Marilyn Garis Kellow
262-334-5782
maggiehood1958@gmail.com

Barbara Windsor Bien and husband Wayne are doing reasonably well and had planned a trip to South Dakota in late May or June. They have new friends who own a ranch near Rapid City and want to take them to see the sights (Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument and hopefully lots of bison). Barb said that perhaps she will get up on a (gentle) horse after 30 or more years and accompany Wayne and his friends in sightseeing. Wayne is still doing hippotherapy (sometimes called equine therapy) for his MS and still has his horse Bouffe, a dark Bay thoroughbred and former race horse. He’s 20-years-old and still going strong; Wayne rides him when he can. Barb is still volunteering at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore educating visitors about climate change and the Zoo’s mission to raise awareness about wildlife. Her favorite place to be is the Tundra Buggy visitor center, which is warm in winter and cool in summer and has a terrific view of their polar bears, Magnet, a male and great sleeper and occasional swimmer and Anoki, their female who has just finished denning for the winter and will be back on view with Magnet. Barb also continues to volunteer with Al-Anon in Baltimore. She has been a member for over 31 years and volunteers for the answering service, directing newcomers to meetings. Painting, drawing and reading are still hobbies as is writing (currently putting off a still unfinished novel about a girl with ADHD), movie going, attending Center Stage in Baltimore City, yoga and walking (no more hiking). Also, thanks to the miracle of unlimited long distance, Barb can call her daughter in N.C. (Raleigh area) and talk to her two granddaughters, 14 and 6 years old, and even listen to the 6-year-old kindergartener read her three weekly assigned books. Life is good. Jenny Krohn Rose and husband Shep keep busy training their Portuguese WaterDog. She is the star at Sit Means Sit. If anyone is in the Vegas area, they would be happy to hear from you. Fortunately, they are still in good health. Marthanne Stephens Smith said, “No news except I am cold and old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Penny Hunt Solum said that they are coping just fine with the winter weather in Connecticut. She talked to Liz Conklin Collins recently and will be visiting her in the early spring. Liz asked that she share her current address and phone: 933 Edgewood Road, Annapolis MD 21402 Apt. #105, Phone: 410-507-5328. Despite the current chaos in Greece, Penny was looking forward to heading there in mid-April to tour Athens for several days before a week’s adventure to the Island of Lesvos to bird watch with a group of pals from Connecticut. It will be spring migration for the birds and it is Penny’s wish to be able to add a few new species to bring her world-wide bird list up to 3,000 sightings! Following the birding, she planned to head to London and join her husband at their younger son’s home there for a couple weeks. Their older son will join them for a few days, all to celebrate her husband John’s 80th birthday and their 55th wedding anniversary! Sara Lea Callaway Redmon wrote that everything is pretty much the same, for which she is thankful. She suggests that it would be nice to send Dr. Volpe cards of thanks for his years of service to Hood. She is excited about his replacement and is confident that Hood will continue to meet the challenges of high education. Jo Olmstead Witherington continues to keep busy with three choruses and concerts and extra events for non-profit organizations. She also gives talks to school children about the Civil War and the American Revolution. She fits all this in between travels. This year she will be going back to Italy, France and China.

Dottie Snyder Engle
301-371-5170
dengle3699@aol.com

Congratulations to those of us who outlasted the awful winter. Special thoughts go to Mary Verdella Wagner Nelson and Paul, near the waterfront in Boston, who endured over nine feet of snow in a month. They were house bound, but fortunately did not need to get out for work. Paul even happily filled in as the concierge to accept deliveries to the building. Nancy Craven Jacobus enjoyed a fabulous trip to Paris and the Normandy beaches where she took beautiful photos. Our sympathy to Nancy on the sudden dead of her brother Bob who lived in California. Speaking of photography, please visit Marilyn Monson Baldi’s wonderful albums and galleries at www.imagerybymarilyn.com and www.torchegalerie.com. Marilyn, an avid traveler, has been to 30 countries in the past few years. Jo Ann Twilley Plichta, M.A.’86 and Mary Ann Holloway Ford-Naill, M.A.’79 visited Helen Buss Mitchell and her husband in Ellicott City, Md. Helen is still teaching women’s studies and updating her philosophy books. Gail Kloeblen Spertzel has become quite an artist and photographer. She and her husband have moved to the retirement community of Homewood where Bobby Campbell Rickman, M.A.’75, P’96 lives. Condolences to Dianne Lawson Hadermann whose beautiful mom died at age 97. Since Dianne and I had attended school from third grade through Hood, and because I liked her mom, I decided to go to the visitation. I was so sure of where I was going, but went to Ridgeville Road in Mount Airy instead of Ridge Road in Damascus. So I missed by about eight miles, I think. I even had the obit in my purse. Why do I shim? Condolences also to Joanne Zink Markey on the death of her husband.  Dottie Hussennetter Ritz and husband Bob had a trip of a life time to Italy arranged by Bob’s priest. The highlight was being in a position to almost touch the Pope as he came by in his Pope Mobile. Pat Taylor Santelli and her husband had her first trip to Hawaii to visit their USN officer son and do some sightseeing. They spent time on Oahu and the big island. She also had her first time in the Bahamas snorkeling for lobster and conch off their friend’s fishing boat. She lost her only beloved sister to cancer after Claire had fought a three year battle; our condolences Pat. As for me, Dottie Snyder Engle, we suffered some losses, too.  My 97-year-old brother passed last spring and Ron’s 90-year-old brother in August. My biggest event was a treadmill accident. A member at our gym left his running while he went to the bathroom. I didn’t see the track turning and stepped on it to retrieve a TV remote to hand to daughter Robin. When I stepped on with one foot, I got hurled at four miles an hour into a wall about three feet behind hitting my head and shoulder. I was fortunate, because as badly as that hurt, I only had a sprained shoulder and finger and a cut below my eyebrow and a big hematoma above. Four days later, we were having our 55th high school reunion, so I went to a salon and got my hair done and a makeup job that had me looking red carpet ready. The day after the accident, Ron took me to my local doctor. We sat on chairs with a little table between me with my very bruised and battered face. People would glance at us and then away. Wonder what they were thinking? Domestic Abuse? Did I mention that we are pretty well known in our community? Life seems to be filled with deaths, operations, grandchildren and trips. I vote for more of the last two. Who is up for an unofficial reunion the weekend of June 10, 2016? A Friday evening dinner at the Engle’s and weekend activities as you chose. More information will follow. Recently, Bobby Campbell Rickman’s husband Charlie slept out of this world at home in bed in the middle of the morning. Charlie asked that there be no visitation, funeral or memorial service. Instead, he asked that all you who wish to honor him will do a service for someone in his name. He was very much into service himself. Bobby said there will be a celebration, “a party” in the spring. His obituary appeared in the Frederick News Post on February 27. Bobby is always right there sending cards for every occasion. Since she has been our Hood Reunion chairman forever, please send her a card: Barbara Campbell Rickman, 7351 Willow Road #11, Frederick, MD 21702.  Phone number is 240-629-1960. She is doing very well. I, Dottie Snyder Engle, made a surprise visit to Pat Pinto Tawes and George in Crisfield and found they were moving to a waterfront condo, also in Crisfield. George is still recovering from a stroke and Pat finds that she cannot keep up their present waterfront property.

