We’ve had requests from several of you for email addresses of the people who attended the Reunion.  Due to privacy issues, it’ll probably be hard to get the email list, but we’re trying

In the meantime, the best way to stay in touch with everyone is via Facebook.   What started out as Garrett Hunter and myself, now includes about 50 alums — and about half of those didn’t attend the Reunion, in case you didn’t see an old friend. When you’re new, it takes a little getting used to but it’s a lot of fun — and more of your friends are using it than you think.

I’ve also created a group there for our class.

K.I.T. Have a good decade…

Your pal,
-Dan

Reunion committee: Anna Tunino, Kim Egerstrom, Dan Wool, Juan Alva

Man, is it Friday already? It has taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things and finally grab a few moments to recap the reunion. (This is code for “I had to wait for my wife to show me how to get the pictures off the digital camera”. I know…blog guy can’t use technology…ha ha).

Importantly, I’d also like to invite everyone to comment on this post below or contribute their thoughts and photos from the event. I don’t have any illusions that this blog will last forever but it would be nice to hear what everyone thought and see different pics — and especially, to share with those alums who weren’t able to make it to the big event.

First of all, it was a lot of fun! Dare I say, I had the time of my life and I owe it all to you? Of course not. That would be cheesy.

BUT…we did have over 100 Eagle ’88s (and about half of those brought their spouses) at Maggiano’s Woodland Hills on Saturday night and it was a blast! (I was out of town Friday night but hopefully, someone will jump on to recap the football game and Sagebrush get-together — judging from the number of hangovers, it was also a successful event).

Doug Marconet

First of all, it was truly great to see everyone. And everyone looks great! Some of you look downright hot — and it was never who you thought it would be. (Yes you, Doug Marconet, you sexy beast). But somehow, everyone looks the same, too. Does that make sense?

Anyone else get a little anxious heading into the restaurant? That was weird. For me especially. I mean, I’ve heard from many of you through the blog/Facebook. And, I knew my old friends would be there. And, I knew that “back in the day” there was almost always respect for one another. But somehow, when I got out of the car…butterflies. Then, I got a big hug from Laurie (Lewis) Walden . Sean Warner stopped to say hello and it was off on a whirlwind stream of reminiscing, one person and 3-5 minutes at a time.

As Doug mentioned in his toast, many of us went to Chami for six years and given the mix of classes, I can recall having different sets of good friends most of those years. And I think that’s true of everyone. Even when it was a quick laugh, handshake or hug as people shuffled off to the bar or buffet, there was a sense everyone was excited and grateful to be in the room.

Joe Norton, Chris Coyle, Erika Dill

For the record, everyone is doing interesting things. Some highlights:

Suzanne Bernel created an alternative circus show where she eats fire and hangs upside down on ropes.

When he’s not flying jumbo jets, Trevor Slavick is giving soccer balls to kids in poor villages around the globe.

Cathy Woillard is a child services detective.

I think about six different alums have twins.

Several — like Diana Friese, Joe Norton and Leigh (Kennedy) Bague — are teachers

Many traveled far to be there: Lisa Webb came all the way from New Hampshire; Carrie (Proffer) Holt and Laurie from NYC; Andy Pierce from Atlanta; Alex Rigolizzo from Philly, Rob Rosemont and Ann (Lewin) Scanlon from Seattle; Erika Dill from Nashville, Nicol (Giangrasso) Coliccio from Colorado and many others I’m not remembering.

My favorite is that Chris Young, the guy who drove a hearse in high school, is now a medical examiner in Portland!

Tanya Mallean & Andy Pierce

Stephen Marshall and Steve Rivers

Again, if you get a moment, please comment below to fill in more details of the evening or better yet, send in a personal blog post and photos.

Moreover, please send a huge thank you to Anna Tulino and Kim Egerstrom as well as Lindsey Katz at Chaminade who did a ton of work to pull together the events.

I haved LOVED reading about what everyone has been doing since we left Chami in ‘88! I know that this probably won’t be posted or seen until after the reunion, but I figure better late than never. Plus, I won’t be able to be at the reunion so I wanted to share and see if anyone says ‘hello’!

After leaving Chami, I went to CSUN and had a little too much fun my first (and only) year and then took some time off school to figure out what I really wanted to do. Working full time without a degree WAS NOT it!!! I then went to Pierce and transferred to San Diego State where I learned I could balance fun and school work (who knew????) and was on the Deans List the whole time there (no one could believe it after my CSUN performance!). I even graduated!!!!

