This online news application is great!  Just send me an email with your news, and I will post it to the site so we can keep in touch!

I recently saw Martha Homnack Armenti and her husband, Bob, at the Maryland Historical Society.  Their son, David, is the Student Research Center Coordinator and was working with the Baltimore School for the Arts on a series of Civil War scenes entitled Torn Asunder: Civil War Midstream.  Our daughter, Anne, was one of the performers.

Martha sent some news: “Last fall, my husband and I were thrilled to participate in Hood’s second annual Blue and Grey tennis tournament, a benefit to support the Hood tennis team.  It was a very special honor to play on the beautiful new courts. The morning and afternoon were full of competitive tennis, and I had the pleasure of reconnecting with and playing against Dr. Len Latkovski, who is as smart and interesting a player as he is a professor.  He invited us to Hood for an October showing of a documentary on life in Russia after the dismantling of the Soviet Union.  While it was disturbing to hear the testimony of witnesses and victims, it was inspiring to see strong examples of bravery and heroism.

My husband and I continue to enjoy our teaching careers and, this June, I will again score AP Literature exams in Louisville, KY. Over the years, it has been rewarding to see some of my high school students go on to attend Hood.  In fact, last fall, I stopped in to visit one of my very special students, Jordan Robinson, ’15, who is majoring in English and living in my freshman dorm, Shriner!

This spring, Bob and I joined Sharon Thorpe Kourtz and her husband, Paul, in Washington, D.C., for dinner and the musical Hello Dolly at Ford’s Theater.  For several years now, Bob and I have subscribed with Rachel Quynn Knudson ’78, and her husband, Scott, to the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center.  I am delighted to be able to enjoy these rich, lifelong friendships with Hood classmates. Any Hood friend traveling to the Maryland/D.C. region–please don’t hesitate to contact me: (marmenti55@hotmail.com)!”

Ann Barber wrote to say: “Elizabeth has started her final year working on her doctorate in Physical Therapy. She’s assigned to GW Hospital to do a clinical at the end of the summer. I’m looking forward to visiting her and spending some time in D.C.! We spent a nice, but cold, week together in Myrtle Beach over her spring break. Otherwise, I am working and every day is busy.”

Wendy Gahm shared this news: “I retired from teaching in July 2012 to start a new career with my hubby – we are beginning our second year in business! “Back to the Garden” is our 24-foot-long mobile kitchen, and we have been having a blast cooking at various locations and events! Check out our website (it’s about to be revised, but will be fully revised by July) www.backtothegardenfoodtruck.com, and see what you think of our healthy and delicious food offerings! Other news – my son Josh is in Arizona in the Air Force, studying meteorology, and is engaged to a wonderful girl; my daughter Natalie is in Oklahoma with her wonderful guy, pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in entomology; and daughter Stephanie and her hubby are going to give me a granddaughter this coming fall! Other than all of that, we like to hang around the house with our four St. Bernards! Hope everyone else is enjoying themselves!”

In May, I met Doug in Dunhuang, China, to see the Mogao Caves.  They are an amazing treasure!  The Comer family celebrated Jacob’s graduation from Brown University over Memorial Day weekend.  Margaret is tutoring for C2, an SAT prep center, and will enter Cambridge University (Jesus College) in the fall for her master’s degree.  Anne will travel to Spain this summer with Rustic Pathways.  My mother’s book, Catoctin Furnace: Portrait of an Ironmaking Village, was published this spring by History Press.  She graduated from Hood also, and I am so proud of all her accomplishments.   I just wish she were alive to enjoy the success.

Kas Kluth Rohm and husband Greg celebrated the marriage of their older daughter Emily on Oct. 20. “We lucked out with amazing October weather and a picture-perfect sunset just in time for the ceremony. Unfortunately, Emily lost all four grandparents in the last several years, but we know they were there in spirit and loving every minute,” said Kas. She is enjoying her 18th year working in the local school system, and Greg is almost finished his involvement with supplying steel to the World Trade Center rebuilding in New York City (which allowed him to visit with daughter Sarah who is a civil engineer in Manhattan) and ready to move on to new projects.

Elizabeth (Liz) Metz Coulter wrote, “My oldest daughter Megan is married and living in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with her Brazilian husband. They actually met in Arlington, Va. Both were taking Spanish language lessons. Megan was taking Spanish because she had a lot of kids in her 5th grade class who spoke Spanish, and Bruno, because even though he was fluent in Portuguese and English, wanted to become more fluent in speaking Spanish. They have since moved to Sao Paulo where Megan is teaching 4th grade there. They have been married for three years and this past May Megan had a baby boy named Nico. We visited them when Nico was 3 weeks old and then Megan and Nico came here for a visit! How much fun I am having! My other daughter Janey recently got engaged and is planning to get married next October. We are so happy for her. Her fiancé Travis is such a nice guy. Anyway, we have been very busy with life. My husband Frank retired last November and is working part time now. I am still teaching my science for 3- and 4-year-olds at the Church of the Holy Comforter. This is my 18th year there! How time flies!” I report from Baltimore where I hold down the fort while my husband (a.k.a. Indiana Jones) travels the world or so it seems sometimes! We were looking forward to spending Christmas in Oceanside with Doug’s 95-year-old mother and the entire family. In addition to running EAC/Archaeology, Inc., I am busy trying to rejuvenate the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., a little historical society located in the village of Catoctin Furnace just north of Frederick. Catoctin Furnace made cannonballs used at the battle of Yorktown and the worker houses that line the road were built during the American Revolution and just after independence. The furnace operation closed in 1903 and the little village was threatened with destruction in the 1970s during the construction of Route 15. My parents and other local activists mobilized a board and founded the historical society to fight the highway. The society headquarters is an adorable ca. 1810 double log house in the heart of the village. Last year, we began a Traditional Village Christmas and held a spring craft show. Dawn Cramer Stein has been a huge help. She owns East Street Beads in Frederick and has made beautiful beaded jewelry for us to sell! Visit our website, www.catoctinfurnace.org and stop by if you are in the area!

Class Reporter: