1983
Mary Townley
hoodmlt@aol.com

Hello Class of 1983! I hope you all are doing well. I heard from several of our classmates who had news to share. Nancy Hoffman Hennessey wrote, “This fall, I will be attending General Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in NYC. Kevin will remain in Frederick for his job and we are looking forward to discovering NYC over the next two years. I will graduate in June 2016 with my master’s of divinity degree. Our youngest child Ted will be a freshman at the Univ. of Maryland this fall. Our other children, Megan teaches fifth grade in Fairfax, Va., and Lauren works for Prudential Financial in Newark, N.J. My classmate, Christine Seiler was on the East Coast from Seattle, Wash., for a wedding and was able to sneak in dinner with Kevin and me. It was a wonderful, but short visit. We had a lot of laughter and reminiscing about our Hood days. She and her husband Jeff Perkins have three children and love living in Seattle.” Caren Crandall Babst shared, “We have been blessed this past Dec. 24 with our fifth grandchild, Evalina Maria Norcio Babst! She joins cousins, Sean, 17, and Delia, 14, and brothers, Lucas, 10, and Zeke, 7. We are also excited to go to Italy this September to the magnificent lake district (with hood.ahitravel.com).” I also heard from Deborah Single Hays. She and her family spent most of June and the first half of July in upstate New York. She wrote that they are safely back in Nashville and she and her husband Stephen are preparing for their oldest son Matthew to begin his freshman year at Rice Univ., in Houston, Texas, this fall. All is well with Carol and me, Mary Townley, and our 16-year-old daughter Emily. We continue with our lawsuit for marriage equality in Virginia. As I write this, we anxiously await the decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. The support we have received from the American Foundation of Equal Rights as well as our lawyers, Ted Olson and David Boies, has been phenomenal. We are very optimistic that our case may be chosen to go before the U.S. Supreme Court. Joanne Lee Davis, M.S. ’10, P’08 wrote, “I continue to work as special education teacher in Carroll County, Md. My daughter Julie Davis ’08, M.S. ’14 received her master’s degree from Hood in May and also works as a special education teacher in Carroll County. She received her bachelor’s degree from Hood in 2008. My other daughter Heidi is teaching first grade in Baltimore City. Thanks for all your work as our class reporter.”

1982

Elizabeth Bastian Chapin
busybethc@aol.com

Barb Koiro Daye and family all live in Frederick. Daughter Eliza owns a home just around the corner! Husband Mike retired from coaching football for 30 years and decided to return. He works for Frederick County Public Schools and Barb works as a traveling nurse. Barb and Mike have done a lot of traveling over the years including the 2012 Super Bowl and Indy 500! Barb’s sister lives in the Reading, Pa., area; she and Liz Bastian Chapin are acquainted. My apologies to Barb for just submitting her news. Debbie Booth Cieri said her family is happy and healthy! She and husband are building their dream home at the Magothy River in Maryland to enjoy in their retirement years. Her oldest Rachel is a magazine editor for the Sun Tribune group. Oldest twin is a senior at Methodist Univ., in North Carolina majoring in music education, and younger twin just became an emergency medical technician. Amy Blades Steward of Easton recently co-authored her first book, Charles H Thornton:  A Life of Elegant Solutions, with renowned structural engineer, educator and mentor Charles H. Thornton, Ph.D., PE of Easton. Over the last 30 years, Thornton has engineered some of the world’s tallest and most innovative structures through “disruptive innovation.” He also founded the ACE Mentor Program, a nationwide nonprofit organization offering guidance and training in architecture, construction and engineering to more than 40,000 inner city high school students in 106 cities across the U.S. The memoir’s cover was designed by Amy’s son, Conner Dorbin of Easton. Her oldest son Andrew recently graduated from Temple Univ. in Philadelphia with a film degree and is working for PRS Guitars as a videographer. Amy’s youngest son just graduated from high school and will attend St. Mary’s College of Maryland in the fall. Marcea Horton Cotter welcomed her second grandson Asher Mason Davenport in October 2013. Marcea, family and grandchildren vacationed at Disneyworld earlier this year! They included a visit with Ellen Yodzis Patton and her family while in Florida. Jackie McDaniel West continues to be quite active with tennis! She plays and captains numerous women’s teams in her area and has won several Virginia titles. Her involvement in the past year includes coaching both junior varsity and varsity girls at Cape Henry Collegiate. The varsity girls won States in her first year as coach! Jackie also teaches tennis to middle school-aged girls. Although reluctant to coach at first, Jackie has enjoyed the experience and looks forward to season two in the fall. Her daughter is heading off to Elon Univ. in North Carolina this fall; Jackie’s son is studying culinary arts at Johnson & Wales Univ., in Rhode Island. A new active Goldendoodle puppy named Cooper is helping to fill the “empty nest.” Liz Bastian Chapin has enjoyed several visits with Joy Miller Beveridge in Reading, Pa., and Frederick this year! The Carroll Creek Frederick area is wonderful! It is surely a must see when you return to Frederick for a visit! Gretchen Steinmetz Keith and I see each other throughout the year with a “girls birthday club” in Reading, Pa. It is a good excuse for some mutual friends to get together and celebrate our birthdays! Both of Gretchen’s son’s are engaged; one wedding is planned for 2014! It is always great to hear from different classmates! Feel free to send me your news anytime so I can save it for the next publication!

1977

Elizabeth Anderson Comer
ecomer@eacarchaeology.com

This online news application is great! Just send me an email with your news and I will post it to the site so we can keep in touch! Ann Kowitski Barber  sent the following news, “Elizabeth graduated with her doctorate in physical therapy from the Univ. of Hartford last month! It was a beautiful day with 19 family members and friends attending the ceremony and celebrating in Connecticut with her. Two weeks later, my nephew graduated from medical school and my family was together again to celebrate with Christopher.” I missed the Grand National this year so I missed seeing Barrie Briscoe Reightler. Barrie celebrated 30 years with the Maryland Horse Breeders Association––30 years of designing a monthly magazine! Last year she was recognized by the American Horse Publications as an AHP Champion (sort of like their hall of fame). Congratulations! Barrie sees Pat Loper Bennett and hears from Sarah Kingman Matthews, M.A. ’80 and Elaine Patry Jones. They are “threatening” a Labor Day weekend get-together in 2015 to celebrate their 60th birthdays! Doug and I, Elizabeth Anderson Comer, just returned from celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary hiking Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom! I highly recommend it––great history, scenery, exercise, pubs, museums and weather! Yes, great weather in Northern England! Please send class of 1977 news, my inbox is not full enough!

1976
Nancy Ludwick Warrenfeltz
nlwfeltz@hotmail.com

It is always good to hear from our class. Here is the latest news. Please email me your updates so I can include it next time. Kathy Anderson Jewell retired after 21 years of teaching in June 2013. Many changes were coming and after surviving middle school for that long, she decided it was time to regain some sanity. Chip and Kathy took a two-week Viking River cruise through France. They started in Paris and went north to the beaches of Normandy, then returned to Paris and went south ending in Avignon. Highlights were Monet’s Gardens in Giverny and the Normandy coastline where the D-Day invasions happened 70 years ago. They also enjoyed winery tours and visited Provence and the Pont du Gard aqueduct. They had amazing weather and enjoyed the marvelous sights. They welcomed granddaughter Coretta Ann Jewell on June 9, 2014.  Proud parents are their son Curtis and his wife Julia. Daughter Kristin and husband Zack and 2-year-old Nora added a new baby in July. Kathy’s family is growing rapidly and she is not bored with retirement. Carol Fleming, P’07, P’09 reported that one of their big changes this year is completing their own retirement home after being renters for 25 years in Corolla, N.C. It opened on Memorial Day for 2014 rentals. Check it out at #1231 on Southern Shores Realty. As they put it, “We feel shorely blessed to make this long held dream come true!” Scott and Carol are also going to be grandparents for the first time in October as their middle daughter Charis will be having a daughter of her own. All three Loomer children are teachers in Maryland––Baltimore and Frederick (two are also Hood alums) so they visit frequently. Life is Good! Mary Lynn Furtek Eubanks has been teaching special needs students for 37 years in Alcoa, Tenn. She is trying to decide when to retire. It will be soon. Larry and I, Nancy Ludwick Warrenfeltz, are doing well in Pensacola. Larry just published a new book, Sea Stories: A Virtual Wastebasket of Random Memories. Let me know if you want to buy a signed copy. It is a wonderful book and has many stories about Hood College and theU.S. Naval Academy. It has received great reviews from our friends!

