Page 73 - ACTL Journal Win24

JASON R. VENDSEL, Minot, North Dakota, is not proud of much, he says, though he is pretty proud of snow skiing. “I still regularly boot pack (hike with my skis on my back) to descend relatively prodigious terrain. Oftentimes, the descent is in excess of a 50% slope. I am NOT looking forward to the day that my kids can outski me.” [Wait . . . Jason has kids, but the only thing he’s proud of is skiing? Oooh, sorry, kids . . . ]
THOMAS B. VERTITAS, Tacoma, Washington, was born in the same hospital in Pequannock, New Jersey as Derek Jeter. Derek went on to win five World Series, five Golden Gloves, fourteen All-Star selections, Rookie of the Year and World Series MVP, while Tom went on. When Tom’s oldest child was diagnosed with autism, Tom and Jennifer started a school for children with autism; they have been steadfast supporters of autism research and educational and vocational oppor- tunities for disabled young adults.
BRYAN WALDMAN, Lansing, Michigan, became bored with the law in his forties and decided to pursue a new challenge, racing bicycles. In 2003, he did well enough to qualify for the UCI Cyclocross World Championship, though not well enough to impress his mother. He finished 64th in his age group. His mother asked, “Out of how many?” Bryan replied, “238 million” (the estimated world population for men 45-49). “Really?” “How many 45-year-old men race bicycles?”[Good cross, Mom – you should have been the lawyer.] Bryan no longer races.
RACHEL G. WEBRE, New Orleans, Louisiana, has never missed a Mardi Gras and has only missed three years of Jazzfest in her entire life (law school). She was a founding member of one of the largest all female Mardi Gras krewes, the Krewe of Muses. She spends far too much time every year planning costumes for Fat Tuesday. Her close group of twenty friends have appeared as Little Bo Peep and her Sheep, Saturday Night Live characters, Alice in Wonderland, crawfish in a boil, Richard Simmons, runaway brides, Troll dolls, brass band musicians, pirates and USA Olympians, just to name a few.
DAVID W. WHITTINGTON, Summerville, South Carolina, played college soccer, first at the University of South Carolina, and then at the College of Charleston, where he was the starting goalkeeper and where he met his wife Lisa.
ROBERT B. WORLEY, JR., New Orleans, Louisiana, attended the University of Kentucky on a tennis scholarship and remains active in tennis, having served at the state, sectional and national levels of governing bodies. Bob served as president of the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity affili- ate when Hurricane Katrina left eighty percent of the city underwater. They built the Musician’s Village in the city’s Ninth Ward, a project that was the brainchild of musician Harry Connick, Jr., providing housing for musicians displaced by the storm so they could return to New Orleans and resume their craft. They also built the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music where world-class musicians teach jazz to neighborhood children for free in order to perpetuate NOLA’s jazz heritage.
WINTER 2024 JOURNAL 72