopher “CJ” D. Meetze, Jr., born on August 11, 2003. In Summer’s words, “he is the most wonderful thing in the world. I never thought I could be so in love! He is the first grandchild on both sides so I am sure that he is going to be TOTALLY SPOILED! My dad already has big fishing trips planned for him!” Everyone who remembers Coach Josey can believe that. Aren’t the joys of motherhood lovely? And the joys of fatherhood aren’t too bad either…Sean J. O'Briant can attest to that. He is still enjoying his role as proud papa of Maeli (pronounced Molly) Lucile born last year. I think the sleep deprivation has caught up with him though because he’s having delusions of ruling a foreign country and being an Olympic medalist. Jenny, I think you need to put Sean down for a nap.

I ran into Eric N. Tew ’95 at Wal-Mart when he was “home” not long ago. He and Sarah Scaffe Tew are living outside Richmond. Sarah has her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Ed and teaches with a program for preschoolers with disabilities. She and Eric expanded their family on September 30, 2003 with the birth of their second daughter Stella Grace, the perfect companion to two-year old Savannah Jane.

I had a chance to visit Teri Little and Chris Burger ’95 out in San Diego in September. I was a surprise for Chris. I was more surprised that Teri was able to keep the secret for three weeks. They have been doing some traveling of their own visiting NYC, taking in a couple of Broadway plays and the usual “sights”.

I hear from Jo Sim on occasion. She teaches theater at a Magnet school for the visual and performing arts in Gainesville, FL. It’s not your average high school either. They have a performing arts center similar to Coker’s new Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center and show budgets in the thousands. Pretty cool, huh? She thinks so.

I’m sure everyone knows by now that we lost a special member of our class, Benji N. Blanton, late in 2002. Benji was a great guy and a good friend to many. Summer Meetze approached me with the idea of our class doing something for Benji and I thought it would be a great idea. If you have not already, you should receive a letter from us letting you know what we hope to do as a class. I hope you will join us in remembering and honoring such a kind and friendly person.

Any one else with something special going on or not much just wanting to chat, email me. I love hearing from everybody and learning how life is evolving for you.

Bye for now,
Regina

Jack Kirven has recently moved back to SC from NYC. He loved his time in New York but was homesick. He is working with the students of Keenan High School, where he teaches modern dance, ballet, hip-hop to beginning and advanced students. He’s also visiting professor of advanced modern dance at Columbia College and a guest artist for The Power Company.

Shonda Miles Knotts
843.210.3346
Shonda.Knotts@pgba.com

'00
Holly Hall Becker
20809 Brinkley Street
Cornelius NC 28031
704.655.9720
pistolhip@yahoo.com

Patience Drabick
paypay03@hotmail.com

Hello classmates,

I hope that 2004 is turning out to be a great year for you all. Let’s get straight to the updates.
Sara Davis Mader has joined the Air Force and is stationed in Sumter. Her husband Marcus is in Iraq for an eight-month tour of duty. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Aaron Blanchard is getting married June 26, 2004, in Lafayette, La. His fiancée Sarah is from Louisiana as well. Aaron will graduate as a physician's assistant this year.

Korinne Rosenkranz and her fiancé Ryan also have wedding plans for June 26, 2004. The wedding will be in Cheraw. Kori works for the U.S. Department of State in Charleston.

Tara Trotter is in her second year of law school at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. She also works part-time for a non-profit group doing legal research.

Kelly Farrell and her boyfriend bought a house in Maryland last summer. She said she stays busy decorating her new home, working for a title company and playing with her two dogs.

Andrea Dubsky lives in Atlanta and works as a paralegal for a law firm in downtown Decatur. She also earned her master’s in exercise science at Georgia State University last year.

Kimmie White has finished school at MUSC in Charleston. She passed her physical therapy boards and now works for Health South in Florence. Beth Rodela, who is going to school in Florida, will graduate with her doctorate in physical therapy in April.

Missy Paterson Hernandez teaches P.E. and coaches softball at Durant High School in Plant City, FL, near Tampa. She and her husband José bought a house and will move into it in July.

Patience Drabick and I are now teaming up to do the class news column. Please e-mail Patience (paypay03@hotmail.com) or me (pistolhip@yahoo.com) with any updates. We look forward to hearing from all of you.

Take care,
Holly Becker and Patience Drabick

’01
Tracey Lowe Burel
10 Highway 178 South
Donalds SC 29638
864.379.2910
meowluvr@hotmail.com

Greetings Classmates of 2001,

I hope that everyone is doing well. Life has been hectic as of lately. I am still working on my masters, but plan on graduating in December 2004. Teaching is also becoming a stress hazard because of No Child Left Behind. Remember to send me any information about yourself or others in our class that can go into the Commentary. I have heard from a few folks:

Woody Funderburk is still employed at Sonoco Products as a network analyst with the corporate information services department. That long title means that he keeps Sonoco North America up and running on the Internet. Woody says that he will soon be moving to Baltimore, Maryland.

