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  • 05 May 2014 12:49 PM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)


    Get to know a little bit about our first-time board members, Peter Kispert and Melanie Penoyar.   

     
     District/class Ras Tanura/'85
     High school Missouri Military Academy
     Favorite shawarma Beef
     Bebsi or Kaki-Kola? Bebsi
     Teem, Mirinda, or Orangina? Teem
     Favorite dip Hummos
     Favorite pastime in Saudi Riding dirt bikes
     Favorite hangout Surf House
     Favorite HZ22 TV show Airwolf






    Peter Kispert (RT '85) is our current Database Director.  In addition to his extensive professional expertise in datacenter design and networks, Peter also serves on the Board of Directors of his homeowners association and Jag Dads, a parent service group for Ruben Johnson Elementary School, where he helps with event planning and volunteer coordination.  

    As Database Director, Peter approves new membership requests, maintains existing database entries, and is the go-to guy if you have any questions or problems with updating your information in the database or accessing the directory.




     District/class Dhahran/'87
     High School Public high school in Falls Church, VA
     Favorite shawarma Chicken
     Bebsi or Kaki-Kola? Bebsi
     Teem, Mirinda, or Orangina? Mirinda
     Favorite dip Hummos
     Favorite pastime in Saudi Shopping for silver and gold! Camping in the desert. Hanging at the beach. Riding motorcycles. Kicking it at the pool/snack bar.
     Favorite hangout Canteen
     Favorite HZ22 TV show I was busy watching beta tapes.






    Melanie Penoyar (DH '87) is serving as a Director at Large and is in charge of nominations for board service. She is an experienced association professional with a background in membership recruitment and retention, strategic planning, partnership development, marketing and event management. Currently residing in the Denver area, she also enjoys skiing, volunteering, ethnic food, and acoustic music. If you would like to inquire about serving on the board and/or find out more about what is involved, please drop her a note.

    Take our polls and see the results!  Here are some results for the entire ABI Board:

       

  • 21 Apr 2014 10:45 AM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)


    There is now a great place online to buy and sell things exclusively to the Brat community.  Created in February by Michael Grimler, The ARAMCO Brat Souq is a Facebook "group" that already has 260 members!  The group description says it all:

    "Are you an ARAMCO Brat?
    Do you have something for sale that's related to our collective experience?
    Perhaps a brass Bedouin coffee pot? Brass camels? Or even a camel saddle?
    Do you have a website you'd like to let other Brats know about that has other kinds of stuff for sale or a service to provide?
    Now you have a unique forum in which to offer your services and things to own. So, feel free to post items or links here!"

    What a great way to reach other Brats with your goods and services or find a unique gift! We've seen quite a variety of items offered for sale already like Saudi sandals, prayer rug, t-shirts, and jewelry.  To buy, sell or simply shewf, log into Facebook and request to join The ARAMCO Brat Souq group.  Great idea, Michael Grimler!
  • 19 Apr 2014 9:53 AM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)


    Commissary Highlights Bulletin - April 15, 1978 - Ice chitties, Spring plants, and, yes, all commissaries are created equal! 
  • 27 Mar 2014 12:41 PM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)


    Spring cleaning turned up a fun, long-forgotten item, a bound copy of "Commissary Highlights, 1978-1985." As we are not all contemporaries, you may or may not remember seeing these sheets, published approximately semi-monthly, at the commissary or laying around your mother's kitchen. The forward to this compilation explains it quite well:

    "Aramco has provided food for their employees through a Commissary system in one form or another since the Company was founded. The great expansion in the 70's brought a massive increase of personnel who placed great demands on the Commissary system.  To better serve these customers, both old and new, a number of new services  were created within the Commissary system. One of these was the introduction of the Commissary Highlights Bulletin. This book is the complete collection of the Commissary Highlights Bulletins from the first printing in February, 1978." - Marilyn Townsend

    Flipping through the pages offers a revealing look at our Aramco oil compound society of that era. In addition to recipes and advice on how to use newly-stocked commissary items, the bulletins also contain information about shortages, holiday gift items, shopper Q&A's, rules and regulations, children's craft ideas, and the occasional admonishment for bad shopping behaviors. The pages make it clear this was an international society, but there are wonderful, "only at Aramco" or "only in Saudi Arabia" bits and pieces sprinkled throughout that are sure to make you smile or at least give a nostalgic nod. Where else would you read an appeal from your local grocery store to bring in your hallalas because they were almost out? Or a recipe for "Camel Fricassee with Lemon?" Or ice chitty instructions?

