1960
Audrey Heyman Rooney
410.699.1230
Aerooney423@gmail.com

Gretchen Beckhelm writes sister Babs and I just returned to Cedar Rapids from a scenic two-week cruise up the west coast of Norway, sailing as far as North Cape where the midnight sun shone brightly.  After being home for two weeks we drove to Colorado where we rented a house and were joined by 10 other family members for a week of fun, games, and laughter.  Life is good! Sally Fletcher Murray spent a fun weekend in Poughkeepsie for the graduation of grandson Ben from Vassar.  The following week she surprised husband Don with an 85th birthday party at Graves Mountain Lodge, in Syria, VA, with the three Murray children from CA, FL, and AK among 18 relatives in attendance. Several Hood friends participated in a “card shower” for Don; at our age we don’t need more “stuff!” Sally is enjoying having her sister Nancy Fletcher Artlett ’59 back in Virginia permanently after 27 years in Australia. During a conversation with Sally, Anne Kurka Woods summed up her move to The Highlands in Pittsford NY, thus: “I’m loving my senior living apartment, escaped part of winter’s fury at my time share in Coronado, have two great- grandsons and I’m playing too much bridge.” Linda Loring Loveland posts from Piscataway: For 52 years we have lived in the same house on the shores of the lake in New Jersey.  Kids and grands still like to visit; to row, to fish and witness the natural history of our backyard. Catfish, shiners, frogs and turtles and birds galore are with us. Monarch butterflies have been known to visit my milkweed garden. The women’s group I helped found in the ’70’s endures as we move from the consciousness-raising of that decade to today’s poetry of the new century.

Nurturing the life of the mind is as important as walks twice a week in the park to stimulate long used muscles. Brava, Linda! Maryann Whitehead Scherzo writes: “Our daughter Beth, single mom, died of metastatic breast cancer in January.  We were with our grandsons in NYC for a week over the Fourth.”  May Beth’s life be for a blessing.

From your reporter in Lexington, KY: Roommate Grace Elliott and I enjoyed an all-too-brief reunion in June at her airy apartment 10 floors up in Silver Spring.  Beautiful family photos, past and present, books, delicious meals – oh, the meatloaf! – and funny stories of husbands, boyfriends, Messiah weekend memories. Highlights and a big lowlight mark my past year.  The lowlight is concern for grandson Colin Rooney, 24, ill with progressive liver disease.  Computer engineer Colin works at Leidos in Charlottesville and is a patient at the UVa Medical Center.  Colin and his family are on a multitude of prayer and mindfulness lists.  We ask that you add him to yours. A second poetry manuscript “Available Light,” off to publisher for release in the fall.  Granddaughter Katherine Mandzak enjoys her role as Innkeeper at the Red Fox Inn and Tavern in Middleburg, VA, and will debut her novel later this month. Daughter Melinda’s eldest son Ben is running for mayor of Middletown CT, his college town and new hometown. In April our sixth Bach Choir Vocal Competition hosted 10 finalists and three prize-winners: a soprano from DC, a U of Kentucky soprano from Zimbabwe and a countertenor, also at UK.  For info & pictures visit kentuckybachchoir.org.

Next ARVC is set for April 2021. Thank you for these precious updates, dear classmates.

Till next time – Audrey.

