Vicki Benedict Williams

I am proud to report that my daughter, Valerie, will be starting at Davidson this coming fall semester as a freshman. Our visit to the campus in October must have paid off as she fell in love with the school and applied under the Early Decision program. The weather here in Phoenix is perfect (75) and the smell of the citrus blossoms is wonderful.

Vicki Williams

Commercial Real Estate

Jonathan Washburn Candidate District Court Judge

BRUCE

I am running for District Court Judge in the Fifth District of NC. This district contains New Hanover County (Wilmington) and Pender County (Burgaw).

Some relevant information is contained on this invitation, which is extended to anyone who might happen to the coast on May Day. I am particularly looking for people who will play guitar or keyboard during this four-hour Jam Session.

Thanks for your continued good service…

JONATHAN

Phil Gladden

Bruce,

I just discovered Davidson 78 blog after receiving my latest issue of the Davidson Journal. Thanks for keeping us updated. I've enjoyed reading about classmates.

Here's some info:

I graduated from Union Seminary in Richmond in 1983, then returned there in 1986 and received a Ph.D. in New Testament in 1992. My wife, Nancy Jackson Gladden, is also a graduate of Union. We served as co-pastors in Rocky Mount, NC and Roanoke Rapids, NC, then moved to Wallace, NC (30 miles north of Wilmington) in 1998, where I have been minister of the Wallace Presbyterian Church. Nancy serves as the stated supply pastor of the Oak Plain Presbyterian Church, a small church in the country. Our almost 20 year-old son, Jackson, is a sophomore at the Savannah College of Art and Design (which gives me a good excuse to catch up with Glen Darbyshire) and our daughter, Natalie, is a sophomore in high school.

Living in the land of UNC and NC State fans (with a few Dukies thrown in), it's been fun to root for the Wildcats in the NCAA's the last few years, especially when they just missed making it into the Final 4.

Phil Gladden

Mike Daisley

Bruce –

Having held your secretarial position loooong ago (sadly many Davidson-related things can now be described with the introductory phrase “long ago”), I feel your pain. Those pangs of anxiety as the Class Notes deadline approached have been refreshed in my mind (one of the few things) by your email request.

The main news on my end, involves a young man in my household who turned turn 15 yesterday. The many classmates who have “been there, done that” with the turbulent teen years can relate to the topsy-turvy turmoil. (Not enough alliteration, yet? Read on.) Suffice it to say that with a high school teacher for a lovely and long-suffering spouse, and a high school freshman for a wonderful and wickedly wondrous son, my skills as a certified mediator can get a pretty good workout sometimes around the Daisley household. (OK, now that’s definitely enough.)

After honing those mediation skills domestically, I do occasionally get paid for them. My law practice in civil litigation keeps me busy, if not necessarily productive. Politically, I am still pretty active in Charlotte. (I am often the “Democratic activist” that WBT Radio calls, on those few occasions it ventures away oh-so-briefly from its right-leaning radio talk-show format. It was most fun playing that role last November during live election night coverage with a Davidson poli-sci professor and a “Republican activist” who also happened to be a Wildcat alum, giving commentary on various races including the election of Charlotte’s new mayor, who is...you guessed it…a Davidson grad.)

I see where our classmate Mr. Washburn has thrown his hat in the judicial/political ring. He has mentioned that he is currently, “accepting advice on the qualities of humility, wisdom, patience and tolerance.”, so here’s mine. Just ask yourself, Jonathan, WWCLD -- “What would Cora Louise do?” (By the way, Jonathan and I had a marvelous conversation with Dr. Nelson at the last reunion. Having heard that she recently passed away, still very sharp until the very end, I am even more grateful for it.)

For better of worse, Mr. H, that should help you fill some space. Hope all is well with you!

--Mike
Michel C. Daisley

Gilliam Skinner

Dear Bruce,
Mercy how it makes me feel old to be trying to sum up where my life is in just a few lines. Like most everyone of my patients, I am concerned about where health care is going and all the misinformation floating through the political world only makes it worse. You would not believe how many times I have been asked whether patient's medicare will now be taken away from them. My practice has aged and I mam spending most of my time with octogenarians and entirely too much time in the intensive care unit. My wife continues to work in my office with me. Ashley has graduated from Clemson and Rebecca is a junior there. We are all looking forward to another week this summer fixing houses on Lady's Island with the Saulkahatchie summer service project.
Hope you and yours are doing well. Thanks for the email contact.

