2001

                                                                                

                                                                         
                                                                                                November 24, 2001

Dear Family & Friends,

This winter I had the opportunity to help coach my daughter Christie’s 5th Grade Basketball team. As a member of the Canandaigua Academy Braves Varsity Basketball team from 1966 to 1968, which amassed a record of 2 –32 (our motto was “We’re better than our record!”), I was anxious for a chance to return to Organized Basketball and share with these youngsters some of my experience.

I began by teaching the girls my approach to the game which is: “Shoot every chance you get - you can’t miss them all!” Sadly, the girls demonstrated that technically that was not true, as we lost our first game 23-1. Later we introduced more advanced concepts like “Don’t shoot until you are within 20 feet of the basket” and, “If the other team has the ball play Defense!” The team continued to improve, even if the coaching did not, and they ended the season 3-3. Christie said the best part of my coaching was that I brought the whiteboard to each practice (to diagram plays) and she got to draw stuff on it when she wasn’t in the game.

Suzanne was pleased to hear Christie express an interest in learning Japanese; but mildly disappointed to learn that her interest was not inspired by an interest in her Japanese ancestry, but so that she could understand the dialog of the Japanese cartoons that she rents each week from Blockbuster. She is very much the artist, although it does not appear that Middle School Teachers have a high tolerance for Christie’s artistic approach to handing in Homework.

Nicole, Christie’s favorite sister, is in the 8th Grade; she turns fourteen in a few weeks. She continues to play soccer for Team Evanston and this year she joined a Club Volleyball team so her parents would have someplace to drive her to besides the Mall all winter while we await the return of spring and more Soccer. She is a surprisingly good student for someone who seems to do all of her studying in front of the Television while doing her nails and listening to Harry Potter tapes.

Both Nicole and Christie have campaigned for many years for us to acquire a Dog. I held them at bay for a long time claiming we had far too many hamsters to even think about another pet. But they stopped letting the hamsters play together and soon there were only a couple of aging celibate hamsters that remained. In a moment of weakness I promised them that after we sold my company we could finally get a Dog. At the time that I made the promise we were actively working on the sale of the company. After six months of hard work that deal fell through. It was real disappointing, especially to Nicole who immediately asked me, “Does this mean we are not going to get a Dog?”

So earlier this month we added Sammy, a five-pound Cockapoo, to our family - a triumph of Optimism over Common Sense. He is a good puppy and we have all enjoyed him (well not Stephen so much as Sammy has nibbled several pairs of his socks). So far the girls have been very good about caring for him (although they don’t seem to hear him so well early on weekend mornings). I am wondering how well they will do when those morning temperatures dip below zero. I have this suspicion that Suzanne is planning to give me a really warm coat for Christmas.

Stephen is a Junior at Evanston Township High School. Once a week I have been driving him to an early morning Health Class at Evanston Hospital. It seems like only yesterday that we were driving to that hospital for his birth. How can seventeen years go by that fast? Last summer he spent four weeks in Cuernavaca, Mexico at Cuauhnahuac Spanish Language Institute. It sounded like a great experience and some day we expect to actually hear him say something in Spanish.

He took up gymnastics this year. A sporting endeavor that impressed me, as I always had difficulty just doing a somersault. It was his first year at the sport, but he worked hard and the team had a real spirit of camaraderie – it was fun to watch them compete. He continues to be a great help around the house with meals and now driving, but I have noticed that Gymnastics and time with his girlfriend Ali has reduced his availability somewhat. Anyway, College is just around the corner – he has had a lot of inquiries from schools, but so far he has not indicated any preference (at least to his parents).

Suzanne was promoted to a new position in BP as Managing Attorney supervising several other attorneys. The personnel announcement indicated that her responsibility was for the “Western Hemisphere – Downstream”. This job only requires her to work about 16 hours a day. We are all praying that they never give her an assignment that is described as “Worldwide” downstream or upstream…

Somehow she still manages to devote the equivalent of a fulltime job to her work as an officer of the Church and she is also on the Board of Lekotek, an organization that helps children with disabilities learn through play.

Suzanne’s other major role this year has been to support me as I fight to regain control of my company. As many of you know, I have been in the Engine Remanufacturing business with my brother-in-law, Tom, for over thirteen years. We started with a small plant in Phoenix producing 18 engines a day with about one hundred employees. Last year we had a two-plant operation producing over 33,000 engines a year with 350 employees.

For the last two years we have been embroiled in a dispute with our bank. After exhausting all of the remedies that I could muster to work out the problem, on September 10 we filed for Court protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

What seemed so important on September 10 seemed so insignificant on September 11.

I hope we win this battle and that we regain control of the company (I won’t know for another two months so you will have to wait until next years’ letter to find out what happens), but I do know that if we are not successful, it is not the end of the world. I will find something else to do. We have no guarantees of success or long life or happiness so we need to make the most of every day.

This has been a year that none of us will ever forget. We are grateful to be living in a land where we are free. Where we have the opportunity to pursue our dreams. We wish you all a safe and Joyful Holiday Season.


Len, Suzanne, Stephen, Nicole & Christie

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