2015 Troy City Council Appointment

12/15/14 UPDATE: Looks like my speculation panned out. Steve Gottlieb was appointed to fill Wade Fleming's term by the Troy City Council at their 12/15/14 meeting. Congratulations Steve!

Below is the original text from the 12/3/14 blog post.

As described in an 11/11/14 article in The Oakland Press, six members of the Troy City Council will be appointing a new City Council person to fill the term of Wade Fleming. Fleming will be resigning at the end of this year after being elected to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners.

After the conclusion of the application process, the City has posted a list of the six finalists for the position. I've re-posted their names below. If you click on the name of any of the six finalists, you can view/print their application paperwork.

The six finalists are:

Steve Gottlieb

Padma Kuppa

Paul McCown

James Peard

Steve Toth

Scott Welborn

The candidates will be interviewed by the City Council at their Regular Meeting on December 15, 2014.

There are several fine candidates on the list. Looking at the policy and political preferences of the current City Council, I'm speculating that Padma Kuppa and Steve Gottlieb are the frontrunners for the appointment.

EMMA... World Premier in Troy

Image via
Stageworks Media

Our son Alex will apparently be appearing in a "World Premier." He's currently rehearsing with the Athens Theatre Company (ATC) for EMMA! A POP MUSICAL.

According to the ATC website, this is the first time this show will be produced on a stage.

Show dates and times (at Troy Athens High School) are December 5, 6, 12, 13 at 8:01pm and December 7 and 14 at 3:01pm. Ticket information/ordering via the Athens box office at 248-823-2923 or by emailing kmanfredi2@troy.k12.mi.us. Click here for a ticket order form.

Check out the SchoolLife Troy website to see photos of the cast and crew as they prepare for Opening Night. We even see our son in a few of the photos. I've posted one of them below.

Image via SchoolLife Troy

12/11/14 UPDATE: Check out the promotional video below.

Bid Me Run...

“Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.”

― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

There's a dawning realization that our son Alex will soon be completing his high school years at Troy Athens. Last Saturday's Athens Cross Country Year-End Banquet was Alex's last official Cross Country event and another milestone in his Senior year.

Alex's Cross Country career was marked by high points and low points. He certainly wasn't one of the fastest kids on the team, but he stuck with it - even after an injury that put an end to running during most of his Junior year. He made lots of friends and many great memories.

The good news is that Alex still likes running and I'm looking forward to him running with me during my future half-marathons. After all, we've both signed up to complete half-marathons in at least 25 states of the good old USA.

Thank yous go out to his Troy Athens High School Cross Country Coaches Michael Stallsmith and Shawn DuFresne.

Also thank yous to Alex's teammates and all of the Cross Country parents. Cross Country at Athens is truly a family affair.

I've embedded some photos below of Alex running Cross Country for Athens High School and from the 11/15/14 Cross Country banquet.

Alex's Freshmen Year

Alex's Senior Year

2014 Coaches Achievement Award Winner

Coach DuFresne, Alex, and Coach Stallsmith

Alex's Senior Poster