After years of faithfully sitting at the class of ’69 news desk, Sue Korff Hammer has turned in her pad and pencil and asked me to take over the job. It is big shoes to fill, indeed. Thank you, Sue, for your years of service. I have enjoyed hearing from many of you––all by email. If you did not get a recent nudge from me for news, I do not have your email address. Drop me a note and I will put you on the list. Joanne Ingoldsby Peters is happily retired and keeps busy with golf, quilting and doing research genealogy. She and husband George will head to Ireland in the fall. Linda Israel Lamm and Doug celebrated their 40th anniversary and 65th birthdays in Paris and had a blast. Christy Lundt Lambertus and her husband continue to practice law together in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Traveling is high on their list of activities, with four European River cruises under their belts. They toured the Holy Land last year with a church group.

Fortunately, Sue Barncord Rinker and family escaped damage from Hurricane Sandy at their Rehoboth Beach, Del., home. They planned to travel back to Baltimore in the winter to see the grandchildren. Jill Windisch Peterson and husband Craig retired from their jobs in New Jersey and now live in an adult community in Gainesville, Va., near their daughter and granddaughter, Rebecca. Jill keeps busy with bridge, volunteering and ushering at a performing arts center. Recent travels took the Petersons to Ireland and the Caribbean. Nancy Roe Hebdon and husband announced that their daughter Amanda was married in October. Their grandson Christopher is a freshman at The George Washington Univ. Connie Meek took a trip of a lifetime this summer to Norway. The highlight was a two-week cruise aboard a National Geographic Expedition ship sailing toward the North Pole in search of polar bears, which she saw, in addition to walruses, puffins whales and seals.

Anne Purcell Bagley and her husband Bruce moved to Kansas City, Mo., nine years ago. They travel quite a bit within the U.S. and Europe, and enjoy opera, the symphony and musical theater. They have nine grandchildren under the age of 8. Carol Crofoot Hayes retired from the position of associate general counsel and corporate secretary of the Coca-Cola Company and received a master’s degree in professional counseling. She lives in Bluffton, S.C., and practices in Savannah. Her daughter Lisa recently had twin girls. Punkie Van Wert VanAs and husband Bill live in Jacksonville, Fla., and recently headed north on a Civil War trip and stopped by Hood on the way. Punkie was surprised by the many changes, mainly to Coblentz Dining Hall, after so many years. There is no longer a lovely staircase by the dining hall, or laundry and storage rooms in the basement! In the gym she saw the photo of her sister Susie Van Wert Loustaunau ’72 and her swimming relay team on the Hall of Fame wall.

Mary Ann Thune Lasko has been married for 39 years and has two children and three grandchildren. She works for her husband’s business, Washington Photocopy, as the office manager and “she does everything no one else does.” She occasionally sees Joy McGinnis who lives in Pennsylvania and manages the Berwick United Way. Pat Etzel Parker said, “Gardening and garden club keep me hopping, better said, panting with work overload.” She travels all over the world with her wine advocate husband and just missed seeing Ellen Kiel in Paris by two days. Marty Silcox Hankins continues to teach computer classes at the Odyssey School in Stevenson, Md., a K-8 school for children with dyslexia. She is still busy with pottery and has a Christmas studio show and sale coming up. She has four grandchildren, two live in Baltimore and two live in Houston. She recently saw Lila Wisotski, founder of Lila’s Bisus Beads, at her jewelry show and sale.

Chris Diehl resides in West Haven, Conn., and retired from public school teaching in 2007. She currently teaches as an adjunct instructor at the local community college. She travels when time permits and tends to an organic garden. Margaret Dunkle continues to be lead research scientist with the Department of Health Policy at The George Washington Univ., and lives on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. She is also doing work with the national campaign for grade-level reading with a focus on addressing health and developmental issues early and effectively. My old roomie Cindy Kannapel Weiss and I keep up throughout the year by email. Cindy and Glenn’s son Charles was married in May in Philadelphia. Granddaughter Bryn was a junior bridesmaid. The Weiss family travel to Marco Island, Fla., several times a year. I keep prodding them to detour over to the Panhandle one of these days. Carole Downing Staton has settled nicely into retirement. She has “hung up her chalk” after 30 years! She wonders now how she ever found the time to work full time.

Sarah Jane Snyder Raffety and Clyde are adjusting to his recent retirement. They enjoyed having their oldest daughter visit from Saipan where she lives with her husband and two children. Sarah Jane keeps busy with art and church activities. Although she did not graduate with our class, Susie Oliver Schneider has fond memories of her time at Hood. She teaches first grade in Marblehead, Mass., and for fun participates in sailing races. Following their son’s wedding in August, Jean Winn Swan and Bob celebrated 40 years of marriage with a National Geographic trip to the Galapagos and then on to Peru and Machu Pichu. Jean said, “Walking the Inca trail to the Sun Gate was like 2½ hours on the Stairmaster, but it was well worth it.” Daughter Kate planned to return for the holidays after living in Hong Kong for five years, and planned to bring her granddaughter Josie. A little brother is due shortly.

This past year, Jo Ann McManamy moved from Massachusetts to The Villages, Fla. In October, she had open heart surgery to mend a defective aortic valve. She gets better every day. Maureen Clancy has a new blog titled A Blog About Matters of Taste and frequently does speaking engagements describing how a food editor can eat her way around the world and not gain inches or pounds. Since husband T’s retirement from his medical practice, they have been spending more time at their Colorado vacation home and visiting their two sons, one in San Francisco and the other in Philadelphia. They spent the month of June in Europe. Betsy (Seele) Gotta celebrated 50 years of calling square dances in 2012. She received a certificate of recognition from the International Association of Square Dance Callers––CALLERLAB at their convention in April. In June, Betsy was recognized for calling at 50 consecutive national square dance conventions by the governing board of the National Square Dance Conventions, the NEC. The convention in Spokane, Wash., was also attended by Jill Stanley ’69 and her husband Adam Zins. Finally, her home club, Rutgers Promenaders sponsored a square dance party in November, which was called by three internationally known callers and attended by nearly 300 people. It was an amazing day. Betsy planned to see Hood graduates in February 2013, when she will be visiting Anchorage, Alaska, to call for the Mid-Winter Square Dance Festival. She will of course visit Jill Stanley then.

I, Sayre Roney Steere, keep on running at least 10 miles a week, attend fitness classes every day, and hold several positions within my garden club. In May, we flew to Seattle, Wash., to visit daughter Joan and our three granddaughters, then went on to see Doris in Palo Alto, Calif. I wish the girls did not like the West Coast so well! We will head back that way for Christmas with the family.

Class Reporter: