Class Notes

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (btnourse@gmail.com), 16 Nedde Lane, Middlebury, VT 05753



Summer 2007

Secretary Nourse reports: From Southern Pines, N.C., Fred Johnston writes that since his wife passed away last September he has had much help from his four children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Upcoming trips will take him to Colorado, Alaska, Florida, and of course “New England in the fall.” He recently reached out by phone to Wally Hubbard ’50 in Arkansas and other friends. Good for you, Fred—you’ve been close to home for the past six years. • Jennie and Dan Petrizzi have had a few trips to Canada, the best one being to the Maritime Provinces. They also had a “memorable trip to Cape Cod and Nantucket.” But recently health problems have kept them at their permanent home in Geneva, N.Y., and their winter quarters in Lakeland, Fla. • Bob Outman, retired since 1986, has written 12 books, two submitted for publication, none accepted. He’s been to Europe six times and all around the Pacific Basin once (for seven weeks). His wife has passed away but he does have three grandchildren, thanks to his daughter Robin. He is active in senior theater, loves to dance, can still drive at night so he has “no trouble in finding dates,” and says he has a happy and active life. He also has a new job—he’s one of the copy editors in this season’s shooting of the TV show The Wire (HBO). Filming started in late March and he has no idea how often he’ll be called. Much of the season’s show will be in the newsroom of the Sunpaper. Of course it will be shot on the sound stage. It sounds like fun and definitely a new learning experience. He says he plans to attend our 60th reunion in June 2008. • Sandy Rosenberg had a brief note from Lionel Slater’s daughter, Samantha, telling him that Lionel had passed away. Lionel had lived with a malfunctioning heart-valve condition for many years. NYU Medical Center called upon him a number of times to assist students in learning about his condition in a classroom setting and he was always eager to help. Last September, however, his health took a turn for the worse and he died on December 8. Samantha said he enjoyed his 50th reunion immensely in 1998 and will be with his classmates in spirit in 2008 for the 60th. We’ll be thinking of him. The class sends its sympathy to the family. • Shirley and Jim Campbell have wrestled with what could be called the “latter-years struggle”—from home ownership to apartment living. Though both are in good health, they decided to make the change while they are able. They sold their house of 41 years and moved to an apartment. Downsizing wasn’t easy. Their new address is 3156 Gracefield Rd., Apt 217, Silver Spring, MD 20904. • Bob Kellogg adds a different angle to his class note, no doubt based on his experience as our previous class secretary. “Some of us alums loved the Vermont winters and the Bread Loaf rose color at sunset, so we returned. Those views are still here plus much more.” Living close to the College, one day they walked to a football game. On the way they stopped at women’s soccer, rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, lacrosse, and finally football. The Kelloggs and Tom Johnson attend all the women’s hockey games (men’s games being too crowded and noisy for some seniors). Add art, music, drama, and lectures plus volunteering at the Sheldon Museum, and it’s a busy life. • Rasjad Moore bin Abdullah checked in from Gingin, Western Australia. He was watching the TV reports of the cold snap in Vermont while he continued to roast in the 90–100 degree weather. He was building a shed out in the backyard as hundreds of black cockatoos swirled overhead shouting shrill mating calls. He wished his college education had included how to mount a door. • Bert Mayer wrote from Anacortes, Wash., that son Andy ’81 is the happy new director of the Addison County Chamber of Commerce, which is located right here in Middlebury. If Andy is happy, sounds like Bert is happy and proud! Congrats! • Ann Ryder Townsend writes, “My 20 years in Hawaii with church friends and fellow docents at the Hawaii Theater were very special, even after my husband passed away several years ago. However, last October I moved to an apartment with southern exposure in Vancouver, Wash., a few blocks from my daughter, Beth. It’s an adjustment, but my old winter skills have resurfaced, and I’ve joined a church choir—plus visiting Cape Cod every summer will be feasible now. And may I add attending our 60th reunion in June ’08 will be feasible also. Hope to see you there.” • A personal note from Secretary Ness: About twenty years ago, Bob and I met Bob Riebow when he and Jo (Joan Sherman Riebow) moved to Pinehurst, N.C. When Pres ’47 and Joan Spross Carr occasionally came to the area, we all got together for golf, dinners, and merriment. I stayed on for four years after Bob died in 1989 and, during that time, the Riebows were very kind to me and the Carrs spent a week with me every winter. At that time we all had at least one get-together, which included Louise and Fred Johnston. Fond memories.

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (btnourse@gmail.com), 16 Nedde Lane, Middlebury, VT 05753



Spring 2007

Secretary Nourse reports: Nan and Joe Fox still reside in Florida but escape periodically so that they don’t get too tan, visiting family in Alaska and Washington State. Joe plays golf Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and reports he “missed a two-foot putt which kept me from shooting my age (83) a month ago. But I had an 87 yesterday.” He and Nan also get to Cape Cod each summer where they visit his daughter at her summer place. Joe was saddened to hear of Hal Richardson’s recent death. Hal married Joe and Nan 30 years ago. • Charlie and Mim Wade Butts continue to keep busy in and out of their Lexington, Mass., home of 54 years. They serve as trustees of the Partnership of the Historic Bostons, organized to celebrate the 1630 founding of Boston, Mass., by the Puritans from Boston, Lincolnshire, England; they conduct four- or five-day trips for small groups from the Maine Maritime Museum to such places as Campobello, the Chesapeake Bay area, and the Hudson River Valley (later this year); and they keep in touch with four children and three grandchildren while making time for tennis, golf, walking, summer on Bustins Island, Casco Bay, Maine, and trying to keep fit enough to join us at our 60th next year. • Rasjad Moore bin Abdullah (a.k.a. Lynn Moore) wrote a newsy letter from Australia. He has moved again—this time to Neergabby, a 50-acre bush block midway between Gingin and the Indian Ocean. His address is P.O. Box 431, Gingin, Western Australia 6503. He and wife Asma live in a “donga,” a transportable, aluminum-clad, air-conditioned, two-bedroom home with kitchen and bath and a lean-to annex for his computers and books. Some time ago he resigned from the Australian Labor Party, disillusioned with the party’s immigration policies and its initial support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He subsequently joined the Communist Party which is still active in Australia “but with greatly reduced membership.” • Roger Beach, our retired minister living in Pennsylvania, fell and broke his hip, requiring surgery, and he now has a new hip. His Marine Corps son, whom he and Virginia haven’t seen in six-and-a-half years, will come from his base in California to visit them. This son has had two tours of duty in Iraq! Virginia, with her cancer under control, is “fine.” • A wonderful letter arrived from Livia Remmler Rosman. She and husband Dick have been living in Berkeley in the same house overlooking San Francisco Bay for the last 40 years. Livi, who majored in German, continues her interest in languages and reads contemporary German novels. The years of studying French at Midd have made their travels in France especially pleasurable. Recently Livi learned some Italian since son Rick and his wife were in Naples for fifteen months while Rick, an aerospace engineer for Boeing, worked on the new 787 with Italian engineers. Livi continues two interests that began at Middlebury, bird watching and hiking. The Rosmans would love to hear from any classmates who find themselves in the Bay Area. “We could go for a latte at our favorite Berkeley hangout. Looking forward to the 60th!” • Secretary Ness reports: Since retiring from teaching French, English, and Latin at three private schools, and English as a Second Language at a Japanese college, Janet Hubbard Metcalf has stayed busy teaching piano and Latin to some of their seven grandchildren who live nearby. Her other “fun” is translating e-mails that come from Bruyères, France, to a Japanese family in Hawaii whose father was in the famous 442nd Infantry in WWII that rescued the Lost Battalion of French soldiers. Jan and husband Tom ’49 have never made a Midd reunion because both were in education and couldn’t get free in June. We hope to see them both at Midd in 2008. • News hot off the wire! Kyle ’49 and Eleanor Barker Prescott moved into a retirement home in Mississauga, Ontario, in December. They were in Vermont when they received word that the very suite they wanted was available, an enormous surprise as they had expected to wait two years. They rushed home to the inevitable downsizing and total chaos of moving on short notice. Eleanor wrote a quick note to say they love their new home. • Janet Rice Smith has been a Vermonter since 1951 when husband Alex ’47 started at his first church in Burlington. When Alex retired, they lived in Burlington, but when Alex died in 1998, Ricie moved back to Essex Junction where Alex had been the rector for many years. Instead of singing in the choir, she now plays bells, stays active in church committees, helps at the middle school library, and continues keeping the books for the nearby Ronald McDonald House. In her spare time, she reads, does crossword puzzles, and visits her four children, some of whom also live in Vermont. • After Sylvia Smead Gallagher retired from teaching in 1991, she decided to write a book about her family who settled in Deerfield, Mass., in the late 1600s. In 2004, the Greenfield church, where her family has been involved since 1754, celebrated its 250th anniversary. Not only did Sylvia write a dramatic history for the occasion, but she has been busy ever since collecting, preserving, archiving, and creating a database for church documents and paintings in the capacity of First Congregational historian, clerk, and archivist. On a sad note, the class extends condolences to Sylvia whose husband, Donald, died very suddenly and unexpectedly on August 16, 2006. • Marilyn Drake White writes, “I’m still singing in the choir, taking flute lessons, attending exercise classes, and playing handbells. I’m feeling quite well after brain aneurism surgery in 2003. Best wishes to all.” • Please note Bart’s new e-mail address.

