Holiday Letter – 1995

In 1990s by Steve Sliwa38 Comments

December 1995

Dear Family & Friends:

This year has been a relatively quiet year for us, a year for planning and re-grouping. Steve continues to be absorbed by his job as President of Embry-Riddle. All the new buildings that were begun last year have been completed and dedicated, and are now open. Steve and his colleagues have already begun the planning for the next phase of capital development, which will include new simulation facilities at both campuses, expanded dormitories, and a new conference center. Now that a physical representation of a portion of Steves vision has been built, the pressures have subsided and confidence in Steve is growing.

Nancy had expected a year of rest and relaxation and reorganization after resigning from NASA last year, but somehow found herself busier than ever. She has undertaken a number of special projects at the University, including facilitating a process re-engineering team, volunteering as an Embry-Riddle loaned executive for United Way, helping organize the annual Women in Aviation Day, and leading the organization for Embry-Riddles hosting of the 1996 Air Race Classic.

The Air Race Classic is an all-womens air race that is run every year, and is a descendent of the Powderpuff Derby started by Amelia Earhart and her contemporaries. 1996 will mark Embry-Riddles 70th anniversary, and the hosting of the Air Race Classic will be one of the major celebrations. The race will run the last two weeks of June, starting in Prescott, Arizona and ending in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nancy and her race partner, Marcie, flew the Classic this year, from Reno, Nevada to Huntington, West Virginia, with the excuse of gathering more data to do a good job next year. Again their Mooneys handicap led to a poor final standing, but they were first to land in 5 of the eight different stops, including the last stop, and garnered the lions share of the publicity this year!

In addition to her University activities, Nancy started her own business in September. With Steves help as business consultant and two other founding partners from the University, she has started WebAdept, Inc. a company that designs, develops, and hosts World Wide Web sites on the Internet for companies and organizations. She has positioned it to be a high-end provider, with top-of-the-line high-speed equipment and tight quality-control processes. Fortunately, the nearness of Embry-Riddle also allows her to hire top-notch experienced Web programmers from the student body as the business grows.

Steve and Nancy have traveled extensively for business this year; however, usually not together. They were able to do one memorable and exotic trip this
year, going to Egypt in May. Steve and his Vice President of University Relations, Paul McDuffee, were able to combine a business trip with pleasure by bringing Nancy and Pauls wife Joan along. We spent a few days sightseeing in Cairo, seeing the Cairo museum, the pyramids and sphinx, and riding a camel. Then we flew down to Aswan and took a Nile boat cruise up to Luxor, seeing many temples and monuments along the way. It was getting very hot in Egypt by that time of year, but it was an exciting and unforgettable experience.

Tabitha is in the home stretch with her studies in psychology at UC Santa Cruz. She is a senior this year, and should graduate in June. She was able to land a position in a field study during her final semesters as a juvenile delinquency counselor. She is seriously contemplating going on to law school and has started applying to several schools and will be taking her LSATs in February. She worked this past summer in DC as an office assistant for a lobbying firm. Now she is working as a research assistant for an accomplished psychologist in Santa Cruz.

Honeys new playmate, Chandelle, joined us December 23rd last year, just in time for Christmas, although she was only five weeks old. She is now over a year, but still growing, and still puppy-ish in many ways. Although she is a sweet, loving, intelligent, and beautiful dog, it is amazing how different her personality is from Honeys. However, they are good friends and playmates, and constant companions, and we are very happy with our two-dog family.

After being over four years in the Embry-Riddle Presidents Residence, the University has decided to sell the property as part of their effort to consolidate the campus. Eventually, they will build a new Presidents Residence on campus, but that will probably be several years from now. In the meantime, we are investigating the possibility of building our own home in a nearby fly-in community, Spruce Creek. While we will miss the beautiful oceanfront, and the uniqueness of our present home, it will be wonderful to be closer to the University, to have a pool for us and the dogs to beat the summer heat, and to have a hangar for our plane right by the house. So if you want a last chance to see the unique 1920s Embry-Riddle guest residence, plan to visit us soon! Plus, keep your eyes open for mail announcing our new address sometime next June.

As always, we wish you and yours a happy holiday season, and best wishes for a wonderful new year!

Steve and Nancy,
Tabitha,
Honey, and Chandelle

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