Gilliam Skinner

Bill Vinson / Mary Amos

Hi Bruce,  Barbara and I have enjoyed running into Mary Amos and her husband Mike several times over the past few months. Most recently was in Savannah as we were waiting on a table at a restaurant and Barbara saw Mary, Mike and their daughter outside looking at the menu posted on the wall. They joined us for dinner and we had a great time talking about the water tower and other Davidson escapades.  Bill

Jarry Taylor

Bruce:

Thanks for pestering us for news! Jarred '06, whom some Gray Housers met at our last reunion, will finish up his two-year gig at Google this summer (legal assistant to the Product Counsel team) and start law school in the fall (Janet and I both tried to talk him out of it!). He's been accepted to a few, turned down by a few, wait listed by a few, and expects to make a decision by May 1. Wilson graduates from the Naval Academy in May, receiving his commissioning as an ensign in the Navy, and reports for duty in late June to San Diego for a two year tour--not a bad place to be for two years. If you want to see his ship, Google USS Makin Island. He'll then enroll in nuclear school in Charleston, SC for six months, followed by six months of hands-on training on nuclear reactors, then his last two years of his 5-year commitment on an aircraft carrier somewhere, making sure the nuclear reactors are making plenty of steam. We're living a "Davidson" moment in the NCAA tournament this year--Wilson's classmate from high school (graduating class of 50 students) is Cornell's starting guard, Louis Dale, who is having a "Steph" of a tournament so far! Janet and I continue to grow old, hurt in places that are not supposed to hurt, but are enjoying the ride!!

Jarred O. Taylor II

Kathleen Golding Boyce

Kathleen still loves her job as Council Director for Girls on the Run of Gaston County. Richard began his second term as mayor of Belmont in November; he continues teaching Preaching and Pastoral Leadership @ Union-PSCE in Charlotte. Twins Laura and Sarah (24) completed their 2 year stints w/ Teach for America. Laura is now in her third year of teaching @ West Philadelphia High School and will marry Jeff Barg of Philadelphia in August. Sarah is a 1st year student @ Duke Law; she and a number of her Davidson girlfriends have started a book club which she really enjoys. Virginia (21) will graduate from Georgetown in May; last week she accepted a Teach for America assignment in San Antonio beginning this summer. Caroline (17) is a junior @ South Point High School; she and I will hit the road to tour colleges over spring break.

Paul Schleifer / Bill Barnes

Hi Bruce,

I recently spent a few days in London. While there, I had lunch with Bill Barnes. Bill is now CEO of a start-up alternative energy company, trying to get things going in Europe. I didn't get a chance to meet the family, but hopefully down the line. . . by the way, Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral were fabulous.

Paul Schleifer

Bob Schermer

Hi Bruce- No major changes here. Kathy and I are learning to adapt to being empty nesters. Oldest daughter Caroline will graduate from Duke in May and has been accepted at Columbia University in Manhattan and University of Washington in Seattle to their architecture programs to get a masters in design and historic preservation. I'm hoping she can preserve her old man when I get older! She's trying to make up her mind but I think leaning toward Columbia. Youngest daughter Sarah is a freshman at Elon, and now a conference rival. She loves it there. Kathy and I are hoping to see anyone who will wander down this way to Florida. I have always represented banks in commercial litigation and foreclosure work has kept me very busy for the last 3 years. I see no end in sight yet to our "crisis". After Kathy and I practicing together with one other partner for the last 15 years we decided to merge with another firm in town of seven attorney and so we are now in a large, for Bradenton, Florida anyway, firm of 10 attorneys and I now have associates to boss around. It has worked out well and life is good. Bob

Laura Stevenson

Dear Bruce

Congratulations on your son's achievements. Being a procrastinator, I have only made it up to middle school with the older child and the younger one is still in elementary school. I have a reflection about Dr. Nelson that I would like to share. When I was a sophomore taking macro economics, I was the only female in a class of about twenty-five. Dr. Nelson always called on two students each day: me and somebody else. After two weeks, the pattern was pretty obvious. People would come up to me outside of the classroom and suggest that I complain to Dr. Terry. I didn't do that because I realized that Dr. Nelson was actually doing me a favor by forcing me to be prepared each day. And she continued to call on me every single class for the rest of the quarter. In all my conversations with Dr. Nelson, she never brought up her questioning procedure in that class, but right before graduation she gave me some advice: "Don't cut your hair," which was waist length. I didn't follow that particular piece of advice, but I think it reveals a side of Dr. Nelson that most people would never have imagined possible.

