Sara (“Sally”) Zimmerman
Class Reporter
Greetings You Talented, Dedicated, Traveling, Major-Life-Decision-Making, Care-giving, Creative, Fit, Physically active, Musical, Mini-reunion loving, Spouse-Children- Grandchildren- and -Pet adoring, Teaching, Newly-retiring, Still working, Volunteering, Gardening, Reading, Art and Fiber-art making, Amends-making, Life-loving, and Beautiful-people Classmates!
Thank you everyone who sent news:
Linda MacDonough Morrow : “George and I spent two weeks in Europe in May. His youngest is living near Paris while in grad school. George, as a dutiful father, visited her to be sure she is doing OK (in Paris!) and I, as a good wife, accompanied him (to Paris!). We also spent a few days in Barcelona to visit a former Penn State nutrition student/friend.
In September my 42-yr-old daughter married for the first time to a man 10 years her senior who had never been married before. I’m sure there was a lot of adjustment to be made on both sides, but they seem to be doing well. George and I visited them over the Mother’s Day weekend and had a great day touring Ft. McHenry, near their Baltimore home.”
Marjorie Simmons Carlson: “Our oldest grandson, Chris, Jr., is now an attorney in the States Attorney’s Office in Charleston, WVA – he recently vacationed with two buddies in Iceland; Bill and I were at High Point University on May 7 to attend the graduation of our granddaughter, Hannah; granddaughter Molly Carlson Berger will receive her Elementary Ed. Degree from Maryland Univ. on May 19, and…the “Library Lady” (that’s me) will be retiring from Riverdale Baptist School, Upper Marlboro, MD, on June 8 after 37 years of service. These are the highlights; there’s much more ‘on my plate’!”
Candee Mack Westdorp: “We have two grandsons graduating from college. Our granddaughter is in her second year of serving in the Peace Corps after graduating from college.
We are fine and playing lots of tennis. Best wishes to all classmates.”
Jane Hoskins Bollman: “Not much has changed for me, but as I write this, just home from teaching a weekly art class, I’d have to mention the enjoyment I get teaching senior citizens (as opposed to junior high students in the 60’s). It is a lot more fun! Thanks to Jack Davis at Hood for developing my passion for art.”
Pam Roberts Welham: “Bonjour! Walt and I were in Paris for a three week visit- another item off our bucket list. We had an apartment in the Marais with a small ‘place’ across the street that has a Wed and Sat market. Yesterday I bought cherries, strawberries, cheese, and lilacs. Idyllic! We took a two-day tour to the Loire Valley and also visited Chartres for a day. Otherwise, we learned more about the Paris bus system and visited some of our favorite places in this wonderful city.
We sold our house in Annandale, VA before leaving on this trip and will move to the retirement community nearby, The Fairfax, in August. We are looking forward to living in smaller quarters with less upkeep- easier to leave when we travel. A classmate of Walt, USNA ’62, and his wife (Joan and Pete Odell) are staying in our house while we are away and they wait for their apartment at Bay Woods, an Annapolis retirement community, to be completed. A sign of the times for our contemporaries. We are looking forward to this next chapter- what better way to begin than a trip to Paris?!!!”
Marvia Slade Perreult: “We flew to Buffalo in February to spend time with daughter Melanie, now the Provost of Buffalo State University, and had our return trip delayed one day due to snow. I’m becoming involved in committees in the 55+ community in which we live. Also have been volunteering at Salisbury University, in the Historical Research Center, transcribing a 1799 handwritten (duh!) diary of a prominent local figure to computer. Very interesting!
Other than that, looking forward to finally getting together again with Bobbi Arthur Pretzsch, Linda Martin McManus, and Gail Wood Fortin this September in Fenwick Island, DE.
Barbara Arthur Pretzsch: Our business (daughter, Lyn included) of buying houses in foreclosure, renovating and selling them has been quite a challenge. Mostly I’m a “gopher” and a baby sitter for the grandchildren. When I’m not helping at a house under renovation I’ve been active in 2 line dancing groups, some Zumba classes, Silver Sneakers classes and a crochet and knitting group. Bob and I recently went on a cruise to Cozumel and Progresso. It was lots of fun as several of the cruisers in this group were some of the line dancers in one of my groups. My other line dancing group put on a fund raiser for the Gulf Coast Woman’s Center for Nonviolence. We had 3 line dance teachers, food and door prizes and made nearly $1000.00 for the center. I’m planning on another Crochet Conference trip, one to the Hemingway Days in Key West (my brother-in-law is a Hemingway Look-alike and as such helps select the next Papa Hemingway) and to visit with Hood friends, Gail Wood Fortin, Marvia Slade Perreault and Linda Martin Mc Manus in September. It will be a busy summer. My grandchildren are growing up as they are wont to do and playing baseball/softball this season. They have also played basketball, soccer and karate. Going to games takes up a number of hours each week.
BTW I was at one of my grandchildren’s basketball games and saw a car with a Hood license plate frame. I left a card on the car to let them know there was another Hoodlum in Gulfport, MS but never got a call. Anyone know of anyone in this “neck of the woods” from Hood?”