I was accepted into a PHD program for clinical psychology and after a lot of thought and many reasons, I decided not to pursue that road. I began a job in Del Mar working with a commercial real estate company and found that very exciting and challenging. I miss the field of psychology, but have never regretted my decision. In all this, I met my husband, who became a police officer for San Diego (if you live here or are visiting, don’t worry, he hates giving tickets!!!) We were married in 1999 in San Diego – several Chami’s were there – Evelyn Jerome, Julia McDonald and Jason Huber.

We bought our first house in 2000 in Temecula and did the commuting thing until our first son, Trevor, was born. Alex followed 1 year and 2 weeks later. They are now 5 and 4 and I have been home with them full time and love being involved with them. The boys and I are doing Tae Kwon Do and having such a blast! That is me (bottom row, 2nd from the right) with my son, Trevor, and husband on my right with my other son, Alex. I enjoy doing races (5K’s etc) and as a family this Thanksgiving we are making a ‘Turkey Trot’ one of our traditions. I am also training for a 1/2 marathon this January or April, whichever one my knee will cooperate for!

Some of my favorite memories from Chaminade were the retreats and the friends I made there. I hear so many people now say how they hated high school or didn’t have any good friends there and I feel so fortunate that Chaminade was such an amazing experience. Looking back I can sooooooo appreciate how close we were as a class. I still stay in touch with Evelyn Jerome, Julia McDonald, Julie Nelson and have recently reconnected with Jason Huber. Through the blogs I have also started e-mailing Jenny Fearing. I have such great memories of so many from our class, even though I haven’t spoken to many in a long time.

I would love to hear from anyone – mskb30@hotmail.com. I am bummed I will not be there this weekend, but I look forward to hearing all about it. Thanks everyone for sharing what has gone on in your lives!

Yee-Haw, Eagles! Just kidding. Not really, ‘cause I’m living in Nashville, TN now. I’m a singer/songwriter/coffeehouse owner. How about them apples? No, I’m not a Southern Belle. You can take the chick out of Cali, but you can’t take the Cali out of the chick. They don’t say “chick” here either. They’ll look at you funny.

So, I WILL overshare, but I care not. If you didn’t either, you wouldn’t still be reading this. After all, I AM an artist and MUST express myself, and this is what BLOGGERS do. I mean, aren’t you jones’n’ for more “catching up” anyway? I know you check this site several times a day for new juicy updates. I always need more information until my mind is satisfied. Isn’t that why they made a “Sex and the City” movie? Ok so I wasted another paragraph.

Some of you may remember that I’ve always loved singing (and cooking) but felt like (or had it ingrained in me while attending a college prep school) that those were fun things you did on the side of a “real job.” Suffice it to say I spent way too many years doing way too many things and “real jobs” that just weren’t for me, fearful of pursuing my dreams amid living as a starving artist. I wanted to have things, like a home, etc and was intent on earning it – and did! Deep down though, I became increasingly miserable working hard at jobs that I didn’t enjoy, in order to earn things that I wasn’t able to enjoy because I was working too hard at the darn job I hated! If this sounds familiar to you, you might want to make some changes before your cry.

So anyway! You know that starving artist part I was afraid of? Well ta-daaaa! Not only am I a starving artist now, I have also added a husband, two children and a business to the equation! All I can say is my drive to express my artistry has only gotten stronger as the years have passed and the harder I tried to squash it away. (Come to think of it, I think my senior quote alludes to this. Wow, what interesting foreshadowing. Our 10th grade American Lit teacher would be proud. What was her name? Ms….she got the sapphire ring from her fiancé.)

So while the rest of you guys have made amazing strides in your personal and professional lives, I have only just begun on a path that is right for me!. My husband, Rich (“It’s not just a name, it’s a goal”) and I have been living here in Franklin, TN, a suburb just south of Nashville, just over 4 years. Matthew is 4 ½ and Sarah Brooke just turned 2. They are rad little people! Our coffee company is called The Frisky Berry Coffee Co. and we have been open a little over a year. I make all the goodies, including some chocolate truffles that I wish I could bring to share with you!

This economy is totally not okay for an upstart business, much less a coffee business.

I am the lead singer in a cover band and Rich plays bass. We play country, rock and anything else we desire. I never knew I had songwriting in me until I tried it. I guess I have lots of gut-wrenching stuff to write about. We will incorporate our originals when they are recorded and ready.