Catharine Smith Dunn
610-691-5653
kittysmithdunn26@gmail.com

Greetings to the class of 1947. This is my swan song as reporter….definitely! I have enjoyed being in touch with so many over the years, but macular degeneration is a real challenge. Phyllis Peak Sullivan has a husband going through it, too, but so far has been doing better than I. They are traveling, enjoying warm Florida weather and visiting grandchildren and enjoying a great granddaughter. In the near future, they hope to downsize and move into a retirement center in Virginia. Louray Forney Huang, P’83 was to be envied this winter. She is spending time with children in Hawaii and though she has little energy, she has a helper to drive her places and do some cooking. Mel Weir Peter spends winters in Florida and has many family visitors, but not Elizabeth Jones Hesse this year. Mel was looking forward to a college graduation of a granddaughter and a wedding of a grandson. I think Mel must have the record of grandchildren-12 and great-grandchildren-10. Another grandson is a freelance journalist, living in Greece and writing a novel about Afghanistan. Mary Lib Reeder Tiller entertained me and my two daughters this past August when I was visiting with my daughters in Alexandra, Va. Mary Lib’s son is also an author and I was able to get a copy for my Kindle which I can read by enlarging the print size. In spite of needing crutches, she is able to do gardening and still lives in the same house she has had for many years. In spite of seeing with difficulty, I am still singing with the Lehigh Univ. Choral Union and had the thrill of singing at Carnegie Hall. I still usher for special programs at Lehigh Univ. and best of all, baby-sit my year-old great-grandson several days a week. One other nice connection is my relationship with four other Hoodlums  …my sisters-in-law, Dorothy Crosland Dunn, class of 1946, Polly Harvey Dunn, Class of 1950, Carolyn Dunn Shellenberger, class of 1951 and sister, Molly Smith Sperandio, Class of 1957.

Dianne Beebe Barske, Class Reporter
dielbarske@gci.net

I am writing this on February 19, and my request for class news has brought a chorus of cold!  I related that Alaska had been breaking all kinds of heat records, which means temperatures in the mid 40s in mid February, and what little snow we had has been melting fast.  Pat Vozar Bailey chimed back, “People in Virginia would pounce on you for that news.  We had wind chills of minus 20 last week.  It’s a balmy 13 today!”  My roommate, Barbara Cubberly Smith, reported, “People in NC wouldn’t be too happy, either.  Winter has arrived now that spring bulbs are about to bloom.”  And Barbara Morgan Herron ’67, jumped in from Maryland.  “It’s been brutally cold in Baltimore, too, with minus-degree wind chills.  It’s a balmy 10 this morning, February 17, with more frigid air on the way.”  I guess I’d better keep quiet, but here in Anchorage with our big winter carnival looming and the prospect of no World Championship Sled Dog races, we’d love some of that real winter.  The ceremonial start of the Iditarod Sled Dog races has been moved to Fairbanks from Anchorage, but even Fairbanks can’t boast a lot of snow.

Speaking of the Iditarod, every year for over 20 years, a group of Alaskan Hood alums have held a reunion potlatch dinner on Iditarod Eve, March 6 this year.  We are a small, but mighty group.  For many years LaVonne Blattenburger Vogt ‘69, came with her husband, Bob, but they moved to NC a few years ago.  This year Jill Stanley ’69, and her husband Adam, will be hosting, and the group will consist of me and my husband, Elliott: Meredith Howard Parham ’67, and her husband, Bruce; Penny Taylor Morton ’69; and Chris Laborde ’96.  We marvel that so many of us were on campus, overlapping in the 1960s, and are always on the lookout for other Hood Alaskan alums to join us.

Since I just referred to LaVonne Blattenburger Vogt, I’ll mention a note from Bonnie Scull Hawkes. She bumped into LaVonne aboard ship, on a cruise to Sidney, Australia this past fall.  “What an incredible discovery way out here in the middle of nowhere!”  The found each other as they were approaching Pago Pago, American Samoa.