Jodi Bass is working as a photographer for Carolina Sports in Camden. She says that it doesn’t really feel like work because she enjoys it. It was great hearing from her.

Roslynn Elom said that she read in the Florence newspaper where Diedra Ann Johnson and Joseph Eric Hatchell Jr were married on Nov. 15, 2003. They live in Orlando, FL. Roslynn says that she is still fighting the good fight in the classroom as a high school English teacher. Tiffany Anselmo has moved back to Charleston recently. I hope that things go well for her there. That is all the news that I have for now, but I hope that you guys will send me some more information soon!

Thanks,

Tracey Lowe Burel

  ’02
Blayke P. Epley
6506 Eaglecrest Road
Charlotte, NC 28212
704.535.1504
bpelply@yahoo.com


Hey Everybody!

I hope all is wonderful with the class of 2002. I’m sure all of you are finding your way in the big bad world of adult decisions and real jobs with only minor glitches…after all, you are part of one of Coker’s most fabulous graduating classes!

So you don’t think I sent out those mass emails begging for information for nothing, here are a couple updates from members of our class:

Brook Morris is teaching seventh and eighth grade Language Arts at the School of Discovery in Marlboro County. She is currently living in Cheraw, and hopes to begin working on her master’s in Theology/Religion in the next couple months.

Brent Freeman and Geoff Hughes ’00 were married in June of 2003 and then moved back to good old Hartsville. Geoff owns a portrait studio, appropriately called Hughes Photography, that he recently moved from Lamar to Hartsville. Brent will soon begin a new job at Smith Law Firm.

Congratulations to Sabrina Wotier and Nathan Peterson who got engaged in November! We can’t wait until the wedding! Nathan is currently working for Bank of America in downtown Charlotte, and Sabrina has recently completed her master’s from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. They are living in Rock Hill, SC.

Summer Rawson is teaching fifth grade at a small mountain school in Greenville County. She stays very busy with school meetings, workshops, classes, and especially trying to fix up the new house she bought at the end of November!

Hank Alewine will be graduating from USC in May of this year with his master’s degree in Accountancy. After graduation, Hank plans to stay in Columbia to be an auditor for a local accounting firm.

Joni Roberts and Bell were married in October in Lancaster. They are now living in Cheraw where Leighton works for the newspaper and Joni is whipping people into shape in the business world.
Katherine “Kammie” Rickels married Buddy Mann from Chester the week after graduation. She recently obtained her insurance license and is an agent with Farm Bureau Insurance Company, also in Chester.

Laura Hughes married her long time boyfriend Vince McKee in November of 2003. They are living happily in Midlothian, VA.

Kara Schultz is living in Georgetown where she works with various teenagers in the county concentrating on leadership, self-esteem, and participating in volunteer events. She is in the process of building a house!

Another congratulations goes out to Curtis Lloyd who popped the question on November 18, 2003 to Jessica Brill, who will graduate from Coker in ’05. Curtis is living in Hartsville, teaching Spanish and coaching Varsity Wrestling and Junior Varsity Baseball at Hartsville High.

Elizabeth “Boo” Hicks is living in Charleston with Sparkle Warren. She is in graduate school online for Addiction Psychology with the hopes of attaining a doctorate degree after completing her master’s. She is happily engaged to Nicole Broadway.

Michael McBride is doing very well, living in Gainsville, FL, about two blocks off the campus of the University of Florida.

In a recent chain of emails, with Summer Rawson (Greenville, SC), Amy Kesler (Atlanta, GA), Ellen Powell ’01 (Chatham, MA), Sabrina Wotier (Rock Hill, SC), Cheryl Bruno (Lagrangeville, NY), and Cristen Casper (Beaufort, SC), I learned that all are doing wonderfully! It was great to visit with all of you at Joni and Leighton’s wedding!

I am still living in Charlotte, NC, but can feel the travel itch scratching at my ear. I am working at a company called KlingmanWilliams, located right behind Panther’s Stadium in downtown Charlotte. I have been happily dating a wonderful guy I met at church, Eduardo T. Zamudio, for a little over a year, and am anxiously looking forward to whatever adventures might be waiting around the corner!

OK, that’s it for now! I hope to hear from more of you very soon! Keep me posted on the fabulous events in your lives. Take Care! K-Bye.

Sincerely,

Blayke P. Epley

Shannon Lalla
20 High Point Drive SW
Cartersville, GA 30120
770.386.9260
Dancinglalla@hotmail.com

Now that our class has been graduated for about 8 months, many of our classmates are out in the real world, making a name for themselves. Mainly through email, I have been able to get in touch with a few of our classmates and here are some of the things they told me.

Amber Douglas is a 4th grade teacher at Brunson-Dargan Elementary in Darlington. She is currently enrolled in graduate school at Columbia College in Columbia working on a master’s degree in divergent learning. Amber is still living in Hartsville.

Amber’s old roommate, Cara Wilkerson, is still at Belmont in Tennessee and is proud to say she has one stressful semester down. Cara thinks this semester should be better because she gets to go to Vanderbuilt Med School and cut some cadavers up! Cara has been meeting lots of interesting rich people at Vandy, and lots of musicians at Belmont, so it keeps Tennessee interesting for her. Cara will be starting her first clinical at a clinic called “Special Kids”. Cara thinks this will be fun because it will be the kids that she will work with at St. Jude’s, and her professors tell her that it is one of the best because it is so rewarding. Also, Cara is still dating current Coker student Conrad Deese.

Bessie Tomberlin is currently living in Rock Hill where she works full time at Founders Federal Credit Union. She is also a grad student at Winthrop University in the MAT program (Masters of Arts in Teaching) with a specialization in English.

Tim White is now working at the University of Florida as a Gene Therapy Researcher. After graduating, Phinon Hawk packed up and moved to Delaware where she is now attending law school at Widener University School of Law. She plans on going into corporate law, but says there is always room for intellectual property law or a different business law path. She will be graduating in 2006 and plans to possibly stay in Delaware. School is keeping her very busy and I understand her pain when she says there really isn’t time for much else! Just study, study, study!

Ellen Mason tells me she is living in Phoenix and going to grad school at Argosy University. She is also serving tables right now to make money. She is living with Mikia Hamiel who is working at Hertz’s as a management trainee.

Thomas and Monica Carvajal Beben, which for those of you who don’t know got married this past summer, now live in Redondo Beach, part of sunny Southern California. Monica says Thomas didn’t think he’d ever get used to the LA traffic and freeways, but he seems to be getting the hang of it now! They are working together for a large corporate event planning company that hosts events all over the Los Angeles area. They have had many opportunities to watch celebrities get drunk! Starting January 1st, Monica will be working in the ad department of The Beach Reporter, one of the major newspapers in the South Bay. Thomas will begin working on his teaching certification soon and has plans to attend grad school.

Courtney Smith is still living in Alameda, CA., right outside Oakland, where she is an intern for the Internet department of the Oakland Raiders. She also waits tables and bartends at an Italian restaurant called the Pasta Pelican. Marie Dani Chaplin ’02 is currently Courtney’s roommate in California. Also, Sky Gornik ’01 lives in San Jose, CA. Courtney loves going into San Francisco and wants everyone to know she will be living out west until June 2004, so if anyone is in the bay area before June, give her a call.

Trixi Ross DeRosa just recently gave birth to a 6lb 15oz girl, Ellery Denise, on 12/12/03. Congrats Trixi and Chris!

Whitney Cassady says she has continued to live at home in Hartsville and is currently still employed at the Hartsville Family YMCA in the child development program. As many of you know, Whitney was very involved with the dance program at Coker and was also a cheerleader. So, not to much surprise, she is now on staff at Dance World in Hartsville, where she began her dancing career at the age of three. Presently, she teaches tap, clog, and jazz classes. In the future Whitney plans to add modeling lessons and interview coaching for pageant contestants. She has also coordinated cheerleading clinics that prepare students for junior high and high school tryouts. Whitney is still involved in entertaining for festivals, pageants, and community events in the Hartsville area.

Tiffany Byrd and Brian Ponticello recently moved up to Brian’s home town, New York, together where they are both working full time at Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. (the Atkins low carb diet). Tiffany said she is a Production Assistant at the company and loving New York, not being homesick a bit! Brian told me that they plan to move back down to South Carolina eventually, but didn’t specify anytime soon.

Jessica A. Mitrosky is still in Hartsville working full time at Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center under the cardiopulmonary department. She is the Exercise Physiologist in Cardiac Rehab and she loves her job and the patients. She is working towards becoming a Nationally Registered Exercise Specialist come June through the American College of Sports Medicine. Jessica is still working out every day and started her own business in June as a fitness and nutrition consultant.

I talk to my old Canadian roommate, Erin Earle, quite often and she will be moving to Australia in February to attend graduate school at Griffith University. She plans to get her master’s in the Forensic Psychology program. She is quite excited about the move and so am I because I plan on visiting!

I talk to Wes Daniels all the time as well, and he is working and living in Charleston, and of course having a great time!

I have also recently spoken with Ray Marrero ’02 who is still living and working in Hartsville. He is still very involved with baseball often giving the local kids lessons and helping out Coker’s baseball team when he can.

As for me, I am still living in Palm Bay, FL, just outside of Melbourne, right near the beach. I am working on my master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, which I absolutely love! I am also working full time as the Academic Clerk at Florida Metropolitan University. So between school and work I am very busy! Well, I really enjoyed hearing from many of you and please feel free to keep in contact with me throughout the year. I hope to hear from even more of you this summer for my next write up so please call or write me, I love bragging about our class!

Take Care,

Emily Marovich