    For grins and giggles, we will begin reproducing these online. You can enjoy them as a trip down memory lane or as an armchair anthropologist, studying the shopping trials and tribulations and the eating habits of the Aramco communities, circa 1978-1985.

    Commissary Highlights Bulletin - March 11, 1978 - Aramco hydroponic veggies and Dutch amaryllis.
    Commissary Highlights Bulletin - March 20, 1978 - Frozen Kuwaiti and aseptic milk from Holland. Yum?

    Enjoy and perhaps even "bon appetit!"
  • 26 Mar 2014 10:52 PM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)


    The "Roads of Arabia" exhibit at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts closed earlier this month.  We hope many of you were able to see it.  It was truly an incredible collection of artifacts!  We would have loved to have had more detailed maps of where some of the artifacts were found, particularly those pieces labeled "Dhahran!" Allow at least 3 hours to take it all in.

    If you were fortunate enough to see it, please share your thoughts.

    "Roads of Arabia" will next be on display in the following locations.  Check the local museum for exhibit times:


    •  April 25th through July 6th, 2015
    The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
    Kansas City, MO

    •  Oct 17, 2014 – Jan 18, 2015
    Asian Art Museum
    San Francisco, CA


  • 18 Mar 2014 9:48 PM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)
    Has it really been 10 years already?!  A decade since we last hosted the reunion at the epicenter of Bratdom? We are pleased to announce that our 15th biennial reunion, May 21-25, 2015, will be returning to Houston, TX! Houston is easy to get to, has lots to offer activity-wise, and, best of all, is home to a ton of Brats and annuitants. The last reunion hosted in Houston (2005) was one of our largest. We expect this one to be a big draw as well.

    The 15th in '15 will be hosted by an '80s kind of crew, chaired by Staci Husted-Hosford (DH'84). Sandra Acuna-Klein (DH'86), Laura Bissell-Comtois (DH'83),  Diana Cameron-Keller (DH'84), Liz Germani (RT'84), Carol Goff-Hlavaty (DH'82), Del Husted (DH'82), and Susan Husted-Cowles (Parent) round out the rest of the committee. Shukran for volunteering your time and energy to transform Memorial Day weekend 2015 into the best Brat party on the planet!

    We will announce the hotel as soon as our group reservation block and website are open for business. It's a great host property with beautiful grounds, pool and water features - an urban oasis!  Watch ABI's website, facebook page, tweets and your e-mail inbox for further information.

    See y'all in Houston!,

    ABI
  • 20 Nov 2013 12:46 AM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)
         


    Get started now on your holiday shopping for those special Brat friends and family on your list. We have some great new items in the online suq that will be sure to put a smile on someone's face: Aramco Brat (in English and Arabic) coffee mugs, new lapel pins, reunion t-shirts, ghutra print hats and Tucson 2013 logo pitchers!

    Planning a Brat party or large family get-together? We have the perfect party favor: ghutra hat party packs! Order in quantities of 10 or the variety 12-pack (4 visors, 4 baseball caps, 4 fisherman hats). Best. Party favor. Ever.

    Don't miss out on Sid's holiday gift special, a bundle of Brat goodies for a great price:  a ghutra hat of your choice, Tucson 2013 reunion t-shirt, lapel pin, and a pitcher featuring the Tucson 2013 logo.  (Limited quantity available.)

    Please order soon to ensure delivery before Christmas!  Happy shopping!
  • 31 Oct 2013 10:01 PM | Gina Hess-Tanner
    The Fall 2013 issue is filled with wonderful articles.  Here are just a few that touched me:
    • Reunions Abound by Jennifer Harbert,  AB '75
    • American Community School Students Reunite by William Tracy, RT '50
    • Rogue & Rider by Robert Banta, Parent
    • Changing Lives - One At A Time 

    Here's the link: http://www.aramcoservices.com/getattachment/Publications/Al-Ayyam-Al-Jamilah/Archives/AAAJ_fall2013.pdf.aspx

    To subscribe to Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah email EK.Catchings@AramcoServices.com in ASC Public Affairs..  

