1966
Dianne Beebe Barske
eldibarske@gmail.com

Gathering news can create such a mixture of sadness and joy. It was with a great jolt of sadness that I learned of the passing of Laurie Wheeler Brown. Laurie died on May 8, 2019 at her home in Melbourne, FL, where she had managed the Museum Store and the Museum’s national and international travel program, and had served as president of the Board of Trustees. Following her retirement from the Museum in 2003, Laurie and her husband Fayette (Brownie) split their time between Florida and their second home in the mountains outside Asheville, NC. She and Brownie had been married for 53 years and have a daughter Melissa of New Orleans, LA, and a son Alexander, of Leicester, NC. Many of us at Hood will remember Laurie rushing off to visit Brownie many weekends at Yale, or heading off to the stables to ride. I am very grateful for the time I had with Laurie during our 50^th reunion three years ago. We had a long walk together to downtown Frederick on a hot Saturday afternoon to get ice cream, visiting, and sharing much laughter on the way. Words of happy developments in their lives came from five classmates. Sarah “Sally” Bruce has taken up both the banjo and the hammered dulcimer! She is also a quilter, working on a queen-sized quilt. And since moving to Vermont, she’s been painting some barn quilts for the outside of her home. “I have a lovely upstairs guestroom if anyone is ever in the area and would like to stop by.” Sally is teaching classes online in advanced scientific writing and medical technology, and enjoying gardening more now that she has two bionic knees. Mary Marguerite Melville totaled up her family members for us. “My four children are doing well, and I have nine grandchildren and five greats!” Mary still teaches one day a week, working with gifted children in a small school district in Northern KY. Other activities include babysitting a granddaughter and ushering at a theater in downtown Cincinnati for Broadway shows, the symphony and local theatre. Betty Schmidt Martin is another grandmother babysitting a granddaughter. “Harold and I just spent a week in Orlando, FL babysitting 3-year-old granddaughter, Mackenzie, while daughter-in-law, Serena, gave birth to 9 lb. 4 oz. Bryce Cameron Martin.” To be closer to this growing family, they purchased a condo in New Smyrna Beach, FL, just two blocks from the ocean. Son Chad and his wife Kori have four children and live north of Austin, TX. Daughter, Suzanne, is a traveling physical therapist. Betty and Suzanne try to travel abroad once a year, to the Galapagos Islands most recently. Betty also went to Normandy with a Hood College tour. She enjoyed it so much, she hopes to go on another Hood tour. One of the fun aspects of putting together this column is going back and forth with classmates who respond, sharing Hood memories. Carolyn Wyckoff Platt and I both have memories of art history courses at Hood. You may remember her as Cammy. She explains, “I was Cammy only at Hood.”  She’s continued her interest in art history, visiting art museums and spending a month each year with husband Andy in Paris. That’s where they met almost 50 years ago. “I’ve never used my French professionally, but it has added so much to my quality of life. Yay, Hood!” Carolyn was emailing from a family trip. “Andy and I are now at Point O Woods on Fire Island with my children and four grandchildren – no cars here on the island, only bikes and wagons – and sailing with no motors!” (I’m still smiling over our shared memories of art history professor, Miss Randolph, and taking notes from her slides, in complete darkness.) Kenni Ward Pinckard shared her news from her home in Gainesville, FL where she, like Sally, has offered a guestroom to Hood classmates. She states that she and husband Tom “have a good life there” and adds “Tom has coffee and lunch with former golfing pals and builds model boats in the back bedroom. I swim in an aerobics class, volunteer at church and attend ILR – Institute of Learning in Retirement – classes.” It truly does sound like a “good life”. Highlights of recent months have been attending grandson Kyle’s graduation from Texas A and M, and traveling to Italy to visit grandson, Matthew, during his semester in Rome, studying civil engineering, also with Texas A and M.

