December 22nd, 2007
First row: Amy Thompson-Steindorf, James Bowler, Danny Norton, Julie Sawaya and Hali Cespedes.  Second row: Robin Van Der Zee-Sego, Donna Hendricks-Fontenot, Elisabeth Ellerbe-Agar, Steve Rush and Brent LeTellier. Asheville Reunion Report
In May the Brat clan arrived in Asheville for just the second Reunion held east of the Mississippi.  Getting there was a little tricky.  I had to go through Atlanta, where I caught a plane the size of a Chrysler mini-van.  As we taxied up to the main terminal I was absolutely certain the pilot had made a wrong turn.  The building was the size of the Dhahran Bowling Alley.  After a very expensive cab ride I finally arrived at the hotel. The weather was cool and breezy without a drop of rain.  The locals said this was almost unheard of in late May, so apparently we lucked out.  Attendance in Asheville was down a bit from the last few Reunions.  About 500 Brats were there, a far cry from the 750 to 900 we had in Tucson and Houston.  Our class attendance was down as well, though we still had one of the better turnouts.  We had ten in total, including first-timer Elisabeth Ellerbe-Agar.  Reunion veterans Brent LeTellier, Robin Van Der Zee-Sego, Amy Thompson-Steindorf, Donna Hendricks-Fontenot, Julie Sawaya, Steve Rush, Hali Cespedes, James Bowler and yours truly rounded out the list. On Saturday we hung out by the pool and enjoyed the hotel’s restaurants.  The ambitious among us went		rafting or enjoyed some of Asheville’s sites, including its charming downtown and the palatial Biltmore Hotel. That evening Robin and Amy hosted our class dinner, a delicious Middle Eastern feast they had brought in.  We were joined by Karen Alexander, Jenny Dutton-Johnston, Jan Taylor-Carter and Wendi Haggard (all of the class of ’80) along with Amy’s husband, Gerald, Robin’s brother, Brooks (DH 85), his wife, Sonya, and Hali’s fiancé, Xavier.  Lindsay Dew and Lori Thiel-Simpson (DH 82) also joined us.  We had a terrific time. On Sunday we just relaxed, soaking in all of the UV rays North Carolina could throw at us.  It was a perfect day for taking it easy, something we’ve gotten pretty good at over the years.  Sunday evening brought the grand finale.  We enjoyed an amazing buffet and listened to Saudi Aramco’s Mazin Snobar tell us about some of the great things the company is doing.  They also had a terrific auction.  Then we danced, reminisced and laughed into the wee hours.  Morning came much too early.

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