Doris Dalziel Kimball: “Greetings, all. There are no big changes in our lives. George and I still love living in this cozy condo right on the lake. It is like living on a cruise ship except no one makes our bed or turns the towels into elephants. I plan and plant the gardens surrounding the building because it is still a pleasure. Am trying to find time to do watercolors again and continue to walk around the lake, read for two book clubs and try to remember all the cards played at Bridge. Helping the staff to serve the patients at our gorgeous, local hospice facility is about the only volunteer work I still do. Life is good and precious.”
Judy Hammond Blatchford: “ Park and I continue to travel with Lindblad Expeditions a couple of times a year, most recently to Peru, Chile and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in addition to two weeks in Baja California. We love experiencing nature and exotic animals and places on their small ships with expert naturalists and photography advisors.
This spring we are celebrating two of our granddaughters’ graduations (from Lehigh and Proctor Academy) while our three younger grands are in middle and high schools. Soon thereafter we’ll be heading north to the Adirondacks for the summer. As I write this at the end of May, in three days we’ll be gathering in Baltimore for a mini-reunion with Roger and Jane Hoskins Bollman, Carl and Susan Shinnick Hossfeld, Susan Rugemer Kurtz, Penny Misirian Mardoian, and Ben and Nancy Turner Heckscher. Hard to realize it has been 58 years since we girls first met one another on the Hood campus!”
Penny Mardoian: I went on a wonderful 3 week trip with Smithsonian Journeys to Australia and New Zealand. The highlight of the trip, for me, was seeing the Sydney Opera House from every conceivable location. It has been two years since Art passed away and my life is full of family, friends and volunteer work.”
Susan Shinnick Hossfeld: “Carl and I just returned from a trip to France, five days in Paris in a small, eclectic Latin Quarter apartment, followed by a River Boat Cruise on the Seine. Highlights on the Seine were: charming French villages, Rouen, Normandy, Honfleur and Monet’s House and Gardens. We had a wonderful get-together with Judy and Parker Blatchford, Jane and Roger Bollman, Penny Mardoian, Susan Kurtz , Nancy Heckscher and Ben.”
Harriet Rusty Papst Midge Hoagland: “In May, Bill and I returned from an exciting Viking Ocean cruise to Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Russia and Finland. Now we look forward to an array of events… a grandson’s last crew meet, the national championship in Philadelphia and his high school graduation, a granddaughter’s ballet performance at the Kirov and the youngest of my daughter’s boys receiving his Eagle Boy Scout award. This summer all the children and grandchildren (4 boys, 1 girl) have found time to spend time with us at our summer home in Old Saybrook, CT. Hooray! Life is good.”
Lillian Detrick Blood: “Dave and I have been busy with our organic vegetable garden. This year it was chosen to be featured on the Ridgewood Garden tour. Our 19 year grandson, Aiden flew in from Hermosa Beach, CA to give us some extra help. We are fortunate to be in good health and continue to ski, hike, kayak and spend time with our family. Dave continues to practice cardiology, however, I retired to pursue other interests.”
Elizabeth (Betts) Davis Ackerman: “Here’s the latest exciting(?) news from the Pacific Northwest…….
The nicest part of being a piano teacher right now is that I am teaching my little 8-year old granddaughter. What could be lovelier? This year I have gotten into contra dancing and English country dancing; both lots of fun and good exercise. I am about to put in my veggie garden. My Japanese garden is an ongoing project which I share with my landscape architect son. Recent travels include Cabo San Lucas and Williamsburg Virginia where I learned so much about our history. I live in a beautiful part of the country and welcome any classmates who would like a tour guide.”
Regina Schlank Pyle: “Celebrating our 75 birthdays, I joined a long time pal in Phoenix, where she grew up, and spent February and March, renting a condo to escape Boston’s winter. Monica had driven out with her wonderful albeit large dog, Francesca, and I offered to drive back. So we had a wonderful road trip- 8 days, 2,700 miles, 6 dog friendly motels and visits with friends and relatives along the way. No real sight-seeing because of Francesca but gained a new appreciation for how vast the country is, how totally different various parts are, and just how much of what we buy every day is transported by the thousands of semi-trailers we passed along the way. My major souvenir is a semi-flashy T-shirt with Route 66 emblazoned in sequins.
In early May I attended the first ever reunion of my NYC elementary school – PS 6 – class of 1954 – a mere 62 later. Two gals came up with the idea and through the internet and various networking connections were able to find about half of the 90 classmates. The gal who found me was best friends in high school with my best friend in college, Liz Kovacs, and we were bride’s maids in her wedding…and she remembered. The gals were the hardest to find because of name change. 29 attend the reunion along with 11 spouses. We had a tour of the school with lunch and a dinner reception and buffet at the University Club donated anonymously by a generous class mate. It was an amazing gathering to say the least.