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (btnourse@gmail.com), 16 Nedde Lane, Middlebury, VT 05753



Winter 2007

Secretary Nourse reports: Retired high school teacher Dick Caswell, of Bennington, Vt., proudly boasts of four generations of Caswells at Middlebury: Ginerva Harlow Caswell ’15, Dick’s mother; Dick, our classmate in ’48; son Rick ’77; and now grandson Mark, who is a first-year, class of 2010. Dick’s smile tells it all! • Tom Johnson, a longtime resident of Addison, Vt., recently had knee surgery “below the knee.” He is doing well and is the same ol’ upbeat guy! • We are sorry to report that Fred Johnston’s wife, Louise, recently passed away. For those who would like to write him, Fred’s address is 1 Village Green Circle, Southern Pines, NC 28387. • While enjoying the summer at their place in Ludlow, Vt., Stew Washburn and wife Barb had lunch with us in our Battell Hill condo. We had a great visit during which we walked the campus and enjoyed both the old and new views. Stew, Perry Maurer Thompson, and I participated in the class agents’ sessions at the Alumni Leadership Conference at Bread Loaf in September. • We also had lunch with Dr. Frank Williamson and wife Mary. They have spent many happy years living on Mary’s family homestead in Castleton, Vt., but now they’re interested in downsizing. So we showed them our condo as one example of downsizing and we had a great visit. They are a delightful couple. • To one and all: I’d love to hear from you and so, too, will your college friends. Please e-mail or write me. • Secretary Ness reports: Lee Robbins Otorowski traveled from Bainbridge Island, Wash., to Franconia, N.H., their summer home, via Newport, R.I. Reason for detour: son Chris was about to sail with his crew on his own Swan boat in the Newport to Bermuda race, a five-day event. He is currently commodore at the Seattle Yacht Club and was recently accepted into the New York Yacht Club. Daughter Julie, a nurse practitioner, works for a very busy gynecologist whose practice covers most of northern N.H. Julie’s son, Ian Hohmeister, while skiing during his high school years, was ranked 7th nationally in his class of racing. Although his other grandmother is Middlebury alum Joanne Davis Hohmeister ’46, Ian is now a first-year at UMass. Lee continues with her painting and has been showing her watercolors in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Washington. She has also been in charge of the scholarship art program for the Bainbridge Island high school students. • After retiring, Susan McWilliams Leighton and her husband sold their home in Massachusetts and fixed up their vacation home in Lovell, Maine. Much to her amazement, she finds she enjoys having time to “housekeep.” Sue has also found time to have two hip replacements plus one knee. They still travel and have been to every continent but Antarctica. Their son apparently likes to travel as well—he is civilian chief engineer on a Navy tanker and most recently did two tours of duty out of Dubai, UAE. • A message came to me on notepaper featuring a print of a splendid watercolor, “The Coffee Grinder,” painted by B. Stuhring. In addition to the coffee grinder, there are apples, fall foliage, and a pinecone, which surely reflect the artist’s past. Although she has lived near Seattle for many years, Barbara Hemenway Stuhring (Northwest Artist, Watercolor, Ink Drawings) apparently hasn’t forgotten her four years with us in Vermont. • Another artist displayed her works this past summer. The Good Tern Food Co-op café in Rockland, Maine, featured the photographs of Nancy Breed Fitzgerald. Nancy began her art career after retiring as a special education teacher. Inspired by her gardens, pets, and the local landscape, she uses watercolor, acrylics, pen and ink, and photographs to capture her surroundings. Her work has been displayed frequently in the Midcoast area and she is also one of the Nine Lively Ladies whose work is often on exhibit at Eastern Tire’s Garage Gallery in Rockland.

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (btnourse@gmail.com), 16 Nedde Lane, Middlebury, VT 05753



Fall 2006

Secretary Nourse reports: I had a great chat with Dr. Frank Williamson who, much to my surprise, lives nearby in Castleton, Vt. Frank earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at Dartmouth, worked for awhile with General Electric, and then spent his career teaching at Washington Univ. in St. Louis. However, New England “called him” back, and he and wife Mary ’49 settled happily in his wife’s hometown. Perhaps I’ll see them one day at some of the many programs Middlebury offers to students, alums, and the community. Their travels have taken them to New Zealand, Tasmania, and Corpus Christi where their daughter lives. • Perry Maurer Thompson is not only a great class agent, but she’s a darn good cook, too. Tiffany and I recently dined at their beautiful home, which faces Lake Champlain, and heard about their trip to Spain. • Dr. Ed Hubbard, who retired some years ago as a pediatrician in and around Walpole, Mass., now lives in Concord, Mass. Since his wife’s death six years ago, he has moved near his daughter. Ed returns to the Middlebury area frequently to his “other place” (now owned by his daughter) in the Middlebury Gap area. I look forward to seeing him often. • Poor Joe L’Episcopo fell off his tractor last year and broke his back. Then in December he had a heart attack. But his spirits are still high. He had a long and happy career with TWA as a flight dispatch operator. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he loves to get back to their family compound of 611 acres near Warrensburg, N.Y. • Jack Kofoed, after living in Florida and Pennsylvania, is back again in Wolfeboro, N.H., where he and his wife once lived. This time, his wife having passed on, he lives in a lovely CCRC, and he’s happy to be back in New Hampshire. Jack was flying out to Denver in June to visit his daughter. Believe it or not, Jack asked me what he could do for me. Guess what? He’s now, as of June 4, our seventh class agent. He is a generous and consistent supporter of Middlebury. His enthusiasm is something else! • Dick Haseltine appears in a new book, Kipling’s Error III: They Were Good Americans, by Brooks Mitchell, Ph.D. It’s about a B-17 that survived 25 missions over France, Germany, and North Africa in WWII. Dick was a sergeant and a radio operator. The book is based on diaries, including Dick’s, and his sketches of the plane’s crewmen. It’s a very interesting account of the 10 young men who formed the 413th Squadron of the 96th Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force. • Secretary Ness reports: As I write this in June, Bruce and Pat Malone Bothwell are in the Yorkshire Dales for three weeks—two of the weeks hiking. Bruce and Pat are avid hikers and have managed to incorporate this activity in their frequent travels to many of the national parks in the West, the Canadian Rockies, the Adirondacks (every August), and their very favorite, New Zealand (where they won’t be returning as it’s too long a “sit” getting there). When home, gardening, local environmental concerns, and entertaining friends and family (nine grandchildren) fill up their time. • Allan (Whitey) and Judy Little Frew held a fund-raiser in June in Woodbury, Conn., for Ned Lamont, son of Ted and Camille (Buz) Buzby Lamont. Ned was running against Sen. Joseph Lieberman in a special Democratic primary for the Senate seat open in the November elections. Guess their efforts paid off—Ned won the primary! Congratulations Ted and Buz! When not busy with Ned’s campaign, Buz and Ted are visiting retirement communities. As she says, does this not speak for itself? • Had lunch recently with my “neighbors”—Cynthia Strout Fischer, Jean Huey Smolens, Irmy Nierhaus Stebbins, and Juliet Carrington Reed. Jean and Dick spent the winter in Florida and upon their return, Jean resumed her volunteer work at New Bolton Large Animal Hospital foal sitting—she even caught a glimpse of the famous Barbaro. Irmy and Dave spent three weeks in Australia, getting acquainted with their new grandson. It was a wonderful time with only one glitch—they learned that Mark Russell’s 25-year-old definition of USAir is still true: Unfortunately Still Allegheny In Reality. Karl ’49 and Julie Reed moved to Crosslands Retirement Community eight years ago and find life there very enjoyable. Julie, who volunteers twice a week as associate curator of the mineral collections at Bryn Mawr College, recently gave a talk on the geology of the Crosslands area through 4.5 billion years. This December will mark the last of over 40 years of sales of the mineral bead jewelry Julie has designed and made for geology student funds at Bryn Mawr, where she did graduate work, and Temple Univ., where she taught for several years. • Bart Nourse’s son brought a three-page article describing the remarkable careers of Don ’49 and Patricia Salmon Henderson to his attention recently. I wrote Pat asking permission to quote the author’s most complimentary words and she suggested that instead we use the following: “As a faculty wife, Pat taught a few courses in odd years, tried to catalogue possible archival material, and worked with the day girls as Holderness School grappled with the idea of coeducation. In their last 10 years, she worked in admissions. Don and Pat still spend their days doing seasonal sports and reading. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Death with Dignity remain at the top of their interests.” • Lionel Slater wrote to say he has retired from his job as a human factors psychologist on Pentagon and industrial projects. He has been living in Manhattan in a LES coop these past 20 years with wife D’Ahlborn.

Class Secretaries
Bartley Nourse (brierpatch2@verizon.net), 16 Nedde Ln., Middlebury, VT 05753
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon. net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087



Summer 2006

Secretary Ness reports: Indianapolis has been home for Howard and Nancy Cheesman Baetzhold since the 1950s. They really like the four seasons and all that Butler Univ. and the city have to offer. Although Howard is no longer doing research on Mark Twain, he hears from other Twainiacs at least once a week. The Indianapolis Opera is still Nancy’s favorite volunteer effort and she also finds time to exercise, dance, and walk to “keep whatever at bay.” • Helen Hicks Coulter (fondly remembered as Butch) has moved to a retirement community. In 1997, she and husband Parker moved from Sag Harbor (Long Island) to Killingworth, Conn., to be nearer their children (three teachers and a pediatric physical therapist). Sadly, Parker died in April 2003. Last October, Butch decided to sell their home and move a couple of miles to Chester Village West, where she is adjusting to a new lifestyle in a two-bedroom house. • From Sherman Oaks, Calif., comes news that Marcia Jordan Walker’s daughter and her husband and their children moved “back home” to Marcia’s home in 1999. She reports that they get along famously and her life is full of joy and laughter every single day. Marcia enjoys exercise class and has season tickets to local theaters. The whole family has passes to Legoland and Disneyland, and they visit the Getty which is less than five miles away. • Sue Cooke Turnbull is managing to enjoy the approach to the big 80 with some of the rest of us. With three daughters living in Brookline, she makes trips to the Boston area; her other journeys take her to New Jersey, where she has two sons, and to San Francisco, where a son and a daughter reside. Sue planned to visit the Bay Area for a week in April. • Betty Reynolds Scherfee and husband Jim celebrated their 50th anniversary by going to Europe in 2000. This June they plan to attend a family reunion in Maryland. Since much of the Battle of Gettysburg was fought on her husband’s family property, they also plan to go there. After their four children were grown, Betty became a certified braillist with the Library of Congress and worked with blind students in Sonoma County, Calif. With the advent of improved software for Braille, she does not do as much, but last year she transcribed part of an algebra book for a student. Betty and Jim are keeping our 60th in mind. • Secretary Nourse reports: While visiting relatives in Arizona recently, I had a delightful phone conversation with Bev Boynton Kinsey. As active and involved residents of Fountain Hills, Ariz., Bev and Roy ’45 enjoy the outdoors, although they recently gave their skis away. They enjoy trips to both the East and West coasts, and are still very interested in what’s going on at Middlebury. • Tom Turner, a Monument, Colo., resident, was away at a Service to Mankind meeting when I called, but I spoke with Pat Prendergast Turner. A longtime volunteer at the district attorney’s office, Pat plays a lot of duplicate bridge. For 12 years, she has conducted a crime prevention workshop twice a week with sixth graders. They are both active in their church and Tom still plays golf. • Also had a great chat with Jerry Hall, who lives in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Jerry is spirited, upbeat, and positive, just as he was back at Middlebury. He related a fascinating story about hitchhiking across the country on Route 66 years ago. • Native New Englander Wade Huber has gone Texan in a very big way. He and wife Rowena Brown Huber moved to Horseshoe Bay, Texas, 16 years ago. He loves the outdoors and still plays golf, “except when the wind blows too strong.” • At the Center for the Arts at Middlebury, Ella and Tom Johnson and Bob and Marya Steele Kellogg enjoy lunching together at the Rehearsals Café. • Dan Gilbert recently published a book, Freddy’s War: The Civil War Letters of John Frederick Frueuaff. Dan reports that Freddy (as he always signed his letters) was a member of an important German-American Moravian family, who volunteered to be an officer in a “First Defender” unit in 1861 to help preserve the Union. • The Rev. Roger Beach is receiving care in the Quarry Presbyterian Community, while wife Virginia Dunn Beach ’49 lives nearby. She is coping with cancer. We send out best wishes to both. Virginia may be contacted via mail at 533 Park Ave., Quarryville, PA 17566. • Sanders Rosenberg wrote in remembrance of his friend, Robert W. Todd, who died suddenly on January 1: “Bob and I were chemistry majors and, as such, shared many classes and laboratories. After graduation, we went off to Iowa State College (Ames, Iowa) to enter the chemistry department of the graduate school. Once again, we shared classes, although we chose very different major professors, and were awarded our Ph.D.s some four years later. Although our professional careers followed very different paths and we settled on opposite sides of the country, we remained friends throughout the many years. Bob was an outstanding fellow, a dedicated family man, and a worthy supporter of the College. He will be sorely missed.”

