1997 – Spring ’22 Class Letter
Greetings, Class of 1997!
Hello, Class of 1997,
I hope 2022 has started off well for all of you. I want to start this letter with the BEST NEWS. The College is moving forward with plans for an in-person Alumni Weekend this year! While I cannot believe this year marks 25 years since we graduated, and I am wondering where the time has gone, I am also looking forward to celebrating this milestone with all of you. Please mark your calendars for June 23-26, 2022. Plans are still coming together, so keep an eye on the Alumni Weekend webpage (ripon.edu/alumni-weekend/) for additional details as they become available and information on how to register. At this time, I can share that we have the following planned:
- 1851 Awards Dinner and Program on Friday, June 24, 5:15 p.m. We have two classmates who will be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame: MIKE MILBURN ’97 (tennis) and MIKE DIEDRICK ’97 (football). Congratulations to both of them for this accomplishment!
- Class boat cruise on Green Lake on Saturday, June 25, 2:30-4:30 p.m. The cruise departs from Green Lake Conference Center.
- Class dinner at Roadhouse Pizza on Saturday, June 25, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Dinner includes a buffet of hors d’oeuvres, pizza, beer, wine, and soda.
If you are interested in helping with additional planning, please let me know.
In other news, I am looking forward to interacting with you all during #OneDayRally on Wednesday, April 27. If you haven’t been part of it yet, jump in and engage via email, LinkedIn, Facebook, or whatever your favorite platform is to join in on the fun with the College. As a reminder, all gifts made to the College, whether on #OneDayRally or any time during this fiscal year, do count towards our special Class Gift that our class will present to the College during Alumni Weekend.
I frequently talk about how special our time at Ripon was and the benefits of an education at a small, liberal arts college. One of the greatest of those is connection to each other after all of these years. It is easy to stay connected to Ripon and to our class. Here are some suggestions:
Send any news or updates to your contact information to me anytime.
- Send any news or updates to your contact information to me anytime.
- Connect with our class on Facebook via the private group “Ripon College Class of 1997.”
- Attend one of our class’ virtual happy hours. They are held on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. CT. Link: ripon.zoom.us/j/98774717075.
- Subscribe to Ripon’s monthly eNewsletter. You may subscribe here: ripon.edu/alumni/monthly-newsletter/.
- Visit ripon.edu/news/ often to learn about what is happening at our Alma Mater.
- Go to class pages through alumni.ripon.edu/rconnections/ and see updates from alumni from around the world and from every class year.
Thank you for staying connected to Ripon and supporting our Alma Mater. I wish you and your families a wonderful year ahead, and I hope to see you in Ripon in June for our 25th Reunion!
Class Notes:
AMBER BERES ’97 of Indianapolis, Indiana, recently started a new job with Cyara as a Carrier Manager. Congratulations, AMBER!
AARON GOLDSTEIN ’97 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was the keynote speaker at the virtual community prayer ceremony and award presentation in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 17 held at Marian University in Fond du Lac.
BRITTON KAUFFMAN ’97 of Davis, Illinois, and his wife, Katie, will be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary this year. They have two children, Tyler (17) and Hannah (15). Tyler will be graduating this spring and plans to attend Middle Tennessee State University to study Secondary Education and join the ROTC program. Hannah is a sophomore and plays volleyball and softball and is about to get her driver’s license. This year marks BRITTON’s 21st year of teaching, and he continues to coach just about everything, from girls’ basketball to varsity baseball to football. In their spare time, he and his family enjoy boating and spending summers on the beach.
KRISTINE PETERSON ’97 of Madison, Wisconsin, is engaged to marry Jason Scott on November 26, 2022.
CAREY WITT-ROEBEN ’97 of Hannover, Germany, started a new role together with her partner helping internationals get settled in Germany. To add to our Instagram/Facebook presence, they launched a new website, www.expathelpsexpats.com in January 2022. CAREY also says, “If any of you come to Germany, please get in touch. We don’t have an alumni meeting (yet) in Hamburg.”
See you this summer at our 25th Reunion!
KRISTIN BAZZOLI PIOTROWSKI ’97
(414) 841-8577
Your 1997 Class Agent