  • 31 Oct 2013 8:39 PM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)
    As of midnight tonight, another ABI Board term will come to a close, and your newly elected officers will take the helm: Hirath Ghori (DH '75), President; Duane Hopple (RT '79), Vice President; Tom Littlejohn (DH '84), Treasurer; Gina Hess Tanner (AB '76), Secretary.  

    I would like to take this opportunity to say "shukran" to this term's board members for their service and camaraderie for the past 2 years.  It would seem like much more work without all of the smiles and laughs.  It has truly been a pleasure to work as a team with ABI's seasoned veterans, Penny Dougharty-Maher (DH '72), Andrew Bobb (DH '74), Tom Littlejohn (DH '84), Diane Knipfel-Slingluff (AB '75), Diana Ryrholm-Geerdes (RT '62), Duane Hopple (RT '79), Robin Payne-White (DH '59), Dawn Kolb (DH '92), and first-timers, Annie Oskam (DH '74) and Gina Hess-Tanner (AB '76).

    There are two ladies who will not be serving as board members this coming term but deserve a special thank you for their many, consecutive years of service to the organization - Diane Knipfel-Slingluff (Reunion Oversight Director) and Diana Ryrholm-Geerdes (Director at Large).  Known to us affectionately as DiK and DiRy, they have served on the Board in various capacities since 1997 and 1995, respectively.  Both have also served as Reunion Chairs (San Diego '93, Chandler '97).  I won't even attempt to guestimate the number of hours of personal time they have donated to our organization, but they have both had a huge influence on the shape and success of our organization and reunions and have more than earned an opportunity to kick back and relax at the next reunion.  Love, BEO's, RFP's, hotel bathrobes, and raffle tickets to you, ladies!

    Lastly, thank you to our fellow brats for your support, kind words, generosity and smiles.  You are why we do this.  A sea of smiling, laughing brats at the reunions makes it all worthwhile!

    See you in 2015, location TBA!,

    Marie Littlejohn Dunn (DH '77)
    President
  • 05 Sep 2013 10:18 AM | Marie Littlejohn-Dunn (Administrator)

    Fellow Brats,

    As many of you are now aware, we had a blatant violation of our directory usage policy.  We would like to apologize for this annoyance and assure everyone that we take this matter and the integrity of our contact information very seriously.

    Firstly, we have determined that one of our members did, indeed, violate (a), (b) and (c) of our directory usage terms as well as the bylaws of our organization and continued to do so after we sent a reminder of our policy to everyone.  We have reason to believe the individual used the latest directory CD to accomplish this, not the online database.

    As a result, we are taking the following actions:
    • The individual's online directory privileges have been suspended indefinitely. We have informed him in writing of his violation and resulting suspension and requested he cease using directory contact information for commercial purposes and destroy any derivatives from computers.
    • ABI will no longer issue biennial "publications" of our directory.  Both CD and paper versions pose the highest risk for "email harvesting" and this sort of wholesale abuse.
    • ABI will review the website to make sure we are using what is available to us to protect against email address harvesting from web pages.  We have endeavored to set up our web page access such that any contact information, including email addresses, is not exposed to public view.  You may have noticed that news items and forum posts show the author as "anonymous" unless you are logged into the site. Any pages that might contain visible member contact information have been placed behind the members-only firewall.  (This is why you had to log into the site to see the Tucson Reunion Attendance List.)

    The board may take further action to prevent this from recurring.  In the meantime, there are some actions we can all take with regard to SPAM mails in general:
    • Report SPAM: If you feel you have received a SPAM email that violates U.S. CAN-SPAM Act, report the violation.  The U.S. CAN-SPAM Act has very specific requirements governing all commercial emails and origin of email address lists. Noncompliance can result in penalties up to $16,000 per individual email. (Full text of CAN-SPAM Act)
    Reporting SPAM is really easy.  Forward the entire offending email to spam@uce.gov and state that you are complaining about SPAM.  That's it! You may also report it directly to your ISP and the sender's ISP if you can ascertain who that is.  SPAMMING is against most ISP service terms and can result in termination of service.

    Lastly, we are very appreciative of those alert Brats who contacted us directly with information regarding this violation.  You were all most helpful!

    Again, we apologize for the unwelcome solicitations you may have received and will keep everyone apprised of any further actions. Please contact us if you have any concerns related to this matter.

    Sincerely,

    ABI Board of Directors



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