Class Secretaries
Bartley Nourse (brierpatch2@verizon.net), 16 Nedde Ln., Middlebury, VT 05753
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon. net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087



Spring 2006

Secretary Ness reports: Esther Henderson Frederick still lives in her home on the shore of Lake George, where she enjoys walking, swimming, and gardening. Penny does volunteer work, plays bridge enthusiastically, and visits friends and family. • Good news from Janet Edwards in Rochester, N.Y. Due to hip replacement surgery about two years ago, she now walks normally for the first time in many years. Congratulations, Janet! • Eberhard and Jean Burkholder Gromoll have been collecting art for many years. In November 2005, the Demuth Foundation and Museum in Lancaster, Pa., had a show of paintings from the personal collection belonging to the Gromolls. • Charles and Janet Small Adams and two of their children live in Alaska. One daughter and family live in Maine, so Janet and Charles travel to New England at least once a year. While vacationing at their condo at Old Orchard Beach last September, they were visited by Corry Wescott Minthorn, who is enjoying the good life and good health. • Nancy Leach Ward reports that she and Bruce do a lot of traveling; their next trip will be Russia by riverboat. They live in Englewood, Fla., where they "have escaped the hurricanes so far." Nancy enjoys tennis, golf, and bridge, plus she volunteers as a tutor in an elementary school. • Nona Flatley Moore has been recuperating from double knee replacements in October. We're happy to hear that she's doing very well! • Charlotte Hoose Murphy feels fortunate "to be fairly active, which has helped in adjusting to being a widow." She went on a grand cruise to the Mediterranean in the fall, and keeps busy as treasurer for both her town library and a scholarship fund. • When Bud and Jean Webster Skoien celebrated their 50th anniversary last year, they decided to go on a three-week tour of China instead of having a party. • Cynthia Strout Fischer is a published poet since her poem, "Soul Mates," appeared in the 2006 anthology of the International Library of Poetry. • You may recall that a year ago Duke and Nancy Richardson Powell announced downsizing plans in preparation for a move to RiverMead as soon as a cottage became available. The search for a puppy was also mentioned. Here's an update on those plans: "A dog came first in the form of a two-year-old black female, with the help of the Lab Rescue League. We loved her, but 76 lbs. of untrained 'puppy' raced into Nancy's knee on a morning's walk, resulting in a trip to the ER. We left with a cast, splint, sling, and wheelchair-the essentials for a broken leg and wrist. Three months later therapy has her walking again, so we resume where we left off-downsizing, looking for a puppy, and hoping to be at RiverMead by the end of the year." • Secretary Nourse reports "a special thank you, Liz Bredenberg Ness, ye faithful co-secretary, for your extra efforts with this column as Tiffany '47 and I moved from our home of 20 years on Cape Cod. We moved to a Middlebury condo on November 18 to be closer to our daughter, Tiffany Nourse Sargent '79, and my brother, Ken '52, and to let someone else worry about the lawn and the snow. We love the area, as well as the College and its wonderful offerings. Everybody is so friendly! • And thank you to Perry Maurer Thompson, Stew Washburn, Jean Webster Skoien, and Sandy Rosenberg for your service to the College as class agents. You're good people! • Stew Washburn and Barb moved to Texas in early fall from their home of 47 years in Fairfield, Conn. He writes: "Hi, y'all! Welcome to Disarrayment Central. Need any United Van Lines crates or cartons?" Now living at 110 Blue Sky Ct., Georgetown, TX 78628, they will continue to occupy their Vermont summer residence during the warmer season. • Marvin Holden has lived in Middlebury since 1950. He loves the area and College activities, especially hockey at Kenyon Arena. • Tom Johnson drives in from nearby Addison to watch the women's team hockey games. • A brief note from Jim Van Wart informs us that he is "still traveling. Last stop: Vietnam." • Dave and Jean Semple Rollason feel they are "blessed to be in a top lifecare home. Our part is a two bedroom, den, kitchen, and combined living-dining room, all of which we share with Cheerful, our Yorkshire terrier." Dave is in good health and Jean has recovered from "too many hip surgeries!" • Sadly, we must report the loss of two more of our classmates. Don Gustafson died on October 16, 2005, and Bob Todd passed away on January 1, 2006. The condolences of the class are extended to their families.


Class Secretaries
Bartley Nourse (brierpatch2@verizon.net), 16 Nedde Ln., Middlebury, VT 05753
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon. net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087



Winter 2006

Secretary Ness reports: This has been the most rewarding quarter yet: Of the nine personal notes sent, five classmates responded—and quickly. Bless you all! Let's hope the next several people I write to can beat that record. • In response to my query, Sally Finley Burton said that her medical problems are more annoying than serious. She broke her leg in early June and, coupled with severe back pain, this hampered her summer activities. She was looking forward to resuming her normal schedule in September—which, a reliable source tells me, includes some outstanding volunteer work. • Kit Spaulding Ragone and husband Dave were leaving September 2 for Paris and Gstaad for Roy Emerson's tennis "camp" (Palace Hotel), Chamonix and La Pere Bise sur Lac d'Annecy. This is a follow-up to a summer doing the Super Senior Tennis Tour in New England (over 75). Kit says she "tags along and enjoys watching tennis, eating and drinking well, and meeting congenial people." • Ann Clarke Curley continues to be involved in local and county Democratic Party affairs, although her activities have been curtailed somewhat since having a stroke five years ago. A member in good standing of the League of Women Voters, she recently served as treasurer of the Mainstream Loudoun group (in support of separation of church and state). She and husband Bob continue to live in the "almost country" area of northern Virginia, with lots of flora and fauna. • Still living in their White Plains house, James '47 and Iris Forst Brucks frequently find themselves in NYC, attending concerts, plays, etc. Iris had a hip replacement a year ago, but is back playing golf. In between golf and some community service, she has become an avid duplicate bridge player. She sees Kathy Rapp Nathan occasionally, at which time they catch up on family news. • Joan L'Episcopo Muset is knitting for local hospitals, playing bridge, and recently enrolled in courses on the crusades and medieval history. She also claims to nap daily, after completing all of the above! • Secretary Nourse reports: Jolly Dick Caswell and his wife attended the Alumni Leadership Conference, along with 176 other people. It was held at the Bread Loaf Conference Center from September 16-19. Dick and I represented the class of '48. • I finally caught up with Fred Johnston, who has moved from Pinehurst, N.C., to Southern Pines (1 Village Green, Zip code 28387). As his wife, Louise, experienced worsening problems from Alzheimer's disease, she is now in the Alzheimer Memory Care Assisted Living Center at Oakdale Heights in Pinehurst. Fred had given up golf completely for the last three years, as he would not leave her alone. He did attend the U.S. Open at Pinehurst this year and noted that the course is close to 20 yards longer than the same course was back in 1999. I quote him: "Oh, Well!"


Class Secretaries
Bartley Nourse (brierpatch2@verizon.net), 16 Nedde Ln., Middlebury, VT 05753
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@verizon. net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087



Fall 2005

Secretary Ness reports: It was my good luck to spend time with Dick and Jean Huey Smolens and Dave '44 and Irmy Nierhaus Stebbins twice during the spring—first at Jenners Pond in West Grove, Pa., where they are neighbors, and then here in Wayne when we all attended jazz vespers at a local church. Dick and Jean are both involved in the Elderhostel program, Dick teaching jazz and Jean doing garden design. Among her worthy community activities, Jean volunteers as a foal sitter at the New Bolton Large Animal Hospital NICU, staffed by the UPenn School of Veterinary Medicine. Foal sitters monitor distressed newborn foals, alerting the doctors when any response occurs. • Although Nancy Weale McGuire has been tempted to sell her large home and purchase something smaller, she cannot bear the thought of leaving her garden. In fact, she has added another section to her "upper garden." Having visited Nan during the growing season, I can tell all of you that her gardens are spectacular. • Dick and Janet Goeltz Robinson winter at Pamlico Plantation, near Washington, N.C., and spend their summers at Point Salubrious in Chaumont, N.Y., near the Thousand Islands. While up north, Dick and Goeltzie sail with Canadian friends on Lake Ontario, as they've given up living on their sailboat. They get together with Don and Jane Drummond Hanlon, who live in the Syracuse area. Speaking of Jane Hanlon, she told me last year that she wished that Don would give up competitive running for something less physically demanding, like golf. A recent note from Jane states that Don had entered another Seniors' Race in Cortland, N.Y., in June, so it would appear he hasn't joined the local golf club yet. • Livia Rosman reports that, in 2004, "we drove a new Volvo from Sweden to Spain and back again, after spending one month in Spain, one month in France, and one month in Germany and Switzerland. This spring our son-in-law, Michael Shellenberger, spoke at a Middlebury conference. Small world!" • Secretary Nourse reports: Thanks to open-heart surgery nine years ago, John Carter is doing very well in Short Hills, N.J. John expresses gratitude for the good work of Dan and Joan Tyler Gilbert as immediate-past class secretaries. He also had great comments about the column by President Ron Liebowitz and the winter issue en toto. • Jack and Edie Gordon '47 Dawson have long lived in Grinnell, Iowa, where Dr. Jack served on the faculty of Grinnell College. They haven't been back to Middlebury in a long time, "but may be back for our 60th reunion." Edie and Tiffany Black Nourse '47 were roommates in their freshman year. • Edith Titus Harman and husband Mort '47 live both in Middlebury and here in Cape Cod in Orleans. Seeing a Vermont license outside a small shoppe here in Brewster, we went into the store and asked "Who's from Vermont?" Edith responded and we had a great chat. (Caution: we class secretaries have to get news one way or another). • Rockville, Md., is home base for Jim Campbell and his wife, but they've traveled the world many times. Safety precautions have curtailed their travels lately. They love river cruises; their last trip was down the Rhine to the vineyards. Jim is a native of Rhode Island and a Life Scout. The Red Boy Scout Council was my favorite assignment in my 37-year career with the BSA, so we had a great chat! • Whitey Frew was out playing golf when I called, but I had a nice conversation with Judy Little Frew. She reports that all is well with them. • Manchester (Conn.) Community College has dedicated a library garden in memory of Bill Johnson, who died last March. In a ceremony held in June, Bill was remembered for his service to the college. A memorial appeared in the summer issue. • We extend our thoughts and prayers to Liz Bredenberg Ness and her family in the loss of her son-in-law. Thanks, Liz, for being a very good co-secretary, and for being so very upbeat—all the time.


Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@att.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (brierpatchcc1@juno.com), 73 Brier Ln., Brewster, MA 02631



Summer 2005

Tom Johnson sent Bart a note on stationery that pictures his house, his wife, and his dog four times, "the dog being the household's dominant factor," he says. Tom is still quite the artist. I have some of his postcards. • Dick Haseltine and wife Ginny are doing well up in Orrington, Maine. He recently had a physical and is happy to report that all is well—at age 85! He and Ginny are fine with the exception of Ginny's macular degeneration in her right eye. They have celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Dick would like to correspond with friends via e-mail at rshafel@peoplepc.com. • David Smith enjoys an "active" retirement, interspersed with visits to children and grandchildren in Massachusetts, NYC, and Annapolis. Healthwise he's doing okay, helped by heart surgery five years ago and, more recently, a new left knee and some lower spine fusion. "Best to all," he adds. He and his wife continue reading and study in German, heightening their trips to Germany and Austria, especially for the "Musik." • Larry Washington visited briefly in January with Larry Thompson in Hawaii. He reports that the Thompsons, who reside in Portland, Ore., are still studying the American Indian languages of northern Washington and British Columbia. All of this despite a very serious stroke he had some 18 years ago. • Though wintering in Destin, Fla., Dick Caswell is a year-round resident of Bennington, Vt., "despite what the college directory has listed." He has been a resident there since 1956. All is well. He has slowed down a bit, like many of us, and loves getting back home to Vermont from Florida. • After obtaining a Ph.D. at Cornell, John Dawson joined the faculty at Grinnell Colege in 1957 and remained there as a prof. of economics until retirement in 1992. He and wife Edie Gordon Dawson '47 still live in Grinnell (despite the Iowa winters) because of friendships there and the cultural climate the college provides. During Jack's tenure, they spent time on leaves in New York, Washington, London, and two years in Uganda at Makerere University. In retirement, the Dawsons continue to travel, often to visit their daughter in California and their son in Colorado. They frequently travel to Italy, with another trip planned for this summer. • Charles and Mim Wade Butts sadly notified us of the death of Jane Anne Saurman Myers on March 18 at her home in West Harwich, Mass., after a brief illness. Jane and Mim were roommates for several years at Midd. • The condolences of the class are also extended to Jean Allan Miller, whose husband Daniel died on October 1, 2004. Jean sent a heartwarming remark that echoes the sentiments of many other Midd spouses: "Dan was an alum of Indiana University, but felt very welcome and 'at home' at Middlebury whenever we were there." • When we asked Gloria Tanner Assi, who has been living in Paris since 1956, how the average Parisian citizen feels about the USA these days, she made some interesting comments. She notes that "elite" Americans usually love France and the French people, while many "heartland" Americans no longer love the French since 9/11. In France, she finds it to be just the opposite: the French "elite" (many of whom are leftist intellectuals) were very disappointed in the changes in the U.S. and in many Americans since September 11, but the French in the heartland of France (outside of Paris), many of whom remember the GIs who came to free them from the Nazis at the end of World War II, still love America. Gloria points out that many Europeans didn't realize what a jolt September 11 was to the U.S. and to what extent Americans felt they were "at war" with terrorists, because there are many well-organized terrorist groups in Europe and most European countries are used to terrorism. "Anyway, now that the dust is settling, I think that both the French and the Americans have come to the conclusion that they all went too far in their antagonistic rejections of each other's opinions and it's time to try to repair the damage. In conclusion, I can only say that all my French friends still love the U.S. and all my American friends and family still love France."

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@att.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (brierpatchcc1@juno.com), 73 Brier Ln., Brewster, MA 02631



Spring 2005

Secretary Nourse reports: Having sold their Connecticut home in March '04, Nan and Joe Fox are now full-time residents of Venice, Fla. Nan walks three miles daily, while Joe maintains his 18-plus handicap by playing golf several times a week, occasionally with Buzz Tilton '53. One of the hurricanes made them evacuate to higher ground, but that proved unnecessary. Family and travel beckon—Boston, Provincetown, Baltimore, Poulsbo (Wash.), and even Alaska this year! • A brief message arrived from David Smith: "Sore back, new knee, still in Maine, can't complain." • "In 1948," writes Bob Kellogg, "we never imagined today's college—or world." Living in Middlebury, he and Marya (Steele) "see endless sports (even women's ice hockey), music and art events, attend lectures, plays, and symposia. We both ski some, sing in a college-sponsored chorale, and volunteer at the Sheldon Museum." • In beautiful San Antonio, Texas, retired Dr. Dick Wolff indicates that he and Sybil have slowed down a bit since our 50th, thanks to "age and medical problems." However, they still do a lot of work for the Methodist Church. On their last trip to Vermont they searched for the burial site of one of his wife's great uncles, who died in Libby Prison during the Civil War. Dick writes that Vermont records are fabulous and that many books have been written about Vermonters who served in the Union Army. • I had a great chat with Graham Shovelton, who has lived in Huntsville, Ala., since 1956. His wife and two sons are graduates of Auburn University; both sons live in Alabama. Tom Johnson's name came up; he and Graham were Alpha "Slug" fraternity brothers. Graham does a lot of choral singing. • I asked Stew Washburn for his take on the Red Sox celebration parade and here's a small portion of his reply: "Ah, but what joy 2004 did ultimately bring! As excitement, the ups and downs of regular season paled in comparison with the ALCS; down three games-to-none and down by a run in the last of the 9th when, unbelievably, the 'good guys' came to life, crumbling the Evil Empire. To many, including me, the ensuing World Series sweep earned only #2 ranking; we'd already accomplished our #1 priority!" Our thanks to Stew, also, for recruiting Jean Webster Skoien, of Tampa, Fla., to serve as another class agent. Thanks, Jean! • Rasjad Moore writes: "I am now in the process of shifting from the asparagus farm north of Perth to an aged person's unit in the village of Gingin. Only those of us who seek the geographical cure know how hard it is to reduce one's belongings (and papers) without some angst. I am so glad I found your unopened letter and hope this much belated reply finds you in good nick." Rasjad had received a letter from me belatedly because he had been in Malaysia and the letter was forwarded to a friend's address and held there. Rasjad recalls the time in 1971 when he was in San Francisco, visiting a friend on the production team of American Graffiti. While the friend was going over the script, he asked Rasjad what college he went to. "I didn't realize until the film was released that he had apparently suggested to the director that the actor playing the mature high school teacher would say, when asked where he went to college, 'Middlebury, a little college in Vermont' (or words to that effect). Fortunately, it was a good film and a powerful statement about youth in the sad years of Vietnam." His new address is Unit 2, 14 Barlee St., Gingin, Western Australia 6503. • Secretary Ness reports: Margery (Bunny) Lehmann Stillman died last fall as the result of a car accident in a rural part of Middlebury. Her funeral was held at Mead Chapel. This totally unanticipated tragedy has left her family heartbroken. The class extends deepest sympathy to her husband, Allen, and their two daughters. • Marvelous caricatures of Duke and Nancy Richardson Powell appeared on their Christmas card, depicting the two of them atop a large collection of furniture, appliances, etc. The caption under the caricatures said, "The Powells Are Downsizing." For a number of years they have been on the waiting list for RiverMead, a retirement community in nearby Peterborough, N.H., and they are hoping that 2005 will be the year a cottage will become available. • Anne Saurman Myers and her husband are enjoying a busy and healthy retirement in West Harwich on Cape Cod. Traveling frequently to visit their five children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandson takes them to Minnesota, western New York, and South Korea. They even attended a Robert Frost Symposium in September at Bread Loaf. • Let's hear from all of you who have had cataract surgery, which must be the operation of choice among our age group. I've had two this year; Sue Cook Turnbull had one in December before heading for the Boston area to spend two weeks with three of her daughters. Sue also wrote that Glo Pilini Miller visited her in Kansas City for several days last spring. • At Christmastime, Perry Maurer Thompson wrote to tell me that my modest co-secretary, Bart Nourse, who wears a second hat as class agent, was awarded the Sid Kay Agent of the Year award at the Alumni Leadership Conference in September. Bart has raised our class participation percentage substantially and continues to strive for 100 percent participation. Let's all help him achieve this goal—every year.


Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@att.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (brierpatchcc1@juno.com), 73 Brier Ln., Brewster, MA 02631



Winter 2005

Pete and Mary Forbes Hanna enjoyed a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where they saw five plays in four days—"all very well done." In early October, they were off for a two-week tour of Italy, visiting Rome, Tuscany, Florence, and Venice. • Mary Lee Huff had a wonderful 80th birthday celebration with all her family. She looks forward to returning to Maui in April. • Roy '45 and Bev Boynton Kinsey took a three-week trip to China in October '03, along with Norm and Stemmie (Adele Stemmler Taylor). In the spring of '04, Bev and Roy visited Peru for several days, traveling again with Overseas Adventure Travel, an organization that takes small groups and stays in unique places. • According to a Chester, Vt., newspaper, Bob Fletcher is working with other trustees to carry out the philanthropic work of the Fletcher Farm Foundation, Inc., in Ludlow, Vt. The Foundation was established in 1933 by his grandmother. Bob also holds the office of historian for the foundation. • Sandy Rosenberg writes from Sacramento, Calif., about the passing of John Hale, who died December 7, 2003. Sandy and Jack were good friends in recent years. "He was a generous supporter of Middlebury and we shall miss him, as will the many senior citizens of Placer County," writes Sandy. Our thanks to Sandy for readily agreeing to serve as a class agent. He could not attend the Alumni Leadership Conference XXVIII at Bread Loaf in September, because he and Rita were attending the 50th birthday celebration of both their son and daughter-in-law in Arizona. • Stew Washburn also readily accepted the invitation to serve as a class agent. He was able to attend the conference, along with about 200 alums. Still as lively as ever, Stew is a great addition to the class agents of '48. • Dave '49 and Perry Maurer Thompson hosted Tiffany and me (Bart) for dinner at their "retreat" on ol' Cape Cod this summer. They are enthusiastic supporters of the College, too, and look just great. They were also at the conference, as was Dick Caswell, who was happy to be back in Vermont. And though fall had not yet arrived in Vermont, the foliage was beginning to turn to that magic color that we all remember so well. Personal impressions of my Middlebury/Bread Loaf visit focus on the new library and the new president and can be made quickly: Both are very impressive! • Secretary Ness spent a late summer week at Basin Harbor. As Dave '49 and Perry Maurer Thompson live a few miles from there, Perry and I found time to spend a day together. The Thompsons do a lot of traveling, frequently with Kyle '49 and Eleanor Barker Prescott. When in residence, Perry does a lot of volunteering, including one day per week at Ilsley Library in Middlebury, where her special focus is the children's section. * We extend the sympathy of the class to Charlotte Hoose Murphy on the loss of husband Jim in August 2004. She writes: "He was in his 47th year of serving as a town justice in Amenia, N.Y., and was active until June. He was also a life member of the Amenia Fire Company, so he served our community well." • Condolences are also extended to Jean Robbins Hughes on the death of her husband, Charles, in April 2004.

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@att.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (brierpatchcc1@juno.com), 73 Brier Ln., Brewster, MA 02631



Fall 2004

Charlie and Mim Wade Butts supplied an update: "We keep busy as volunteer members of the Partnership of the Historic Bostons, a nonprofit organized to develop better understanding of the enduring legacies of our city's historic links with Boston, England. The year 2005 is the 375th anniversary of John Winthrop's arrival. In December, Charlie will finish 11 years as president of the Boston English-Speaking Union. Mim continues to lecture on art and art history, with emphasis on stained glass, New England merchants, and their mansions and collections. As Travel Seminars, we continue to take small groups on four-day trips. Last year it was Castine to Campobello; this October, Exploring the Chesapeake Bay. We keep up with our four children, their spouses, and three grandchildren in East Montpelier (Vt.), Branson, (Mo.), Methuen (Mass.), and Apple Valley (Minn.). We are in touch with Jane Anne Saurman Myers, Seab Short, Will Bangs '45, Dex '50 and Norma Horsford Whittinghill '51, and Dick '43 and Lee Van Leuvan Morehouse '45. And we manage to make a little time for tennis and golf." • As of April, Elaine Pankopf Cummings was semi-retired: "I'm on the list of sub secretaries at the superintendent's office of the Berkeley Heights, N.J., School System. Don continues, at age 78, to work daily! We are about to embark to Ireland for our 50th anniversary two-week trip. Our children and grandchildren continue to thrive and accomplish. The latest thrill came from son David in Seattle, who was among 12 nationwide to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He received the award and the $1.25 million five-year grant for his research lab (field of obesity) from President Bush at the White House on May 4. It doesn't get any headier than that for the proud parents." • Hip replacements are in the news! Patricia McCabe Perkins reports "one hip replacement and two knee replacements," as well as "one dog, one cat, two daughters, four grandsons, and two great-granddaughters, all thriving." • Janet Edwards had her hip replacement in August 2003: "It's a long road to recovery, but the result is great! After eight months, I'm almost 100 percent." • Two years ago, Gini Knudsen Allen and husband Jack '50 moved from their home of almost 40 years to a townhouse, where they are enjoying life. They are still involved with their church and its activities, Gini continues her participation in Literacy Volunteers, and Jack is still an enthusiastic member of the Transportation Museum. • We were sorry to learn from Mary Lou Allin Bartholomaus that her husband, Bart, passed away at Christmas 2003 of complications with Parkinson's disease. Mary Lou writes: "We had been married 55 years and have lived in Ocala, Fla., for 30 years. Even so, we never missed a reunion until the 40th. I retired from service with our County Extension Service in 1989." • Thanks for your news. Now let's hear from the rest of you.

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@att.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (brierpatchcc1@juno.com), 73 Brier Ln., Brewster, MA 02631



Summer 2004

Gloria Tanner Assie writes from Paris: "Sorry I couldn't attend our 55th Reunion last year. In 2002, I made a trip home for a Thanksgiving family reunion and stopped in Seattle to visit all my Boeing friends. I couldn't afford a second big trip so soon after that one, but certainly missed seeing everyone. Very busy keeping up with son Michel and his family and with friends, Italian classes, etc." • Having had a new hip installed December 23, Tom Johnson was chagrined to miss meeting Bob and Marya Steele Kellogg to cheer on the women's hockey team during the regular season's games. But Tom finally got to one of the Final Four Championship contests. Hurray, Midd won! • Stew Washburn and Barb had to give up some ski time in New Hampshire in order to visit his sister at her winter place in Florida. Seems he had "put it off" long enough: Florida is not his favorite place. • In Maine, Jinny and Dick Haseltine celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 8. Thanks to a stent, Jinny has recovered completely from the heart attack she had a year and a half ago. • Bob Dustin retired from his dental practice in Greenwich, Conn., 10 years ago and returned to his hometown, Randolph, Vt. They ski in winter and spend summers at their place in Nantucket. Wife Nan says they love to visit the College: "It's beautiful." • From his Sacramento home in California, Sandy Rosenberg reports that he and wife Rita "circumvented South America aboard the m/s Seven Seas Mariner. The cruise was outstanding. After leaving San Francisco on October 17, we visited Santa Barbara and L.A., where older son Nathan and his son, Charles, were able to join us for lunch and to tour the ship." From there it was San Diego, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Cape Horn ("it does feel like the end of the world"), Argentina, Buenos Aires, Falkland Islands, Uruguay, Brazil, French Guiana, and Barbados, before docking in Fort Lauderdale on December 20. • Pres '47 and Joan Spross Carr divide the year between their Vancouver Island home and their winter home in Arizona. While in Sun City West, they get together occasionally with year-round residents Roy '45 and Bev Boyton Kinsey. The Carrs are enjoying their video camera, which permits them to catch sight of their baby granddaughter, Sasha, who lives in Shanghai. • Marta and Bob Andersen spent two late fall weeks in London, celebrating Thanksgiving with several family members. A mid-March trip was planned to the west coast of Florida. Bob continues to be a researcher and writer with the Rensselaer County Historical Society. He recently sold his Steinway piano and is now enjoying a Yamaha keyboard. Says it's great fun. • The day before Hurricane Isabel arrived in Pennsylvania, Dave '44 and Irmy Nierhaus Stebbins and I (Liz) drove to Monroe Township, New Jersey, to visit Don and Lou Gerlitz Ebner. Our mini-reunion included Alice Deininger Kreider, who has been living in Red Bank, but has moved to Meadow lakes in Hightstown, not far from the Ebners. Meadow Lakes is a retirement community with all the amenities, where Alice enjoys the proximity to Princeton. Since then, Dave and Irmy traveled to Egypt for 15 fascinating days. • We regret to report the death of Ezra Parker on December 7, 2003. • The condolences of the class are extended to Mary Lou Allin Bartholomaus on the death of her husband, Bart, in December. • Ed and Nona Flatley Moore began making plans to attend our 55th the day they arrived home from our 50th in 1998. Their plans changed, unfortunately, early last year when Ed became ill. But, after radiation and rest, the doctors have given him high marks for a very successful recovery.

Class Secretaries
Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness (elizabeth.ness@att.net), 412 N. Wayne Ave., #109, Wayne, PA 19087
Bartley Nourse (brierpatchcc1@juno.com), 73 Brier Ln., Brewster, MA 02631



Spring 2004

Secretary Ness reports: Jean Webster Skoien, who returned to our 55th from her home in Tampa, Fla., probably qualified as being the one who traveled the farthest to be with us. (Janet Small Adams, who lives in Juneau, Alaska, disqualified herself because they summer in New England.) It is with sadness that we report the death of Jean and Bud's son, Stephen, in Hawaii in early August 2003. We extend the condolences of the class to the Skoiens. • Bob and Joan Sherman Riebow took an October cruise, which included visits to Nuku Niva, Papete, Bora Bora, Fanning Island, and Hawaii. This is the latest of several cruises they've enjoyed. Jo wrote that they were planning another for early 2004. After equally dividing their time between Florida and Pinehurst (N.C.) for several years, they now live full time in Deland, Fla. • For those of you who live in the metropolitan New York area and listen to WQXR, the classical music station of the New York Times, that excellent announcer Midge Woolsey is the daughter of Bob and JoAnne Selleck Woolsey. Midge also appears frequently on PBS stations WNET in New York and WNJN in New Jersey during pledge weeks. She interviews interesting personalities and adeptly manages to make pledging almost fun. • Secretary Nourse reports: My thanks go to Marvin Holden for his letter, my first as class co-secretary. He is retired from the automobile business in Middlebury, where he still lives and where his two grandchildren are students in the Middlebury school system. A third is a freshman at the Univ. of N.H. ... Middlebury residents Bob and Marya Steele Kellogg are active and still ski. They spend their summers in Orleans on Cape Cod, where they swim, sail, and visit cousins. • Stew Washburn and wife Barb golf in Fairfield, Conn., and at their "place" in Ludlow, Vt. However, in Vermont, they spend time "improving carpentry and previous work done hastily." They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last summer with their family on Cape Cod. • Thank you, Fred Johnston, for your newsy e-mail from Southern Pines, N.C. He and his wife moved about three miles away from their long-time home in Pinehurst recently. He's a member of the Pinehurst Country Club, where he has played their famous #2 course many times. I had the pleasure of playing there twice when conducting conferences in the '70s. • Ginny and Dick Haseltine live in Orrington, Maine, where shopping centers have "sprung up" and "mom and pop businesses have gone under as a result." Ginny survived a rather tough heart attack a year ago and recovered quickly after a stent was inserted. Dick recommends two books: Jim Hightower's Thieves in High Places and Peggy Noonan's When Character was King, a book about the Reagan years. • After serving his entire Presbyterian Church ministry in Gilbertsville, N.Y., the retired Reverend Roger Beach lives in Swarthmore, Pa., with wife Virginia Dunn Beach '49. They have 20 grandchildren! In response to my question to him, his favorite book is the Bible, better than any commentary he can find. • Way out in Frisco, Colo., is "Tink" Bailey, who continues to ski regularly. Our phone conversation, however, was about his periodic visits with Don and Pat Salmon Henderson at their home in  Fairlee, Vt. These visits include Midd ski team champs Joe Jones, Jack Valentine '49, Fred Neuberger '50, and Tommy Jacobs '51. • You'll remember Dick Buonerba as the lead singer for the Black Panthers. He continues to sing in Norwalk, Conn., where he's a member of his church choir, sings in nursing homes, and recently sang at the mayor's inauguration. Can't count the number of times he's sung the Star Spangled Banner—and does so "the old-fashioned way." When his son-in-law needs an Italian singer for his band, Dick's the man. His army career son is a lt. col. stationed at Fort Belvoir. • Jack Kofoed, who lost his wife to cancer last spring, has moved back to Bethlehem, Pa., where he and Joan had lived for 20 years during his working years. They had purchased a new condo there before Joan died, so he is back among many friends and organizations for which he previously volunteered. • A note from Jim Van Wart informs us that he is "still traveling (Central and South America) and volunteering (P.R.) for the Nature Conservancy. • Pat Cole Vinther reports a banner year for the Vinther family: "In April our first great-grandchild (a boy) was born. In June our oldest grandson was married (the third grandchild to be married). In August we flew to Prague arriving there on the hottest day in recorded history—99 degrees! After a few days of sightseeing we joined a Viking River Cruise going from Nuremberg to Budapest. Due to the European drought, the Danube was so low that at one point we had to portage by bus from one ship to another in order to complete the cruise! We were fortunate, however, because some ships were unable to go at all. In October our second great-grandson was born! (It's hard to see your children becoming grandparents!) In November we spent our annual month on Maui, where we always celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. Then it was home in time for Christmas." • Thanks for sending news. We wish you a wonderful New Year. May we find it to be one of peace.