Audrey Heyman Rooney
410.699.1230
Aerooney423@gmail.com

Ruth Dworschak Jensen celebrated her 80th birthday in June with a beautiful party given by her four children. All four children, Eric, Steve, and twins, Paul and Karen are married and parents of Ruth’s eleven grandchildren.  Of these eleven only one granddaughter, but she now has a great granddaughter too!  Three of my four live close to Ruth, one in Florida. Ruth writes: I have been singing in my church choir for thirty years and am a visitor to church members in a nearby nursing facility.  I participate in a monthly book discussion at the library and have volunteered for twelve years in a local elementary school. I serve on two boards in my residential community. I am in good health.  I see my roommate Mary Virnstein Yuhas ’62 frequently and have enjoyed traveling with her to many places including Ireland, Scotland, England, and Bermuda.  We have an annual stay in Florida coming up soon. Anne Kurka Woods reports: I’m settled into my apartment. I am very glad I chose to move here. Everyone, staff and residents, are friendly. There are many classes and activities. Since I’m in the same town, I still have many former friends that I continue to see. I’m working on reducing my arthritis issues, but I am using a walker most of the time. This limits my travel, though I still go to Coronado every March. Lastly, I have a second great grandson. Patricia “Cookie” Cook Bingemer writes: We’ve moved 20 miles up the road from our home of 18 years in Pawkeys Island and now live in a smaller house…in Myrtle Beach SC.  We are closer to all our “ologists” (cardiologist, pulmonologist, urologist…the list goes on and on). This is a 55+ community and we hope to “age in place”.  I still enjoy playing a lot of Bridge and love my 2 Book Clubs.  Chuck has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease so life is different as we confront those issues.  We are close enough to our old neighborhood to maintain activities with those friends. Pat Crowl Johnson says “looking forward to Christmas in Vermont with all of our family. We celebrated our 80th birthdays with our kids on Isle Royale in Lake Superior.  I stay in touch with Wanda Koedderich Hilner and Ginny Button Larkins. From Ruth Zeigler Schipper: I recently celebrated my 5th year, living in Bellingham, WA., and really enjoy living here, in the city of, ‘subdued excitement’! Back in November, I celebrated my 80th birthday, with dear friends, in Las Vegas!! All is well!

