Arlene Russo Bujese is again chairing the annual East End Hospice Boxart Benefit, their 18th year.  In addition, she is curating the art for the Project Most benefit to be held this coming June. This is a wonderful after school program for children whose parents work later that the time school lets out. They learn many things: art, growing food and cooking for families, etc. Arlene received the award for Best Work on Paper at the annual Guild Hall Museum members’ exhibition.

Ann Ely is retiring at the end of June. For the past 17 years she has been an administrative assistant at Rock Point School, a small, private high school in Burlington, VT. It’s been a good run but she’s ready to have other adventures. Her husband Tom will be retiring next year, probably in the fall. They are both looking forward to spending more time with their daughters and their families (3 grandchildren between them:  14, 11, and 18 months), and traveling.

Peg Hosky continues to thrive as co-founder and owner of a media firm, FedInsider, with 80,000 subscribers. Please take time to check out their website www.fedinsider.com. All six of her brothers and sisters have retired, but she enjoys working with government and industry technology leadership engagements too much to throw in the towel

Susan Jeanne Mertz invites us to look at her Facebook page. She has been busy visiting over 40 countries and the rest of the US, since retiring six years ago from a successful business. Susan also became a grandmother. Her life is excellent!

Dory Barrows Smith is enjoying her 2nd year of retirement and life keeps her busy! Her Dad at 93 is still independent at his retirement community but the visits have increased. Her granddaughter Aidyn just turned 12 and is a delightful young lady. Dory still hopes Aidyn has some teenage drama in store for her daughter as Moms love paybacks! Her husband Steve recently had his first grandchild, Everette, and they visit when they can but Los Angeles is far away from Laurel MD. Face time is a godsend for family that doesn’t live near them. One of the things she wanted to do when she retired was travel – and they have! Some has been accompanying Steve on his business trips and they tour old houses and check out breweries where ever they go. This spring they went for 2 weeks to Santiago and Easter Island in Chile and visited with friends near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Dory has been fascinated with Easter Island since she first heard of it while at Hood. It was awesome to see it all in person. In the last few years she have seen some Alums – Trish Emery Call ’74 in Tucson AZ and Beth Kline ’75 on Cape Cod.  They had great visits and she only wishes they could do it more often.

Life is good for Carol Fleck Whetzel. Dennis (aka Mike) continues to work from home and loves it. Carol makes frequent trips to MA to visit with her 95 year old mother. Her visits with the grandsons in PA and NC brings out the kid in them! She tried out the trampoline recently which was a little scary at first but not bad. No broken bones. Riding adult Big Wheels is an absolute blast that Carol cannot get enough of. She wonders at what age she’s supposed to grow up. Don’t we all!

Thank you to everyone who shared their news. I continue to work designing the retirement plans for small businesses, and because the economy has improved, I am extremely busy. My son Matt got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Samantha and we are planning a wedding for early next year. Wish I had more time to write, but unfortunate I’m running up against the filing deadline for this article. Hope everyone is having a wonderful 2018. Wishing you, your families and friends the best! Debbie Page Rath