The following is a compilation of almost everything you sent to me:

Beth Davis Pauley: Follow-up on the sink hole. Tedd came from Arnold, MD to fill the hole with rocks and to redirect the water run-off from the house.  There must be something about the water run-off from the house because another hole is developing between the rocks and the house.  Tedd is supposed to come back and check it out.  One month later he has not yet returned.  I’m hopeful. I just returned from a week in Paducah, KY where I attended the AQS Quilt Show. Doris Dalziel Kimball:

I don’t have much news except to say that George and I also celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary last year by taking our little family of 10 to Puerto Rico for sun, rainforest and a wee bit of culture.  Over the Christmas holidays we discovered a condo for sale on one of our lovely lakes and decided it was time for another move.  This time we mean to stay!  I do not have another move in me.  It is all on one level, has lake views from every window and an outdoor pool.  We can walk the 2 mile trail around the lake and also walk to downtown restaurants, band shell, library and galleries.  As always, the welcome mat is out for any classmates visiting our beautiful state of Wisconsin. Marjorie Simmons Carlson: Bill and I just celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary at a luncheon with over 100 guests.  On a scale of 1-10 it was an “11”!  Will send you a copy of our program this weekend. (regrets-none of my Hood friends were able to attend). Lillian Detrick Blood: It hardly seems like a year has passed since our 50th reunion and yet I just celebrated my 50th reunion from Cornell School of Nursing.  An exciting gathering in NYC with nearly half the class attending the celebration.  At the end of May Dave & I will celebrate our 50 anniversary. My those years pass quickly. The children are planning a party to mark the occasion. We continue to enjoy good health. Dave and I are still working, although not as many hours as before. Our children & grandchildren continue to give us much pleasure as they mature and grow. Please note new email address lil@lillianblood.com. Phoebe Adams Marshall: I guess the biggest news is that Al and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary on July 13th.  I keep busy playing tennis as much as possible and singing in a Master Works Chorale (just had our spring concert yesterday afternoon).  I’m also on the vestry at church, sing in the choir there, and am VP of the Anglican Church Women. Joy and Bill Demas and their cat Charlie stopped by here for a brief visit on their way to Florida in February.  We had a great time catching up. Joy Engle Demas: Visited with Phobe Adams Marshall and Al in early March on way to our house in Tarpon Springs, FL. Wonderful hosts who welcomed Charlie the Cat as well. He showed his appreciation of their hospitality by refusing to come out from under the guest room bed when it was time to leave. After a visit to their son Scott and wife at PAX base in Southern Maryland, Caroline Fischer Giles and Brian arrived at our Rockville home in May on Greek Easter – in time to eat dessert! Two day visit was too short. I am loving being retired, but need to face getting rid of so many things languishing in the basement, garage and attic. (I’ll keep Bill.) We are taking a trip to Quebec with friends in September and a riverboat cruise in France next March with same friends. I’m looking forward to another visit to Giverny, Monet’s home, but think we probably will continue to make most trips on our own as long as possible as we prefer to stop and explore when and where we want.

Joy Engle Demas and Bill, one fully, one semi-retired, visited Phoebe Adams Marshall and Al in Aiken, SC on the way to their house in Tarpon Springs, FL in March and had a too short visit in May from Caroline Fisher Giles and Brian at their Rockville home. The Demi are headed for Quebec with friends for a week in September and to France for a riverboat cruise with same friends next March. Jane Hoskins Bollman: Jane Hoskins Bollman, Susan Shinnick Hossfeld, and Susan Rugemer Kurtz enjoyed a week-end in Philadelphia with Judy Hammond Blatchford and Nancy Turner Heckscher and various husbands in April.  We visited the Barnes Museum and then Nancy, garden expert extraordinaire, guided us through the gardens of Chanticleer.  A great time was had by all! Nancy Turner Heckscher: Two weeks ago Susan Shinnick Hossfeld and Carl, Susan Rugemer Kurtz, Jane Hoskins Bollman and Roger came to visit Judy Hammond Blatchford and Parker, and Nancy Turner Heckscher and Ben and we went to the new Barnes Museum in Phila., out for dinner and in the morning Chantecleer Arborteum in Wayne, Pa. All are healthy and the weather was bright sun! Susan Shinnick Hossfeld:

In April, Carl, Susan Kurtz and I visited Nancy and Ben  Heckscher and Judy and Parker Blatchford in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.  Jane and Roger Bollman drove from Easton to join everyone for a wonderful weekend, which included fabulous meals, a visit to the spectacular new Barnes Museum and the delightful Chanticleer Gardens. Judy Hammond Blatchford: I really don’t have any news. Happily all is well with our family and we continue to add to our travel destinations, coming up this fall an expedition around Newfoundland and one down the eastern coast of South America and up into the Chilean fjords. Barbara Reeves McGee: Hello all – My e-mail address is now lrmagoo27@gmail.com. If you wish to stay in touch, please remove lrmagoo@pcu.net from your address book and replace it with lrmagoo27@gmail.com. Barb Kirby Stewart: My news is somewhat sad.  My mother passed away Feb. 2.  She was 7 months shy of her 100th birthday.  Her health really began to deteriorate after Christmas.  Fortunately, she died very quickly in the hospital.  We are having her committal service in June after Jan and Steve (Morrison) return. Otherwise, we are all doing fine.  We are in the midst of a small house expansion that is just large enough to be very disruptive. I hope it will only be a few more weeks. We are going to San Diego at the end of May for my oldest grandson’s graduation. It is just so hard to believe he is so old.  I still remember vividly the day he was born. I have been very busy due to over volunteering. I am trying to cut back some after this summer.  It is time to travel again. Obligations really cut into your free time. Bobbi Arthur Pretzsch: We’ve had several changes in our busy lives this year.  Our summer and fall was spent in Florida hosting at Alexander Springs Rec Area in the Ocala National Forest.  It was a beautiful campground and day use area.  We then spent 3 months living in the 5^th wheel in Pass Christian, MS near daughter and her family.  While I helped with the grandchildren after school, Bob worked on their newest renovation activity in Gulfport.  They now have 5 properties either for rent or sale. It is a condo a block from the Gulf of Mexico.  As our 3 months in our campground came to an end we decided to move into the condo with furniture that our daughter had for sale.  It is lovely to sit out on the porch, listen to the gulls and watch the kite surfers in the water.  Bob suggested that I stay the summer and help Lyn with her kids while he took our hosting position in Kentucky for the summer, alone.  I do like the condo, so much more space.  So with little hesitation I agreed and Lyn was delighted.  So he will leave mid-May to work in Kentucky.  Also to add to the activity for Bob, our old office in Cynthiana is being renovated to house the Kentucky Attorney’s offices.  We have also leased our Cynthiana apartment for the time being.   So he will be only an hour or so away from Cynthiana to see how that is going. In March, I drove to Tybee Island, GA to spend a delightful, although chilly, week with Linda Martin McManus, Gail Wood Fortin and Marvia Slade Perreault.  We have rarely missed an opportunity to get together once a year since our 40^th reunion. I am planning a road trip to Indianapolis in July to another crochet conference with stops at Holly Bay, where Bob will be working.  On the way home will stop in Cynthiana to see if there is anything else to bring back to Mississippi.   We think we will lease this furnished condo next year while we travel again in the 5^th wheel, hopefully out west. BTW, all those tests I mentioned last newsletter were negative.  All tests were relatively normal and I haven’t had any more memory lapses, thank goodness.

Bob and I are living in Gulfport, MS in a condo which Bob has helped renovate this past winter.   I will be here for the summer while Bob hosts at a campground in KY.  In March I drove to Tybee Island, GA to spend a delightful, although chilly, week with Linda Martin McManus, Gail Wood Fortin and Marvia Slade Perreault. “Sally” Zimmerman: During my recent sabbatical from ministerial duties at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa, I traveled around the world for eight weeks, heading always west.  I flew from San Francisco to Hong Kong, and then to Cambodia and Thailand.  In Thailand, I stayed a week with Sunny Griffin and her husband Steven Eiche in their lovely spacious home in Mai Rim (near Chiang Mai).  It was a real treat to reconnect with Sunny after 50 years and to learn about raw foods from her at her weekly presentation at The Spa Resort of Chiang Mai. Sunny and Steven welcome Hoodlums to visit and to consider renting their home in Mai Rim during the months of July – October.  Contact Sunny at sunnygriffen@gmail.com for details. Debbie Patterson Clark: Welcomed: Grandchild #2 the end of July, 2012, a boy, Corbin Tyler Figarola. Lost: My housemate of 16 years, David, on October 13th. In the process of reconstructing life. Looking Forward:  Going on Tour with my chorus,The Chorus of Westerly, next summer (2014) to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Been in Touch by phone with Carol Eaton Mendelsohn and Gale Demerest Bumpus. Penny Misirian Mardoian: All is the same here.  Art just celebrated his 86th and we are spending the summer (until Oct. 10) in Maine. I will be taking a Viking River cruise from St.Petersburg to Moscow in August. Linda (Lynn) MacDonough Morrow: New Zealand was wonderful for 3 weeks of hiking, wildlife viewing, experiencing spectacular scenery, etc. with my daughter Melanie between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  George and I had 2 weeks in Nicaragua on a mission/tourist trip in Jan/Feb.  It took me 6 weeks to recover from all that travel. If you have news to share with our class before my next “call for news” you can send it to me by email and I can post it here for all to see online. LMorrow@psu.edu