Audrey Heyman Rooney
aerooney@windstream.net
859-317-8341

Linda Loring Loveland writes “our Los Angeles grandchildren (Miles and Audrey, age 5 and 2) with their parents, Mike and Sally, visited us here in NJ for two weeks over Christmas. The kids had never seen snow before so were delighted with a two inch dusting one morning.  They had to learn about mittens.  Never needing them in California, they quickly embraced them when they tried snowman making in the back yard at 24 degrees. A few days later our lake froze solid which opened a new adventure when we stepped off the dock and trekked along the shoreline while the ice groaned under foot. As the temperature dropped into the single digits we made ice lanterns. Fill a bucket with water and leave it out overnight.  The next morning after removing any unfrozen water turn the bucket upside down and the remaining ice slips out providing a hollow center. After dark we put a lit candle inside to create a glowing spectacle. On the last night of their visit, we lit eight ice lanterns and then we sang “Jingle Bells”.  Audrey really loved her mittens. I found them hidden in her bed after she left.” Gretchen Beckhelm:  “After 21 wonderful years in Florida I moved back to Iowa in June to be close to my family. I may need to hibernate through my first Iowa winter in 61 years! My new condo in a Cedar Rapids retirement community was completed in November. Until then I enjoyed living all summer with sister Babs”. Gretch has fond memories of 2 Hood “careers”: four years with the Class of ’60 and five years in the ’40s when she and Babs lived in Meyran with their House Mother Mom. Margret Cederholm Bonito left her psychotherapy practice in July. Maggie is still an active potter with two shows coming up, and enjoys the company of inspiring professionals “a pleasure only exceeded by visits to Hood where the ceramics program is dazzling.” Planned Parenthood and women’s health issues are among her list of causes. She is active in the Garden Club of Essex Fells, NJ where her team crafted a Scottish Yule theme for Drumthwackett, the Governor’s Mansion, in Princeton. Daughter Lisa is a journalist sophomore art major at Skidmore; granddaughter Ava is a sophomore art major at Skidmore, and son Andrew is director of operations and CFO of a restaurant group in Manhattan. Maggie misses being an actress. She’s considering doing volunteer work for Actors Equity. For fun, she’s learning Mahjong. Grace Elliott has learned to play bridge after her retirement move to Leisure World of Maryland. Her partners include 89, 96 and 101- year old grandes dames who are her mentors and inspiration. In October Barbara Taylor Hyde hosted a dinner party for Barbara Bailey Reinhart, her wife Sally Stott and mutual friends. Barb and Sally spend winters in Florida, summers in Vermont. I’m busy with church activities especially our Food 4 Kids program when we pack bags of food for needy elementary children to take home for the weekend. The program which I started with 10 women helping now has about 40. Where there is a need, the ladies meet it and I am the chief fundraiser; imagine that!! Ann Wareham and I are signed up for Hood’s Dutch waterways trip in early April. I see Ann when I have oncology appointments in NYC which is great. Looking forward to skiing again this winter, family is well, I have no complaints! Sally Fletcher Murray reports the birth of twin grandchildren in December 2016 and the final return to the U.S. of her sister Nancy Fletcher Artlett ’59 in July. Both families gathered at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, VA, in August to welcome Nancy home and celebrate her 80th birthday. In September Sally, daughter Susan and Sue’s two sons spent a fun weekend with Anne Kurka Woods at her home in Pittsford. In October Sally and Nancy visited the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, FL for a fundraiser and benefit. The Center, founded by their mother, Eleanor Fletcher, is a multi-million dollar sea turtle education, research and rehabilitation facility.  Sally continues to be involved in election and education boards and activities. “We’ve had less travel this year than usual” writes Karen Nordberg Sanders.  In early June we celebrated Don’s 80th in Bermuda. In October we drove from home in Golden, CO, to Purdue to see one of our nine grandsons perform. Three generations of trombonists in the family! Don plays in two bands and we both sing in our church choir and with a larger Chorale. We were in Texas in November for a granddaughter’s wedding and will spend Christmas in Georgia. We enjoy being close to our youngest son’s family in this beautiful state! Maryann Whitehead Scherzo and John celebrated his 80^th birthday in Denmark while on a Baltic cruise with his brother and sister-in-law. John continues with his CPA practice and they manage to travel after every tax quarter. “Been living on Mercer Island, WA for 37+ years, and have no desire to relocate…both daughters and three grandsons live nearby. If you’re near, stop by!” Ellen McDougall Schlachter still lives in her “little old (1700’s)” house in Northport, NY.  After graduation she taught junior high school for ten years, resigning when son Jim was born in 1973.  After her husband’s death in 1994 a friend persuaded her to work with pre-schoolers which she enjoyed for 8 1/2 years. She is now fully retired.  On the phone recently with Sally Fletcher Murray, the two conspired to relate a Home Ed Lab anecdote, also starring our late and beloved Ellen Perry Croll. While lab teacher Miss Ezzard was entertaining lunch guest Dean Sherrill in the adjoining dining room, Sally and McDouge were fetching a casserole from the oven in the nearby kitchen. The casserole went straight from oven rack to floor and with straight faces they scooped it all back in the dish and served it, Ellen muffling hysterics.  Audrey Heyman Rooney in her eighth year back in the Bluegrass, is still reveling in the completion of a Poetry Gauntlet 100-poem challenge in December.  A four-day retreat in the east Kentucky hills was a perfect place to polish it off, what will become of the collection is a project for the New Year.  The Kentucky Bach Choir went from strength to strength with the B-minor Mass in March and a Bachtoberfest benefit in October. The fourth Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition finals are April 14.  Our Friends Meeting is a continuing gift to my life, singing, and widening circle of kindred souls. Stuart Croll sent the following words from Ellen Perry Croll’s Grand Canyon graveside service to Sally Murray asking that she share: Stu writes: All went well.  Everyone was tense and emotional but we got through it.  The graveside service, minimal but adequate, was done by the local Grand Canyon Community Church pastor. Most of his comments were based on the obituary that I wrote with your help, but he paraphrased well and included the 23rd Psalm and verses from Corinthians which I cannot recall but were most appropriate. Riley put a note in the grave but later she sent an Instagram to her friends along with a picture. I suspect the essence of her note to Ellen was what she wrote to her friends. For some time now, I have been saying that you are not moving on but doing things in a different way. She might have picked up on that but she did it in a very philosophical and poetic way. From Riley’s Instagram:  “You may feel like you are sitting at the edge of a cliff with no idea how to return.  But as life continues you find yourself coming back to the real world and steady ground. . . .you are not really moved on, but living in a new and different way.” Thank you all who sent news.  Special thanks to best Kentucky girlfriend Dr. Nancy Coleman Wolsk, Mt Holyoke ’61, for priceless help at the computer.  Please send your stories to me: aerooney@windstream.net or by phone: 859 317-8341.Old-fashioned letters and postcards particularly welcome!  227 Owsley Ave; Lexington, KY 40502.

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.

Sally Fletcher Murray wrote that her children and grandchildren from CA, FL and AK celebrated Don’s 80^th birthday with a family reunion at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, VA. A highlight was the announcement by their 51-year-old son and his wife (36) that they are expecting their first child in January. Sally’s sister Nancy (Hood ’59) came from Australia for her annual visit. Sally continues to serve on the Governor’s School Foundation Board and the County Electoral Board. She walks her dog two miles a day, reads constantly, enjoys daily emails from Hood classmates…and takes a nap every day!