Regards

Laura Stevenson

Julie Chrisco

Only one Davidson moment this summer. My son mac spends 7 weeks at this camp in Maine called Camp Timanous. His bunkmate this year was a nice boy from Alphretta GA named John Douglas (JD), as the boys were packing up their trunks to go home JD put on a Davidson hat. Mac asked him where he got it... His mother Ann Wolcott (class of '81). Small world...

She looks exactly the same.

Philip Blue

.....and knee surgery.  We're in the same boat......bad knees.  So I finally  decided to undertake the inevitable........knee replacement surgery.  May 18 was  the big day.  It ain't fun, but the results are worth it if your knee hurts when  you climb steps, jump up and down (I quit trying that a long time ago), or just  simple stuff like carrying luggage, groceries, or climbing a hill in Brazil to  get to that beautiful deserted beach you've heard so much about!!  It was four  weeks ago today, and I can definitely do steps much better, as well as carrying  loads of groceries and bargains from flea markets and thrift shops.  Maybe I can  get back to Brazil this fall and check out a new place I've heard about.  But be  prepared for two to three weeks of limited mobility while you are recovering  from surgery, and you better have somebody to  help you get around.......and  prepare the ice packs.  Oh, and the most obvious thing...........only do one  knee at a time!!

Bob Morrison

Bruce, after 11 years as a presbytery executive I am back in the parish as an interim minister at the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green (bloomfield, nj). We started a church-college ministry with another Presbyterian-founded college, Bloomfield College, probably the most racially diverse in the nation. My sons are both at Rutgers University, the oldest as a graduate student, the youngest as an undergraduate.

Bob Morrison (aka post-marriage, Bob Foltz-Morrison) '78

Brian Cooper

Bruce,

Nice to hear you are visiting Chicago – we're just in the western suburbs, so don't hesitate to reach out if we can ever help with anything. (Meg and I actually met at the University of Chicago, where we got our MBA's. Scary smart kids there, especially undergraduate!)

I guess I have both personal and professional news. We just deposited our son Paul and a lot of cash at Carleton College, near Minneapolis, for his freshman year. In many ways, it feels like a Great White North version of Davidson – heavy liberal arts focus, 2000 students of whom 14% are national merit finalists, similar principles. It certainly brought back memories of our freshman orientation. Dan is already at DePaul. We still have Becca at home, but the nest is almost empty, at least until Thanksgiving.

On the professional front, I had joined family-owned Fellowes, Inc. two years ago as Chief Financial Officer. In March, I lost that role to changes in family succession planning but ended up with a new position just a few weeks later. So, as of April 20, I am the CFO of Westell Technologies, Inc., a Nasdaq company which manufactures broadband and telecommunications equipment.

I hope you are well and enjoy what has been (and is today) fabulous weather in Chicago.

Take care,

Brian

Jonathan Washburn

BRUCE

My daughter Julia is a sophomore at NC State, and a member of the Sigma Kappa Sorority. Her boyfriend Will is an SAE, and Julia has really blossomed in the college and sorority experience. I think she is structuring college to last about six years. My other daughter Cameron is a senior at New Hanover High School, and will be enjoying the “Discover Davidson” weekend in October. She hopes to swim in college, through no fault of my own. I will be running for District Court Judge in New Hanover and Pender County, NC (known as District 5), and my campaign will begin with the filing period in February 2010. I am accepting advice on the qualities of humility, wisdom, patience and tolerance.

Thanks for your good work.

JONATHAN

Roy McCall

Greetings Bruce  Temperatures here in Saudi Arabia in June are reaching 110-120F.  Naturally  people prefer to venture out at night.  Two of our three daughters attend the local German school where a number of the  teachers come from former East Germany.    Recently I accompanied the kindergarten class on a visit to Prince Al Waleed on  the 66th floor of the Kingdom Tower (after a visit to a lookout on the 99th  floor).  He seemed to appreciate the childrens' song about the ducks and frogs,  and saved his kiss for the girl who asked to be his queen.  Sincerely Roy McCall

Graeme Thomson

Hi Bruce,

I have had a busy international travel year (by the end of November, I will have been out of the country 8 times this year). I should end the year with 60,000-70,000 miles on both US Air and American. The attached photo was taken in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, the driest desert in the world (0.2 inches a year). This trip included a visit to the Tatio Geysers at about 12,000-13,000 feet in the Andes (and 4 degrees F)On another trip, I was in Caracas, Venezuela, and to my horror, saw a poster announcing that Air Supply would be performing there the next month. It is bad enough that they were going to Caracas. Did someone have to promote it as well?

I continue to juggle travel and life as a 53 year old with the demands of having a just turned 4-year old son. We may be wiser at our age, but we certainly do not have the energy we had 20 years ago.

Graeme