1973
Sara “Sally” Parkhurst Van Why
sallyvanwhy@gmail.com

It was wonderful to hear from so many of you. Amy Hanley Dove reported that things are exciting at her home. Her son graduated from the Univ. of Pittsburgh in April; her daughter just returned from two years in New Zealand and her son’s wedding was in early August. Sue Holaday Converse will have a wedding for her son next May. Her twins are now 22; Rob will be a senior at Bryant Univ. in the fall and Jenn continues to pursue her dance career in NYC. Sue is working in NYC as a senior vice president and chief financial officer for a trade association, Television Bureau of Advertising. She would love to hear from alums in NYC! On a sadder note, Sherry Kemp spent six months in five different hospitals because she nearly lost her leg in 2011. She did lose the use of it; there is a 24” titanium rod in it. She has been learning alternative ways to do things, including trying to boost her upper body strength to compensate. She has people in place to help and plans to continue to run her farm. Her gardening is limited to what she can grow in containers but the art and music have not suffered at all. She will have her annual show in her studio in late fall. She said that she has no regrets and everything to be grateful for. Every new day is a gift, no matter what happens. Ann Jones is still selling real estate. She recently helped her dad celebrate his 90th birthday. She is involved with various clubs and charitable organizations and for fun she plays bridge every week. She took a vacation last year to Tucson and planned to return in the fall. Peggy Weinbeck loves ballroom dancing and has competed in states across the mid-Atlantic. She accomplished her dream of going to the Galapagos Islands and got to see the blue footed booby. In July, she planned to do an intergenerational trip with a granddaughter. They planned to spend five days in Yellowstone with Road Scholar. She is still a public school district administrator. Her three children are scattered across the country, but she is fortunate that her two granddaughters are nearby. She has fun visits with Mary Beth Layfield Law. Lorraine Sharp Kish is enjoying many volunteer opportunities in the community. Most enjoyable is volunteering as a Colonial America historical interpreter at Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania. She continues her longtime hobby of exploring her family genealogy. In addition to the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, she has found the time to enjoy membership in colonial themed societies. She hopes her children, grandkids and great-grandkids yet to come will share an interest in preserving family history. Toni Mathias Harvey and her husband Ted continue to be a part of the hospitality industry by meeting guests from far and wide with The Inn at Lost River and Lost River General Store and Café in Lost River, W.Va. Her three children and wonderful 4-year-old grandson live on the West Coast, so there is a lot of cross country commuting. If any other classmates are considering owning and operating a B&B, she would be more than happy to share the insight and knowledge they have gained over the past eight years. Toni Lucia reported that her summer had gotten off to a great start with family and friends. In particular, she and Laura Lee Miller Bowes were able to catch up in NYC in June over a lovely lunch. Marcia Coyle DiBiagio, H’08 and her husband Ray celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in May, but decided to really celebrate next year with a trip to Ireland. Her book—The Roberts Court: The Struggle for the Constitution—came out in paperback in May and seems to be doing well. Both kids are living at home. Her son is working, but not in his field and is looking. He is also in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and spending July in the Mojave Desert (not fun!). Marcia says her daughter whose theme song is Cindi Lauper’s, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, is on the very slow train through the community college. She enjoys having them home. Kathy Nixdorff Wilson has an office a few blocks from Marcia in D.C., and they have been able to get together for lunch. Last November Hood sponsored a reception and book signing for Marcia at Union Station in D.C. Sherry Bronski Waltz, Alicia Parlatore Payne and husband, Kathy Nixdorff Wilson and I were able to attend. I highly recommend Marcia’s book. I recently took my mom to her 65th college reunion. Now there is a goal I think we should all aim for, 2038 – mark it on your calendars.