My emailed request for news brought several emails in response, and I’m always grateful for every one of them!  Harriet Rudman Weiner wrote, “At this stage of our lives, it’s all about the grandchildren.  Alan and I have six, three from each son – three boys and three girls.  Alan is in his 12^th year of retirement and I am in my 8^th.  Work was varying degrees of enjoyable, but retirement is much better!”  Joan Theobald Wentling and Charlie have become snowbirds, happy to be leaving for Florida for six weeks after their burst of cold winter. She hears from Sally Fairfax ’65 and from Kate Jenks Powell ’64.  Joan and Charlie have four grandchildren living close by, “and they are a huge part of our lives.”  Patricia (Patty) Welton Schutt also shared weather-related news and verified my report of lack of winter in Anchorage.  She wrote, “My younger daughter is in the Army stationed in Anchorage (although she just left for Kuwait for nine months or so.)  She couldn’t believe how little snow there was there.”  But Patty stated that her daughter was constantly oohing and aahing over our mountains.  And Patty couldn’t resist mentioning the record-breaking winter she had been experiencing in Boston! Good news is that Patty and Gerry Silver Fernandez are already making plans to attend our 50^th Hood reunion next year.  She adds, “It’s such a treat to be close to my freshman-year roomie.  We both remember each other as younger, thinner, more energetic.”  Susan Worth Fiala shared wonderful news related to the recent Oscars.  Her youngest son, Bill, headed the production team for “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” nominated for best picture and lots of other awards. Her oldest son, John, just completed the lead on the new Denver International Airport website. And middle son, James, just opened a music store in Baltimore, called Hamiltones.  Sounds like a very creative family!  “Good news, all around,” Susan added.  Speaking of creativity, Janet Lott reports that she is still an avid Argentine dancer and dance teacher.  She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where she teaches the Alexander Technique.  She summarized, “My two sons are healthy and happy. Life is good.”  Carole Ann Kemp Lovett plans to join classmates gathering for our 50^th Hood reunion.  She exclaims, “Egads!  We are approaching our Big 50^th!! Very exciting!”  She and husband Bill will be celebrating their 47^th anniversary this year.  (Elliott and I will be celebrating our 48^th, Carole Anne, so we were married one year earlier.)  She adds that she met her husband when he was just 13 and she was 12, at the local swimming pool.  They have been retired 16 years, spending that time remodeling houses, moving relatives, caring for mothers “and enjoying our paradise here at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland.”  She also volunteers at a local hospital.  Then there’s grandparenting.  Granddaughter Autumn is 7 and there is “no shortage of the joy and laughter she provides Granna and Papa.” Carole Anne and Bill plan to join the snowbird crew and spend March through May in Florida.  Very exciting news came in an email from Nancy Frederickson Sherlin.  She and husband Grover are planning a November trip to Madagascar, and will be visiting with Pat Chapple Wright there at CentreValBio, the research center Pat created at the Ranomafana National Park.  How I wish I could go along!  Nancy recommended Pat’s new book, “For the Love of Lemurs: My Life in the Wilds of Madagascar.” I couldn’t agree more.  I, too, have a copy of the book.  Included in this same trip are visits to Zula Nyala Safari Park in Hluhluwe, South Africa, Victoria Falls and Cape Town.  Last January she and Gordon cruised from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, including four days of cruising through Antarctica, “but we are just over the moon about seeing lemurs in the wild and getting to visit with Pat.”

This past year, Elliott and I have been blessed with real visits, face-to-face happy times, with several Hood friends.  At the end of May we had Jane Dearstyne Veeder (one of my Hood roommates) and husband Chuck visiting us here in Anchorage and got to do some Alaska touring with them.  It was wonderful to be with them.  In August, Elliott and I got to visit with Eva Redvall in Stockhold, Sweden.  I did a happy dance when we saw her!  She drove us around Stockholm, went to a garden lunch with us, and fed us a wonderful Swedish dinner in her home.  (Elliott and I were on a Baltic, North Sea cruise with Sweden as part of the touring.  Other stops were in Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Russia.  It was a Prairie Home Companion Cruise with Garrison Keillor – and, yes, we saw a lot of him.   But hanging out with Eva, an exchange student while we were at Hood, was the highlight for me.  Then, this December when we were visiting our older son and his fiancé in Tucson, Arizona, we got to see Estie (Esther) Paist in Scottsdale, where she recently purchased a condo near her daughters.  She still has her home in Pennsylvania, as well.  We’d been roommates at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where we both went to grad school.  We hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years, but that time gap simply melted away.  Estie states that she is “gleefully retired,” but is still traveling widely assisting colleges and universities with accreditation procedures and implementation of distance education policies.  Thank you Janie, Eva, and Estie, for spending time with us!