Dianne Beebe Barske
907.227.4436
eldibarske@gmail.com

News I received for this column was such a mixture of sadness and joy. Bonnie Kloeblen Hagerman commented, “As we age, the news is not always good news.” Husband Dick died in May of 2018 from bladder cancer. About a year earlier, Bonnie had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. “That my cancer was caught early is a rarity for which I am very thankful. My prognosis is good.” Bonnie keeps busy with Care Wear Volunteers, Inc., an organization she founded in 1990. Now nationwide, Care Wear’s volunteers sew, knit and crochet items for preemies in hospital NICUs.  A new venture is making infant bereavement sets (blankets, gowns, hats and booties) from wedding gowns. Your old wedding gown can be donated to Care Wear Volunteers through Bonnie at 102 Mercer, Court, #23-5, Frederick, MD 21701. Another classmate who recently lost her husband is Bonnie Scull Hawkes. In a sad Christmas note, Bonnie said, “My wonderful husband and best friend for the past 46 years died on August 18, 2018.” Geoff died in Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver, British Columbia, following surgery. Geoff and Bonnie had long been adventurous travelers, cruising together all over the world, and had been very active in Vancouver’s ski community. More sad news comes from Mary Melville, who lost her brother, Charles, on November 13, 2018. “My sweet, brilliant older brother died after a 25-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease.” He had practiced law for most of his career in Cincinnati, and spent a lot of time in his home woodworking shop “building beautiful furniture and musical instruments.” Adding to the list of lost family is a note from Faith Parker Mentzer. In a year, 2018, that Faith calls a “train wreck”, Faith lost her youngest son, Heath. He had been a picture of health, according to Faith, and died very suddenly. “Frank and I are still trying to wrap our heads around what happened.” Faith continues to teach higher math classes, part time, at Saint Mary Catholic School in Hagerstown, MD. “Thank heavens for that. It is the only thing that has kept me sane this past year.” It is difficult to share so much sad news, and much sympathy goes out to Faith, Mary, and Bonnie Hawkes and Bonnie Hagerman as they have faced these heartbreaking losses. I did receive six notes of happy news from classmates. New life has come to Anna Buhr Cole, in the form of a baby grandson, Benjamin, born to daughter Elizabeth. He celebrated his first birthday on January 8. Anna adds, “It’s true – being a grandparent is great.” Anna and husband Miles traveled to Spain, Budapest and Amsterdam during 2018. Sara “Sally” Wislar Farneth also shared news of travel and grandchildren, traveling a lot to be with family through the holidays. Sally had a brief visit with her Hood College roommate, Carol Miller Hnath ’67, in MI, while on her way to Madison, WI to see daughter, Kate, and her family there. Then it was on to Tucson to see son, Greg, then back home to Pennsylvania, dodging storms. “We’ve concluded these long drives are not so much fun.” There was an additional trip to Maine to be with eldest daughter and her family. Now the focus is on downsizing to get their home ready to market. Terri Petrillo Connolly shares grandchildren news. The oldest grandson is now in high school, and a new granddaughter was just born. “We feel truly blessed.” Husband Frank just published his first novel. And Terri and Frank celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in 2018. Jane Dearstyne Veeder and husband Chuck traveled to Scotland for three weeks in 2018, with Jane’s younger brother and sister-in-law. “We had a wonderful time – gorgeous scenery and friendly people.” Ginny Wheeler Jones and husband Charlie feel they now have the best of all worlds, sharing time between their two homes in their two favorite places – Maryland and Florida. Ginny adds more happy news. She is celebrating seven years since retirement, eight years since aortic heart surgery, and 17 years as a breast cancer survivor.  They have grandchildren in both the University of Delaware and Lafayette College in Easton, PA. One last note involving grandchildren – and a surprise encounter. Pat Vozar Bailey was attending grandparents day in Bel Air, MD this past November, when in walked another grandmother, Hood classmate Susan Worth Fiala! Pat exclaims, “What are the chances of having two ’66 Hood grads in the same 4^th grade classroom!”