1971
Mary McMunigal Burland
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

We are deeply saddened to report that Rev. Carolyn Perry Dukenski passed away on March 6, 2014, from a stroke. Carolyn was an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Connecticut where her gift for pastoral care will be sorely missed. Our sincere condolences to her husband Ron and sons Jay and Stephen. If you would like to read her obituary and see a current picture of Carolyn, please email me at mlwilcox3@gmail.com. Edith Purdie reported that she continues to live at a fast pace doing proposal consulting and a little traveling. May 2013 was a whirlwind of graduations—her niece Alice graduated from high school, her youngest daughter Patty earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College in Maryland, and her oldest daughter Jenny earned a master’s degree from the Univ. of Maryland. Betsy Cooper Pizzolato said she is lucky to have a cousin with a beautiful home in Puerto Vallarta where she and Tom visited to escape the January cold. They have taken a couple of tours to Canada and to the Pacific Northwest. Daughter Jane visited them in San Francisco at the end of the Pacific Northwest tour. Daughter Karen is engaged and Betsy and Tom visited Karen’s future in-laws in Wyoming where Betsy rode ATVs and shot shotguns, both out of character for her! Tom will retire from the Univ. of Delaware at the end of the year after 38 years of teaching. Alice Paul McGinnis continues to enjoy retirement with a lot of traveling and volunteer work. She recently purchased a rebuilt Steinway grand piano and really enjoys practicing on it. Allyson Washburn has lived in San Francisco for 30 years and loves the rich cultural life, the restaurants and the liberal politics. She is currently a psychology/gerontology professor at National Univ. teaching all her classes online. Her son Ben and his wife Christy are both physical therapists and live across the bay with daughters Raya and Olivia. Her daughter Alyssa and husband Ray live in Oakland where Alyssa is a defense attorney and Ray teaches eighth grade history. They are expecting Allyson’s third granddaughter.  Allyson is able to see all of them frequently. Mary McMunigal Burland said that after a horrible winter in Philadelphia she is especially enjoying summer. She and Bill have been to Kiawah, S.C. They spent the fourth of July on Cushing Island, Maine, a private island in Casco Bay where there are no stores, no cars and no golf carts.  It is a beautiful place where you can do absolutely nothing and enjoy it. They are planning another trip to Kiawah in September and a river cruise to France, Germany and Switzerland next year. I, Mindy Laighton Wilcox, and my husband Bill went on a Hood sponsored river cruise in Holland and Belgium in April. There were nine other Hood graduates on the trip including Wilma Diehl Robley ’74. Her sister Chris Diehl ’69 was in our big sister class. It was a great trip and fun to get to know all the other alumni from all different decades. Mary and I were disappointed not to have heard from more of you this time. I know many of our classmates look forward to hearing what everyone has been up to when the Hood Magazine arrives so even if you have never sent news before please drop us a line to check in. You do not need to write volumes, just tell us what is going on with you now. We would love to know.