Oh. Besides Dave Morrison, my favorite things from high school were doing all the plays, cheerleading, J2(squared)TECS and really, my entire high school experience. Some of the best times of my life (so far)….As you can tell I have been too involved in myself and subsequent soul searching to have kept in touch with anyone from high school. Sorry, I totally suck. But recently Traci Sunderland, my li’l chickie, made contact with me. She’s rad. I can’t wait to see you all!

P.S. I’m still totally pissed off that Mr. Fennell didn’t give me a better part in our senior musical for wearing that damn bikini in the Fall Play! And Dan, you were such a gentleman!

http://www.myspace.com/erikadill

Here are the details!

Friday Night — Football Game 7:30

We will have space roped off for ‘88 alums at the game. Facing the field go all the way down to the left, past the band.

Best bet for parking is at West Hills Hospital – regular shuttle busses from there to Chaminade. Remember…(1) they have an actual stadium now (I saw it from the plane today!) and (2) they replaced the “dust bowl” with classrooms … I know – what’s up with that!

Sagebrush Cantina afterward for informal…um…whatever usually goes on at Sagebrush. Map here.

Saturday –11 am Campus Tours

At Chaminade – you remember how to get there right?

Saturday Night

Maggianos! Map here.

6:30 – 7pm

7-8 Appetizers

8pm –Sit down dinner

11pm — Head over to The Rack where we have a room and rented 2 pool tables.

See you there!!

Dan, Anna, Kim, Juan

Hey there fellow Chami’s

Wow – Doug Marconet is a tough act to follow – Doug were you that funny in high school or is there some correlation between loss of hair and self-deprecating wit!?

First of all, 20 years went by really really frickin’ quick! I don’t feel like I’m staring 40 like a double barreled shot gun….how did this happen?

Ok – here goes my own attempt at not “over sharing”…

As far as career goes I have been a freelance artist for the past 15 years – photography, studio art, and performance thru circus arts – yes it’s true – I ran away and joined the circus……I run a dark circus troupe here in LA – Cirque Berzerk – I’m the founder, artistic director, and a performer and I perform in a band called Mutaytor . I’m an aerial acrobat, dancer and I eat fire as well….I love my career – it’s so much fun! I get to travel as well – got to perform in Hong Kong over the Holidays – weird place to spend Christmas! I still get behind the camera but the circus and band have both really taken off – so I’m riding that wave while I can still swing my soon to be middle aged ass 40 feet in the air. I have to admit – my life turned out to be pretty awesome – I really can’t complain.

I got hitched a little over a year ago to a great guy! He proposed to me Johnny Cash style on stage in front of 1,000 people – how could I say no to that!? We were married under our big top and it was the most beautiful wedding ever! My dad & I brought the house down with our father/daughter dance – a choreographed tap duet. My hubby is an editor for film & television and he also runs the circus with me and writes all the music for Cirque Berzerk and plays drums in Mutaytor – we don’t have a ton of free time (insert the obvious – no kids yet) but when we get a break we love to travel. Since our wedding last year we’ve been to Bali, Tokyo, Africa, & Hong Kong. We love to scuba dive together and I also love to zoom around on fast motorcycles, hoping I can convince him to get one. I kept my last name so if anyone wants to reach me it’s still Bernel.

While I spent most of my time after high school in San Francisco – I also lived in Santa Barbara (grad school) and a little time in NY (‘cuz I thought as an artist I had to live in NY?) and as of 8 years ago – moved back to LA (swore it would never happen and it did!) My hubby and I live in downtown LA and I think we’ll be here for a while.

I’m really excited to see where everyone has gone to over the past 20 years to see photos of everyone’s kids and lives, hear everyone’s experiences, and reconnect. I am just picturing the reunion as a big sea of i-phone photo swapping.– I think my best times at Chaminade were in the theatre department and the random nights of ice blocking at Chase park – and does anyone remember broom ball at the ice rink – fueled by young stupidity and bad wine coolers!

I still see Tanya Mallean (who is looking smokin’ hot these days – watch out fellas), Jen Gregory and Leigh Kennedy and once in a while I get to see Jill Durham and Kelly Fleury. Sorry I can’t keep track of the married names…..

Can’t wait to see all of your faces this weekend! Sorry I sent my RSVP thing in so late; but– come on I was voted tardy queen in our senior year – what did you expect!?

