Hood Magazine Summer 2008 - 41

W W W.HOOD.EDU selected to receive the 2008 Distinguished Alumna Award at the Reunion Weekend. Harriet Fox Riehl retired in 2006 from the Justice Department (Immigration and Naturalization Service – International Affairs) where she was an asylum ofﬁcer. She has also served extensively as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras and Costa Rica. Congratulations, Harriet, from our entire class for this well deserved honor. Happy news came from Pam Compson Stevens who plans to attend the Hood reunion luncheon May 31 “to see my old roommate Harriet Fox Riehl receive the Distinguished Alumna Award.” Pam hopes the reunion would also be the occasion for a visit with Suzanne Gottert ’68, who plans to be on campus for her 40th reunion. Pam remembers that Suzanne took off her sophomore year at Hood to spend time in France while Pam was on the junior year abroad program with Hamilton College. Professionally, Pam has been the branch manager for RE/MAX Advantage Realty in Columbia, Md., for the past 10 years and was recently promoted to director of legal affairs for the company’s ﬁve ofﬁces and more than 300 agents. Pam adds, “My two children, David and Kathy, are both married and have children and live close by, so I am blessed by being able to see my four grandchildren fairly regularly.” Travel is also one of life’s pleasures for Pam, and she and her husband took an Alaska cruise through the Inside Passage last summer. “We fell in love with the region and hope to go back.” I’m glad, Pam. After 33 years of calling Alaska home, we still love it here. Laurie Wheeler Brown and her husband are planning a trip to Alaska this summer, and we are excited about seeing them while they are in Anchorage. Shirley Guididas Farquhar tells us that she and husband Rick are still on their farm in Kennett Square, Pa., and enjoy the country life. Rick, who was a corporate pilot for the DuPont Co., retired a year ago, and Shirley retired from teaching 12th grade English in 1991, taking advantage of the state’s early retirement plan. But she refutes taking on the title of slowed down “retired senior citizen” by horseback riding, foxhunting and doing dog agility with their golden retriever. Shirley joins Pam Stevens and Laurie Brown with talk of Alaska travel, planning a cruise here this summer. I’m hoping it will be one of our beautiful summers for all the visitors! Pam sees roommate Linda Bartasek Tafe and her husband, Frank, in Florida in the wintertime. Linda and Frank are both retired from teaching, and have a winter home in Jupiter, Fla. and a summer home on Long Island, N.Y. One of their daughters lives in Florida and the other on Long Island so they divide their time between the two locations. Sad news came from Sue Pliskin Kopald whose husband Jonathan passed away very suddenly in 2007. We are sorry, Sue. Sue just retired from their law ofﬁce. She lives in the Hudson Valley and spends time also in Florida. Sue sent her best wishes to Harriet Fox Riehl, recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award, and would have liked to attend the awards luncheon to see her recognized. Our little group of Anchorage Hood alums met faithfully this March, a longstanding 15-year tradition. We include Meredith Howard Parham ’67, Lavonne Blattenberger Vogt ’69 and Jill Stanley ’69. Our numbers have waxed and waned, but this core group has stayed intact and bonded! Any other Hood alums out there, now residing in Alaska, are most welcome to join us on our targeted date, Iditarod Eve, or the Friday before the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race on the ﬁrst Saturday of March. My husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this fall by traveling to both Australia and the North and South Island of New Zealand. It was the trip of a lifetime, made more special by a visit in Queensland, Australia, with my Hood little sister, Margie Arnold Creek ’68 and her husband Gene. They have been living in Toowoomba for many years, and also have a “shed,” or cabin on a sheep station on the New South Wales and Queensland border. (The Rabbit Proof Fence runs right by the property.) We spent ﬁve wonderful days at the shed on a hill, sipping coffee at sunrise and wine at sunset, watching kangaroos and wallabies hop by below us. Amazing! Margie is a quilter, involved both in creating wonderful quilts and researching quilting history in Australia. She surprised us with the gift of one of her beautiful quilts, full of Australian imagery and vibrant colors. Thank you, Margie! Carole Ann Kemp Lovett and husband Bill celebrated their 40th anniversary last year, returning to the site of their honeymoon–Bedford Springs Resort in Pa. That milestone occurred shortly after the arrival of their ﬁrst grandchild, baby Autumn. Carole Ann and Bill have joined the snowbird ﬂock, spending their winters in Tampa, Fla., and summers at Deep Creek Lake, Md. They retired from teaching in 1999. Carole Ann had a chance to visit with Karen Sweeney Fulwiler at a retirement celebration in Frederick. Dianne Beebe Barske’s art has been selected for a holiday card by the American Diabetes Association for its 2008 catalog. All proceeds from the sale of the cards go to diabetes research. Catalogs will be mailed in the fall, and cards can be ordered online from the American Diabetes Association as well. Thanks to all who responded to my plea for news. so if you’re not in this column it’s my fault, not yours. I asked classmates to name three things or issues that have preoccupied them this past year and what’s on the plate for the rest of 2008. Here are replies. Kris Campbell Joyce reports that her mother turning 90, her kids and two grandkids, and just keeping hubby BJ and herself happy are the main issues, while her art and teaching provide motivation to travel–last year to India and this May to Brazil. India was her class theme this spring; she just called to tell me how successful her use of one of my teaching practices was: painting silk medallions. Laurie Seymour Carlson writes of the challenge of settling into an active adult community in Rio Vista, Calif.–making new friends, taking classes, exploring a new area–and loving it. She looks forward to taking a few trips and spending time with her 16-month-old granddaughter and newborn grandson. Ann Donnalley Hamm advises “Life is short. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably.” She reports that she and partner Jan were married in Mass. on the 7th anniversary of their Holy Union, and now embark on a ﬁght to get the retirement beneﬁts due married couples. This seems really important since Jan has been downsized from her job. Ann also celebrates a newborn grandson. Besides retirement planning, she looks forward to ﬁlling out 2008 with a few trips and seeing her eldest daughter get her 1st house. Angela Milea Mogin has had a year full of health issues. She was in a car accident in December 2006, had six surgeries since and possibly another to come. Dealing with systems as seriously ﬂawed as medical care and insurance has been such a pain she is now engaged in assisting groups working for health care reform. Ginny Munson Hammell came over the Delaware by ferry for a visit last November; I got to show off Cape May’s offseason offerings in theater, dining and Jerseyfresh produce. We looked up venues from our Hood years as waitresses in Wildwood, dismayed at the demolition that has occurred. That was only 40 years ago, right? Now some of these places are historic landmarks! Ginny listed 3 things 1) How NOT to be annoyed by what passes for political discussion in an election year 2) successfully putting together a bridge group and 3) Not stressing about endless basement renovation. On the good side, she reports loving the historic charms of Judith Lehman Ballinger a weekend in Savannah, and looking forward P.O. Box 298 to visiting St. Simons in May, the Jersey shore Cape May Point, NJ 08212 in August and taking the sleeper train to (609) 898-9647 Chicago for business. 2008 also offers the judyballinger@hotmail.com challenge of kitchen renovation and deciding on taking on a major local volunteer job. Barbara A. Morgan Herron Good luck, Ginny! Ginny Price Bracken writes 4504 Fernhill Ave. that she has built and moved into a new Baltimore, MD 21215 house in N.C. while wrapping up a 30-year (410) 664-0976 career and dealing with parents’ failing health. bherron@baltometro.org Our condolences on the passing of Ginny’s Our condolences to Virginia Price Bracken father in January. Ginny is looking forward and family on the passing of Frederick Price. to enjoying retirement and invites anyone Being a last-minute sort of person (some who cares to stop by Chocowinity … Sally things never change!), I sent an e-mail Raube Chandler wrote with regret of the request at the ﬁrst of May, went away and tragedies—pneumonia, multiple funerals and returned to ﬁnd half of my e-mails didn’t go … ﬂooding—that prevented her from coming to

Hood Magazine Summer 2008

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