1970
Karin Ninesling Infuso        
kinfuso@aol.com
45th reunion, June 5-7, 2015

The information for this column arrived via email, telephone conversations and a holiday letter.  A. Karen Blair  retired from her longtime position at Towson Univ. in Maryland. She and her husband George left Maryland and moved to Troy, N.C. in May 2014. They are living in a house she renovated and redecorated while she completes the renovation of a second home. After beginning her college education at Hood, Karen DeLeeuw Noon transferred to Northwestern Univ., but she still keeps in touch with Hood through this magazine. She has three children and six grandchildren and has a “good life” in Raleigh, N.C. Lynne Britt Demers Becker  reported that her two daughters are expecting their second children. Lynne was “honored and delighted” to receive the Association of Advancement Services Professionals’ Lifetime Achievement Award.  She officially retired on her 65th birthday. She married Harry Hogan and they travel to the Netherlands and to Texas to visit Lynne’s daughters and to the British Virgin Islands to sail. She maintains that “life is good.” Martha Hassell retired in June 2014 after 33 years as dean of students at New England School of Photography. Marty plans to continue teaching a course in the history of photography and serving as a member of the program advisory committee at the school. However, she wants to travel while she is still healthy and fit. She celebrated her retirement on a cruise on the largest cruise ship in the world and will travel to Alaska in August.  Shortly thereafter, she will plan a hiking trip in New Hampshire. Ann Lefko Heslin went back to work last year at the Howard County Maryland Department of Social Services. Her daughter Laura has a master’s degree in sociology and works at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Her son John was named Drill Sergeant of the Year in the U.S. Army, completed Ranger School and is stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Anne’s daughter Sara graduated from Salisbury Univ. and works for a computer science corporation in Texas. Anne also reported that she has four grandchildren. Kimberley Moore Pressler cares for her father who is 94 years old but also makes time to perfect her bridge game. Her husband is busy with his construction business and recently worked on the remodel of LaGuardia Airport in New York. She and her husband traveled to St. Croix, the Galapagos and to India for a tiger safari. Kim’s children and grandchildren live and work in Honolulu and Kailua, Hawaii and St. Croix. Margaret Muncie still enjoys living in Greenville, S.C. She will travel to NYC in November and is “very humbled and excited” to be the 2014 recipient of the General Theological Seminary Distinguished Alumni/ae Award. Donna Newman is working part time with a group of physicians on a nonpharmaceutical solution to the metabolic syndrome. Donna still loves to travel and recently returned from a two-week sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands.  Karin Ninesling Infuso still enjoys retirement in Moore County, N.C. Although not a golfer, she watched with interest the preparations for the men’s and women’s U.S. Open golf tournaments in Pinehurst, N.C., and attended the women’s championship round. Karin’s daughter Kate is certified to teach exceptional children and recently completed a graduate course in teaching reading comprehension and a course in American Sign Language. After a year of successfully managing health concerns, Karin and her husband are traveling again with a family trip to Italy and Paris.  Anne Parkin Pierpont is contending with her husband’s health concerns, but she feels “blessed” by a great job, friends and “a beautiful daughter.” She looks forward to our class reunion in 2015. Mary “Sam” Ryan Reeves and her husband John traveled to Peru and Bolivia; Machu Picchu was on their “bucket list” and it did not disappoint. Sam and Marj Menchey Bernstein will host a cocktail party at Sam’s house during our 45th reunion. Sam, Marj and Ellen Sacks, P’09 are planning a souvenir to commemorate the occasion. Ellen is still working and living in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her husband and her dog. Her children live nearby. She would love the ease of a house on one level, but that type of house does not exist in Brooklyn. Ellen will vacation this summer in Bethany Beach, Del. She rents Sam Ryan’s beach house and enjoys spending some time with Sam. I want to thank the classmates who sent news for this column. I encourage other classmates to update their email addresses and send information for the next column.

The Class of 1968 needs a new class reporter. Please contact the office of alumni relations at alumoffice@hood.edu if you would like to become the reporter.