Suzanne Bernel

Marit (Cropsy) Miller left a couple comments on previous posts about what she’s up to these days. Thought I’d bring ‘em up top to share:

Hello Noelle. I hope you remember me. Since high school, I received my degree in psychology @ Sonoma state, then move to AZ. I have been mrried since 1994, and have two kids-Sarah, almost 12, and Alex, almost 9. I work at their school as a special educ. aide, and Scott works as a home remodeling and building salesman. We are also foster parents to a sibling set of three. You can e-mail or call (520)456-4808. Would love to hear from you and the rest of the gang. Marit

Hey there from St. Martins & Chami. You probably don’t remember me- I hung with Robin Melnyk, and then Cathy Woillard in high school. I live not too far from where you used to- Sierra Vista, AZ. I have been married for almost 15 years and have two kids-Sarah, almost 12, and Alex, almost 9. We also have 3 foster kids, for now, and a dog, Sophie. I work at my kids school as a Special educ. aide, and my husband works for a remodeling company. We are not able to go to the reunion for monetary reasons, and just too many kids. Good to see your blog. You can e-mail me at smiller166@cox.net. Marit Miller

1. What were some of your highlights/activities while at Chaminade?

Lots of great memories. Best memory is playing football my senior year. Is it a surprise that the best year in Chaminade football history was the one year that I played? It must have been the outstanding job that I did on special teams. Did I also mention that I scored a touchdown in a game? If memory serves, I believe that we were up 50 to nothing and we were on the 1 yard line and I closed my eyes and fell into the end zone (I make it sound a little better for my kids). Mrs. Kavulich actually had a t-shirt made up for me that read “I scored a touchdown on October 16th 1987”. I’ll bet I still have that somewhere…..I also had a great time playing tennis all 4 years – Lynn our tennis coach must have hated Rick and me because we could never stop laughing while we were playing doubles.

2. What are some of your highlights since high school?

I had my 11th anniversary with my wife Nikki in August. We have 3 great kids – Sydney 10, Brandon 9 and Connor 8. I’ve been with the same company for 16 years now (1st job out of college). On another note, I got really fat and I am balding (picture a pale Ivory D in Wisconsin). I have lost 60 lbs but the hair is pretty much done. I’m thinking I might have a few strands left for the reunion.

3. Where did you go to college? What did you study?

I went to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. I studied business with an emphasis in Marketing. I loved going to school there and the climate was perfect (80’s in the summer and the winter was either snowing a foot or 40’s and sunny). I would have stayed in Flagstaff but the only employment is on campus or a career hugging trees.

4. Where do you live and what are you generally doing these days?

I live in Delafield, Wisconsin (Western suburb of Milwaukee). I’ve lived here for nearly 16 years. I have a lot of family nearby. Most of my time away from work is at the kids sporting events. It seems like they’re active in all of the sports. We also love to go boating and golf as a family.

5. Are you married? If so, how long? Spouse’s name?

Nikki is from Northern Maine (7 hours north of Portland, Maine). Talk about different cultures. She grew up in a town with 125 residents with the next closest town 45 minutes away. Just as a side note, the students from northern Maine used to take a break from school (this was mandatory – in the middle of the school year) to pick potatoes for 3 weeks (maybe we should have taken off 3 weeks to clean graffiti in the middle of the school year). I think meeting in the middle (WI) has been perfect for us.

6. Are you still in touch with anyone from our class? Or have you run into anyone over the years? If so, who?

Rick Koff, Matt Terzian and Doug Kavulich. I have also touched based with Rob Wiley, Tim Lavin and Tanya Mallean.

7. What are some of your your best memories from our Chaminade days?

Sports and Friends. When I describe my high school to people I always tell them that it’s the people and the families that make up the school and I think we were lucky to have an abundance of both.

8. What are you looking forward to the most about the Reunion?

Just simply catching up with old friends – I’d love to see some of the St Martin’s alum as well (there were a lot of us). My e-mail address is sring1@wi.rr.com

If you’d like to send in some photos for the Reunion, please contact Shelli (Stevenson) Giraldo. You can email her at: giraldos@socal.rr.com and she’ll send you the mailing address.

If you have scanned photos, be sure to email some to the blog as well to share with everyone.

We’re less than two weeks out!

If you are planning on coming to the Reunion — we need to know by Friday, October 10. We’ve got restaurants and vendors to pay so please send in your response.

The quickest way is to fax or email Lindsey Katz in Chaminade Alumni relations: fax: (818) 363-8491 email: lkatz@chaminade.org

You can also mail it in to her:

Chaminade College Preparatory
Attn: Lindsey Katz, Alumni Relations
10210 Oakdale Ave.
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Also, please email Anna (Suarez) Tulino to let her know, so she can make you a nametag.

Thanks – we’re getting excited to see everyone!

-Anna, Dan, Kim, & Juan