Class Secretaries
Daniel R. and Joan Tyler Gilbert (dnygmhs@aol.com), 175 W. North St., #335C, Nazareth, PA 18064



Winter 2004

With this column, we welcome class secretaries Elizabeth Bredenberg Ness and Bartley Nourse. Their first and most important comment is to express the gratitude of the entire class for the good work done by their predecessors, Dan and Joan Tyler Gilbert. Their second desire is that each of you send news to their addresses, printed below. Since their term of office has begun after the printing of the fall column, they have missed the opportunity to request holiday cards (this column will be delivered in January). Nevertheless, please take the initiative to send a card or an e-mail to let them know of your winter activities and your plans for the coming spring. • The condolences of the class are extended to Sally Finley Burton on the death of her husband, Robert, in August. • A note from Tom Johnson informs us that he got in on a little of our 55th Reunion, thanks to Ev and Sally Peck Littlefield, who picked him up at the Ticonderoga Amtrak station late Saturday afternoon. Tom was returning from Wayne, Pa., after acting as au pair for his grandson, whose mother (Tom's daughter) had a liver transplant in Pittsburgh. She was doing well at last word. • Marilyn Drake White reports that her husband directs an adult handbell group at the First Congregational Church in Winchester, Mass. "We attend handbell workshops and sing in the choir. Bob retired as choir director recently, but we enjoy singing with the  new choir director. We are in exercise classes three times a week, and care for children of working parents. We are energetic and healthy." • Mary Forbes Hanna writes: "We took an exciting trip to the Northwest this fall—Vancouver, Victoria, Jasper, Lake Louise, and Banff. Beautiful scenery and sunny weather. Also a mini trip to visit children and grands in Cincinnati and Indianapolis." • Congratulations to Louise Planck Terry, recipient of the 2003 Friend of German Award from the American Assoc. of Teachers of German. This prestigious award is given in recognition of exemplary leadership in the advocacy of German language education and for outstanding support and promotion of German and the study of German at the local, regional, and national levels. The awards luncheon took place on November 22 in Philadelphia.

Class Secretaries
Daniel R. and Joan Tyler Gilbert (dnygmhs@aol.com), 175 W. North St., #335C, Nazareth, PA 18064



Fall 2003

Attending the 55th Reunion of the Class of 1948 on June 6-8, Joan and I found it was, as always, a chance to renew acquaintances with fellow students from that era and, in a fit of nostalgia, to revisit some of the important (to us) sites on campus. The class headquarters was in Gifford, now much upgraded from the days when I lived there. Elevators and marble floors, yet! As always, the College provided alums with a wide range of activities, from the usual golf match, hiking, a 5-K run, walking, lectures, reunion choir rehearsals and performance, through Saturday night dancing and entertainment, and Sunday Chapel. Along the way, there was a delightful Friday night dinner in the new Stephen Freeman International Center, a luncheon at the president's home Saturday noon, the inevitable class picture, and an unbelievable lobster dinner (yes—WHOLE LOBSTERS!) on the Battell fields behind Forest Hall on Saturday evening. Vermont weather cooperated this time. While it was cloudy and misty, we didn't have that blast of winter I so well recall from our 50th Reunion! • Along the way we met many of our old classmates—mit walkers and canes in some cases! It was a delight to see such a fellow wanderer as Tom Johnson, and the several of us—such as Seab Short, and Ev Littlefield—who started Middlebury in 1942, went off to war, and then returned to graduate in 1948. We also saw, among many others, Dave '44 and Irmy Nierhaus Stebbins, Bob Dustin, Bob Andersen, Bob and Marya Steele Kellogg, Jean Webster Skoien, Dick Caswell, Rita and Sanders Rosenberg, and even Dick Morehouse '43, who, while residing in Gifford as an upperclassman, helped a very callow freshman named Gilbert to begin to understand what college was all about! Joan and I also had a long talk with Ev and Sally Peck Littlefield, which recalled a bit of everything from Joan's rooming with her in Hepburn, through our time in the College choir, singing one Easter (in the snow!) up in Vergennes, and their wedding in 1948. • Thus we were overwhelmed with nostalgia. But Middlebury has changed over these past 55 years and is, quite visibly, "a university masquerading as a small college," to quote President McCardell. Joan and I spent much of Saturday afternoon simply viewing (or reviewing) the old familiar places, including my old fraternity house (now Meeker House, formerly the Sig Ep fraternity), where we had danced to "Moonlight in Vermont" in that living room looking out to the mountains to the east. We also visited the site of the new library (but never fear—Starr is still there!) and the new buildings sprouting up out in the fields to the west and south of the old campus. It all reminded me of a song by one of my former students, folksinger and songwriter John Gorka, who has a video entitled "There are houses in the fields—the Starlight Drive-In is closing down." Gorka was reacting sadly to the suburban sprawl in New Jersey and in eastern Pennsylvania, but one could sing the same sad song about those new buildings that have literally doubled the size of Middlebury's campus, but left it with less of that delightful open space that I recall from my first visit to Middlebury in 1934, when my brother, the late Art Gilbert '38, was a freshman. I won't get drawn into the current debate over the new architecture on campus, but do suggest that all alums should take in Bicentennial Hall, a massive, 21st-century, almost Star Wars, stark building on the western slope of the College campus. Ah, progress! But change is inevitable and the overall health of the College is quite obvious—even to the modern shortage of places to park one's car! • Joan and I have enjoyed being your class correspondents for these past four years and wish our successors well. Keep those letters coming in!

Class Secretaries
Daniel R. and Joan Tyler Gilbert (dnygmhs@aol.com), 175 W. North St., #335C, Nazareth, PA 18064



Summer 2003

Thanks to all class members who have sent us notes over these past five years. We have had major distractions due to health problems, but at least some of the time we have been able to deliver the mail-that is, the class notes for our Class of 1948. This column was due long before our 55th Reunion, June 6-8, but we would like to send particular thanks to the staff at the 55th Reunion office for sending out an excellent directory of class members. It is interesting reading and brings back many fond memories. • The set of Civil War letters Dan has been editing will be published soon as Freddy's War: The Civil War Letters of John Frederick Frueauff. It has been fun working on it, but at times slightly overwhelming. • We have had a note from Mary Lee Huff, reporting she is now living in Rohnert, Calif. She enjoyed a recent trip to Hawaii and spent the Christmas holidays with family in Seattle. • Phyllis Berdott Bensa spends six months of the year in Stony Brook, N.Y., and six months in Fort Myers, Fla. • Mary Taylor Weiner loves New Hampshire, where she is "busy with community activities and a dog and two cats." She reports that Bill is doing all the driving now, since she has early macular degeneration. They have been busy getting ready to move to a cottage on a pond. • The College reports that the Class of 1948 Scholarships were awarded to two very deserving students, one majoring in international relations and one in American civilization. • Janet Kohler writes from Hughesville, Pa., where she was shoveling snow. She was sorry to learn of the death of her former roommate, Mary Frances Van Cleve Smith, on October 30 in Pahrump, Nev. Janet writes, "We remember her beautiful duets with Prof. Erie Volkert at the Presbyterian Church and in the College choir." The sympathy of the class goes to her family. • We also regret to report the death of V. Louise Morris on August 9, 2002, and send condolences to her family. • Mary Lee Huff writes: "My move to Rohnert Park almost two years ago has proved to be a good one. My daughter and son-in-law live nearby and it is very comforting to know they are available if I should need them. Had a wonderful trip to Hawaii in November, and celebrated Christmas in Seattle with my son and family." • Ann Walthall Kittredge writes: "I was on Antiques Roadshow last year from San Diego, Calif. Watch for Sue Cooke Turnbull of Kansas City to be on it this year." • Again, your class secretaries want to take this opportunity to thank one and all for your cooperation over the past five years. Let's all continue to stay in touch.


Class Secretaries
Daniel R. and Joan Tyler Gilbert (dnygmhs@aol.com), 175 W. North St., #335C, Nazareth, PA 18064




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