1966
Dianne Beebe Barske
eldibarske@gmail.com
907.227.4436

News of various sorts – both happy and sad – has come to me as I write this column. I know Nancy Frederickson Sherlin was smiling when she shared news of the May sales of her stained glass art. “While retirement for many is a glass of wine and a book, I still enjoy creating beautiful glass, even when I am spending most of my spring at work.” Husband Grover had just finished putting her May sales from an arts festival into a database. “He discovered I sold over 500 pieces in the 18 days of the festival. No wonder I am tired and ready for tomorrow’s trip to Hawaii!” Nancy has been selling her stained glass at Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, TX for 26 years. More outstanding, happy news comes from Pat Chapple Wright. Pat, recipient of Hood’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011, received the President’s Distinguished Alumni Medal from the City University of New York at the Lincoln Center in May. Pat is an internationally known primatologist, anthropologist and conservationist, recognized for her extensive study of lemurs in Madagascar and the preservation of its rainforests. Pat comments about her recent award. “The President and Provost of CUNY hosted a dinner for me on May 29, 2018 in honor of my receiving this award. Dinner was delicious and delightful.” Congratulations, Pat! What an honor for you and for Hood as one of our classmates! On a much more somber note, Harriet Rudman Weiner writes, “My significant news is that my husband Alan passed away in April, 2018. We were lucky enough to have celebrated 50 years of marriage last year. I have been receiving a lot of support from my family – son Jay, daughter-in-law Deb, grandchildren Ben 12, Maya 10, and Jenna almost 5; son Andy, daughter-in-law Emily, grandchildren Ryan13, Jake 10, and Mallory 7. Also thanks to my three sisters.” Looking ahead, Harriet added, “In August, I will be going with Jay’s family on a Northern European Disney cruise. That will be a new experience for me, and I am greatly looking forward to it.” We are very sorry for the passing of your husband Alan, Harriett, and hope the cruise surrounded by family lightened your days. More sad news but a well-deserved tribute, came from Susan Worth Fiala, recognizing her many decades of friendship with her Hood roommate Elizabeth (Beth) Harlow Foster. Beth passed away suddenly on August 19, 2017. After graduation, Beth traveled to Ireland to try her hand at professional steeplechase racing. Susan adds, “Mainly, she ended up mucking out stalls, so she returned to Maryland and became employed at IBM in Hagerstown.” Many years working for IBM followed, involving some international travel. The friendship between Susan and Beth is a testimonial to cherished, longstanding friendships begun at Hood. Beth and Susan traveled together for many years. They went to Key West, FL, each February after Beth moved to Florida. (Through the magic of Facebook, I’ve been able to see happy pictures of them on these jaunts together! I got to visit with Beth a bit at our 50th college reunion, and will never forget her disbelief when I shared that I, who considered myself a professional artist of sorts, did not have a working website. We laughed together loudly about this, and I returned home to Anchorage, compelled by Beth to create that website!) Perhaps this is the place to add that Elliott and I no longer live in Alaska. I still have to pause to recognize the reality of that sentence. After 42 treasured years in that state, which deservedly calls itself the Greatland, in the fall of last year, we moved to McMinnville, OR. Moving was hard. But – and I’m surprised to say this – we are loving our new home. McMinnville is welcoming and friendly, a pretty, small-college town, surrounded by farmlands – and full of wineries and art galleries. (I am now a proud member of the Sketchy Artists of Yamhill County!) Both our son and daughter-in-law graduated from Linfield College here and have settled nearby with our little granddaughter. We have another son and his wife also in the area, along with two adult grandchildren in Portland. The pull of so much Oregonian family just got to be too strong. Our new address is 380 SW Huckleberry Court, McMinnville, OR 97128, and our new email is eldibarske@gmail.com. (You will see us out and about exploring our new home state, especially its coastline and beaches, in our recently purchased RoadTrek.) We welcome visitors!

