COOL PEOPLE LIVE HERE

BY

We know Trilogy® Members are as diverse as they come, but how well do you really know what your neighbors did or still do for a living? We spent time with several fascinating Members throughout the country and while we don’t have room to include everyone (that’d take a 500-page book), here are a few Members who have had some of the coolest careers and who’ve done some amazing things in their lifetimes.

Allen Easton | TRILOGY® LAKE NORMAN

What does The Karate Kid, Mortal Kombat, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Monk, and MacGyver have in common? They’re all just a sampling of the many feature films and television shows Trilogy Lake Norman resident Allen Easton worked on as a camera operator. With a career spanning multiple decades in Hollywood, Allen grew up not far from Tinsel Town in Pacific Palisades, and through grit and hard work, worked his way to becoming a camera operator for some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

For Allen, the journey was a learn-as-you-grow experience. After graduating from Santa Monica College, Allen started working as a photographer only to later be invited to work a small movie as a grip and electrician, which later led to working for a small production studio that taught him the ins and outs of the movie business. Joining the camera union meant he was able to work on major motion pictures, amassing credits in not only the aforementioned productions, but also pictures such as all three Naked Gun movies, Stuart Little, Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Blue Streak, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, and the movie Ted.

Nowadays though, Allen lives a much quieter life away from the glam and glitz of Hollywood. Since 2017, he and his wife have been active residents at Trilogy Lake Norman, where spending time on the nearby lake has become his new passion. In fact, he and his wife Linda try to spend as much time as possible on Lake Norman, throughout all of spring, summer, and fall.

He hasn’t stopped working, though. Allen is currently involved in filming NASCAR Interviews and current films being shot in the Charlotte area.

Darey and Karen Jolley | TRILOGY® LAKE NORMAN

Giving back isn’t something foreign to our Trilogy Members. We’ve seen charitable initiatives happen at virtually every Club, usually stemming from their communities. But, every once in a while we come across Members like Trilogy Lake Norman’s Darey and Karen Jolley who give back and lend helping hands on foreign soils around the world.

In 1990, Karen left her job with the Charlotte Parks and Recreation Department to pursue missions. At that time, Darey was already working for Freedom Christian Center in Charlotte as the associate pastor; so pursuing fulltime mission work was a natural fit. Sensing a higher calling, the Jolleys started Ambassadors to the Nations, an international mission to help impoverished children, in 1992. The bulk of their work has been in Nicaragua where they have built four Christian schools that have served more than 15,000 students from preschool through high school.

Through church programs and their own initiative, the Jolleys have put together care boxes and helped sponsor children in need throughout many impoverished countries. The Jolleys also have helped lead another initiative that provides free schooling for students by enabling individuals and families to sponsor children for as little as $10 a month.

Through their service, the Jolley’s affirm their calling to provide for the children’s needs by educating and feeding them physically and spiritually. Beyond their work in Nicaragua, the Jolleys have helped those in need in Nigeria, the Congo, Cameroon, Cuba, Mexico, the Philippines, India, Jamaica, Peru, and Guatemala.

Susan Woodruff, Member at Trilogy at the Vineyards, is a behavioral epidemiologist and professor emeritus at San Diego State University. She has more than 30 years of experience in the area of health research, much of it with underserved, high risk, and understudied populations. Woodruff has a master’s degree in experimental psychology and a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of California, San Diego.

Her primary area of interest over the past few years has been tobacco and drug use prevalence and chronic disease behavioral risk factors among military personnel. Woodruff has directed studies on tobacco and excessive alcohol use among military personnel, behaviors that adversely affect military readiness, but historically have been condoned.

For more than a decade, Woodruff was the lead epidemiologist on studies of soldiers' traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in Iraq and Afghanistan, assessing the long-term effect of TBI on service members' health, performance, and social adjustment. Other work on excessive bleeding on the battlefield contributed to state-of-the-art treatment of combat wounds that resulted in the survival of thousands of young servicemembers, many of whom might not have survived in prior conflicts.

Woodruff’s recent research on combat amputees underscored that the importance of behavioral and psychological factors in coping with disease and injury are often as important as the physical ones.