1960
Barbara Bailey Reinhold
breinhold@charter.net

Karen Nordberg Sanders
knsanders60@yahoo.com
55th reunion, June 5-7, 2015

Best wishes to all my classmates! We are not getting any younger, but we are doing the best we can—right? We were all sad to learn of the March death of Betsy Bennett Wiegand after a short battle with esophageal cancer. Some of you probably attended her funeral. On a lighter note, Gretchen Beckhelm has “delightful memories” from Hood’s cruise through the waterways of Holland and Belgium where she visited with Judy Hodges Weaver ’60 and her little sister Courtney Gurley Sieck ’62. Paul and Marcia Newson White left stormy Massachusetts and spent January to March doing fun activities and visiting Marcia’s brother in Florida. Marcia enjoys Yoga. The Whites spent Easter with their daughter Kristin’s family. In May, Don and I, Karen Nordberg Sanders, enjoyed a visit with John and Maryann Whitehead Scherzo, touring the Seattle area with expert guides! The guys also played golf, while Maryann and I toured museums and much more. I love the Chihuly Glass Museum! The Scherzos had recently returned from a trip to Italy with their daughters. Patti “Cookie” Cook Bingemer and Chuck had a fun trip to Hawaii. Cookie sings in her church choir and also plays the bells. She belongs to a book club and a bridge group. She is also in touch with classmate Mary Jane Sunday Whelan who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and hopefully has been admitted to her choice of an assisted living, First Colonial Inn, after being in rehab following several falls. Sunny’s son Dan looks after her. Ann Sampson Adams and Tom sold their Florida home and bought a villa in Del Webb at Lake Oconee (south of Atlanta), to be close to Ann’s daughter who recently underwent a mastectomy. Ann enjoys the indoor pool and other activities. Tom plays tennis and pickleball. Avery Burns, who lives in the D.C. area, said, “Politics and congress are driving me crazy. I have never seen a more ineffectual do-nothing bunch of people!” Avery enjoyed her family in Michigan over New Year’s. Luckily, she made it out on the last plane to leave Detroit for 10 days! Pam Skells Ladley wrote from her home on the Olympic Peninsula, where she and Art have lived since 1978. Pam stays busy with local community activities, their church and family. When Pam wrote in late March they were about to leave on a 20-day ship and land excursion via the Azores, Lisbon, Gibraltar and Spain. Sounds fun! In October, they hope to see Marty Evans Marcello and Tom Marcello on their way to or from Art’s 60th U.S. Coast Guard Academy reunion. Marty and Tom live in New Hampshire. Helen Price Ballantine, P’83 wrote that she, husband Bob and their daughter Carolyn Ballantine True ’83, M.A.’12 attended the memorial service “of our dear friend and classmate Betsy Wiegand. The service was absolutely beautiful, with lovely tributes by family and friends, among them our Hood President Ron Volpe. My family and Bet’s shared a long history and she will be sorely missed, not only by us, but all who knew her.” Helen is glad their brutal winter has gone! Speaking of President Volpe, I am sure I am not alone in being disappointed by his recent resignation. He has done so much for Hood and he will be hard to replace. Don and I are not as busy as we once were after having spent a little over three years in Golden, Colo., in a 55-plus neighborhood near our youngest son’s family. We looked forward to a trip over the July 4thweekend to visit Don’s three siblings, where we will also see our three children, nine grandchildren and four great-grands! Where has the time gone? We sing in our church choir, a larger Lutheran Chorale (which tours Colorado in August), and Don plays trombone in a community band and subs in a dance band. Having been a travel agent since 1991, Don heads up a cruise each year. In October we fly to Barcelona and then head back to Florida on our first trans-oceanic cruise. Like some of you classmates, we are active in neighborhood activities: luncheons, dinners, picnics, book club and much more. As a nonswimmer, I have exercised in the water for 25 years. Water Zumba is my current favorite! Thanks to each of you who responded to my plea for information. Our doors are open to those who would like to visit the mountains. Our current home is the smallest we have had, but it does have a guest room! Have a great summer!

News updates:

Betsy Paul Crawford wrote, “Richard and I have been married 56 years (miracle, right?). We have two sons, seven grandkids and one great (only 4-months-old) and we’re thrilled! We live in Gwynedd Valley, Pa., for five months and Vero Beach, Fla., the other seven. We have two Christian radio stations that we are still actively running. He does the managerial stuff and I keep the books. I did not think I would still be working at age 76, but it keeps me out of getting into too much trouble. My sister Nancy Paul Stimson ’57 visited a few weeks ago and we attended her granddaughter’s bridal shower. I also recently attended my granddaughter’s wedding in Pittsburgh. So, life goes on and we are thankful for everything!”

Gretchen Beckhelm reported, “In July after a delightful stay with John and Maryann Whitehead Scherzo in Seattle, I cruised the inside passage of Alaska on the 40-passenger Alaskan Dream.  It was a “dream” vacation.  In September I rented a condo in Leland, Michigan for two weeks and visited with family and friends there. Now I intend to plant my feet on home turf for a while.”

Well, ’60 Hoodlums are not just sitting and rocking, that’s for sure. Sue Fish Boone went to Rome and Tuscany for a visit and to attend the “truly magical” hilltop wedding in Tuscany of her niece Shanti, daughter of her sister Pam and the retiring ambassador. Ellen Perry Croll, meanwhile attended a Sigma Chi get-together at U. Va, connecting with 62 friends in the process. They also saw Sally Fletcher Murray, Anne Kurka Woods, Gretchen Beckhelm and Maryann Whitehead Scherzo for a 75th birthday celebration. Berta Lou Pocock Dietz reports that she is loving her 33rd year in Anchorage, Alaska, as well as the Big Island of Hawaii where they spend January and February. She keeps in close touch with Jean Crabb (a friend since 7th grade) and Carol Ann Decker Vitek. Gail Meredith Enright is a busy lady mowing 10 acres of grass—hers and those of her two kids who live on either side of her. She also sings in the church choir, is the Parish Registrar, writes the church newsletter and is secretary of the civic association. She reports several noteworthy, music-related, trips recently and in the past, including one in 1991 where she conducted a meeting for Vladmir Putin.

Mary Ann Brush Gearinger reports that she has been retired for five years and is still reorganizing her life after the death of her husband Charlie in 2008. She exercises at the Senior Recreation Center, volunteers at her old school, and is involved with two different singing groups. Her best pal is Maggie, her Golden Doodle. Barb Taylor Hyde continues to ski, golf and travel whenever she can. She had a wrist-crunching run-in on the slopes last winter with a student skier, but is expecting to be back teaching soon. She travelled to Scotland with Anne Wareham and is just back from two weeks in London and Tunisia. My partner Sally Stott (Hood ’66) and I have dinner with her periodically, since we live around the corner from each other in West Dover, VT, the home of Mt. Snow.

Pat Crowl Johnson reports that she and her husband are enjoying retirement, visiting family all over the Eastern time zone. Pat had a long lunch with Wanda Koedderich Hilner in Northern Michigan. Lucinda Young Kelly reports that she and her husband gave a party in September for their son Bruce and his delightful Kiwi bride—the newlyweds married in New Zealand and make their home in Auckland. Poppy Herndon McCarty and Bill have been on the go too—to Israel with the Travelling Aggies, to Georgia and to Vancouver. Bill is President of MOAA (Military Officers’ Association of America), while Poppy is very active in community, church and Republican activities. Martha Ruff Meredith has just completed 40 years in the flower business, with her son now joining her. She, meanwhile, is happily in a lovely 55-plus community, where her gardening is limited to one flower bed. Sally Fletcher Murray, as usual, had lots going on. She is up to her eyeballs in Virginia politics, but reports that the event of the year was a glorious reunion in Mauii with kids and grandkids from three states, along with sister Nancy Hood ‘59.

Pat Russell has a small but interesting psychotheraphy practice, and is happily partnered with a retired psychologist, who has made her a mom and grandmom to her kids. Karen Nordberg Sanders is also busy with grandkids and travel, having moved from Texas to Colorado to be near their youngest son’s family. Husband Don is in his third career as a realtor. Barbi Olsh still lives on a 10+ acre horse farm with partner Susan. Her 75th birthday gift to herself was a black lab pup, Alice, to keep Elsa the GSD company. Her busy life is filled with dog training, acres of gardens, yoga, tai chi, photography, the Mt. Dulcimer and genealogy.