Dianne Beebe Barske
907-346-3167
dielbarske@gci.net

Anna Buhr Cole writes that she and her husband Miles have continued their love of travel, visiting Spain and Portugal, with trips to Iceland and Norway this summer, the Holy Land in the fall, and North Africa in January. Both daughters are librarians. Virginia “Ginny” Wheeler Jones M.A.’88, who chaired our 50^th Hood reunion, looks back on that time as “such a positive experience” filled with many happy memories. Winter days in Florida led to reunions with Carole Ann Kemp Lovett and Carole Ann’s husband Bill, and Terri Petrillo Connolly and Terri’s husband Frank. Ginny and Charlie celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary last year. Carole Ann wrote that she and Bill are hoping to move to The Villages in Sumter County, FL, after selling their home in Deep Creek Lake, MD. She hopes for a reunion next year in Florida with Pat Kehoe Tylander. Barbara Cubberly Smith, shares that her main focus, other than family, is plants and travel to see plants – and her six grandchildren. She and husband Ron traveled in their RV to the maritime provinces in Canada and to Florida. Barb volunteers with the Master Gardeners in southeastern NC. Laurie Wheeler Brown, writes from her home in Asheville, NC that her dogwoods and gardens are absolutely beautiful. Her five grandchildren will be with her most of the summer as they come and go from various camps. Laurie spends time quilting and husband Fay wields a hammer for Habitat for Humanity. In August, Bonnie Scull Hawkes and husband Geoff will board a cruise ship in Vancouver, head through the Northwest Passage, eventually to New York, then up the St. Lawrence to Quebec City. “We are very excited that we are lucky enough to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Millicent “Milli” Towner Fazey and husband Charles will be going to Columbia for two weeks in July with their Spanish professor and his espousa. They will visit Bogota, Medelin and Cali, and the cafeteria region. Pat Chapple Wright H’90 spends half her time in Madagascar and the other half as a Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, NY. The Centre ValBio research campus that she founded in Madagascar has received three large construction grants for expansion. The remote community health team has doubled in size and the education team is in 20 schools teaching participatory science and environment classes. Nancy Frederickson Sherlin visited last fall. Pat’s daughter, Amanda, is living on Cape Cod with Pat’s two “fantastic” grandchildren, Arianna and Issan. Amanda works at the Woods Hole Research Center doing management and finance for a reforestation project in DRC (Congo). Betty Schmidt Martin writes, “I recently sold the riverfront house I inherited from my mother several years ago, east of Baltimore. One of my twin sons has four children. They live in Texas, and we see them whenever possible. We travel to Orlando often to see his brother’s family with one child who turned one in May.”  Betty’s daughter is working in San Francisco, and Betty and her husband visited there in April. Betty planned to be on the Hood College tour to Normandy in June, and on a river cruise in August with her daughter from Zurich to Amsterdam. Susan Worth Fiala wrote from Denver where she was assisting in the care of daughter-in-law, Tammy. Tammy had a bone marrow transplant last March for her leukemia. “She is doing very well.” In February, Susan visited Beth Harlow Foster in Port St. Lucie, FL. This summer, Beth planned to come to Maryland and go to Ocean City with Susan. On June 3, Susan and John will celebrate their 50^th anniversary. After 42 happy years in Alaska, my husband Elliott and I are moving to McMinnville, OR this summer. A big clump of our family has settled in one place – the Portland, OR area – both sons, both daughters-in-law and their extended families, and all three grandchildren. The pull of family simply got too powerful. We thought we’d always be Alaskans – and in our hearts, we always will be. Our younger son, Ethan, and his wife, Lindsey, both went to Linfield College in McMinnville, so we know the pretty, small town, in the midst of wine country. When they graduated, I thought we’d never be back – but here we come!

1966

Dianne Beebe Barske
907-346-3167
dielbarske@gci.net

It’s mid-December, the holiday season, and early Christmas cards are providing some of the cheerful news for this column. But I feel drawn to share some very sad news first, news that came to me in early September through two of our classmates, Cheryl Carlson Peyton and Kandy Kiefaber Higinbotham. Esther “Estie” Paist died Sept. 6. She had heart surgery earlier in 2016 and seemed to be doing well. But on that Tuesday, she experienced severe back pain and was flown by helicopter to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital where she died. Estie and I were roommates in grad school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, having driven across country together in her little yellow VW Bug. She had an active mind, a big smile, a calmness and warmth. She was planning an Alaska trip this coming summer. I will miss her so much, but am grateful for a reunion we had in Scottsdale, AZ, two years ago. I am also grateful to “The Terrace House Girls” who decided to honor Estie by purchasing a Hood Blazer Brick in memory of her. News came from four classmates who attended our June Hood 50th reunion, friends I had a chance to visit with, making me wish for more time with each of them. Geneva Butz was one of the ministers, along with the Rev. Alice Coffman McDermott, who spoke at our Sunday service in the Hood Chapel. She wrote that she recently downsized from a three-bedroom apartment to just two large rooms—a living/dining room and an office/bedroom. Geneva adds, “But I do love this new location—on the 12th floor of a high-rise next to the art museum in Philadelphia.” Laurie Wheeler Brown is another friend who returned to campus for the reunion. Laurie wrote, “It was fun to see you in June.” We did laugh a lot. Laurie also mentions a family rafting trip in August down the Green River in Utah, “all 14 of us!” Carole Ann Kemp Lovett and I also got to visit a lot during reunion weekend, often in Coblentz dining hall. She stays in touch with her Hood Big Sister, Kay Starcher Klausewitz ’64, who had just recently sent her pictures of travels to Ireland. Carole Ann’s mother, Eleanor, turned 98 in November and danced at her birthday party with Carole Ann’s husband, Bill—“her favorite son-in-law.” Winter months will be spent at the Villages in Sumter County, FL. She adds, “I look forward to visiting nearby pals Ginny Wheeler Jones, M.A.’88 and Pat Kehoe Tylander.” Speaking of Ginny, on top of organizing our 50th Hood reunion, she has been busy moving to this new Florida location. The house in Germantown, MD, sold after 16.5 months on the market. She and husband Charlie had spent many months moving furnishings between Germantown and Hernando, FL, earning the title of “snow flakes,” according to her! They plan to spend August to December in Annapolis, MD, and January to July in Hernando, FL. Joan Theobald Wentling shared triumphant news. “I was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 2015, but I have apparently emerged the winner in that battle.” Such good news. Joan states she is so grateful for the support of former sister-in-law Jeanne Perkins Hofferkamp’67 and Barb Maly Fish ’64. “Our grandchildren continue to be a source of happiness for us. Their ages are 9, 10, 11 and 12, and all live within 10 minutes of us. We are so lucky!” Jane Dearstyne Veeder. “We have been very blessed this year.” She and husband Chuck drove across the continent and back in their travel trailer from mid-August to mid-October. “It was an amazing experience. We visited places in both the U.S. and Canada. We spent a delightful day with Hood classmate Bonnie Scull Hawkes and her husband, Geoff, in Vancouver, BC. It is such a beautiful city!” I stay busy, volunteering, spending time in my little art studio and writing monthly features for an Alaska statewide publication, “Senior Voice.” I’ve been able to travel to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians (think “Deadliest Catch”), St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands of the Bering Sea, Sitka in Southeast Alaska, Fairbanks in the Interior—all to cover stories for this publication. Having a son who works for Alaska Airlines provides a parental benefit, free transportation, traveling standby. We use this benefit often to fly to Portland, OR, where both sons, their wives and all three grandchildren now live. So I, too, am feeling blessed—and the greatest blessings seem to be people—family and friendships. I’m grateful to all Hood friends who found a minute to share their news!

