CLASS NEWS 1962:  FALL and WINTER

Class Reporter:  Regina Pyle, substituting for Sally Zimmerman

Thanks to everyone below who sent news which appears below as submitted.

A shorter version (750 words) will appear in the Alumnae News.

Wishing everyone the best for 2017!

Betty Appel Bailey

We are still living in north country San Diego and our daughter and her family live nearby.  In May Tom and I took a 9 day coach trip through the Canyons starting in Phoenix, on to Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, rafting on the Colorado River, and then to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon.  In September we flew back east to attend Tom’s

55^th Naval Academy class reunion.  It is always great fun to see old friends some we have known for 50+ years.  I still miss two of my dear friends from Hood both of whom have passed away….Care Dickely Heeks and Carol Bahlke Holmes.

Judy Hammond Blatchford

We’re enjoy good health, and volunteer jobs (especially working with senior citizens), continue to travel (this past year to Baja California and Scotland), spend summers in the Adirondacks, have 1 granddaughter who has graduated from college and 4 of the 5 are taller than their grandmother!

Gail Dawson Clarke

This end of summer I took a cruise up North away from this Florida heat. I went along with 4,000 of my “closest friends” cruising up to Boston, Maine and Canadian coastal towns. At the same time, I learned that a friend from middle school has a cottage in Bar Harbor, Maine. So…after 61 years she and I reconnected and the years just melted away. I fell in love with the down-east Maine coast…the rugged coast line, the unique birds, the lifestyle and the grit and respect for the environment of the lobster men. My children are in a good place…one in the North Carolina mountains and one down here in Florida partnering with his high school friend to distill rum. For a while my legs were problematic, but I am in good health now. We seldom appreciate it when we have it, but once it disappears, oh how we value it. Cheers to you all, ladies of Hood. May the coming year bring you many blessings. I’d love to hear from you (gc.mumstheword@gmail.com)

Sunny Griffin

While I imagine that many of my classmates are having great grandchildren, I have just gotten my first – twins who are now 8 months old, Mabel and Oliver!  We are going to Thailand this winter to try to sell our house in Chiang Mai because I don’t want to be on the other side of the world from my only grandchildren, and my daughter really needs help with twins. I am loving being with the babies and don’t want to miss a moment of their lives. It is particularly wonderful because I had to work all the time when my daughters were young so it is such fun playing with babies.

Doris Dalziel Kimball

All the decades disappear when I connect with Hood acquaintances.  George and I still go to Anna Maria Island in April when the gulf is warm enough for Yankees and grands have their break.  We will participate in our 9th Road Scholar adventure, this time in Martinique.  A trip to Sedona in February will give us another chance to hike through those stunning red hills.  Same volunteer jobs give us a chance to pay back for the many blessings we have received during 54 years together.

Penny Misirian Mardoian

I had a mini-reunion with Judy Blatchford and Nancy Heckscher and husbands at the end of October. My grandson, Michael, will be spending a semester in Barcelona through Trinity College. I will be in London for a week at the end of March. My life is busy and full.

Lynn MacDonough Morrow

George and I are gearing up for what will probably be our final mission trip to Nicaragua.  January 2017 will be my 8th trip; it has been a meaningful part of my life over the past decade and a source of satisfaction that George has enthusiastically joined me on the trips.  One of the missionary couples is retiring back to the US; it is not clear that the local church will continue to sponsor trips and we would eventually “age out” of being able to participate so it seems like a natural time for us to say our good-byes to our Nicaraguan friends when we are there for 10 days this winter.  We can continue to support the educational program of providing school supplies to the local kids through financial contributions.

Barbara Arthur Pretzsch

We have just moved to a new house in the same town, more space, big back yard to hold our 5th wheel and fenced for the dogs. I have been too busy to do much but “pack up” and “unpack” and find stuff I could before we moved. Hope everyone is enjoying a prosperous new year.

Regina Schlank Pyle

The drama of selling my home in France unexpectedly continued throughout the year with the French real estate lawyers, aka “Notaires”, causing mischief and bureaucratic delays. A young family who rents in the association and have family living there presented themselves as buyers in March.   Ideal buyers until their need to get financing arose and there is no provision for banks to give preapproval for a loan.  Fast forward I spent two weeks there in July trying to get the deal moving and a closing was set for November lst.  That morning the notaires discovered a “petit problem” – i.e. the shares of my house hadn’t been transferred to the buyers as necessary.  A novel solution was suggested and approved that the buyers move in as tenants until the mess had been cleared up.

I’m more that delighted to say that as of 12/29, a mere 16 months later, I no longer own property in France.  Given the length of the process, I dread receiving an accounting of the legal bills which will be paid from the proceeds of the sale.  Once done the remainder will go for scholarships to Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government and for research at Mass General Hospital’s cancer center.  Of course I have lots of wonderful memories and will return to visit friends but it’s a great relief both mentally and financially to have it off the books.  And whenever someone rhapsodizes about owning a house in the French country side, I remind them of a four letter word that begins with “R”.

One of the pleasures of living in Boston is that friends want to visit and many did – including some from London and Beijing.  I spent Thanksgiving with my niece and her family in Manhattan Beach.  Her boys, 10 and 13, take after their father and every day weather permitting, they suit up, grab their boards and head for the beach. Really fun to watch. Life in Boston remains busy with wonderful friends and a couple of non-profit boards. Monty, my 6 year old cairn terrier, continues to co-habitat with Rossy, a domestic short hair who’s now 12.   Both are a delight and every night assume their side of the bed.  To say the least life is good.

Barbara Stewart

Paul and I are continuing to enjoy life in Maine.  We seem to be into cross country road trips.  We had a great one last summer visiting two grandchildren, Kaitlyn and Ryan graduating from high school in Missouri and California.  2017 will have two more graduates in Sonoma and San Diego…Zachary from Sonoma State and Meghan from Eastlake HS which will give us an excuse for another road trip.  I am still into rug hooking, quilting, and some watercolor attempts, plus community volunteering.

Elizabeth Kovacs Washburn

My daughter, Natasha, is in Spain and London visiting granddaughter, Jacquelyn, who is on junior year abroad with Boston University. Their pictures on Facebook are stunning. Ted and I had a “miracle” Christmas. Our dog Josey came back from death’s door Christmas Eve.  We had a “doggie” Christmas with Josey and Natasha’s dog, Bene. We also hosted Christmas yummies  after church. ‘Tis the season of joy and gratitude!

Jody Merritt Watson

No big trips this year, but Peter and I are enjoying the good features of condo living. I started a book club here this year, and can’t believe it is my first one! We still love living in Maine, with all the erratic weather patterns and hopefully some good snow storms this year.  Our kids and grands all live in Portland, so it’s great to keep up with their concerts, sports, and busy lives. All of them enjoy skiing but are anxious to sample snowboarding this winter. Can our 55th be right around the corner?!?

Sara Zimmerman

One of my hobbies for decades has been the German language. It all started back in high school when our music teacher drove a car full of us from Harrisburg to NYC.  We stayed overnight and in the space of two days saw three musicals.  One, off Broadway, was the Three Penny Opera.  At 16, I fell in love with Kurt Weill’s score and Bert Brecht’s lyrics, and memorized the lyrics in both English and the original German.

Wildly skipping far ahead, in Oct and Nov 2016, I completed a two-month intensive German course at the Goethe Institute in Freiburg im Breigau, Germany, my fourth course at a GI in the space of 53 years. In my section this time, my 12 classmates came from nine countries including China, Thailand, Japan, Syria, Israel, Italy, Barbados, England, and Switzerland and averaged in age about 23.  I’ve always enjoyed working with young people and international experiences.  Now in December 2016, I’m in Switzerland working on family history. The Zimmermans were Anabaptists, persecuted by local governments for their religious principles, and fled to Alsace, France where they settled before heading to the US in the 18th century.  My nephew Mike in Harrisburg is the true family genealogist; I’m assisting him with translations of documents and by taking photos of the very small towns of our great-great-great-great-great grandparents.  With much gratitude to Regina for being correspondent.
revsaraz@gmail.com

Judith Ziobro

My news isn’t news, in that Ed and I do pretty much the same things – eat, sleep, do a little exercise daily, and enjoy as much time as our daughters and their families are able to share with us.  That makes for some boring reading, but from my perspective – a great life.  I still do volunteer accounting, and money-handling work at my church, sing in the vocal choir and ring in the handbell choir regularly.  Earlier this year I helped the church prepare several hundred “Days for Girls” kits for some primitive areas in Swaziland.  Since I was the only one who admitted owning a serger, I wound up making 600 liners for the project. Needless to say, I keep busy doing the things that I like.