Summer 2010 - The Green Issue - 35

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meetings, to receptions and more for the past fours years. I need to take a break as I will be president of a local P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization, an international organization that helps to raise funds for women to continue their education ) chapter in Frederick. That will require energy and planning. I am telling you this in order for your understanding that I continue to pour out energy for Hood as a class reporter, fundraiser and chairman of next June’s 55th reunion for our class. I solicit your input and, mostly, help. As a start, Sue Peters Wirths M.A. ’79, Ann Helfenbein Bohnet and Linda Kelly Gleysteen M.S. ’84 say they will be available to work with me. As the five of us—Sue, Helen Ward Wheeler, Mera Braungart Coblentz, Mary Vizzi Swarm and I—sat at the Alumnae and Alumni Luncheon taking in the excitement of many alumni getting together, we expressed the hope of getting our classmates to support our 55th celebration next year. We are proud to be graduates from a college that sets high standards and is able to draw from the successes of its alumni. If you want to submit a name for an award for next year, the alumni office would be happy to include your submission. Ruth Whitaker Holmes, Ph.D. ’55, H’93 and Portia Whitaker Shumaker ’55 accepted the co-Distinguished Alumnae Award at this year’s luncheon. In attendance were representatives from classes of 60, 65 and 70 years ago. It would be to our class gift advantage if you could come up with a plan now to start a collective growing amount to add together with classmates for the final presentation in June. Remember the bean jar? Each one of you is important in this endeavor. A “hello” to all came from Betsy Bigelow Abruzzo who was on her way to visit a brother and wife in Mississippi. Ann Helfenbein Bohnet is excited to be attending the promotion of her son-in-law to rear admiral in the Navy. Her daughter and family will be living in Japan, so she and Dick may be traveling there for a visit. Becky Eppers Byrd is going on a bus trip with her community group. She keeps busy with the offerings of Homewood at Hanover, Pa. Her daughter Denise is a new mother of a baby girl born last December. Daughter Daphne has had a student from Denmark living with them for the past school year—a happy experience. Daughter Carla is happy to have her husband home from Iraq to help raise triplets. Carole Oswald Carter is enjoying the warm weather after our big snow—along with Ginny, Sue and others in the region. Muzzy Chait Durbin is proud to have a grandson graduate from the Univ. of Virginia. She will join her sisters on a trip on the river from Paris to Normandy. She plans to be in Spain in November. World traveler! Mimi McConnell Milheim and Irv have enjoyed cruises on the small Cruise West line, where they can maneuver the smaller scenic bodies of water. Linda Kelly Gleysteen reported that she was responsible in seeing that the residents of Hidden Valley, Pa., got included in the Census. Ten years ago they were not. She won a commendation from the governor. Kathy Crook Heidelbach attended her oldest granddaughter’s graduation from William & Mary. She was a summa cum laude graduate in art history and art. Amanda will be living with Kathy for a year before she applies to graduate school. Meanwhile Kathy will take residence in a retirement center as her mobility is decreasing. On the return trip from William & Mary, Kathy stopped to see Sarah Lou Stonehurst in her new Richmond residence. Good time! Mary Vizzi Swarm is having a new kitchen installed in her Rehoboth Bay house. She is planning on taking up the guitar with her granddaughter. Alison Malloch Curran had a wonderful Christmas with her California family. While in Santa Barbara, her roommate, Cokey Lanoue Weber, met her for breakfast so they could catch up. Allie keeps in touch with Nancy Gunnet Tyler who is recuperating from a knee replacement. Mary Lu Urban Walker and Tom took a trip to Romania, Budapest, Croatia, Slovakia and Bulgaria in August. She swam in

the Black Sea. Mary Lu called to see if I had any news about Sandy Newing; she had been trying to reach her. It so happened that I did indeed have news. Sandy was here with me planning to build a house in the same development in Middletown after selling her home in New Jersey. She is busy with contracts. Hooray! She’s back to the Frederick area! Our condolences to the families of Gail King Puzio who died Jan. 17, 2010; and Betsy Bowers Dolan who died May 22, 2010, in Asheville, N.C. Class News is due in the alumni office in June and November. Anyone care to take this on?