Margo Melton Nutt has published James Melton: The Tenor of His Times. James Melton was perhaps the first multi-media performer—concerts, recordings, movies, the Metropolitan Opera, radio and television. The book is a daughter’s attempt to rediscover the fascinating man who was her father. Copies of the book may be ordered through Amazon.com or directly from the author at Margo Melton Nutt, 560 Hawk Pine Road, Norwich, VT 05055 or tenorofhistimes@gmail.com.

1967
Patricia Rosner Kearns
kearns.patricia@gmail.com

Angela Milea Mogin asks all members of the class of ’67 who remember Dr. Lewis’ classes if they would like to contribute to the Dr. Virginia E. Lewis Fund (institutional advancement department). Judy Lehman Ballinger is enjoying new places: activities in Berks Co., Pa., getting to a Hood basketball game and meeting local alums. “My silk painting business keeps growing, grandkids have increased to seven. My first-grade teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up and I said, ‘artist.’ I celebrated my 69th birthday and I am finally grown up and an artist! I enjoyed seeing Ginny Munson Hammell last summer in Cape May. I planned my first trip to Europe since 2001 to an art workshop in southern France,” said Judy. Ginny Munson wrote, “I spent a wonderful few days in March-April with Pat Jones VanMater at her and Peter’s digs in Naples and trying to work my way down to Sicily. Daughter Hilary is an attorney, son Davis still not sure about his career.” Ginny lives in Alexandria, Va., and loves it. Not this winter! She is on the board of community lodgings, moving families to independence through transitional housing, job training and education programs. Marianne Kearney has moved to Woodstock to her beloved childhood summer place. The address is 167 Glenford Wittenberg Rd., Glenford, NY 12433; 845-6570-6224. Retired from education in St. Louis, she engages in local activism having joined the hydraulic gas fracking controversy in New York state . Company is always welcome so stop by or stay when traveling near the Hudson River Valley. Kris Campbell Joyce’s 96-year-old mother Ann passed peacefully in her sleep Feb. 8. “The French House triple roomies, Judy Lehman Ballinger, Cheryl Wray Kirk and I have all lost our mothers over the past couple years but have been sharing what an impact these losses are and I am grateful to have this comfort.” Beth Costello Hobby said, “life has had its ‘ups and downs’–the fall tornadoes missed the house but detritus landed all over the yard, a roll of wallpaper, a German hymnal and a bucket  of charcoal briquettes. Among others, I have been doing art work again. My sculpture, assemblages and collages may cause conventional residents to raise a few eyebrows. I lost my mom in February just short of her 91st birthday; not visiting her every week has been one of the ‘downs’. Partner Sandy’s health is not always the best, but I have been blessed, although I do not always recognize the lady in the mirror! The best ‘up’ I have is fabulous 8-month-old great-nephew who plays bongos and dances and goes by the name JAME-O. Who could ask for more in a kid?” Ann Goodhart enjoys retirement and spends time gardening, reading and cooking. She returned to the East Coast in 2010, retiring after 40 years as a librarian, the last 13 years as a library director in Vancouver. Husband James Delgado is director of maritime heritage for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and an underwater archaeologist. They spend their travel time visiting new granddaughter in California. Cynthia Newby is semi-retired and writes for McGraw-Hill––more happily, working in the garden (garden conservancy tour planned for Sept. 7). Cyndi shared a great quote from Margaret Atwood, “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Gail Witham Pohl now has 18 grandchildren! Doug has retired but still teaches at the Univ. in Georgia. They enjoyed a trip to China in December and planned to head to Uganda this summer where their daughter’s family lives, including eight of their grandchildren whom they have not seen for two years. Gail keeps up with Dorrie Macgregor Spurlock who works full-time at the Univ. of Utah in Salt Lake City after teaching first grade. Elly MacHale Szum wrote from Bucolic, N.H. After Hood, Elly headed to Cambridge, Mass., where she met husband Richard and earned a master’s degree in education focused on the emotionally disturbed child. She taught troubled children until twins were born in 1982. She retired this past year as an elementary school librarian. Richard retired after globetrotting for Siemens. Daughter Carolyn works in Beijing, daughter Kate and husband are in Ithaca, N.Y., and her twin brother John is in the U.S. military in California. Elly and Richard enjoy their home and gardens. We are limited to 750 words; apologies for the edits and cuts. Full report is online at http://classnews.hoodmarketing.org.

