1997

Rep: Brenda Brown-Boime
4365 Margaret Circle
Minnetrista, MN 55364
Home Tel: 952.401.4533
Mobile Tel: 612.308.6478
bboime@yahoo.com

Steve and Ifen (Sung) Carlson continue to make life work in San Francisco. Steve joined Intuit and Ifen is entering her fourth year as an independent consultant, focused on market research. Weekends were spent in Lake Tahoe this winter with their two kids, Luke (9) and Devon (7), making the most of a tough ski season. On occasion, they get together with the "Bay Area crowd" from the class of '97. Both Ifen and Steve, as members of the reunion committee, enjoyed seeing everyone at reunion in April.

Andrew Appel has had a very exciting adventure since the last reunion. Andrew, living in Milwaukee with his wife Susan, daughter Julia (9) and his two dogs Lily and Elroy, left GE Healthcare and his corporate marketing career in 2009 to launch retail startup, Community Bark Dog Wash & Coffee Bar (communitybark.net). Basically, it's a place for dog owners to hang out with their pups, drink a latte and meet other dog lovers. They can wash their own pups or get them professionally groomed. The first store opened in September 2009 in Bayside, Wis., and it's been received well enough by the community, that No. 2 is planned to open about 30 minutes south in Bay View, Wis., this summer. Andrew has been super lucky to see two other Milwaukee '97ers: Barb Dorf and Stacey Watson, who brings her beautiful Mastiff to the Bark! He's enjoying the entrepreneurial ride, and was happy to see a lot of his classmates this spring!

Paul Fichter's company, Taphandles, was featured in an October Seattle Times article about the expansion of his company. Paul has a 450-employee factory in China that produces distinctive tap handles for breweries. He recently opened plants in Woodinville, Wash. and the Chicago area.