1957
Giving Participation: 40.35% · Total Class Dollars: $17,365

Joanne Adickes Walker 15 Elizabeth Parkway Eatontown, NJ 07724 jawalker8@verizon.net Our condolences to the family of Cynthia Newbury Edson who died March 28, 2010, in Harwood, Md. Recently, Nancy Tressel Brown had a great, long visit with Marty Shortiss Allen ’59. Marty’s husband passed away last fall. He was buried at Arlington and Tressie and Marty viewed an impressive tape of the service. Marty is doing well but it’s been a long haul for her. Tressie and husband Rog spent time with Alice Riddle Metry and her husband Fred. They played in several couples’ golf events (where Tressie “didn’t win diddly squat”) and other women’s events in which “Alice beat me like a rented mule. I may have to put her in the will.” Tressie hasn’t been able to play tennis this year, as she wrote, “several of my body parts kept falling off or are otherwise being a hindrance.” She and Rog are going to British Columbia this summer for fly fishing and sightseeing. “We practice CPR with the fish,” she said. “Catch, photograph, release.” Tressie continues to read economic reports but not as many, as she finally retired this past January. Her daughter, who is taking over for her, was astounded that she finally did it. In October, Sarah Bulin Hanson went to the Finger Lakes area in New York with her Evergreen Museum group and liked it so much that she and husband Douglas did the same trip in November. This March, the trip was to New York City and a chance to meet Ann Barnett ’56 for lunch. Sarah wrote, “Other than our annual visit to Capon Springs and Farms in September, we are stay-at-home-bodies, which is probably a good thing since the farm property requires much attention.” Sarah sent a reminder that she will be contacting classmates to thank them or remind them about the annual giving. In March, Linda Wood Higginbotham and her husband Al enjoyed a great trip to Australia and New Zealand where they were able to dive from the Great Barrier Reef. They also attended a performance of “Tosca” at the Sydney Opera House. In May, their third granddaughter graduated from the Univ. of North Carolina. Her older sister is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. In July, Linda and Al are looking forward to joining 18 family members for a week at Sandbridge Beach in Virginia. In the fall, they have a 26-day European cruise/tour planned. Linda also continues a six-year career of volunteering with a pre-kindergarten class. Roberta Geehan Horton had not seen Dot Hofstadter Lewis since 1964 so they had a great reunion in February when Dot and her husband Irv, on the way to Florida, met “Bert” in Wilson, N.C., for dinner and a visit. Dot and Irv had just visited Mimi Spaulding Keyser and Lynn Riefle in Baltimore. Dot and Irv’s 3,000-mile drive took them to Savannah, Ga., and Florida for 24 days, where they also saw 12 friends from the past along the way. It was wonderful. Shortly, they will leave for Newfoundland for two weeks. Dot closes with, “Hi to all the Hood girls who are forever ‘Good Girls.’” Margaret Hart Kaminer

is fine and still lives in the mountains of North Carolina. Her daughter and her husband, and granddaughter live nearby so she sees them often. She sees son Michael less often because he lives in Boca Raton, Fla. Margaret visited Meredith Sorensen Harris in Orlando in March and had a great catch-up time. Mimi Spaulding Keyser and husband Bill continue to volunteer at the library and local hospital two days a week. They had a wonderful trip to Spain in April. Mimi wrote, “We were lucky to get out the first day the ban was lifted in Frankfort after the shut down due to the ash cloud.” In July Mimi and Bill will be joining 21 other family members in a big beach house in Corolla, N.C., for a week. It has been a difficult year for Ann Spengler Larkin and she is looking forward to the slower pace of summer. Her grandchildren are a big help—especially with the yard work that her back objects to doing. Granddaughter Christine is home from her freshman year at Lake Superior State and grandson Andrew is finishing his freshman year of high school and has been a help all winter. Much to my delight, Margaret Reeves Leopold sent her news in a poem. She is much better at rhyme than I am. In April and May, Peg had cataract surgery. She wrote, “I am now one of the lucky lasses; Who can read without her glasses.” Currently Peg is enrolled in master gardening classes at Virginia Tech and will be attending two months of training. Daughter Barbara injured a ligament in a co-ed soccer game. Peg added, “She had surgery, doing well and rehabbing fast; that’s all the notes of recent past.” Sue Truby Peterson and husband Carl along with their daughter and 11-year old grandson celebrated the Memorial Day weekend at their Brooklin, Maine, vacation home. Carl is building a boat house to protect two new, small kayaks and a 19-foot canoe that he bought in 1952 when he was a high school senior. In October, Sue is looking forward to what is becoming an annual reunion with Hood/Massachusetts General Hospital classmates Cathy Goss Newhouser and Carol Harkness Kilrea. Sue finds it interesting that Hood plans to establish another bachelor of science in nursing program. Referring to the 24 students who participated in the 1957-1958 nursing program, Sue wrote, “We always felt we had the best of both worlds—a real college experience at Hood and a real nursing school program at Massachusetts General, taken with diploma students, many of whom became good friends. We are happy to be considered Hood alumnae.” Molly Smith Sperandio has agreed to walk in the footsteps of Tommie Thomas Yinger, Dee O’Connor VanVleck and me, Joanne Adickes Walker, and become the 1957 class reporter. Molly wrote, “If we had other reporters, I’ve forgotten who they were, so please forgive me. Nothing much changes in my household and most of my church ministries are beginning to come to an end for the summer hiatus. I’ll have more to write about when I take over because I have a summer packed full of visits and travel. I do have special thanks for Peg Reeves Leopold who fills my spirit with her compassion and grace.” Nancy Paul Stimson and Bob just returned from a wonderful trip to the national parks. They started in Yellowstone, where Nancy fell in love with the bison, worked their way down to the Grand Canyon, then to Bryce and Zion, and ended up in Las Vegas. The weather ranged from 90 degrees to snow. Nancy closed with, “We are well settled in our new townhouse; we have our health and life is good. I am looking forward to time on the beach.” Tommie Thomas Yinger and husband Bob took a walk on the Hood campus Easter Sunday morning before going to church. Tommie wrote, “It was so beautiful. The trees along the walkway to the Chapel were bursting with white blooms. I was especially impressed with how well all the shrubbery looked. At my church in Frederick, where I grew up, sang in the choir and taught Sunday school, the choir is now directed by Noel Lester, D.M.A, concert pianist and professor of music at Hood. The

Summer 2010 - The Green Issue

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