1995

As promised, we have news on tap dancing, a wedding and so much more.

A passionate ballroom and tap dancer, Bradford Backus won the top prize at the London Entrepreneurs Challenge 2007, one of the United Kingdoms most prestigious competitions for budding entrepreneurs. He won for his plan to start a new business that will produce one of the worlds most portable speakers with high-quality sound output. The speaker, called Boomcube, will be marketed nationally as well as to dance groups across the United States and United Kingdom. For its size, the Boomcube produces better quality sound than anything currently on the market and connects to any sound output. The prize money will enable Bradford to file for patent protection, develop the system and build a Web storefront. Additionally, he hopes to give back to the dance community by using some of the sales proceeds to sponsor dancers, choreographers and dance-related events.

And the wedding: Rory (Goode) Robinson married Terrance Robinson in Montana in a small family ceremony in late December. Rory and Terrance reside in Las Vegas, where Rory practices real estate, finance, securities, and business transactions law with Rice Silbey bey Reuther & Sullivan.

Wendy (Jastremski) Smith had a lot to report. She and her husband, Steve, and their nearly 2-year-old son Luke have been living in Glastonbury, Connecticut, for close to two years. Wendy is working part-time from home and enjoying raising her son. In other baby news Abbey (Neisius) Ahearn and her husband, Fallon, had a baby girl on December 22. Abbey, Fallon and Nora Margaret live in Dallas. And Cynthia Kelmenson and her husband, Steve, recently celebrated their daughter Zoe's first birthday. Cynthia, an ER physician, and her family live in Golden, Colorado. Also in the Denver area are Sonny Allison and his wife, Virginia, who had their second son Luke last August.

Scott Meacham also had quite a bit of news. He and his wife, Sarah (a Smith '95), had a daughter named Camden Anne in April 2007. When Scott initially wrote about Camden, she was "nearly able to stand up, and her crawling [had] finally made her a danger to the cats." Scott, an attorney, updated me recently that Camden just celebrated her first birthday and that the whole family is moving from Charlottesville to Richmond, Virginia, in early May. This is a busy summer for Scott, as his book Dartmouth College: The Campus Guide is being published soon by the Princeton Architectural Press.

Dan Glazer had an update to Kenneth Gordons December news. Dan and Kenneth spoke at the University of Connecticut School of Law in November about careers in sports law. (Kenneth is in-house counsel at ESPN in Connecticut and Dan is counsel at Shearman & Sterling in New York, specializing in intellectual property and sports law.) The pair was also scheduled to speak at Vanderbilt in early April. If anyone is in doubt about the importance of keeping up with classmates, it might help to know that Kenneth and Dan lived across the hall from each other freshman year.

Finally, Thomas Marlowe, M.D., one of the pioneers in nonsurgical bariatric medicine, founded an institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Marlowe's Weight Loss Institute offers patients advanced bariatric medicine (weight loss treatment) in a soothing, spa-like environment.

Congratulations to everyone on their exciting news! Please keep it coming and next time I'll tell you which '95 has been appointed the executive director of a northwestern state's bicycle racing association.

8106 Pampas Cove, Austin, TX 78750; alexmareiniss@yahoo.com