Judy Hodges Weaver and Husband John, an antique dealer, have had a busy year since Superstorm Sandy, involved in the restoration of homes and caring for friends. Judy also does golf, bridge, book club, gardening and visiting the five grandchildren. Betsy Bennett Wiegand and Frank are “just great,” she says, having travelled to NYC four times this year, as well as to New Orleans, Israel, Niagara-on-the-lake, Montreal and the Hudson River Valley, and Chicago. Anne Kurka Woods reports that she’s doing well, though still adjusting to widowhood. She’s grateful for the mini-reunion with friends mentioned earlier by Ellen Croll.
Reporter: Barbara Bailey Reinhold

Ginger Gudebrod Smith is doing fine in Bartow, Fla., since recovering from a stroke four years ago. She reads a lot as a book club member. Like many, Ginger admits she has her iPad mini on all day. With motherly pride, Ginger relates that son John has finished writing his third book. He must have his mother’s genes! A chat with Ruth Bovier Witt revealed she swapped her home economics degree to become an elementary teacher. Amazing! She belongs to a sewing group where her sewing talents go to charity. Bo has traveled to China, Israel and Egypt. Marty Evans Marcello and family own a family camp in Maine, but live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She said autumn is truly beautiful there. She has two daughters who live 20 minutes away! A third daughter lives in California.

Enjoying life for 23 years in North Carolina is Carol Eilerts Geney. She excels in basketry and started when her daughter wanted baskets for her wedding. These are art baskets. Earlier, Carol had her own business designing bridal gowns and designed for a fabric drapery store. A most creative person! Jean Crabb lives in Westminster, Md. She is now a retired high school teacher. She swims three days a week and plays golf. Jean does a lot of babysitting for family and helps her sister who has cancer. Jean told me that Berta Lou Pocock Dietz lives in Alaska now. Jean goes to visit her. Sally Corbin Rogers is actively selling her art work at shows and in galleries in Wisconsin where she has lived for 40 years. She has won a few awards and her favorite art pieces are created in water colors, pastels and block prints. She enjoys her two sons and grandchildren who live nearby. Ginger Button Larkins is now known as “Ginny.” She lives in Seattle with “an olde dog” who likes to hike and explore. Ginny is a super volunteer for the homeless shelter where she serves food once a week. She also delivers food to the elderly/infirmed for the Food Bank. She previously worked with a Sudanese family once a week to facilitate their adjustment to the United States.

Ellen Perry Croll is my closest Hood pal in nearby Tucson, Ariz. She is my friend, philosopher and guide while I am adjusting to the great Southwest. She was elated that her son and family were coming from Utah. Living on a small lake with a walking path outside her door, Betsy Gillespie Parrish enjoys a new community in Winnebago, Ill. She recently went on a nature conservancy trip off the coast of Georgia with Phyllis Scarborough Hoyer. To relax, Betsy reads detective books, paints floral watercolors and quilts. After living three years in Frederick County, Md., Floy Miller headed north to Massachusetts. She lived in a Boston condo, purchased a vineyard home, and taught French. Then the travel bug bit Floy. She has traveled to Amsterdam and knows Paris streets better than Boston. She has also visited the Baltic States, South Africa and Namibia. When home, Floy swims five days a week, and bikes or kayaks. She also reads and enjoys cooking.

This fall Jean Ford Joseph returned to Hood and was awed by the many new buildings. Jean did reach her Hood career goal: teaching the deaf for 40 years at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Conn. Currently, the book club and knitting club are Jean’s primary interests. She also visits Cape Cod frequently and her four grandchildren in Ohio. Jean maintains contact with Elise Quintard who lives outside of D.C. in Maryland. Sadly, Judy Purcell Cotter lost her son to cancer. The class of 1960 is sad with and for Judy.

I, Fran Fisher LaCroix, had a wonderful Peace Corps reunion in Ethiopia with my Peace Corps volunteer teacher group of 1962-64. I taught 10th grade English in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia, for two years. Those students returned to teach in their home provinces. Out of the 150 original Peace Corps volunteers, 70 returned for the reunion. They met with the president of Ethiopia and the American ambassador. Volunteers also returned to Debre Berhan where there is now a university. My husband and I also toured a number of historic sites.