And a recent phone call from Anna Buhr Cole gives promise of another special visit with a Hood friend and classmate.  Anna and her husband, Miles, have visited here in Anchorage before.  They liked that visit and the Inland Passage cruise so well that they are cruising to Alaska again, and this time going north to Fairbanks as well.  We plan to get together this June.  Anna mentioned that she had recently been back on the Hood campus.  “It looks so good and certainly has changed.

I’ll end the class news with hopes to see many of you back on campus for our 50^th reunion, June 10 to 12, 2016!  Thanks to our classmates who are on the planning committee – Pat Vozar Bailey, Ginny Wheeler Jones, Sarah Bruce, Susan Worth Fiala, and Judy Messina.  Additional thanks to Judy who recently served on the Search Committee for the new Hood College president.  Committee members recently chose Dr. Andrea E. Chapdelaine to succeed Dr. Ronald Volpe.

Sayre Roney Steere
850-233-0238
sayre1126@gmail.com

Once again, unsolicited, I received an email from Esther Kofod Whitfield, who is practically a neighbor of mine in nearby Tallahassee, Fla. She reminded me that she was one of four “foreign” students at Hood in 1965. She transferred to the Corcoran School of Art in 1967 where she met her future husband, The Libyan, which is the title of her new book. In it she tells of her 5 years in Libya during the horrific years of Ghaddafi’s rule. The book in many ways is a memoir, with actual events, accurately chronicling Libya’s historical and political facts. She has since divorced and is now happily married to Ron Whitfield, a chiropractor. Esther has a son and a daughter and two grandchildren (her time at Hood, by the way, is mentioned in Chapter 2). Another published author is Valerie Dietz Polansky. She recently wrote Quick Review Cards for Medical Laboratory Science as well as updated a previous medical publication. She claims now to be fully retired allowing time for her and Gary to travel in their motorhome. Year 2014 found them visiting the Canadian Maritimes––Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Carolyn “Kip” Cantagalli Dumaresq is also officially retired from the position of secretary of education of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Education–after 45 years in the education system! She and her husband have purchased a new log home on 14+ acres with a pool and a training center for their three Border Collies whom Kip shows in agility. Meredith Owen Atkinson and husband George are both retired allowing them to spend a couple of months each year visiting their daughter and family in Truckee, Calif., and their son in Park City, Utah where the cross-country skiing has been fabulous. Meredith continues to teach a literature class in her hometown of Norwell, Mass. Sue Korff Hammer continues to raise alpacas and drive around in her ’64 GTO convertible! Mary Anne Thune Lasko gets together occasionally with Joy McGinnis, both of whom were stunned at some of the changes on the old college campus. Virginia Pagan Schragel is pleased to announce she has been breast cancer free for five years. Life is good for her and her family. Jill Stanley checked in from Alaska with news that her daughter Rayna Green in her 5th year of studying sacred music at Hebrew Union College will be ordained as a (Jewish) cantor in May. Jill is the director of the local Reform synagogue choir and spends a great deal of time dancing–square dancing, round dancing and Israeli folk dancing. Bettina Smith Tucker has endured a couple of life-changing events recently. She lost her husband Hal almost two years ago and in April 2014 she retired from her 15-year position as a woman’s advocate and court advocate for victims of domestic violence in the midcoast region of Maine. Last summer she managed to coax roomie Sharon MacDonald Sayles from her summer home in the Adirondacks on Gull Pond to visit Tina’s summer home on the Maine coast in Round Pond–a big reunion after 7 years. Speaking of “roomies,” my dear friend Cindy Kannapel Weiss and husband Glenn are about to embark on a cruise through the Hawaiian Islands–a somewhat belated 45th anniversary celebration. Cindy won’t have to wait long upon her return for the birth of her third grandchild! All is well with me, Sayre Roney Steere, here in the Florida Panhandle. I’m winding up my stint as a district director within the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs with one more obligation ahead of me–a convention in Boca Raton in April. Last summer we traveled out west, visiting daughter Joan and family in Seattle – with a camping side-trip to the Orcas Islands, then on to Palo Alto, Calif., to see daughter Doris. The West Coast crowd all came here for Christmas, making this Grandma mighty happy.

