Karin Ninesling Infuso, Class Reporter
kinfuso@aol.com

Once again, I relied on e-mail messages for this column. Members of the Class of 1970 are busy with new homes, new businesses, volunteer work, and travel.  Nancy Schneider Alder continues to volunteer at her church and local hospital and sees her five grandchildren as often as possible. She looks forward to our reunion in June. Lynne Demers Becker spent several months in the Netherlands with her husband and, upon their return to the US, traveled to Arizona and Florida.  She worked for the University of Houston on a fund-raising initiative, but after the four month commitment, the university asked her to stay on for several more months.  Marj Menchey Bernstein visited her junior year roommate, Molly Stuart ’69, in Colorado.  She also saw Maureen Clancey ’69 in California, and spent time with Ellen Sacks at Sam Ryan’s beach house.  Marj will host a cocktail party at her new home during our reunion in June.  Ada Karen Blair relocated from Maryland to North Carolina in May 2014.  However, her retirement was short-lived; she is finishing the re-decoration of a new home and bought a small store in her town.  Just what she will do with the store is still to be determined.  She and her husband will go to Sarasota, Florida for Major League Baseball spring training.  Melinda Brown Condon and her husband sold their house on Cape Cod and bought a house on a lake in New Hampshire.  She and her husband then sold their home of 37 years in just three weeks and are spending the winter on Pine Island, FL kayaking, swimming, boating, and fishing.  Marianne Clark Cordyack sent me several e-mail addresses of classmates to update my list. Thank you, Marianne.  She keeps in touch with and sees her long-time Hood friends. Ronni George Freiberger is one of those friends.  Ronni, who is looking forward to our reunion in June, and her husband moved to coastal New Hampshire to be closer to their daughter and son-in-law;  their son will be married in 2016.  Ronni, Marianne Cordyack, Dody Corey Crutchley, Marianne Fischer O’Meara, and Lynn Johnson Houze visited Sue Pendall Johnson at Sue’s Florida home.  Marty Hassell retired last year and has enjoyed having time to travel and visit friends.  She went to Alaska last year and visited Linda Allan in Florida.  Linda was a great host and suggested places where Marty could  photograph “stunning wildlife”.  She is looking forward to our reunion in June.  Myra Holsinger traveled to London, Thessaloniki, Greece, and Istanbul with Elaine Hubert. They had a wonderful time visiting friends in Greece, and the trip to Istanbul was a first visit for both of them.  Karin Ninesling Infuso and her family traveled to Italy and Paris, and her daughter Kate fell in love with Venice.  Kate teaches exceptional children in a rural school in North Carolina, enjoys the challenge of her profession, but sees every day the impact of poverty on children’s ability to learn.  Karin’s husband is a member of a civic group that raises funds for the under-funded public schools in NC.  Karin and her husband will travel to Florida for MLB spring training with Kari Blair and her husband.  Karin plans to attend the reunion in June.  Denise Howard Mason is a proud grandmother who sends photos and information about her granddaughter.  Pam Nesbit and her husband are members of Waswagoning Players, a theater group that presents a program called “Standing in a Good Way” to community groups in Wisconsin.  The program weaves song, dance, and personal stories to combat bullying.  Donna Newman spent several weeks scuba diving in Cozumel and plans to visit Key West soon.  She is also doing a lot of contra, ballroom, swing, and tango dancing.  Mary Ryan Reeves still supervises Hood art student teachers.  She and her husband escaped part of the winter with a visit to Boca Raton, FL where she saw Linda Israel Lamm ’69.  Many classmates who sent information for this column mentioned our reunion in June. Please plan to attend. Thank you to the classmates who sent information for the column.

In closing, I am sad to report the passing of Elizabeth Walker and send condolences to her family.

Kathie Baum Wolpe and Marty Kaiser Canner, Class Reporters
kwolpe@gmail.com and plcanner@juno.com

We send our condolences to Gwen Jordan Bausum whose husband, Howard, passed away in January, 2013. Gwen’s grandson, Josiah Bausum, lives with her and Gwen finds his company a blessing.  Gwen misses her Hood big sister, Lori Ball Chase ’59, who passed away in 2009, but is thankful that Lori’s husband, Steve, still keeps in touch.  Gwen is also thankful that she has recently reconnected with her Hood half sister, Alice Pearson.

Hilda Koontz is looking forward to a busy year of providing lectures on Civil War topics for  a wide variety of historically-oriented organizations.  So far she has six lectures scheduled, including three for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, the Historical Association of Carroll County, and the Civil War Round Table of Harpers Ferry, WV. The season will start with a very special event concerning female spies at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office site in Washington, DC.  If you are in the area on March 28, Hilda says, please attend.  The restored site was Miss Barton’s wartime home and the inspiration for the American Red Cross.

Work continues on Hilda’s book recounting the lives of family members at home and on the front during the Civil War, all based on a wonderful cache of letters preserved for more than 150 years.

Spencer and Hilda are also busy with re-enactments and their newest love, Steampunk, which they discovered two years ago.  Hilda encourages those of you who love fantasy to give it a try – it’s a blast.

Hilda visited her family in Iowa last summer and is planning another such trip this coming August.

Marty Miller Strickland recently returned from a ten day visit with her college “roomie,” Jackie Post Farrell.  Jackie lives in Sebastian, Florida.  They shared lots of memories, laughs, and good food.  It was a very relaxing visit for Marty and it was also nice to have a break from the cold weather in her area.

Marty’s family surprised her for her 75th birthday in May, 2014.  She went to a restaurant for lunch with her son and his family and there sat all the rest of the family.  Marty had five granddaughters at her home for Grammy Camp at the end of June, 2014, and in July, 2014 the whole family (19 total) went to Nags Head for a vacation.

I (Kathie) visited my sister Ginny and her family in Pasadena, MD, from Dec. 24-26 and  my brother George and his family from Dec. 26-29 in Potomac, MD.  It gave me a chance to see Ginny and Gary’s two daughters, Lucy (with husband Clive Turner and their 3-year-old daughter Ayla) and Judy and her husband Ryu Suzuki.  Judy and Ryu were married May 3rd this year in Washington, DC, after meeting as Peace Corps volunteers in Panama.  It was a real reunion for many of the Panama volunteers.