Joanne Crompton | TRILOGY® AT VISTANCIA®

Who said wine can’t be mixed with work? After a successful career in restaurant ownership, Trilogy at Vistancia Member Joanne “Jojo” Crompton noticed a lack of women-owned wine distributors in Charleston, South Carolina.

Born in Delaware, Joanne spent most of her adult life in South Carolina and Florida, where she co-owned two restaurants. While in Florida, Joanne became familiar with really good wines, and after moving back to Charleston to be closer to family, she entered the fine wine distribution business. Ready to disrupt the “good ol’ boys” network of wine delivery, Crompton jumped in by importing and distributing wines from Europe and California, developing newfound relationships with chefs, sommeliers, and restaurant owners across her state.

At the time, Joanne’s was the only woman-owned distribution company in the area, and her Old World Wines really took off. Joanne developed a passion for the business and became acquainted with many of the great restaurants, outstanding chefs, and professionals in retail marketing. She met many wonderful winemakers and found the experience both interesting and rewarding. Joanne met her wonderful husband, who at the time, was living in Trilogy at Vistancia in Arizona and moved to North Carolina to start their lives together.

Joanne credits much of her happiness these days to living in Trilogy, where she’s made many incredible new friends.

Jan Russell | TRILOGY® AT THE VINEYARDS

Few would guess architect Jan Russell of Trilogy at The Vineyards was once among the fastest humans on the planet, but he set pedalpowered land speed records at the International Human Powered Speed Championships during the 1970s and 1980s

After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in environmental design (architecture) in 1972, Russell traveled to Italy where he purchased his first professional racing bike.

Russell later moved to Los Angeles and worked for Disney’s architectural design firm (WED Enterprises). During this time, he discovered bicycle racing and joined a racing team in Pasadena, California. Racing success came quickly for Russell. He moved from the novice category to category one in his first year. Over the next 10 years, he competed in both road races and velodrome races.

In 1977, Russell was recruited by students at Northrop University to pilot an experimental vehicle they designed and built in hopes of breaking human-powered speed records at the annual International Human-Powered Speed Championships. Russell competed in this two-day event four years in a row, and each year the builders made improvements to the machine.

In 1979, Russell won the Abbot Prize for being the first in history to break the national speed limit (55 mph) piloting a human-powered machine. In 1980, he was part of the team that pushed the limits of human-power even further—topping out at 61.7 mph. Additional achievements in Jan’s illustrious life include clocking 57.07 mph in a three-person machine and being part of the team to first break the 50 mph barrier—a feat that was featured in Sports Illustrated. Coincidentally, during the last run on day two of that attempt, the organizers timing traps failed, and Jan’s speed wasn’t recorded even though the internal speedometer recorded well over 55 mph.

Russell still rides today, clocking 200 to 300 miles each week.

Angelique Janov | TRILOGY® IN SUMMERLIN®

The bright lights and exciting nightlife on the Las Vegas Strip is a long way from Mongolia, where Trilogy in Summerlin’s resident contortionist Angelique Janov grew up. Mongolia is home to many of the world’s best and most respected contortionists, and many perform in acclaimed stage productions all around the world. Contortionism is as celebrated in Mongolia as ballet or gymnastics are in the United States. Parents are more likely to drop off their children for contortionist lessons than they are for practically anything else.

Angelique began her career more than 50 years ago in many solo, duo, and group contortion acts. She became a professional contortionist in 1970 and worked in the prestigious Mongolian State Circus for almost 20 years. In addition, she was a student of Tsend-Ayush, arguably the most influential contortionist of the 20th century.

Angelique has performed all over the world in renown circuses, such as Moscow and Roncalli and cabaret shows, such as Monte-Carlo casino and Lido in Paris, along with various TV shows: in Germany, Italy, Argentina, and Japan.

Throughout her career, Angelique has been awarded numerous prizes, awards, and honors from international Circus Festivals, including the Prime Prize from Havana and Special Prize from Monte-Carlo.

From 1998 to 2017, Angelique worked as a coach and expert of contortion for “O” by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. She helped create the original contortion act in the show and installed the foundation that the contortionists still follow to this day. n

TRILOGY® AT VISTANCIA®