Class of 2005, we have a lot of news this issue. It seems like everyone is so busy. Yet again there are new degrees, marriages, new jobs, babies, moves, but no extreme couponers, which honestly surprises me. I thought for sure we would have one class member who clips a ton of coupons for impressive savings. My hope was that our class extreme couponer would pass along some practical saving advice to the rest of us so we can start saving for our 10-year reunion next year! Can you believe it? Those 10 years flew by in the blink of an eye. I’m a little excited to see you all again, if you can’t tell. So let it come as no surprise if our next few columns mention reunion weekend 2015. You turned to this page not to be bombarded with reunion information, but to see what our friends have been doing, so let us get on with the updates.

MaameYaa Boafo earned a Master of Fine Art in acting from Rutgers University in 2009. She married Jeremiah Abiah, and they are living in New York City. You will currently see her starring on the hit webseries An African City and this fall she will be performing Off Broadway in LIFT by Walter Mosley. You also may spot her in national commercials. Jillian (Kotmair) Bright along with husband Andrew and daughter Juliette welcomed twin girls, Alexandria Marie and Josephine Lily, on March 14, 2014. Cassie Dukes and husband John Tagliamburis are preparing to welcome a baby in early December. Danielle (Rodman) Giannandrea and husband Frank purchased a new home in Frederick, which was featured in a nationally-airing Remax commercial. Jennifer Harmon got married, her new last name is Nachtrieb. In addition to being a newlywed, she started a new job as the coordinator of the Community Research Center, Fairbanks North Star Borough in Alaska. Recently, her job brought her to the Pittsburgh for a conference where she was able to catch up with former roommate Rachael (Lubkin) Zeminski. Sarah Hoover is in a Master of Business Administration program for international relations at Southern New Hampshire University. Melanie Howell reports life is sweet. In December, she became engaged to John D. Grantham, whom she dated for the past 10 years. They are getting married at the Cloisters Castle in Pikesville, Maryland, this October and look forward to spending the rest of their lives together. Kristen (Heisey) Leiter welcomed a baby girl, Katherine, into her family on June 4, 2014. Georgette (Sirak) Prichard’s husband received a promotion last August and they have since purchased a house. They are living in Spring Lake, North Carolina near Fort Bragg with three very loveable dogs who make life interesting. Sadly, her cat Smudge aka Fatty Fat Cat, who lived with her and Sarah (Robinson) Rathbun in their off-campus apartment senior year passed away. He was 16 years old. Sarah (Robinson) Rathbun and her family moved from Nashville to San Francisco in June. Tiffany Still married David Grant on Oct. 13, 2013. Charlene Vestermark was accepted for a gastroenterology fellowship at the National Capital Consortium Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, which begins in August. Janelle (Stevens) Weddle claims it’s not newsworthy but celebrated 10 years of marriage with Jeremiah on July 17, 2014. I say she’s wrong. Congratulations, Janelle and Jeremiah!  Nate Wood-Wilson married Ashley Nick ’08 on June 21, 2014 in Knoxville, Md.

And now a special note of thanks from Jennifer (Dunn) Brown:

“I was humbled by the love and support I received from my Hood girls when my mom passed in February. Whether it was a note on Facebook, a card in the mail, a phone call, a donation to the American Cancer Society, or a show of support at the funeral, I was truly grateful to know I had so many people thinking about me and praying for my family. I’m beyond grateful for my Hood family.”

As always, if you have news to share in the next issue of the Hood magazine, please send it to me via email at lhughan@gmail.com or via Facebook.

