Celebration

This past weekend was a huge celebration for us as family and friends gathered at a party for our daughter Alison.
She recently earned her BA in International Studies from UNC Charlotte and she is preparing to head to Switzerland for a year to work as an au pair and to hone her French language skills.
Ali is a well-travelled young lady. At 16, she made her first trip to Italy with her grandmother. She has since made her own trips to Paris, England, Italy, Scotland, Spain and Monaco.
We are so pleased for her (proud too) and we wanted to make sure to let her know.
Thanks for everyone who helped us celebrate.
Congratulations Ali!

Ali and Betsy

Proud dad (that's me)

Her brother Sean is proud too

Ali with friends, from left, Lyndra, Michelle, Raven, Katie and Alison

Ali with her cousin Missy

Ali and Lyndra

Ali with her grandpa - "The Chief"

Aunt Debbie and Ali

My cousin Kristina and boyfriend Wayne flew in from NYC

Grandma Carol and Aunt Sherrie

The Chief and Anne

Heidi and Chris - fantastic clients and now great friends

Friends John and Becky

The chocolate fondue was a big hit

Fox Open House

We had fun Saturday night catching up with friends at an open house hosted by Charlotte Observer Director of Photography Bert Fox and his wife Nanine.
Bert took over the Observer's photo department around the same time I left the paper in January. (I swear it had nothing to do with you Bert!)
Bert's previous job was as a picture editor at National Geographic and Nanine was a photographer at The Baltimore Sun.
They recently purchased a beautiful house in south Charlotte and have settled in to their new home.
It was nice getting to see a bunch of my newspaper photojournalist friends and just having a chance to relax.
Bert and Nanine are a really nice couple and we are looking forward to having them in the area.

Nanine, Bert and their son Charlie

Phil Hoffman and Mark Woods

Jeff Siner tells a tall tale

The Records relax

Artistic endeavor at Davidson College

Friday must have been a satisfying day for Brad Thomas and many other folks at Davidson College.
Thomas, gallery director and curator at the college, has spent a great deal of time the past few years overseeing a project to bring some new art pieces to Davidson.
The installation of Antony Gormley's 2005 iron sculpture "You" and another new work by Joel Shapiro was another step in Davidson building a world-class contemporary sculpture collection.
A determined crew from Alward Masonry in Rockwell, N.C., did an excellent job working with Brad on this unique installation.
Meg Kimmel, senior creative associate and college editor, hired me to document the event. I look forward to the chance of working with Meg, Brad and John Syme of the communications department on future projects.
Davidson's news director Bill Giduz, who also happens to be a talented photographer, was out of town at an event so I was happy to step in to help record this important day for the college.
The new sculpture garden is a wonderful addition to an already beautiful campus.

Brad Thomas, left, and Hazen Alward remove the old base

Brad and Hazen line things up

"You" by Antony Gormley

Lauren and Charles

Lauren and Charles had an incredible wedding Saturday in Salisbury at St. John's Lutheran Church and an action-packed reception at The Depot.
They were so much fun and Charles showed his singing and dancing skills as he jumped on stage with the band and sang and "beat boxed." Lauren then got on stage and joined him.
B&B Catering did a fantastic job with the food and the overall ambiance at The Depot. Thanks to Bill Pannhoff and his crew for all of their hard work. Lauren said Carrie Poole of Salisbury was responsible for creating the great ambiance at the event.
B&B's executive chef Rob did a great job with the food and was also responsible for one of the highlights of the night. As Charles took the garter from Lauren's leg, a small fireworks show went off just in front of the stage.
Thanks Lauren and Charles and have fun touring around California!

Lauren and Charles outside The Depot

Lauren gets an assist from her mom

Lauren looked beautiful!

Looks like a good angle!

Charles and his best-man dad

Lauren celebrates with her brother

Flower girl Olivia wanted her picture taken too

Salisbury has great history and The Depot is a cool spot

Cake by Nona's Sweets

B&B executive chef Rob seems to like fire!

Charles rocks the house

The bride and groom take the stage

These girls were ready for the bouquet

The fireworks cap off the night