1966

Dianne Beebe Barske
907-346-3167
dielbarske@gci.net

Reunion chair, Ginny Wheeler Jones, M.A.’88, in encouraging each of us to return to the Hood campus for our 50^th class reunion, promised it would be “a very big deal.” It was, and it was wonderful! At our Class of 1966 50^th Reunion Dinner in the Whitaker Campus Center, I asked those there to share a thought about the reunion. Common themes in their quickly written notes were how much it meant to be together again, how beautiful and well-maintained the campus is, how much joy was found in laughing, hugging and sharing stories. And gratitude was universally expressed to our reunion committee: Ginny, Chair; Sarah Bruce, Class Gift; Judy Messina, Class Gift; Susan Worth Fiala, Chapel Service; and Pat Vozar Bailey, Commemorative Book. (What an amazing job Pat did in putting that memory book together.) The standing ovation for the committee at the dinner was so well deserved. Thanks were also expressed to Linda Roth, Senior Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, and the staff in the Alumni Office. What a well organized event! For me, I was reminded of why I chose Hood College over a half century ago – the friendliness on campus. It still prevails! And then there is quality. We were able to meet the new college president, Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D., sense her warmth and commitment, and hear her plans for the college. She continued to pop up at various reunion events as did Immediate Past President, Ron Volpe, who was there at the new Volpe Athletic Center for Saturday’s Alumni Luncheon. Pride prevailed when we were able to present our class gift at this luncheon – $102,326.54– and were told that over the 50 years, our class has given over one million dollars to the College. Ginny commented, “The luncheon, like all of the weekend, was full or reminders of our special days at Hood, the things we did as students, and what good things continue to keep Hood of today a special place.” Other moments of great pride were the presentation of the 2016 Excellence in Service to Hood College Award to Judy Messina; remembering that Terri Petrillo Connolly had been named the ’66 White Blazer Girl; and that over the years both myself and Pat Chapple Wright, H’90 had been given the Distinguished Alumni Award. As a testament to her service, Judy Messina has been on the Hood College Board of Trustees since 2004 and is now Vice Chair of the Board.  More pride occurred at the Sunday morning chapel service. Two classmates led the service: Rev. Geneva Butz and Rev. Alice Coffman McDermott. I am grateful for the happy moments I had to visit with both of them during the weekend and will long remember a quote shared by Geneva that seemed so fitting for the reunion – “The time that was continues to tick in the time that is.” Past and present came together for all of us back on campus. As part of the service, the names of the deceased members of our class were read in remembrance. There were 31 of us there: Pat Vozar Bailey, Dianne Beebe Barske, Laurie Wheeler Brown, Sarah Bruce, Geneva Butz, Dottie Moore Byerly, Anna Buhr Cole, Terri Petrillo Connolly, Gail Mancke Curtis, Carolyn Embree Drake, Sue Agnew Elter, Joy Mc Neely Engel, Sara Wislar Farneth, Milli Towner Fazey, Susan Worth Fiala, Beth Harlow Foster, Kandy Kiefaber Higinbotham, Ginny Wheeler Jones, Ann Johnson Kupferberg, M.A.’90, Carole Ann Kemp Lovett, Susan Esterline Markey, Betty Schmidt Martin, Alice Coffman McDermott, Faith Parker Mentzer, Judy Messina, Cheryl Carlson Peyton, Carolyn Wyckoff Platt, Nancy Frederickson Sherlin, Linda James Stewart, Patricia Kehoe Tylander, Harriet Rudman Weiner.  When meeting these classmates again on campus, it seemed as if what first appeared as a fuzzy photo would click into focus and memories of that person would come flooding back. Along with people memories came food memories. I was not able to be back on campus for a Thursday evening reception on the Beneficial-Hodson Library Reading Porch, but I’m told that the favored spring salad was served – bacon, lettuce, tomatoes – along with apple butter and cottage cheese and cranberry crunch for dessert. Then there was Sunday’s Strawberry Breakfast, bringing back that long-standing tradition. It should be noted that all the meals were delicious, whether served in the beautifully renovated Coblentz Dining Room, the Commons of the Whitaker Campus Center, or the Volpe Athletic Center. Space considerations will only allow me to share one of the written comments I received. It comes from “The Terrace House girls” – Dottie Moore Byerly, Kandy Kiefaber Higinbotham, Linda James Stewart, Milli Towner Fazey and Cheryl Carlson Peyton. “We had a great time seeing all the new improvements to Hood and our old friends who didn’t need any improvements.” We were a fine bunch indeed, especially as we paraded into the Alumni Luncheon as honored guests, dressed in our sunshine yellow and carrying bright yellow flowers – to the tune of “Pretty Woman.” Many of us shared that we were surprised by how much being together at the reunion meant to us and vowed to return for our 55^th!

