CLASS NOTES | SPRING 2024 | 67 events already planned. We have giveaways. We are just waiting for you to sign up and to show up. Registration opened in March. Let’s make this Reunion Weekend a memorable one. ’05 Jessi (Schimmel) McMullan, jessi.mcmullan@alum.lehigh. edu It had to be halfway through our girls’ first soccer season when I realized that I was coaching classmate Travis Cobb’s daughter! Connect one dot, and then we realized we have several friends in common in the area. And now, we see them around quite a bit. After graduation, Travis got his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University, then came back to Pennsylvania to do his residency in emergency medicine at St. Luke’s. He’s still working there today. He married Lindsey Ross in 2016, and together, they have Lauren (4) and Owen (3). Travis loves to fish and hike and can grow everything: trees of all kinds, flowers, fruits, veggies. In fact, he grew nearly 150 apple and pear trees near his family’s cabin in Henryville, Pa. He presses the fruit in a wooden press he built for their annual cider party. My son independently verifies the cider is very good! He is currently training for his next big hiking/camping trip to Mount Elbert in Colorado; at 14,440 feet, it is the highest summit in the Rocky Mountains of North America! Travis is still close with Chris Shages and Rob Moskowitz. ’06 Kevin Frost, Kevin.Frost@alum. lehigh.edu Hello, Class of 2006! November 2023 marked 20 years since a sunny and unseasonably warm Saturday where we enjoyed a comfortable victory over Lafayette at Goodman Stadium—or at least that’s what I remember. In some ways, it feels like yesterday, but in many more ways, it feels like forever ago! So, I did some research. Yes, we won comfortably, 30-10. And yes, it was unseasonably warm, with a high of 70 degrees. It was the football highlight of our four years on South Mountain. Some part of me has been chasing that memory ever since. I am lucky to be a part of a large Lehigh friend group that stays in regular contact to this day. Most of us met in Lower Cents in fall 2002 and ended up on Birkel Avenue by junior year. Aside from weddings, the reunion event that we can count on occurs every 24 months during the third weekend in November, when the game is at Lehigh. (Make a note: The game is back at Lehigh in 2024, then in Easton for 2025-26.) It’s an excuse to get together and spend a few hours in and around campus and visit some favorite spots. This year, our good friend Dennis Grady could not make the trip, so Chris Manahan FaceTimed him from (old) MacGrady’s so he could feel at home. During the Lehigh-Lafayette tailgate senior year (2005)—another sunny, nottoo-cold day—we came across a group of alums who brought a camper to tailgates and were, most notably, deep-frying a pheasant. (Mystery alum, if that was you, please email me!) I can’t say that I have much interest in eating pheasant, but since that day, hosting what we refer to as a “proper” tailgate with a camper and pheasant (or similar) has been a lifetime goal. But planning a proper tailgate would inevitably fall to me, and it is low on the priority list right now with a toddler at home. So, this year, we opted for the official alumni tailgate for the first time, and it was great! Among the friends at the official tailgate were two of my roommates. Fred Nytko moved to California several years ago with his wife, Danielle, after completing a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Maryland. Fred now works at the Clinton Health Access Initiative to reduce the cost of medicine and expand access around the world. He occasionally sends his flight information to me and James Kesilman so we can track him en route to some far-away location. (Tracking flights is something we all enjoy.) Several years ago, James and his wife, Erica Skola-Kesilman, decided that winters are better spent on a warm beach and moved to Florida. Tracking sand through the house is a big problem if you live on the beach, so James recently put his Lehigh engineering know-how to good use and built an outdoor shower (a.k.a. ODS). James also refuses to send me an official update, but because I talk to him most days, I know enough and can choose what to report! The ODS looks very nice. He’s also improving his golf game and getting his kids hooked on golf at an early age (smart). Erica started a somatic therapy practice for parents and kids and is aiming to revolutionize the mental health industry. You can follow her on Instagram. Erica works with clients from around the country and is always posting helpful information. Michael Mormak checked in to announce that he welcomed a third son, Thomas Mormak, in April 2023. Congratulations! Please continue to send updates. Email and LinkedIn both work. Until next time. ’07 Brian Roth, Lehighclassof2007 @gmail.com Mike Gioia and Ashley (Sauln) Gioia were delighted to welcome their second son, Antonio, this past August. He joins Rocco, who turned 2 this past July. I would also like to mention Robert Lemery and Robyn (Friedman) Tannenbaum were both featured in the most recent Lehigh Business magazine. Robert opened The River Arts District Brewing Company in Asheville, N.C., and Robyn was named president of AFC Gamma, an institutional lender for the cannabis market. Congratulations to them both. ’08 Olivier Lewis, olivier.lewis@alum. lehigh.edu The Class of 2008 has made the most of life and thus has lots of laughter, love and labor to announce, starting with a couple of reunions. This summer, Nikki (Schneider) Millman, Lauren (Rieders) Weiss, Lisa (Rosen) Rucker, Jackie Goldberg, Ariel (Weissman) Goldberg, Jeff Goldberg, Tyler (Lein) Adelson and Jordan Adelson spent a splendid pool day together with significant others and a bunch of kiddos. This fall, the D.C. chapter of the Lehigh alumni network watched the Lehigh-Lafayette game telecast from a venue in gorgeous Georgetown. Sarah McClutchy organized the wonderful event that reconnected over 30 alumni from several generations. The Class of 2008 also wedded and welcomed little darlings to their families. In December 2020, Nikki (Schneider) Millman welcomed Ryder Millman. Nikki is a partner at At Large Agency. Christie (Jephson) Nicas shares that, in April 2022, baby sister Charlotte joined her older brothers Connor and Casey. In January 2023, Christie joined Argano, a global business and technology services provider, as director of marketing. In May 2022, Brendan Caffrey and Evin exchanged
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