1966
Dianne Beebe Barske
dielbarske@alaska.com

I am turning over this class column to our 50th reunion committee and an update received from Ginny Wheeler Jones, M.A.’88. Yes, we are nosing up against 50 years since we graduated! Before I quote Ginny, I want to thank the committee members. Along with Ginny, they are Pat Vozar Bailey, Sarah Bruce, Susan Worth Fiala and Judy Messina. Save the dates—June 10 to 12, 2016. Here is Ginny’s update, written at the end of June 2014, “The 50th reunion committee has moved a little farther ahead! Pat Vozar Bailey and I were able to visit Hood and attend the alumni luncheon on June 7. We wanted a look at how things were organized for our big sisters’ 50th reunion! We had a great time and learned quite a few things. We enjoyed the campus and the chatting of ’66 memories between us. One of our highlights was talking with the chair of the 50th reunion for the class of ’63, Bobby Campbell Rickman ’63, M.A.’75, P’96, who was most helpful in planning our 25th! She has already shared a packet of useful details and ideas, making our attendance well worth it. From our visit, we learned there are some things we can begin to do now: 1. Start our own collection of photos and memorabilia from our Hood days, especially if this is a time of down-sizing for you–SAVE these things! 2. Consider if you, someone in your family or a friend would be willing and able to make a DVD to share at the reunion using photos collected from classmates. 3. Consider if you, someone in your family or a friend likes scrapbooking and would be willing and able to put some photos and information about each of us into a booklet to be copied. 4. Consider if you would like to help arrange the chapel service on Sunday morning of our reunion weekend that is led by our class. The College is extremely helpful with the planning of this big reunion! We have researched and it looks as we will be able to have a lovely place on campus for a sit-down dinner as requested as we left our 45th reunion! The committee will plan for another alumni weekend visit in June 2015 to gather final ideas then begin the real effort for our 50th reunion, as fund-raising can officially begin July 1, 2015. Our exciting time to be together again and celebrate our 50th will be here before we know it! If you would like to help in any way mentioned, please contact me at virginia.w.jones@gmail.com and I will share your interest with the committee. With thanks.” Ginny refers to downsizing. That is exactly what we did around Christmas, a few months ago, a drastic downsize! Our little home is about one-third the size of our big, old Anchorage house, home for 35 years. We love the new home, just a few minute walk from a pretty, little lake and a creek down the road, with miles of walking/biking trails. Among our first visitors, this past June, was one of my Hood roommates Jane Dearstyne Veeder and her husband Chuck. It had been 41 years since Janie and I had been together and the years just melted away as we visited and toured around Anchorage together.  Now, I have recently reconnected through Facebook with graduate school roommate Esther Paist who promises to visit next summer (I am putting this in print, Estie, to make it a real plan). Estie and I roomed together at the Univ. of Wisconsin in Madison. In July, we planned to leave for a Big Barske Beach family reunion at the Connecticut shore, and head off on a Prairie Home Companion Cruise to the Baltic––flying to London and sailing from Dover on to Copenhagen into a port in Germany connected to Berlin. Then, travel to Estonia and to St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; then to Stockholm, Sweden. Let me pause there for a minute, since I am very happy about Stockholm. I planned to see Eva Redvall ’67 who was a Swedish exchange student while we were at Hood. I think a lot of you will remember her, very involved in music and now a European opera critic! I could not wait to see her. From Stockholm, we go back to Denmark and on to Dover to fly home! I hope a lot of us will begin planning for our 50th reunion!