When I was contacted I shared my memories shrouded all these years in shame about a boy who joined our class in 5th grade, 1951 – shy, pudgy, spoke little English and had numbers on his arm. The shame was that no teacher told us what Michael had been through – surviving Auschwitz and being freed 1/45 when 4 years old. He was reunited with his mother who had been sent to another camp and they immigrated to NYC in ’51. The organizers were able to find Michael Bornstein through a holocaust website and he came with his wife. He earned advanced degrees in chemistry and worked for Eli Lilly and Johnson and Johnson; now retired he lives in NYC and New Jersey. After the event he emailed that he wasn’t sure why he attended but now felt closure after 62 years meeting the children that shunned him and the adults who now embraced him. He has co-authored a book, Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz, with his daughter, Debbie Bornstein Holinstat, available on Amazon 3/7/17.
All is well in Boston – keeping busy chairing my neighborhood association and a trustee of my condo association. Fortunate to be in great health and sharing my life with Monty, a cairn terrier, and Rossy, a cat.”
Elizabeth Kovacs Dudley Washburn: “Small world. Regina Schlank Pyle (who was my dear half sister at Hood) was invited by my dear friend from Music and Art High School, Lillie Anderson, to attend their 54th Reunion at P.S. 6 in New York City. They had a blast. Both were bridesmaids in my wedding in 1963. My husband Ted and I are enjoying retirement immensely: family time, good friends, entertaining. church activities, gardening – Portland is “Rose City”, doggie time, reading great books, “Silver Sneakers” aerobic classes, etc. I’m painting as much as I can and exhibiting here and there. Since we lived overseas for 16 years (England, Kenya and Turkey) we are happy to stay put. We are always ready to share a meal and visit with any Hoodite passing through Lake Oswego, Oregon.”
Ann Holmes Flatt: “Aside from a few health issues, JP and I have gratefully enjoyed another good year, keeping happily occupied with family, friends, community activities, trips in our RV, and travels abroad, most recently a Safari in Kenya. I never thought that item in my bucket list would become a reality. WOW! What a treat! In September we have plans to return to Switzerland to visit family and friends.
Art classes have me exploring different mediums. For now it’s challenging watercolor. Singing with the Worcester Chorus has been rewarding in many ways. In addition to our 4 annual concerts, we recently hosted singers from Mexico City for a week and performed 2 concerts with them in New Haven, CT and in Worcester, MA. This August we will be going to Québec City for a week to perform in a Music Festival. Two of our concerts will be with a Québec chorus.
Skiing in the winter, yoga, hikes up our local Mt Wachusett, and happy hours in my garden help to keep me centered and sane!
JP and I enjoy occasional get-togethers with Rusty Papst and Bill Hoagland. We welcome any other Hood classmates to visit us whenever they are in the area. We are still in our large turn-of-the-century home in Princeton, MA and like to have reasons to keep it! We are not ready to downsize – yet – but realistically know it is not far away!”
Judi Simonsen Ziobro: “Ed and I are still enjoying good health and as much family time with our kids and their kids as they are able to share with us. We did our usual Florida trip in March, saw Judy Bailey Allison and Tom, then did a cruise with Judy Jensen Burgess and Gordon to the Panama Canal and some other ports along the coasts of South and Central America. Beautiful scenery and a truly wonderful experience with our only mosquito encounter happening in Ft. Lauderdale before the cruise began. I still am involved in making music in my church, in both vocal and handbell choirs, and sewing of all sorts for all sorts of projects (Shepherds’ robes, Days for Girls kits, alterations for prom dresses, etc.). It keeps the mind active and gives me an excuse for not doing housekeeping duties. Life is good!”
Barbie Reeves McGee: “Wow – What a year it has been for me. My husband has been in the hospital twice for heart issues. He is stable now but is not in good health. As for me, I am lucky to be in good health. I just keep going. Being busy is good for me. I finished another year of subbing – had decided to give it up but changed my mind. I need the mental stimulation of dealing with the youth of today.
I am also involved in a retired teachers group. My position is to plan five luncheons a year. Then I work with a “Find Arts” group to raise funds for scholarships for high school seniors who are going to college in the arts.
For a great read: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. It’s non-fiction but reads like a novel.
I wonder what Dr. Lewis would have to say about the ‘2016 Race to the White House.’ Looking forward to our next reunion.”
Sara (aka Sally) Zimmerman: class reporter…. For all of you who said you may get in touch with me next time you are coming to the west coast of Florida, yes, do it! I have a small home on a lake preserve and bird watchers’ paradise on Esprit Drive in New Tampa, only three miles off of I-75, and I love sharing it with friends. Not during these summer months, though. It’s a good time to beat the heat, and I’ll be flying to Columbus, OH in a few weeks for a national meeting of Unitarian Universalist ministers and a visit with a niece and her family. In July, I’m booked for a trip to Milwaukee to visit my daughter and grandchildren Henry (12) and Helen (9). Henry just graduated from 6th grade. In August, I’ll be flying to Pennsylvania to attend our 58th Central Dauphin high school reunion. Now in retirement from full-time parish ministry, I’m much busier as a consultant and free-lance minister doing Sunday pulpit supply than I ever thought I would be and loving it. SZ
