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Jim and Lilli Van Laningham train to cycle around the world. |
Hitting the Road
While many State employees are busy planning a big New Year's bash to welcome in the new century, Jim Van Laningham and his wife Lilli are likely to be taking the night a bit easy. That's because on Jan. 1, Jim, a Foreign Service officer, and Lilli, a Civil Service employee for the Department until last August, will join 240 other bicyclists pedaling down the streets of Pasadena, Calif., during the Rose Bowl Parade as they set out on a year-long, around-the-world cycling event. During the event, Odyssey 2000, the cyclists will average 80 miles a day as they pedal more than 20,000 miles across 45 countries on six continents. "It's a whole different kind of challenge from anything I've experienced during my career," said Jim, a 52-year-old senior Foreign Service officer, who will be on a leave without pay status for 17 months to participate in the event. "Plus, it's a great way to see the world!"
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Officer Michael Cherry keeps the beat. |
The Beat Goes On
Employees who greet him at the security desk as they enter State annexes in Arlington and Sterling, Va., may someday get to say they "knew Officer Michael Cherry when..." The Diplomatic Security officer is the drummer for Element VI, a popular band that's winning accolades in the Washington, D.C., area. The group was among just 10 selected from 110 bands by a popular radio station to compete in a "battle of the bands" competition. Officer Cherry's dream is to some day become a full-time musician--maybe even a rock star--but he's pursuing his studies in criminal justice at George Mason University, he said, "just to make sure I have something to fall back on."
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Veronica Scott enjoys serenading audiences throughout Virginia. |
The Sound of Music
If you hear an angelic alto voice singing holiday carols this month, don't do a double-take if you recognize the source as State's own Veronica Scott. She spent almost five years touring the East Coast with the all-women singing group Tenderness before she landed what she calls "a real job" at State. Twenty-one years later, she's advanced from a secretary to chief of the procedures, reports and processing branch in the Bureau of Personnel's Information Management Division. But she's never lost her love of music and remains an active member of two church gospel choirs, one for which she serves as president. The choirs perform throughout Virginia, where Ms. Scott said she delights in "seeing the fulfillment in people when they receive what you're trying to deliver." She calls it "a wholesome feeling" to deliver a positive message to her audiences. "It's a good pick-me-up," she said.
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