Dianne Beebe Barske
907-346-3167
dielbarske@gci.net

Dianne Beebe Barske Our 50th class reunion is coming up this June – June 9 to – June 12! I am turning over most of this class news column to our reunion chair, Ginny Wheeler Jones, and the reunion committee, with hopes that a great many of us will be back on campus for this landmark event. Before I do that, I’m sharing happy news of summer visitors here in Alaska from our class. In June, husband Elliott and I had breakfast with Anna Buhr Cole and her husband Miles, in Anchorage, from their home in Baltimore, their second visit here. Since Anna retired three years ago, she and Miles have become world travelers. In June, we had lunch with Terri Petrillo Connolly and her husband Frank, travelling with another couple from their Connecticut home to Alaska. They took the Inside Passage Cruise along the Alaska coastline, and Terri reports, “It was wonderful. The glaciers are magnificent.” An emailed note came from Josephine (Kandy) Kiefaber-Higinbotam. Kandy and husband Randy are living in Lexington, Virginia where she continues to work as a substitute teacher. She reports that her Hood roommate, Cheryl Carlson Peyton, has recently published a third book in her Alex Trotter mystery series, Murder in Margaritaville. Fun to keep up with classmates? Then please plan to come to our June reunion. Here is our chair, Ginny’s, reunion planning update. Virginia Wheeler Jones Dear ’66 Classmates: Our 50th Class Reunion is fast approaching! How can that be possible? Wasn’t it just our 25th Reunion when we came to campus in our signature YELLOW, displayed in our shirts and memorable balloons?! Our Reunion Committee and the Hood Staff have already been hard at work planning a wonderful weekend of fun from Thursday, June 9th to Sunday, June 12th. We hope everyone has gotten information already from both the college and a personal note from a classmate–all encouraging YOU to come! All of our committee has had the pleasure of being on campus recently, and we can tell you it is both a beautiful and exciting place! Spring was always a lovely time on campus, and this year promises to be especially so as you look at it with eyes filled with 50 years of memories and see the positive changes of the present. Excitement comes with a new president, amazing classroom facilities and new technology, mixed with the excitement you will have of seeing college friends again! We encourage you to come early and stay late! Our initial class gathering on Thursday evening should be great fun to begin our time together, to chat and catch up with each other, spouses and partners. Friday’s “Maryland” dinner, featuring some yummy crab items, was a huge hit in its reunion debut last year! Our Saturday luncheon and special sit-down dinner should both be highlights of our weekend together! Sunday includes our favorite Strawberry Breakfast, complete with ice cream! Our weekend comes to a close with the Chapel Service which will include a memorial piece for our deceased classmates. You will be hearing more details from both the college and our Reunion Committee Chairs in the months to come. Hood will send registration materials in April. Our busy committee members are chairing various aspects of our reunion as follows: Fundraising Chair – Sarah Bruce; Assisting Fundraising – Judy Messina; Commemorative Booklet Chair – Patricia Vozar Bailey; Chapel Service Chair- Susan Worth Fiala. You will be hearing more from each chair with information AND ways to be involved in OUR reunion! We are hoping to exceed an appropriate 66% participation rate in giving toward our class reunion gift, regardless of the amount. We also hope to exceed an appropriate amount of $66,000 as our class 50th reunion gift. Sarah, Fundraising Chair, also reminds everyone to look into “matching gifts”. Pat will be collecting photos and items from our days at Hood for the “Memories” section of our Commemorative Booklet, so look for those special photos among your saved college treasures! Susan is looking for assistance with the Chapel Service led by our class. Please let her know if you would like to help, participate, speak, etc. Remember Shriner Hall is available for your on campus stay. Come and relive some of that fun dorm life again with classmates. Also, the nearby Hampton Inn on Opposumtown Pike is available, as well as other hotels, for your stay. PLEASE come and be part of this very special time! Our 50th Reunion IS a BIG deal…and a great time to reunite with Hood ’66 classmates! I am excited! Looking forward to seeing each of you.