George and Julie’s three sons were visiting them.  Kevin, the youngest, traveled the farthest–from Melbourne, Australia, where he is working; Ryan and his wife Cathy Vu came from San Jose, California, and Derek, the oldest, from Pasadena, CA (near Los Angeles), with his wife Rochelle and baby son Brayden.  It was a mix of delicious food, catching up on everyone’s life, and comical interactions between the three dogs on hand (at Ginny and Gary’s).

I spent a week in Paris, France, with my dear friend Philip. He lived there in the past and still has good friends he enjoys visiting during semester breaks from teaching his world literature course at Medgar Evers College, a branch of the City University of New York.  We visited several museums and enjoyed dance and jazz performances. This past year, we have continued to enjoy each other’s company, Scrabble games, off-off-Broadway theater, modern dance performances, and classical music. A highlight in January 2014 was a trip to Philadelphia, Philip’s hometown, to see the Magic Gardens, an amazing folk-art venue featuring mosaic walls and a sculpture garden. This fall we attended an interesting series of three versions of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” at the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, by American, Italian, and Korean companies.

I remain engaged in local progressive Democratic politics through my role as a vice president of the Village Independent Democrats.  We endorsed Green Party candidates for NYS Governor and Lieutenant Governor following the primary loss by our preferred Democratic candidates, Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu. I’m also a greeter at Sunday services for St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery and volunteer at their weekly food pantry, helping give out fresh vegetables and fruits donated by a nearby farmers’ greenmarket to needy neighbors.  During warm weather I open the church’s west yard on weekend afternoons for use by those who seek a quiet space to read, study or think or to converse with friends or family.  Through a local non-profit agency, Visiting Neighbors, I volunteer as an occasional escort for other seniors who need help shopping or going to doctor’s appointments or exercise classes.

In June, I made a rare outing to Broadway with my friend Fran to a memorable show, “All the Way,” about President Lyndon B. Johnson and the tumultuous events of 1963 and 1964.  During 2014 I also participated in a reading group and meetings at Manhattan churches about conditions within Israel for Palestinian citizens and discussions of possible solutions to the long-running conflict there.

I also enjoyed some of New York’s great blues, jazz, rock, popular and classical music including memorable performances by my neighbor LaLa Brooks, former lead singer of The Crystals (seen recently on the David Letterman show); blues guitarist Bill Sims, Jr.; ragtime pianist Terry Waldo, and pianist-composer Ellen Mandel and husband guitarist Michael Lydon.  Two other favorites are the People’s Symphony low-cost series of chamber music and solo concerts by well-known artists at a nearby high school and free concerts Friday evenings by faculty of the 3rd Street Music School (actually located on 11th St. around the corner from me).

In July, I had a brief bout of sciatica which fortunately was resolved by a month’s physical therapy on my back.  Otherwise, I’ve been in good health which I try to maintain with exercise classes, walks with my friend Martha around a nearby park, and eating healthy meals. The greenmarket which opens in a park on my block from late spring through November helps with an amazing variety of fresh vegetables and fruit. Unfortunately, in July also, construction across the street caused damage to street gas pipes in front of my building and resulted in testing and replacement of our building’s gas pipes. We had no service to our stoves and no clothes dryers for 3 1/2 months.  Some people got hot plates, but I just ate out and bought nutritious salads from a local supermarket and went out to nearby laundromats.

In October I attended the 57th reunion of the Class of 1957 of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland and visited brother George and his wife Julie and sister Ginny and her husband Gary.  Brother Chris and his wife Sonja moved that month from Colorado Springs to Northglenn nearer Denver, CO, where their only grandchild lives.

Recently I and many other New Yorkers have been troubled both by the deaths this summer of Michael Brown near St. Louis and Eric Garner on Staten Island in New York City and the assassination of two NYPD officers by a very troubled individual who later committed suicide.  These bring back memories for me of the gun and civil rights violence of the 1960s.  NYPD police officers in the past used to walk the streets and were able to interact with the community personally.  However, the nearby Ninth Precinct gives a Christmas party every year providing much appreciated gifts to hundreds of children.

One sad note, I had to have my chubby feral cat Spooky “put down” just before Christmas before I left town for family visits. I got her from a vacant store about 8 years ago. She had stopped eating for a couple weeks and was diagnosed with severe kidney failure from which the vet said she would not recover.  My friends Martha and Fran came with me to provide moral support.  Feisty Spooky managed to leave a few memorial scratches on me before her departure.

Philip and I started the New Year with a quiet New Year’s Eve party with some of his friends from the dance world, a New Year’s Day visit to the Matisse cut-out exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, and an evening poetry reading at the Nuyorican Poets Café including Philip among many others.

I (Marty) have had lunch with Gwen Bausum a few times during the past two years.  This winter I read Eleanor: The Years Alone, an account by Joseph Lash of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life between the death of her husband, Franklin, in April, 1945 and her death in 1962. (The book was given to me by a former neighbor, a lifelong bibliophile.)  The book was interesting to me because I remembered many of the persons and events discussed in it and also because Mr. Lash had access to letters and papers which provided behind-the-scenes information not available to the average citizen at the time of the events.

Anne Wilson Heuisler, Class Reporter
aheuisler@comcast.net

From Mary-Lou Trout Haddad:

Classmates, late last summer we were informed that a special Plaza near Alumnae Hall has been designated to be paved with commemorative bricks. I suggested that a 6×9 $700 brick be purchased in honor of the Class of ’59.  We can’t be left out, so anyone interested in contributing to our ‘59 Class brick is invited to send a check to Hood College for whatever amount you feel comfortable donating, sending and addressing it to

Jessica Sardella
Senior Associate Director of Annual Giving
Hood College
401 Rosemont Ave.
Frederick, MD  21701
sardella@hood.edu

[Mark your check memo ’59 Class brick.]

ELEANOR BROWN WHEELER 

Hello to my classmates, and a big thank you to Anne for keeping us together.

I am happy to report that for Phil and me there is no news, and that is good news. We still live in the same house, with our son and daughter both living “just near enough.” The grandchildren are all teens, which keeps us well aware of how quickly time passes.

Who would have guessed back in 1959 that I would find history fascinating? But I continue to enjoy working on genealogy. I sent in a DNA sample to ancestry.com and I am hoping to track down some of my 87 fourth cousins. I would enjoy hearing from anyone else who is working with their family history.

And I was part of a volunteer project to retype scanned copies of our local paper from the war years (1941-1946). The quality of the papers was such that they were not searchable. Figuring out all the words and transcribing them into notepad, then linking to them from our local library, made them usable. If you would enjoy a glimpse at life in the first half of the 1940s, visit www.krl.org.kitsap-history.

Wishing everyone the best – Eleanor

TARUN COMEGYS JOHNS

Merry Christmas from Boot Key, Marathon, FL

An adventurous year to say the least! A new battery for the pacemaker in Jan. and cataract removed in July put me in A-1 shape. Skiing in Maine was excellent and in Feb. I went to the Quebec Winter Carnival with a friend for 2 days, something I had longed to see. A spring visit to Aiken, SC, in March and a return in May to house, dog, and horse sit while Larry and Jocelyn enjoyed a trip to England with their daughter and son-in-law. I was thrilled to be able to have Bob and Janet and later, Dave and Lyn as houseguests and show them sights of Aiken.

Break the monotony — do something strange and extravagant! (Emerson). And that is exactly what I did! In June I bought a Sabre30 MKII sailboat in serious need of TLC. With much help from Alan, we renovated Trillium and prepared to set sail for the Intracoastal Waterway. Finally leaving Portland on Sept. 16 after sea trials and taking friends and family out for sails, the adventure began. Travelling down the New England coast, through Long Island Sound, the East River through NYC, down the New Jersey coast to Cape May, up the Delaware Bay to the C&D Canal, and down the Chesapeake to Rock Creek near Baltimore was not always easy. Rough seas, too much wind or wind on our nose, fog and rain, cold and wet interspersed with sunshine, beautiful days, sunsets, the joy of sailing the seas,  and the fun of meeting and making new friends. But Alan decided to return to Maine.

Within 24 hours, thanks to an e-mail sent to Annapolis sailing friends by JuliAnne Forrest, I had sailed on an Island Packet with folks from the Baltimore area who came out to give me a hand. Jim Huber, a twice circumnavigator from Chestertown, MD, arrived to help me move the boat and Mike Pittinger, Annapolis, arrived with his boat S/V Ariosa and tools, to help fix the starter. Thus began lifetime friendships. They encouraged me to go to Annapolis where I would meet lots of sailors in SOS. I anchored in Back Creek for two weeks, was supported and taken in by many wonderful folks. I made the decision to put Trillium up on the Eastern Shore for the winter and go south as crew on Ariosa with Mike and Jim leaving Annapolis on Nov 23. What an opportunity this was!

We sailed down the Chesapeake Bay into Hampton Roads to Portsmouth, VA, the first day arriving at 2:00 AM. Down the ICW through the lock (below,) running at night, through fog and rain with radar, dressed in our warmest clothes, we raced ahead of the first big winter storm which would drop lots of snow in the north. We did stop several times including among others, two nights over Thanksgiving at River Dunes, Oriental, NC, and a night at Beaufort, NC, before going into the North Atlantic for the rest of the trip. A maintenance layover in Charleston, SC, We continued on, rocking and rolling in the waves all night waiting to be allowed to pass Cape Canaveral after the Orion launch, to Vero Beach, FL, for a five day lay-over relaxing and preparing for the last leg to Marathon. I drove Jim, who has plied me with much of his sailing wisdom, to Ft. Lauderdale Airport as he returned to work. Along the way I have met old friends to share a meal and visit— my Frederick swim coach partner Ed and Susan Hazlett in Charleston, SC; a former Greenville teacher Lena and John Symonds in Vero Beach; Barb and Rick Cook who were vacationing near Lauderdale; Ron and Bonnie Searles in Marathon.

Mike and I sailed 32 hr. overnight to Marathon. The calm seas and west winds with a moonlight night was the perfect finale for an extraordinary adventure. We arrived Dec. 12 and I will leave Ariosa on Jan 1^st.   I may get to the Bahamas! I have learned so much and will be looking for someone to do the ICW next fall on Trillium, taking the slow trip from town to town. Thank you to all who made this possible!  Wishing all a blessed New Year, Tarun

NANCY FLETCHER ARTLETT

My three sons and families are well and busy.  Karen Coppage is a freshman at William and Mary.  She loves it—quite an adjustment for her after growing up in Hungary.

I know Hood is searching for a president.  No way I would want to follow in Dr. Volpe’s footsteps.  He is so enthusiastic and has accomplished major changes with apparent ease.

Hope to attend my 60^th high school reunion next September.  Time has gone!

GLORIA FRIEDMAN GREENSPUN

[Myra sent me a link to this announcement about Gloria’s daughter, Jamie Pachino.]

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside of American Blues Theater, Chicago’s second oldest Equity Ensemble, announces the recipient of the 2015 Blue Ink Playwriting Award is Jamie Pachino and her play Other Than Honorable.

Other Than Honorable is the story of Grace Benton, a former army officer who resigned her commission under sealed terms and now works with a high profile Washington, D.C., law firm. A new client arrives at her office, reopening Grace’s wounds as she is forced to confront her past life in the army and learn what honor can mean in a soldier’s and woman’s life.

The Blue Ink Playwriting Award was created in 2010 to support new work. Whiteside and the award-winning Ensemble select the winning play and distribute $1,500 in prizes. Pachino, as the 2015 winning candidate, receives $1,000, a staged-reading directed by Kimberly Senior on Saturday, June 27, and the opportunity to develop the script with American Blues Theater.

To read the whole story:  http://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/American-Blues-Theatre-Announces-2015-Blue-Ink-Award-Winner-20150219#.VOfGbuAt1QY.gmail

GAYLE HAMILTON BLAKESLEE

Natalie and I will be in Australia beginning February 13, returning March 12. May be our last really far-away trip, am beginning to feel my age.

[December]  Off tomorrow to Wisconsin to see my daughter and family. Last year when I went in the winter got to spend 3 extra days due to 20-below temperatures which kept the planes from flying. Understand the desire for Florida.

EDEE HOWARD HOGAN  

Hi there. All is well with me, and I divide my time between my co-op in Washington DC and my Beach Home in Bethany Beach DE.

Have had some great travel experience including taking granddaughter and daughter-in-law for 10 days in London.  (Martha Allen joined me.)  Had a great well-located apartment and enjoyed all the best of London–Museums, Food, History, and Theatre, etc.

After a great season at the Beach with lots of family and friends visiting, it was back to DC to enjoy all it has to offer.

Travel to Mexico (a Spa week) and then to Madrid in February.

Involvement with my co-op (am running for the Board) as well as continuing my very part time (1/2 day a week) as a food and culinary consultant keep me busy as well as my work with another Culinary Group Les Dames fills my time. Plan to attend Ron Volpe’s Retirement event in March with Martha Allen and we will stay with Carol LeGore. Cheers!  Edee

CAROLE JONES ROGERS

Carole stopped overnight at Anne Heuisler’s house twice in August on her travels to and from her daughter, Caroline’s.  Granddaughter Olivia is a junior at MIT, thriving in her experience there.

MARCIA KING WILKE

My news for Hood College: December 2014

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2013 and underwent a lumpectomy on New Year’s Eve! and radiation for six weeks, beginning in February. Luckily it was caught early, but it took time to get my energy back. I have some other health issues but won’t go into them. I feel like I’m “one big pill” as I’m taking a number of them. I’m trying to remain upbeat and know that other people have more health problems than I do.

Glad to see the pictures in the last issue of those who did attend our 55^th and of Aki, daughter and granddaughter.

July 2014: One of our twin granddaughters, Morgan, age 15, is here for three weeks. She is helping in the sound booth for the annual outdoor musical, “Fiddler on the Roof.”  She was here for 2 weeks last year when the musical was “The Music Man.”  The drama teacher at her high school is delighted she knows how to run a soundboard.  We expect the rest of the family the last weekend of July and we will attend the musical.

November 29, 2014: Norm and I are moving into a retirement community in Walla Walla, WA, about eight blocks from our house. Movers come Dec. 3^rd and the house is full of packed boxes, most sealed. He has balance problems so that was the reason for our decision. I’m sure some of you know it’s a big change from a house into a 2 -bedroom apartment. I hope my piano will be moved only when we are able to move from independent to assisted living. In the meantime I’ll teach at home if the house doesn’t sell immediately.

Feb 2015:  To bring everyone up to date: Offer on the house came within five days of our moving as it is in a wonderful location. We had to be out Jan. 9, estate sale the following weekend and we signed the closing papers a week ago. However, we did have to move the piano into the apartment. I don’t encourage anyone to move as quickly as we did. I’m advising my younger friends to start “clearing out” now!

SUSAN KUEHN BEALL

Still living in Palo Alto in same house and with same spouse, Bill Beall. I continue to do some travel arranging for clients, but am slowly retiring from that. Meanwhile, we continue to travel ourselves internationally for new adventures and domestically to our sisters’ and families in Massachusetts and Ohio.

I am on the board for the future Palo Alto History Museum. We have a lovely historic building to house the Museum, but our efforts now are to raise the funds for the seismic upgrades and renovations.

Also involved with Friends of the Palo Alto Parks.

And most importantly, I love playing golf! This is a relatively new sport for me, but fortunately all my friends who played tennis for years and now have new knees and hips are playing golf instead. So lots of support, encouragement, and opportunities.

Our son John is a Chiropractor and developed a fitness facility in Alameda, CA. He is still single but has a neat dog! So she is my grand dog!

Well wishes to all.

Susan Kuehn Beall

Preferred email address.

skb1055@comcast.net

KUULEI MOBLEY GREEN 

I am still living a pretty normal life.  I am moving to a different retirement facility in March mainly because I need a little lower costing place.  It is in Boise, Idaho, instead of Meridian, Idaho.

The address as of March 20 will be 5850 N. Five Mile Road Boise, Idaho 83713

My E-mail is the same, and my cell phone is the same.

208-859-0521

I shall try to have more exciting news next time.

Love and peace to all of you.

Kuulei+

ANNE MONTESANO KERPSACK ELLIS wrote in her Christmas letter that her dear friend, Jim Price, died last April from lung cancer.  Anne and Jim were together 18 years.  She sold her Cranberry Farm in Ohio in December and planned to spend October – May in Florida and May – October at Conesus Lake, NY.  Anne enjoyed many trips last year, including her “dream trip” to Japan for 2 ½ weeks with the Friendship Force of N.E. Ohio.  She visited museums, enjoyed the hospitality in many homes, experienced the “Japanese bath,” explored Mt. Fuji, rode the “bullet train,” visited several schools, learned to eat with chopsticks, sang songs, danced the “cupid shuffle” (“look it up on the net,” she says), and made good friends.  “One more lifelong wish fulfilled.”  Meyran reunion in Philadelphia in October, where they each roomed with roommates from 55 years ago (Jan Knecht/Betty Kutz, Anne/Nancy Smith, Gloria Friedman/Merle Winer, and Myra Silberstein).  She said Philadelphia is “a great city – so clean and so much to see and do.  The Barnes Museum was awesome – don’t miss it!”  Anne now has email:  akerpsackellis@hotmail.com.

JUDY MORELAND GRANGER

We began our holiday festivities by celebrating the graduation of Phillip’s son, our grandson Logan Carter, on December 13 from Texas State University.  We now have four grands still in college: Jackson, (Bob’s son) a senior at St. Edward’s University, Sara (Tim’s daughter), a junior at the University of Texas at Dallas, Lacey (Phil’s daughter) a sophomore at the University of Colorado, and Barrett (Bob’s son), a freshman at Georgetown University.  Steve’s little ones, Sophie, fifth grade, and Gibson, second grade, go to the public school where their mom is the art teacher.  All very busy and involved—we love any chances to see them.

This has been a wonderful year of travel and visiting with family—31 Grangers in Grand Haven, Michigan, for a reunion in July, 4 generations, much love and laughter shared.  All four sons and six of our eight grandchildren were able to be with us, a rare treat.   Off then to Ohio, where 10 members of my side of the family gathered to enjoy time with my 92-year-old uncle and aunt, more reminiscences and fun times.  Our trip ended with a stay in North Carolina, where my cousin, Ethel (Kintigh) Spence (’61), joined us at Jim and Carole’s.  Their place is in the mountains, a beautiful location and a welcome climate, before returning to August in central Texas!  Earlier in the summer, Bob and I returned to the east coast, where we attended my 55^th reunion at Hood in Maryland, and then joined three of his Navy classmates in D.C. for several wonderful days.  That week we were with five of our wedding party as we celebrated our 55^th anniversary!  How did we get here??

We celebrate and are thankful for good health—no surgeries for Bob, the first year since 2009!  Cataracts don’t count—he had both eyes done in early spring and raves about the results.  He continues marshalling at one of the golf courses here, plays a little golf and bridge, is in a couple of book clubs,  I play a little golf, a lot of bridge (!), am also in a couple of book clubs and the large choral group here in Sun City.  We wish we exercised more and weighed less, will be working on that in 2015!

We look forward to a special 2015, when our oldest grandson, Justin, marries Maggie Daniels here in Austin at the end of April.  The wedding will be at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which should be spectacular then.  Justin and Maggie met as students at St. Edward’s.

JEANNETTE PHELPS

J. P. says she is relatively confined because of her shortness of breath and the chill in the air.  She has met new neighbors who lived for a time in her hometown, Hyde Park, NY, and is looking forward to catching up on local color.  She had a check-up with her vascular surgeon, who said she is exceeding his expectations.  She will see her cardiologist and hematologist later this month.  She uses the Roland Park Place house bus to take her to shop for groceries.  She’s reading The Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides about the U.S.S. Jeannette and Mr. Wilson’s War by John Dos Passos.

MYRA SILBERSTEIN GOLDGEIER spent the holidays in Sanibel with her children and grandchildren.

MARY-LOU TROUT HADDAD had full-replacement knee surgery and is recovering.  She was well taken care of by husband, Charles.

PAT WEVER KNOLL

We do have some awesome news!   Our daughter Kathy is getting married this May – first marriage and we are thrilled.  Also, our granddaughter, Ryn Weaver (she took my Dad’s name cuz hers is difficult), sang on David Letterman Jan. 23^rd and is performing in NY, CA, and London in Feb.  She is a pop singer who CNN says they are watching in 2015. We, including her, are all overwhelmed, humbled, and a little scared at the same time.  Ron and I are in good health, thank God, other than a broken foot and some eye surgeries.

(See Ryn Weaver on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI1Xt57o_90.)

SUE WILSON OFFICER

[Sue continues to suffer severe back pain after two surgeries and is considering] a neurostimulation program that I may have to try as the last ditch.  It is set up to stop the pain from reaching the brain.

I don’t have too much of a social life because of this but I am still active in my church and choir.  I keep up with the work around the house and of course, I have my three little dogs that help me get up in the morning.  They are Willie (Wilson), WAL-E and Penny and really keep me busy.

I also keep busy with the organizations that rescue animals, mainly dogs and cats.  Which reminds me, I have a calico cat named Little Girl.  She is sweet and very independent, but I love her so much.  I lost two of my calicos last year and miss them terribly.

Have any of you heard of the National Search Dog Foundation?  I have gotten very involved with this organization.  They train dogs rescued from the pounds that show signs of being great search dogs.  These dogs are trained over a period of 6 months and then given to a handler, usually a fireperson.  Then that fireperson is trained for 6 more months.  It is a long process, but if you were buried under concrete, you would be very glad to hear that dog barking, letting the handler know there is someone to rescue.  During the Tsunami a few years ago, they found 20 live people.  They have been to the Oklahoma bombing, the World Trade Center, etc.  We have teams across the US and in Mexico.  These dogs are trained to rescue only the live not the dead.  It is an amazing organization.  A good friend of mine started this about 12 years ago after taking her rescue dog to the Oklahoma bombing and knew that the US needed more FEMA certified teams.  At present we have approx. 160 and are aiming for 200.  If the dog doesn’t work our as a search dog, they are kept for the rest of their lives in forever homes.  Hopefully we will never have to use them, but they are here if needed.

AKIKO YAMAMOTO FASOLO

Thank you so much for the wonderful photo of 55^th reunion – I could not take my eye off from it.  I enjoyed looking at our 1959 Touchstone again.  If I were there, the kind gentleman, Bob, could not comment about our hair color the same way … 🙂

ANNE WILSON HEUISLER

I had a nice long holiday break but now am again teaching two sections of freshman English at Stevenson University.  This semester I have the literature class instead of the writing class and find it more enjoyable.  The students are terrific.  It’s exhilarating to be with them twice a week.

These were my favorite books read in 2014:

Bloom, Amy, Lucky Us

Brown, Carrie, The Last First Day

Doerr, Anthony, All the Light We Cannot See

Forna, Aminatta, The Hired Man

Gardam, Jane, God on the Rocks

Just, Ward, American Romantic

Klay, Phil, Redeployment

Lawson, Mary, The Other Side of the Bridge

Lawson, Mary, Road Ends

Mandel, Emily St. John, Station Eleven

Mantel, Hilary, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher

Marra, Anthony, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

Rogerson, Cynthia, Upstairs in the Tent

Smiley, Jane, Some Luck

Stibbe, Nina, Love, Nina

Tolbin, Colm, Nora Webster

This year I loved Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread!

And Perfect by Rachel Joyce.

 

Anne  (copying Tarun’s classy font—it’s Kunstler Script!)

Anne Wilson Heuisler, 6102 Buckingham Manor Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210

410 377 5026; 410 980 4747; aheuisler@comcast.net

Sally Zimmerman, Class Reporter
revsaraz@aol.com

From Betty Appel Bailey:  “Nothing has changed  …. fortunately.  All is well.”

From Jane Bollman:  “Teaching art classes and taking art workshops, two book clubs, two bridge clubs, occasional R&R at our little one-room cabin in Tidewater Virginia, and some travel out of the country keeps me out of trouble.”

Marjorie Simmons Carlson: “Bill and I have reached a new family “milestone”:  our granddaughter, Molly, junior at MD U in Elementary Ed, will be married July 11.***Our grandson, Christopher, Jr., will graduate from George Washington Law School in May.” signed “L.L.”  (aka “Library Lady”)

Ann Holmes Flatt observes:  “2014 was a wonderful year, filled with many happy family gatherings, several travel adventures and good health. Our three ‘kids’ are all well, engaged in various activities and trying to keep up with their kids, our 5 grandchildren! The oldest grandson, 20, is now a sophomore at William and Mary. Youngest grand twins are now 4 and we are lucky to have them living not far from here. We enjoy frequent times spent with our special needs daughter who lives in a nearby town. Our RV continues to bring us on amazing trips and adventures throughout the US.  Having left it in AZ for the winter, we drove it home to MA travelling through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut   –  so many beautiful sites.  We loved every mile!

Here winter is throwing us an impressive punch.  With today’s latest storm we have a good five feet of while fluffy snow.  (Ann’s update on 2/19/15:  “We’re now up to 8 feet, 9 inches.”)  We have been enjoying some wonderful skiing on our local Mount Wachusett Ski Area and cross country skiing and snow shoeing on many nearby trails.  Tonight’s temps will plummet to below zero   –  a bit less fun! More snow is expected in the next few days with ‘significant accumulation’.  So far I’m still loving it!  At the end of Feb. we are travelling to Switzerland for 10 days to surprise JP’s brother on his 80^th birthday.  In late March we are going to Mexico with one of our grandsons, continuing our plan to take each grandchild on a trip when they reach 16.  I am still singing with the Worcester Chorus now rehearsing Bach’s St John’s Passion for our next concert and also enjoy taking a painting class at the Worcester Art Museum.”

From Caroline Fischer Giles:  “Other than surviving severe winter storms here in New Hampshire, we have been planning our trips for the year ahead.  We are scheduled to go to Monterey, CA in March to visit our son and daughter-in-law Katy.  This June we plan to be in Brazil (Sao Luis) visiting with another daughter-in-law’ s family and then in September, a house exchange with our cottage is planned for Normandy, France.   We are fortunate to enjoy good health and try to stay in shape using the fitness center at UNH. I still love my work with the UNH Marine Docent Program and Brian continues  his work with environmental issues at the state and local level.  One of the greatest joys these past few years, has been our times with our grandchildren, Brenon (3 and 1/2) and Benjamin, (1and 1/2). As you might guess, we are the oldest grandparents of the youngest grandchildren, and we are thoroughly enjoying our roles as Nana and Grandpa.”

Sunny Griffin writes from Thailand:  “Our year has been pretty wonderful with my oldest daughter, Kelly, getting married in a fabulous wedding at the home of a billionaire on the beach in Malibu in September. Kelly is a movie producer, she married an agent, and the wedding was a gift from the billionaire. It was like a Hollywood dream come true ….. followed immediately by a 2 week trip to China for my husband and me. The Chinese importer of my skin care line, Astara, invited us to Beijing and Shanghai to do PR for the product line and treated us like celebrities the entire time we were there. There are 300 million WEALTHY middle class people in China today, all potential customers for us, and the country is amazing and must be seen to be believed. A Chinese website, TMall (that carries Astara products as well as thousands of other brands) sells $1 BILLION A DAY!!!!! We will spend the rest of the winter in Thailand and return to Telluride sometime in May.”

Nancy Turner Heckscher observes:  “Not much news here except I see Judy Hammond Blatchford as she and Park live next to us here in Berwyn.  We did go to Hong Kong for Christmas to see our Grands and stay with step son, Chris and Evonne and my son Jon and Amanda and their 3 girls!  Such fun and busy household with a 9 month Labradoodle!!!!”

Susan Shinnick Hossfeld says:  “Carl and I are still traveling while we are able.  Fall found us on a river cruise from Bucharest to Budapest and on to Vienna for three days.  Late January 2015, we leave for Big Sky, Montana , winter in Yellowstone National  Park and on the way home we are stopping off in San Francisco, Monterey and Carmel.  We leave  in March for Snowmass, Colorado with the children and grandchildren for a week of skiing. (Unfortunately, I had to give up skiing) In late July we leave for Scotland and London.  Our summer plans include a trip to Rehoboth Beach with our extended family of twelve.”

From Doris Dalziel Kimball:  “George and I drove out east last fall to French Canada by way of Cape Cod.  The fall colors were exceptional all the way north.  A trip of walking and hiking back and forth between Vermont and Canada provided by Road Scholar inspired the whole trip.  We were headquartered in a wee town called Glen Sutton which is where wildly famous Canadian author Louise Penny wrote her first Inspector Gamache mysteries.  Three Pines was fashioned after Glen Sutton.  Some of my friends are actually jealous that we were seeing places that inspired the author Louise Penny.”

Penny M. Mardoian writes:  “I spent a week in Budapest, Hungary at Thanksgiving.  My life is going forward since my husband Art passed away.  My oldest grandson, Michael, is at Trinity College in Hartford and so I get to see more of my PA family.”

Susan Auf Der Hyde Markscheffel responded to my remarks in an email about food in the Virgin Islands: “I enjoyed reading of your pleasure in roti!!!  Made me hungry!!! I’m a “foreign” (?) food junkie and love Ethiopian, West Indian, Indian, and Middle Eastern foods.  I’m fortunate to have a daughter and granddaughter who will enjoy it all, right along with me. (oink!)”

Janet Zwinck Morrison asks:  “Remember sun bathing on the gym roof?  We even used baby oil mixed with iodine to improve our tans.  As a result I now call my skin color “age Spot.”

From Lynn MacDonough Morrow:  “George and I returned Feb. 8 from a 2-week mission trip in Nicaragua.   It was my 6th time to go; each year it gets better as I am building relationships with team members, the missionaries and especially with the local Nicaraguans.  I practice my modest Spanish with the children and teens who know some English and we share a lot of laughs as we use body language and the little we know in each others’ language to communicate. One of the jobs I do each year is to help fill over 600 backpacks with school supplies, purchased on the local economy with funds donated by supporters in PA. The Nica. school year coincides with the calendar year so school resumes the first of February.  We reward the local kids who earned good grades the previous school year with the supplies they need to start in their new grade. Public schools are so poor that the kids have to supply their own notebooks, pencils, etc. to copy what the teachers write on the black board because there aren’t text books for the children.  Without supplies the children can’t go to school; the families in the community typically can’t afford to buy the spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, rulers, etc they need, so our donations are not only a reward for past learning but also make it possible for the children to continue their education.”

From Barbara Arthur Pretzsch:  “Bob worked in Utah last summer.  I drove out alone but back with Lyn and the grandkids.  We visited in the Ogden area then on the way home stopped at Bryce Canyon, Best Friends in Kanab, then Colorado to take the Silverton Durango train and then a stop at Pagosa Springs for a dip in their hot springs.

In July I took a trip to the Crochet Guild conference in Manchester, NH and took a few days before to travel up the coast with a friend and visited Teal West Hugo.  I also visited with Gail Wood Fortin, Marvia Slade Perreault and Linda Martin McManus the end of the summer at Fenwick Island, DE. We have been taking a trip together for quite a few years now.

My line dancing is one way I stay active. We had a nice cruise in November with other line dancers. We got a taste of what it was like on a rocking ship for the dancers who put on the evening shows we saw each evening.  We learned a new line dance on the stage one afternoon.

Our 4 legged kid situation has changed.  Patches, our Shih Tzu, was with Bob last summer.  I decided to add another dog to the family: a little Chihuahua (with the name Patches) we named Little Patch.  I was worried that Patches might not approve but they get along fine.

I wish anyone traveling along the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Interstate 10 would stop and say hi, or stay overnight with me.  We are about equidistant between New Orleans, LA and Mobile, AL.  Call me at 859-588-3911.”

Arden Reynolds echoes what most of you in New England are saying about January/February: “As I write this I’m looking out at more snow falling, after the two feet of snow a few days after the blizzard of 2015 here in Massachusetts.  We are also knee deep in converting our screened in porch to a year round sunroom.  It all started when we decided to switch from electric heat to gas heat, and from there it snowballed (another winter reference!) to a kitchen renovation and sunroom.”

Liz Decker Rogers in CA: On hearing my news that I was doing ministry in St. John, V.I. in January, Liz wrote:  “I have fond memories of that island.”

From Barbara Stewart:  “We are in constant battle with SNOW and the frigid cold here in Downeast Maine. In spite of it all we are still loving our life here.  I have made up for lost time by taking up watercolors, rug hooking and quilting. I was not able to enjoy my crafts while working. Paul enjoys shoveling snow, weeding, mowing, and house painting.

We have been taking long road trips in the US and Canada. We will be heading for San Diego in June to celebrate another big birthday with my daughters and their families.  At this point in our lives, all is good.  You can’t ask for more than that!”

Liz Kovacs Dudley Washburn observes:  “It’s hard to believe we’re approaching 75!   Looking back, the “Cold War” loomed large.  Now we have new dangers. I’ve been very fortunate to have lived in England, Kenya and Turkey as well as the East and West coasts of the USA.  All of them were political “hot spots”. In all those places there was violence; criminal as well as terrorist. Yet what really stands out is the beauty, warmth and hospitality of each. Reading what other ’62 alums have done, I would say we are a well traveled group. All this traveling around and international connectedness is making the world a better place.  We retirees are so blessed!  We have time to graciously volunteer, be there for our families, “fill in the cracks’ as one friend put it. My husband and I are very involved in family life, our church, art: I paint, he makes furniture.  We do charity work, travel, do animal care, reading and a movie group. Life is full! We live in Lake Oswego, Oregon, near Portland and would love to hear from fellow alums who may travel this way.

We are in a thought provoking study series at church, “Why Evil Exists”, video lectures by Prof. Charles Mathewes, PhD (Great Courses series). He surveys 3000 years of history, philosophy and theology.  The course is immensely helpful in trying to understand the “evils’ that exist in today’s world as well as the past.  So I give credit to our Liberal Arts education at Hood and our excellent professors, Dr. Mehl, et al. for instilling in us a lifelong love of learning.”

Jody M. Watson says: “Peter and I just celebrated our 50th anniversary in November and we’re certainly looking forward to many more. We may downsize to eliminate some of the hassles of home-ownership, such as shoveling out from the blizzard we just experienced here on the Maine coast! We haven’t heard too many complaints about that kind of a move.

We do look forward to a Florida trip in early March.”

From Pam Roberts Welham:  “Our planned Baltic cruise was cancelled for two reasons- one, Vladimir Putin and second, Walt was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Instead, we had a “radiation vacation” for two months in Jacksonville, Fl in July and August. Jacksonville has one of about twenty centers for proton-beam radiation therapy in our country.  This is an extremely effective treatment for prostate cancer which has minimal side effects.  We had two friends who had their treatment in JAX and recommended it highly.  We had a great time- Walt chose to have the treatment every weekday morning leaving the rest of the day and weekends for sight-seeing in the area and visiting FL, GA and NC friends. JAX is a wonderful city with beautiful beaches and great restaurants.  All in all, everything worked well for us.  We are strong supporters of proton-beam treatment, which is becoming available for more and more types of cancer that need radiation treatment.”  In a few days we leave on what Walt calls his “sayonara WestPac” cruise- Hong Kong to Beijing.  We will travel with Navy friends of over 50 years!!  My first trip to Japan was in 1964 when I met Walt’s submarine- I expect to see great changes!!!”

