09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College
09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College
09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College
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ALUMNI NEWS<br />
Leslie Saunders ’97: It’s a small thing, really,<br />
but I think about it a lot: When I was at FC, it<br />
was common to see Gardner Ashley, retired<br />
French professor, wearing his beret and sitting<br />
on a campus bench in good weather, or eating<br />
at Saga or setting up an easel somewhere,<br />
painting. I had no idea at that point how old<br />
he was or how long he’d been retired or even,<br />
frankly, what he had taught. I just remember<br />
wondering how much you have to love the<br />
place you worked to want to spend your<br />
retirement there, sitting in the sun, painting a<br />
scene you’d probably painted a dozen times<br />
before. I’ve yet to work anyplace that would<br />
inspire that kind of loyalty, but I can see why<br />
FC would.<br />
Douglas Black ’99: I remember Grizzly Grand<br />
Prix, senior year. The SAEs had four men<br />
capable of competing in the Tour de France.<br />
Unfortunately, we KDRs had a couple of<br />
“Average Joe” cyclists. We still managed a<br />
respectable second-place finish. If we’d only<br />
trained a little harder . . .<br />
Rick Etienne ’99: One of my favorite memories<br />
happened during football practice in the<br />
mid-’90s. Benji Betts ’99 was warming up,<br />
doing drop-backs with the quarterbacks<br />
when one of the managers ran into him with<br />
a golf cart. After we saw he was hardly injured,<br />
we all had a good laugh. The image of him<br />
getting hit is still stuck in my head more than<br />
a decade later.<br />
Melissa (Goebel) Morris ’99: I remember<br />
setting the alarm on Sundays so we wouldn’t<br />
miss brunch. We’d go to eat biscuits and<br />
gravy and somehow end up hanging out for<br />
an hour in Saga. Then, we’d go back to our<br />
rooms and try to study before something<br />
more fun distracted us.<br />
Elisabet (Somer) Murray ’99: Being selected<br />
for an accounting internship with the Johnson<br />
& Johnson subsidiary in Switzerland is one<br />
of my best memories. I spent six great weeks<br />
there and traveled on the weekends to<br />
surrounding countries.<br />
Tiffany Wilson ’99: A spring break trip to<br />
Israel in 1997 and a Winter Term trip to<br />
Greece in Winter Term 1998 are some of my<br />
favorite memories. Those trips sparked my<br />
love for travel, and I have now visited a total<br />
of 15 countries and 46 states! But nothing will<br />
ever compare to hiking in the Judean desert,<br />
being baptized in the Jordan River, hiking up<br />
to the Parthenon and eating real baklava<br />
and gyros. Thank you, Dr. Cain, for being<br />
our tour guide during both trips — they<br />
were both awesome experiences I will<br />
treasure always.<br />
’00s<br />
Michelle (Singer) Bloomer ’00: During Winter<br />
Term in <strong>20</strong>00, I took the “Walking Tour of<br />
London” course, led by professor Doreen<br />
St. Clair. We had an unbelievable experience.<br />
We researched the history of the city, created<br />
a project and presented our findings in the<br />
weeks leading up to the trip. From riding on<br />
the tube and watching famous musicals to<br />
taking tours and visiting massive cathedrals,<br />
it was a memorable adventure.<br />
Heather Meek ’01: During my sophomore<br />
year (98-99), we literally lived through the<br />
Elsey Hall renovation. My roommate had<br />
strategically chosen a room for us at the front<br />
of the building so we could have the best view<br />
of a certain fraternity’s legendary, late-night<br />
human-pyramids on the lawn. Little did we<br />
know at the time, the new addition would be<br />
built right in front of our windows! It was<br />
an adventure though, halls, and, more<br />
crucially, bathrooms were closed; and noisy<br />
construction workers were never further<br />
than a few feet from our room. Somehow<br />
in all the chaos, those of us sandwiched in<br />
Elsey-2-middle bonded closely together.<br />
Mike Hutsell ’01: My favorite memory would<br />
have to be my time served as sports editor of<br />
The <strong>Franklin</strong> and my time broadcasting games<br />
on WFCI. While I was there, we were able to<br />
cover the men’s basketball team in the<br />
Division III national tournament twice,<br />
including a road trip with some cohorts to<br />
Grand Rapids, Mich., where the Grizzlies lost<br />
an overtime classic against Calvin <strong>College</strong>. I<br />
was also given the chance to write a column<br />
in the paper that allowed me to have my own<br />
voice heard on a weekly basis, giving my<br />
already inflated ego a little bit of a boost<br />
every week. The time I spent on both of<br />
those endeavors only reiterated that journalism<br />
was what I wanted to do for a career.<br />
Eric J. Woodke ’02: I had the opportunity to<br />
be a part of Lance Marshall’s first four years as<br />
head baseball coach of the Grizzlies. Our first<br />
year, 1998, was very memorable, but one we<br />
would like to forget as the wins were few and<br />
far between. In spite of the rough beginning<br />
to his era, in five years coach Marshall took<br />
the team to a school record with 32 victories<br />
and the first HCAC crown. I will never forget<br />
washing uniforms in Atlanta, Ga., not having<br />
a field, pumping water for 10 hours, coach<br />
Marshall going nose to nose with former<br />
Hanover baseball coach Dick Nailer and<br />
having to shave before I could take the<br />
mound. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always<br />
fun. I would like to thank coach Marshall and<br />
his wife, Jaime, all the former players for their<br />
support, the current players for their passion<br />
and especially the guys from 1998 to <strong>20</strong>01<br />
who had a part in laying the foundation for<br />
this great program. Coach Marshall is truly a<br />
leader in action who inspires, innovates and<br />
shapes the world.<br />
Jill (Rateike) Curry ’03: One of my most<br />
memorable experiences happened during a<br />
Winter Term class in Mexico. Daneen (Butler)<br />
Larrison ’03 and I were living with a host<br />
family during our culture and language<br />
immersion course. We were home alone one<br />
afternoon, and the world started shaking.<br />
Daneen quickly jumped to the ground<br />
near a bed to protect herself while I simply<br />
sat in disbelief. The earthquake was a new<br />
experience for both of us. Following the<br />
quake, we walked with wide eyes outside to<br />
the neighborhood courtyard where all the<br />
neighbors reassured us but cautioned us of<br />
aftershocks. Daneen and I, in our broken<br />
Spanish, felt better talking to the local<br />
experts. To this day we laugh and remember<br />
our earthquake experience. Next time, maybe<br />
we will both react better and stand under a<br />
door frame.<br />
Jessica Dunham ’04: The day I met my<br />
“bestest” friend, LaCinda (Bray) Stephens ’04,<br />
is my favorite memory. I was visiting my<br />
boyfriend when I met LaCinda, who had gone<br />
with him on a Winter Term trip. She was a<br />
huge fan of the Mooresville Spotlighters,<br />
which I had been a member of in high school.<br />
She showed up at my boyfriend’s room one<br />
night to meet me, and she acted like I was a<br />
big celebrity. Within a year, we became Delta<br />
Gamma sisters and best friends, and we have<br />
been ever since.<br />
Erika (Thomas) Peggs ’04: I remember all<br />
the good times we had on soccer team road<br />
trips and at practices. I also remember fun<br />
times hanging out in our dorm rooms and<br />
at Jefferson Street Lounge.<br />
54 FRANKLIN REPORTER WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU