About the Groom ~ Dan Howard

Quick Facts:

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia
Birthday: February 22, 1977; Sign: Pisces.
I have been juggling since age 7.
I have had several foot surgeries, which prompted me to become a podiatrist. I will officially become "Dr. Howard" two days before the wedding.
I enjoy dancing, especially ballroom and salsa.
I was on the cycling team in college and won a few races.
I totalled my last car on the racetrack at Road Atlanta.

A little more about me:

Growing up in Marietta, Georgia, I was the oldest of three brothers. Both of my parents and one of my uncles are hobby jugglers, and my brothers and I all learned to juggle at an early age. I once won the "Most Awesome" Phil Award at the Atlanta Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival as part of the Howard Family Jugglers. In high school, I played trumpet in the Walton High School Marching Band, and the Georgia All-State Band and the Georgia All-State Jazz Band. I also played some music at the University of Georgia, including mellophone in the Basketball Band. I even started out college as a music major. That lasted all of a week!

I became interested in dance in college and learned ballroom and latin dancing, especially salsa. I was a member of the UGA Ballroom Performance Group, and have traveled for salsa dancing to such locations as Cuba, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. I still enjoy dancing but haven't been able to do it as often as I like since I moved to Cleveland and started podiatry school.

My family and I did the Bike Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) from 1997-1999, and I was on the cycling team while attending college at UGA. I was the SEC C Class Criterium Champion in 1997 and the SEC C Class Road Race Champion in 1998. Again, I would cycle more now but it's been difficult between podiatry school and the weather in Cleveland.

Cycling isn't the only way I like to go fast. I have attended high-speed driving schools at Road Atlanta, Virginia International Raceway, and Carolina Motorsports Park. I enjoy working on my own car and doing upgrades to make it perform well on the racetrack. Unfortunately, I ran my Dodge Neon into a tire wall at Road Atlanta at the last driving school I attended--the road was cold and my tires weren't warmed up. I may take up this hobby again in the future when I can have an extra car to devote to it, but right now I can't afford to risk my only source of transportation for fun (plus it makes Katherine nervous).

I worked at Assurant as a senior desktop support technician from 2001-2005, but the job had no future and I had overcome college burnout enough to return to medical school to pursue podiatry. At the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine I have been my class representative to the American Podiatric Medical Students Association for four years, and have lobbied for podiatry-related legislation on Capitol Hill.

To lighten things a bit while studying medicine in Cleveland, I have taken some improv comedy classes and performed at some open public improv shows, which was a lot of fun. I also did the Toastmasters thing for a while, and have numerous experiences speaking on stage in front of audiences on such occasions as emceeing the competition at the Groundhog Day Juggling Festival and presenting achievement awards to the Flying Karamazov Brothers at the International Jugglers' Festival in 2004 at the Cascade of Stars public show.

Whoops, lost something!	The fearsome warrior hones his skills...
Action shot from my time as a defender for the Mustangs youth soccer team!	I eventually became an Eagle Scout.
College graduation from UGA, with my brother Will.	My old cars... the blue one is the one I crashed at Road Atlanta.
Juggling rakes at the Hurricane Hugo Flying Objects festival.	5 clubs, at the Fairfax, VA juggling club meeting on a trip to visit Katherine.
This was actually Easter weekend. Katherine was visiting and we had to dig out just to go eat breakfast.	Chilling out with one of our cats, Cory. He doesn't mind wearing clothes from time to time.