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.

1966
Dianne Beebe Barske
dielbarske@alaska.com

I am turning over this class column to our 50th reunion committee and an update received from Ginny Wheeler Jones, M.A.’88. Yes, we are nosing up against 50 years since we graduated! Before I quote Ginny, I want to thank the committee members. Along with Ginny, they are Pat Vozar Bailey, Sarah Bruce, Susan Worth Fiala and Judy Messina. Save the dates—June 10 to 12, 2016. Here is Ginny’s update, written at the end of June 2014, “The 50th reunion committee has moved a little farther ahead! Pat Vozar Bailey and I were able to visit Hood and attend the alumni luncheon on June 7. We wanted a look at how things were organized for our big sisters’ 50th reunion! We had a great time and learned quite a few things. We enjoyed the campus and the chatting of ’66 memories between us. One of our highlights was talking with the chair of the 50th reunion for the class of ’63, Bobby Campbell Rickman ’63, M.A.’75, P’96, who was most helpful in planning our 25th! She has already shared a packet of useful details and ideas, making our attendance well worth it. From our visit, we learned there are some things we can begin to do now: 1. Start our own collection of photos and memorabilia from our Hood days, especially if this is a time of down-sizing for you–SAVE these things! 2. Consider if you, someone in your family or a friend would be willing and able to make a DVD to share at the reunion using photos collected from classmates. 3. Consider if you, someone in your family or a friend likes scrapbooking and would be willing and able to put some photos and information about each of us into a booklet to be copied. 4. Consider if you would like to help arrange the chapel service on Sunday morning of our reunion weekend that is led by our class. The College is extremely helpful with the planning of this big reunion! We have researched and it looks as we will be able to have a lovely place on campus for a sit-down dinner as requested as we left our 45th reunion! The committee will plan for another alumni weekend visit in June 2015 to gather final ideas then begin the real effort for our 50th reunion, as fund-raising can officially begin July 1, 2015. Our exciting time to be together again and celebrate our 50th will be here before we know it! If you would like to help in any way mentioned, please contact me at virginia.w.jones@gmail.com and I will share your interest with the committee. With thanks.” Ginny refers to downsizing. That is exactly what we did around Christmas, a few months ago, a drastic downsize! Our little home is about one-third the size of our big, old Anchorage house, home for 35 years. We love the new home, just a few minute walk from a pretty, little lake and a creek down the road, with miles of walking/biking trails. Among our first visitors, this past June, was one of my Hood roommates Jane Dearstyne Veeder and her husband Chuck. It had been 41 years since Janie and I had been together and the years just melted away as we visited and toured around Anchorage together.  Now, I have recently reconnected through Facebook with graduate school roommate Esther Paist who promises to visit next summer (I am putting this in print, Estie, to make it a real plan). Estie and I roomed together at the Univ. of Wisconsin in Madison. In July, we planned to leave for a Big Barske Beach family reunion at the Connecticut shore, and head off on a Prairie Home Companion Cruise to the Baltic––flying to London and sailing from Dover on to Copenhagen into a port in Germany connected to Berlin. Then, travel to Estonia and to St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; then to Stockholm, Sweden. Let me pause there for a minute, since I am very happy about Stockholm. I planned to see Eva Redvall ’67 who was a Swedish exchange student while we were at Hood. I think a lot of you will remember her, very involved in music and now a European opera critic! I could not wait to see her. From Stockholm, we go back to Denmark and on to Dover to fly home! I hope a lot of us will begin planning for our 50th reunion!

Important news comes from Virginia (Ginny) Wheeler Jones.  It may seem difficult to believe, but plans are underway for our 50th class reunion–2016! Ginny wrote, “Though still a ways off, there is reunion information to share.  In meeting with some folks on campus recently, it seems reunion gifts now only count ONE YEAR prior to the event–for us, beginning July 1, 2015.  Though donations to Hood are always important, this time frame may be useful for your future donation planning. Also, there is discussion about which choice ON campus will best meet our needs for a sit-down meal for our dinner, as requested. As it will be our 50th reunion, we get first pick! More information to come.” Ginny added, “Let’s all start looking forward to this big celebration!” Thanks, Ginny for your efforts to make our 50th reunion a happy success.  Speaking of a happy success, Pat Chapple Wright has just published a new book, High Moon over the Amazon, telling of her quest to understand what she calls “the monkeys of the night.”  Pat has been called “the world’s foremost expert on lemurs.” There is mention early in the book of her years as a biology major at Hood. I already have my copy available through Amazon.com.  The book has been endorsed by Jane Goodall, who calls Pat “a born storyteller” and “an amazing woman,” and summarizes, “this is a book you must read.”  You make us all proud, Pat!  Another classmate, celebrating a landmark moment, is Bonnie Kloeblen Hagerman. Her Care Wear Volunteers program has just found its new home, a one-room house built in the 1880s, in Frederick’s historic district, #324 West Patrick Street. Bonnie emailed photos of the tiny house, now her office, squeezed between two much larger red-brick buildings. Bonnie reported that Care Wear Volunteers continues to grow in number of participants and number of hospitals served. Through this nationwide project, handmade baby items are delivered directly to hospitals. Faith Parker Mentzer said she is “back to being as normal as I have ever been,” following a breast cancer diagnosis. “I became a statistic,” she commented, and had radiation treatments and surgeries. I am sure we are all pleased, Faith, that you are now back to teaching, singing in choral groups, working on house projects and spending time with grandkids. Nancy Newcomer wrote that she moved back to Colorado in 2010 to be near children and grandchildren. She has her real estate license there and enjoys teaching real estate pre-licensing classes. She is in touch with Cathy Saunders Weber who is very busy enjoying retirement.  Laurie Wheeler Brown emailed on Nov. 1 from D.C. where she had just attended her mother’s memorial services. Laurie commented, “My mother was 101 and had a wonderful life and went peacefully. We all hope to do so well.” We are sorry for your loss, Laurie, but grateful for your good memories of her. Laurie was on her way to her home in North Carolina then on to her winter home in Florida. World traveler, Bonnie Scull Hawkes, returned in early November from one of her many cruises with husband Geoff.  Lucky, Bonnie! This time they had ventured into the North and South Pacific visiting Hawaii and Tahiti. Bonnie added that details of the trip can be found on her blog at http://2013-sep29-statendam.blogspot.ca/. Once back on land and facing winter, Bonnie was looking forward to another ski season on the slopes of Whistler Mountain.  Husband Elliott and I received an email in the fall from Jane Dearstyne Veeder. She and husband Chuck are planning an Alaskan adventure for the coming summer and are looking for travel tips while here. We hope so much, Janie, that these plans materialize and we can be Great Land travel guides for you! Margy Bard Brownstein expressed a sorrow that I am sure is shared by all of our classmates. “I was shocked to learn of Brenda Miller Maines’ death in the previous Hood Magazine–such sad news.”  Margy added, “We were in each others’ weddings but had lost touch the last couple of years.” As I write this column, husband Elliott and I, Dianne Beebe Barske, are involved in extreme downsizing, moving within Anchorage to a home about a third the size of our big, old house–our home for 35 years.  Amazingly, the home sold overnight to the first person that looked at it! Our new address is 4821 Pavalof Street, Anchorage, AK 99507.