From Judi Ziobro:  “Ed and I are healthy, enjoying our lives, and look forward to getting together with our friends whenever the opportunity presents itself.  We are close (physical distance) to 5 of the 6 grandchildren (all 8 and under – so they still enjoy being with us), and that fills our “spare” time.   I am still very active in music — vocal choir and handbell choirs at the church – various church committees  (mostly dealing with $$), and sewing (of all kinds).   I seem to have no lack of things to do.  Ed, on the other hand, while he still dabbles in real estate, is pursuing perfection in retirement.  Life is good!”

And now, from me, your class correspondent, Sara (you can call me Sally) Zimmerman:  I was diagnosed with a small breast cancer last fall, had a lumpectomy in October, and radiation therapy the first week in December:  five days of radiation, twice a day, very focused. Then later in December, when the last-minute opportunity came up to travel to St. John, V.I., and do three weeks of ministry there in January 2015, I jumped at the opportunity, and all worked out just fine. I share the interest that many of you express in other places, countries, and cultures. That reminds me:  remember Heba Brynjolfs (Mrs. H. Heba Brynjolfs Wilde ’65) from Reykjavik, Iceland, who attended Hood in ’61 and ’62?  She lived in England for many years but is now back in Reykjavik.  We kept in touch for awhile, and Hood provided me with her current contact information, so that when my daughter Jenny and a friend visited Reykjavik last summer, Heba and her son met them for coffee.

I loved hearing from everyone and thank you.

 

Barbara Bailey Reinhold
802-464-2297
drbreinhold@gmail.com

Karen Nordberg Sanders
303-589-0148
knsanders60@yahoo.com

Thanks ’60 classmates for your updates, with apologies to those of you with whom I was unable to connect. But based on the replies I did receive we are certainly a travelling, visiting, volunteering and grandchild-oriented bunch of women. Not surprising, eh? Helen Price Ballantine, P’83 and Bob are still in their old Annandale farmhouse, the former home of classmate Joan Kyllo Lester. Their eldest granddaughter Sarah with both a Hood mom and grandmom was married in August. She and her new husband are in Alabama where Sarah is working on her doctorate. Helen and Bob will also be doing grandparent honors at three other colleges: Boston College, Villanova and Gettysburg. Gretchen Beckhelm observed wisely that she didn’t have much news this time, but that “at our age that is often a good thing.” Sheri Fish Boone, grandmother of eight, is very active volunteering with The Foundation Board of Children’s Medical Center, the Foundation Board at Thanks-Giving Square and serving as President of the Assistance League of Dallas and a docent at the George W. Bush Library. Mary Ann Brush Gearinger is a role model who tries to exercise every day in addition to doing mission work and volunteering with Native Americans. Last summer she went to Guatemala to help build a church devastated by the earthquake, and feels “grateful and lucky to be alive.” My wonderful neighbor Barbara Taylor Hyde is the most active person in West Dover, Vt., still teaching skiing and running every good cause that comes along. Her school principal skills are put to very good use in this little resort town. In true form, she put together an extended family reunion for 40 Hyde’s of all ages in New Jersey last summer. I’m grateful to Barb for getting my partner Sally Hutchins Stott ’66 involved with the “Chix on Stix” at Mt. Snow, and the three of us hoped to travel together to the Reunion in June. Barb also shares warm and exciting times with Ann Wareham when she travels to see her oncologist in NYC. Barb’s granddaughter Hannah continues to train for mogul competition at Vail while her mom Becky teaches skiing. And the other three grandchildren are skiers as well. It was 40-years-ago that she and Pat began their gig as ski instructors, at home, obviously, and at Mt. Snow. Pat Crowl Johnson loved getting the class list and caught up virtually with friends in short order: Ginny Button Larkins, Mary Jane Sunday Whelan and Wanda Koedderich Hilner. Pam Skells Ladley reported a correction to the last column, including the fact that they have been in Tacoma, Wash., since 2002. They had a great trip to Europe last spring as well as a wonderful visit with Marty Evans Marcello and Tom Marcello in the fall. They are also both active with gardens, church, Historical Society activities, family and travel. Don and Karen Nordberg Sanders enjoyed some time at home this winter, attending lots of music rehearsals and seeing grandkids who live nearby. In April, they planned to travel to Annapolis for Don’s 55th. Mary Jane Sunday Whelan who has Parkinson’s moved last summer to an assisted living facility, which she likes, and her family is nearby. Her new address is 845 1^st Colonial Rd. #249, Virginia beach VA 23451. Mary Jane said, “The first weeks here reminded me of my freshman year at Hood College in 1956. I have my own apartment and very special friends, “my angels” from church and the Navy. I have been taking a writing class and getting into yoga.” Betsy Paul Crawford wrote, “Richard and I spend our winters in Vero Beach and our summers in Gwynedd Valley, Pa., not far from where I grew up. I stay in close touch with my sister Nancy Paul Stimson ’57 who lives in Hingham, Mass. She is well and amazing for almost 80! Richard and I own two Christian radio stations in the Lancaster area–he manages them and I “keep the books.” The most exciting event of the past year was the marriage of our oldest granddaughter and the birth of our first great!” As for the Barbara Bailey Reinhold group, I’m still enjoying writing and working with career and executive coaching clients, mostly virtually by phone, skype and email, from my wooded perch near Mt. Snow in Vermont that I share with Sally Stott. We have four grandchildren, ages 10 to 13, Ruby, Rose, Aidan and Ashby—dubbed by Sally “the RARA’s.” We recently returned from a terrific week with friends in Vieques, Puerto Rico, and are headed off again next week to Florida to sample the “snow-bird” life as a possibility for winter 2016. It’s pretty darned cold and icy in Vermont in the winter! Several of you wrote movingly of Betsy Bennett Wiegand and how much she will be missed. Each time we lose one of our classmates, we are moved, as Mary Jane wrote, to remember those early days when we arrived in Frederick as eager and idealistic young women, found each other, and began the long journey toward finding ourselves. It was good to be together on campus again in June. The class of 1960 is in need of a new class reporter. If you are interested, please send an email to alumoffice@hood.edu or call 301-696-3900.

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.

 

 

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.