Class Notes

It’s always nice to run into classmates, especially someone you might not have seen since graduation, and you never know where it might happen. Last summer I reconnected with Christen Mansaniello Bensten at our community pool, and it turns out she and husband Brent Bentsen live fewer than five minutes from me. Together they have children Greta, 4, Fiona, 2, and Reid, 1. This spring I was able to meet up with friends Lauren Rizzi Crawford, Mel Sirois, Liz Keaney Crimmins, and Susan Wolf. All were doing well and living in the Washington, D.C./ Maryland/Virginia area. Susan, who lives in Gainesville, Va., spent the summer competing in local shows with her horse, Fancy. The busy factor at my home is about to go up a notch, as my husband, Chris Sicuranza ’98, and I are expecting our second child in February. Big sister-to-be Gabriela will turn 2 in January.

Jason Vickers splits his time between New York and L.A. He has worked for actress Renée Zellweger for almost five years and was gearing up for future projects. Jason went to Milan in May for work, then traveled to Brussels to visit his sister, a modern dancer at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios school, then visited Paris. Jason keeps up his tennis game and, at the end of last year, threw a going-away party with Mary Washington classmates for Kelley Gallagher Austen ’99, who was moving to Zimbabwe, Africa, with her husband and two children. In February, he enjoyed a get-together in New York with Ryan Wellner, Kari Lee, and other friends and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., to visit Jyoti Schlesinger.

Henry B. Odom IV and Michelle Joy Lambiasi Sutphin created a UMW scholarship for first-generation college students, and they need your help. They were halfway to their goal of collecting $20,000 by 2013. Donate at www.umw.edu/ gift/make_a_gift. Click “giving options,” then “give online,” and type “Odom-Lambiasi Scholarship” in the “Other Gift Designation” field.

Susie Jackson Bull and husband Josh of New York City welcomed son Owen in May, and Susie quit her job to be home with Owen and big sister Penny, 4. Eve Sledjeski teaches psychology at New Jersey’s Rowan University and continues home renovation projects. Son Lucius started kindergarten in the fall, and little sister Alice, 2, keeps everyone entertained. Eve attended the 2011 Eastern Psychological Association conference in Cambridge, Mass., where she met Blake Mitchell to sightsee and share a pint of beer. Blake continues to live outside Boston and work for the Army conducting human factors assessments of individual clothing and equipment, such as body armor, chem-bio protective equipment, electronics, tents, etc.

Ellen Perry Clark of Fairfax, Va., a meeting planner for a trade association in Ballston, married Josh Clark in November 2009, and they were expecting their first child, a girl, in September. Ellen’s sister, Suzanne Perry Wallis ’03, was matron of honor, and Dax Terrill, Matt Hollerieth, Emilie Marchese Gunn, and James Mirabello attended. Ryan Lynch, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with wife Jennifer, is a senior policy adviser and advocate for a sustainable transportation and environmental nonprofit. Olivia Synnott Landry and her husband own and operate Jordan Springs Market, a country store in Stephenson, Va., where they sell their own grass-fed beef and specialize in barbecue. Son Nolan will turn 2 in April.

Mariah Butler Vogelgesang had a college house roommate reunion in Newport, R.I., in June and moved to Avon Lake, Ohio, with her family the following month. Kristin Degraff of Orlando planned to compete in a Labor Day weekend half-marathon at Disneyland and volunteers in sports event management. Rachel Silbaugh Norman finished her first marathon this year and drove from New Jersey to Virginia to visit me last spring. She and husband Sean were expecting a baby boy in October, and daughter Lily will turn 3 in December. Jackie Herr Kha, a medical technician at a Pennsylvania hospital, and her husband, Noy, have a son, Bishop, 4, and a daughter, Felicity, 3.

Shawna Shepherd recently left CNN’s White House unit to join the political unit covering the 2012 presidential race. She was to live in South Carolina for a few months and be an all-platform journalist, shooting, writing, and reporting on and off air. Shawna got married in October, and Beth Summers ’01 was in her bridal party. Jim Reagan received his doctorate in education from the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J., and is assistant principal at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains. He and wife Nicole have son James III, 3.