Thanks to Joy Miller Beveridge, Marcea Horton Cotter and Ody Keller IV for planning our 30th class reunion in early June! Twenty some classmates attended the weekend festivities starting with an informal cocktail evening on the front lawn of the Alumnae House. A few (Joy, Gretchen, Angela and Liz) braved the 7 a.m., Saturday yoga class followed by Zumba! The campus looked beautiful; weather was great for a stroll around. The State of the College with President Volpe, a stop in the campus bookstore and the alumni luncheon filled the hours. Our class dinner at Brewers Alley in downtown Frederick was a perfect spot to start the evening! Frederick’s river walk is absolutely wonderful! I appreciate hearing from a few of you.

Glynnis Edwards Cowdery and husband are adjusting to being “empty nesters” with two children in college. Glynnis continues her work in education with autistic children and is working on the 8th edition of The Exceptional Child. She is an arts commissioner for the City of Walnut Creek in California. Glynnis caught up on the reunion over lunch with Wendy Pulford and Meg Brown McGinn while visiting back East. Jackie McDaniel West has been on the go since the reunion. She and daughter traveled to Europe in July; she made several visits to the South and hopes to visit Glynnis in the near future. Jackie continues to be a strong force on the tennis court. She is captain of a U.S. Tennis Association 4.0 women’s tennis team and has helped win various USTA championships, including a second place finish in nationals!

Nancy Thorpe Kelley still teaches kindergarten at Middletown Primary School. She is a mother of two; her son attends Clemson Univ. in South Carolina and daughter is a scholar athlete at Middletown High. Nancy enjoys volunteering as an usher at The Weinberg Center in Frederick, and was looking forward to the Messiah sing-along; memories of years ago with the Hood choir and U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen! Angela Billotti Phillips serves as the director of development at New Life Christian School in Frederick. Her younger daughter married this past spring and lives in the White Marsh-Baltimore area; older daughter is working to complete her doctorate at the Univ. of North Carolina.

Gretchen Steinmetz Keith recently accepted a position with a wealth strategy company in Reading, Pa., where she has incredible opportunities for both personal and professional growth. Gretchen is working as an executive administrative assistant and learning much about the industry. She hopes to become licensed in the future. Gretchen reconnected with her Hood “six-pack” (Lisa Bodamer Kida, Suzanne Norris Driscoll, Jodi Palmer Murphy, Caroline Peck Medley and Donna Trumbull Milewski) this summer in Westport, Conn., at the home of Suzanne Norris Driscoll. They literally caught up on the past 30 years! Over the years, Joy Miller Beveridge and I have kept in touch with family visits and celebrations. Joy’s daughter works for an advertising firm in San Francisco. Her son was married this past April and lives in downtown Frederick! Gretchen, Liz and spouses “bunked in” at the Beveridge residence over the reunion weekend. A good time was had by all! Joy and I celebrated our 50th birthdays in 2010 with a trip to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M. In May 2011, my husband and I took a road trip to the Midwest and visited various friends along the way. We first traveled south on Virginia’s Skyline Drive and made a surprise stop at the home of Lisa Shakespeare Whedbee in McGaheysville, Va.! We caught up on years in two hours! Lisa and Michael recently became proud grandparents! I have been working for AAA the past 15 years as a travel consultant (almost 30 years in the industry) and always enjoy the opportunity to travel. Recently, I escorted a group on a wonderful trip to Ireland. My husband and I take advantage of our “empty nester” status and travel to the islands every year. Our youngest son is a senior at Ohio State Univ. Where does the time go? Hood reunions and reconnecting with all the special people from our college years, the best years of our lives, is so important! Do stay in touch. As the new class reporter, I hope to reconnect with more of you in the future. Please drop me a line at Busybethc@aol.com. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a blessed 2013!

Class Reporter: