1988-Spring ’19 Class Letter
Class Agents:
David Jonas ’88
(202) 251- 9640/[email protected]
Kathy Wade ‘88
(248) 470-4336/[email protected]
Spring 2019
Greetings classmates from Kathy!
This past December, I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Carlsbad, California, away from the Wisconsin weather. While I was there, I hosted a Ripon Rally Hour! Seven people, not including me, attended the event. The attendees ranged in graduating classes from the early 1970s to 2018! It was a great group to talk to about one of my favorite topics, Ripon College! It always surprises me how much in common we all have!
Over the years, David and I have talked about giving back to the College by supporting the Ripon Fund, recently rebranded from the Annual Fund. One reason why supporting the Ripon Fund is so important is that it covers the costs to run the College for about 25-30% of the school year. Tuition itself covers 70-75% of the costs. Another reason why supporting the College is so important is grants and rankings are partly based on the participation level of Alumni in giving towards the Ripon Fund. For the Ripon’s fiscal year of 2017, our participation level was 18%. For our reunion year in 2018, it was 21%? Let’s try to increase our participation rate to over 30%. Donating money to the College is one way to participate. Another way is to host a Ripon Rally Hour in your town. The College is working on a program to help alumni host a Rally Hour in areas that are not close to campus. The College sent me all of the materials to host the Rally Hour. I picked the location and the College did the advertising. If you would like more information about hosting an event, contact Yvonne Nicklaus at [email protected].
Another way to give back is to attend Alumni Weekend, June 27-30, 2019. It is the Class of ’89’s reunion year. Besides the reunions of the 4s and 9s, (1984, 1989), the College has many all alumni events. If you haven’t been back to campus in a while, it is a great time to stop in! For more Alumni Weekend details, please visit https://www.ripon.edu/alumni-weekend/.
Class Notes:
MARK BALADAD ’88 of Chicago, Illinois was recently hired as a General Manager at Glenview Tennis Club.
BARB BLAHNIK ’88 shared: 2018 was a year of downsizing and simplifying for me. I sold the house, the snow shovels and the lawnmower and now enjoy condo living on the Fox River in downtown Green Bay. Celebrating 26 years with the Farm Credit System as a Regional Operations Coordinator as it continues to check the box of working with and serving rural America and its hard working families. I have two grown children, three grandchildren and three grand dogs that fill my down time with family adventures. My best to all my Ripon family and friends.
KRIS DIEMER HAWLEY ’88 and FREDERIC “JAMIE” HAWLEY ’88 wrote: Our daughter RACHEL HAWLEY ’19 was accepted into UW Madison School of Pharmacy. She graduates from Ripon in May with a degree in Chemistry/Biology and will start at UW Madison in the fall. Our daughter Rylie Hawley will graduate from Toni&Guy Hairdressing Academy in April and will be licensed in Massachusetts.
CAROL SHAY HORNUNG ’88 shared: The biggest update for me is the publication of my second novel, “The Ghost of Heffron College.” (under the name Carol Shay Hornung) Sharp Ripon grads might find a few references to their alma mater within the pages.
JULIE SIKKINK ’88 wrote: My husband, Daniel Lee, and I became grandparents on January 10th when our grandson, Reece Martin Lee Wahle, was born in Marshall, Minnesota. His mother, CHARLOTTE LEE WAHLE ’13 and his dad, Marty Wahle, met at Ripon when they both worked on staff there (Charlotte in admissions and Marty as the swim coach). A future Red Hawk?!
SCOTT WARMKA ’88 writes, “I’m still a little in shock. Twins Win! And no 9th inning closer drama.”
In Closing
As always, David and I love to hear from you! If you have news to share, please email us, text us, Facebook message us, or call us! Hope you all have a fabulous spring and summer!
Kathy, David