1973
Leslie Hawkins
509.947.1838
hawkins.leslie.a@gmail.com

Toni Mathias Harvey and Ted are continuing to enjoy their bed and breakfast and store, The Inn at Lost River + The Lost River General Store in Lost River, WV, so if any Hoodlums find themselves in the area, there is an ice cream cone waiting for you!  They are doing a lot of traveling from WV to Philadelphia and Brooklyn to keep in touch with Toni’s mother, who’s 97, and with grandsons Will and Ted, all gifts in their lives.  Pat Henry Montgomery writes that she’s moving from San Mateo, CA to Boulder, CO this summer, and welcomes Hood contacts in the area (her sister, Claudia Henry Barkmeier ’78 lives nearby).  She’s having a great time with grandchildren, “getting to see new things and fight for old causes”, and grateful for life (as are we all!!).   Jill Schonek Pollard is living in Sarasota, FL, and she and her husband just returned from a repositioning cruise from Europe, which she recommends for those relaxing days at sea at season’s end (May and October).  They own a beachfront rental condo with one month minimum, and interested Hoodlums can rent through Evolve.com, and enjoy paradise in Sarasota.   Elaine Williams Bielenberg says golf and summer go hand and hand in Maine.  She’s also working on multiple costume designs and creations for “Into the Woods” production in August, with Cinderella, her mother and the Witch giving her inspiration.  Serving as Jr. Warden at her church has her overseeing buildings, repair and construction, which leaves her no time to get into trouble!  Donna Simmons Maneely has been traveling a lot in 2019, first a 5 week trip in March & April to Australia and New Zealand, including first time zip lining in NZ, and then a cruise in June from Seattle to Alaska with her choral group, who performed on the ship and in Seattle for 4 performances, and thrilled by the spectacular beauty of the Northwest and Alaska.  Peggy Weinbeck said that since retiring in July 2017, she’s traveling, dancing and enjoying life…she and her granddaughter Kaylie visited Ireland to celebrate her high school graduation, and since she’s been an Irish dancer, she had opportunity to perform at an inn on the Irish Sea, before heading off to WVU.  Peggy also visited Iceland in September with friends, and just returned from CA, visiting with friends, and with her son in San Francisco.  She is moving in July to Virginia Beach, to be closer to her daughter Lindsay, enjoy beach life, and hopes to visit Mary Layfield Law more often.   Ann Jones writes that 2019 has been very busy so far; starting with the decision to sell her house of 18 years, and when she put it on the market in May, the buyers made an offer on the first day!  She went to Botswana for a vacation she said was amazing, tenting and traveling around to see lions, leopards, and elephants, and came back to pack up and move the next day, and is renting a place while she downsizes and decides what’s next.  Charlie Miller Ponticelli’s big news is son Michael’s wedding on July 6^th, & as mother of the groom is buying her dress & showing up! Chris McHenry, who retired from medicine in 2008, and had been involved in spiritual direction and supervisor and retreat training, is now doing spiritual direction for her church.  Condolences to Mary Stevenson who lost both her sister in law, Georgia, and younger brother, Steve, on the same day in March.  Steve was 59 and had a cardiac arrest; many of us remember “little Stevie” as a boy visiting us at Hood.  Condolences also to Janis Wilson Polastre whose mother died peacefully in June at 94.  She and Bob did their annual getaway to Cabo San Lucas in March, and spent 2 weeks in May visiting daughter Lorena, husband and grandchildren in Italy, and glamping in Croatia. She’s got one more case left, & with Bob retired, they like doing what they want, when they want!  As for me, I did a ski trip to Switzerland in January and then to Hawaii in March (Big Island, then Kauai) which was fun, but a problem with my right foot curtailed my hiking and most activities by March, so I had surgery in April. Thank goodness I live in Tucson and can wear flip flops all year, and now I can wear a shoe again; life is good!  Keep the news coming!