Michael Bassett
Here's a rhetorical question: Are the students at Kenyon looking younger each year or am I just getting older? Here are three accomplishments since graduating 31 years ago: 1. I'm part way into my third decade working as an Occupational Therapist. I've worked in general hospitals with patients needing function-based physical and cognitive rehabilitation for much of that time. I now work in a psychiatric hospital with a forensic population. 2. I have been married to Jeannine for many years. 3. After graduating and leaving Gambier, my journey took me to KY, then NC, followed by VA, and then back to Ohio (work in Cincinnati). In my spare time I take piano lessons, sing in the church choir (converted to Catholicism a few years ago), exercise and eat a vegetarian diet (I don't want to get any older.) Email:
mcb82568@yahoo.com
John Douglass
Greetings! Two of us –
John Douglass and
Phil Wilson, along with Phil’s daughter Melanie – will be leading a service trip to the highlands of Guatemala in late July/early August of 2023 through the non-profit organization Xela AID/Local Hope. The organization, which has its 30th anniversary in 2023, serves an expansive indigenous community of approximately 30,000 people with medical care, educational scholarships for children, adult education, a preschool (including special needs children), and much, much more. We will spend time in Antigua (the colonial capitol and a UNESCO world heritage site), Lake Atitlan, as well as in the village of San Martin Chiquito, where we will do service in the community and stay in a new hotel built by the non-profit for service trips. We will also visit an ancient Maya archaeological site (with a tour by John, who has a PhD in Mesoamerican archaeology) and also an indigenous market in the village of Zunil. Come join us in rolling up our sleeves, learning about contemporary Maya society, and doing some good for others. Great opportunity for pediatricians (
Brigitte (Kerpsack) Olsen?
Dieter Sumerauer?), dentists (
Matt Brokaw?), and anyone who wants to brush up on their Spanish! Information about the trip and the organization can be found at
xelaaid.org/volunteer
Tracey Fatzinger
My nest is finally starting to empty for good. My daughter Amelia graduated from Georgia Tech in summer 2022 and is ensconced in her first apartment for her first job as a software engineer in Atlanta, GA. My son
Sylas ’24 is spending his first semester of junior year abroad in Vienna, Austria. Time to start thinking about downsizing! Would be happy to meet up with any classmates visiting the Richmond, VA area.
Holly Hatch-Surisook
After 14 years as restaurant owners, my husband Joe and I closed the doors of Sen Yai Sen Lek, as well as Dipped & Debris, in April 2022. It was emotional to say good-bye to our staff and community, heart-warming to know the place our food and hospitality had had in guests' lives, and fun to celebrate all we had accomplished! Our dear Kenyon friends
Chelsea Guillen, Sarah Phemister and their spouses made the trip to NE Minneapolis and joined the party on our last night of service! The timing is right; our youngest just moved into his first apartment while our daughter is a college senior. Though it's not retirement yet, we are taking our own gap year to drive our Escape travel trailer around the country.
Nellie Kurtzman
Hello classmates near and far. The dog rescue I work with, Badass Animal Rescue, is trying to raise $30,000 by the end of October. Our volunteers have saved over 3,000 dogs in the past 10 years. All of this money is help us save dogs from high kill shelters in the south and find them fosters and eventually adopters in the NY tristate area. No amount is too small - it all helps with the woof, arf etc. Thanks!
support.bestfriends.org/goto/Nellie
Megan Lewis
I am beginning my third year as Director of Theatre at Colorado State University as my son,
Tristan Lewis-Schurter ’26, begins his first year at Kenyon. In summers, I take students on my intensive study abroad program called Arts and Culture in South Africa, run by
John (Jay) Alexander ’91 and his amazing company, Scholarly Sojourns. And this summer the brilliant writer-goddess
Jenna Blum ’92 visited me in Colorado for some Rocky Mountain adventure and love. So proudly purple!
Renny (Eisenberg) Tassari
Happy that travel has opened up, allowing me to enjoy the travel perks associated with my job. Can't believe that my son is a college senior and my daughter is half way to her doctorate. Pittsburgh is beautiful in the fall. If anyone travels this way, let me know and we can grab a drink and watch some Steelers or Penguins!
Angelique Tober
The last several months have been busy! Most of the activity comes from regular life events, work, kids, home, etc., but there have been some fun extras. We fit in a lot of travel, including college tours for one of my sons (sadly, not Kenyon), but we are trying to plan a trip back to campus sometime in 2023 or 2024. I also had a few fun get togethers with
Julie (Gluck) Cutter, Shelly Van Etten Lee and
Chelsea Guillen recently and the next one is with
Ann Russell. Grateful for my Kenyon connections!