Wondering what’s going on with Chris Laborde? Here’s the latest on the Alaska Same Sex Marriage Case:

Sally Johnson Leland
207-865-0280
sallyleland@sbcglobal.net

Greetings from the frigid, yet beautiful, state of Maine. What a winter! Anyone have a rental in Florida that would consider a six week rental in February ’16 and be open to a Maine Coon cat in tow? Let me know. Seriously! It has been five+ years that I have served as the ’74 scribe. I am a huge proponent of “change is good.”  Might there be anyone desiring to take over the task of class correspondent?  If so, please let me know 207-865-0280 (sallyleland@sbcglobal.net) or contact Ashley Nick Wilson wilsona@hood.edu who keeps all the correspondents in line, on line, and on schedule! The 40th reunion prompted Billie Weise and Margery Berringer to take a road trip to Cape Cod, where they visited Ginnie Keane Bukovac. Ginny was renting there for the summer. From there, they headed to Camden, Maine to visit Billie’s younger sister. Shades of Thelma and Louise! Dibby Burnham sent word and a picture that daughter Sarah had married on Halloween in Las Vegas. The picture was amusing with all in costume and face paint. Felt like I was at a Kiss Concert. Dibby and her mom seemed to take it in stride in their toned down threads, though my guess is Dib’s veiled pill box hat was probably spider webbed netting in design. Dibby always loved Halloween and all spiders, great and small. Truth be told, I would have loved knowing what was going through Grandmother Burnham’s thoughts! Grandmom was the hit of the evening. She was the only one of her generation so she garnered as much attention as the bride. Barb Burt Sherland has retired from full-time practice in estate planning, tax and exempt organizations in Seattle. She is now senior counsel. Vicki Raeburn Benton wrote that the two northern grandsons are as active on their hockey skates as off, and the Floridian grandsons are pretty competent baseball players and golfers. Vicki is a part-time proctor at Touro Medical College in Middletown, N.Y., and she also tutors a couple of days a week. Liz Anne Arant Allen continues to work in the investment field, is busy with church/committees and is very active as the Orange County, Calif., outreach director for Team RWB. Check out Team RWB on the net. Seeing immediate and positive response and results from veterans has been incredibly gratifying. Liz’s elder daughter is now involved with Team RWB as is Ann Cuppia Gandy in Columbia, S.C.  Liz was counting the days until Ann’s visit in mid-January. Liz is an avid reader and is thirsty to learn about the historical, religious and cultural background of the Middle East. Once she has it all figured out, I’d like her to condense it into Cliff Notes for me! Speaking of the Middle East, our (Doug and Sally Johnson Leland) daughter Heather lives in Beirut. We visited her in May ’14 to welcome, visit and snuggle our only grandchildren, both boys …then 3-weeks-old. Sullivan has achondroplasia which occurs in every 30,000 babies. What are the chances of having a grandmom living next door to us in Freeport with a grandson who has achondroplasia? Pretty amazing! Wish Heather and sons were closer! Dot Herdle Files and husband Eben are now grandparents. Their middle daughter Carolyn (U.S. Navy) gave birth to Lily. Skype, Facetime and Facebook sure keep family and friends in the loop with the latest developments and antics. The youngest File is graduating from college in 2015, so retirement from federal service in Texas is imminent for both Dot and Eben. Both are involved with various choirs and Dot continues to work with the 4-H Horse Club while tending to the needs of her own horses. Condolences to Billie Weise on the death of her brother, Steven, age 64. Such a sudden and most unexpected loss is hard to comprehend. Steven’s ’73 USNA classmates mourn his loss as do we. May your many wonderful memories of Steven sustain you, Billie. Our love and best wishes to you and your family. Lastly, but certainly not least, a note of acknowledgement to President Volpe… on behalf of ’74, we thank you for your many years of dedication, insight, strategic planning and continued championing for our alma mater. May this transition present many opportunities for travel, projects, time with family, laughter, and exceptional health and stamina to “give your gifts for greatest good.”  Corde et Mante et Mano… and our utmost appreciation and well wishes.