Class Secretary: Ronald Clayton, 5 Augusta Way, N. Chelmsford, MA 01863

Class President: Alice Huntington Vannerson, 93 Pokonoket Ave., Sudbury, MA 01776-2320

Next Reunion in 2003. Got news? Tap out a note to magazine@bates.edu!  It’s not too early to think about Reunion in 2003, our 50th! Best wishes to class secretary Ron Clayton and Dottie Pierce Morris ’52, married last April. In fall 2000, Judy Allen Dudley spent a month driving the Amalfi coast and other areas of Italy — and coping with those wild Italian drivers…. In Sarasota, Fla., John Ames is board member of Key Chorale of the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning, chairs the music committee of the First Congregational UCC Church, and is active in the Sarasota Concert Assn…. In Green Valley, Ariz., Bruce and Nancy Ramsdell Chandler ’55 keep busy with wildlife, hiking, bocce ball, Spanish lessons, church board. Bruce and son Brooks had an adventurous 10-day birding trip to Alaska and the Chandlers went twice to the primitive pottery-making village of Mata Ortiz in Mexico…. Jean Chapman Neely has been learning the fundamentals of fund raising to build a nature center for her local Audubon Society…. Bates Trustee Dick Coughlin spends a lot of time on trustee activities as chairman of the grounds and building committee. He still plays golf, while he and Norma (Crooks ’52) greatly enjoy many of the sports and cultural events in the Portland area. (See the Reunion recap for a special award enjoyed by the Coughlins this year.)… Cynthia Eaves Hamilton served on the editorial committee that published a town history of Jaffrey, N.H., a five-year project. Cynthia also chairs her church’s history committee to commemorate 150 years of the United Church of Jaffrey, a year-long celebration…. Gerry and Clark Griffith continue to exchange their Florida timeshare for more exotic locales. A Bates Trustee, Clark also has various committee duties: graduate affairs, grounds and buildings, student affairs, academic facilities, program support, is technology chair, and ad hoc member on L/A Excels. He would like to retire from the cranberry business, but the current huge surplus prevents that…. Pat and Maurice Hight have a new home in Cape May, N.J. Last September they traveled for three weeks through the west that included four days in Yellowstone and a retired YMCA directors conference at Estes Park, Colo…. With a far-flung family and activities with church and friends at home, Bob and Alice Huntington Vannerson realize how blessed they are to be healthy and able…. Kaye Kirschbaum Harvie says her three days a week in the church office still provide a meaningful focus…. Last March, Virginia LaFauci Toner’s dad celebrated his 100th birthday by having a gala party with 100 guests. She has spent time with grandchildren and plans a family trip to Greece this August…. Our condolences go out to Nancy Lowd Hanby and her family on the death of husband Ken…. Vivian Lundquist Okerlund plays a lot of bridge, attends shows and concerts, and babysits five young grandchildren…. Jim Moody retired as chair of the Board of Trustees at Bates in June. He and Marge (Dittmer) were married on June 17, and they live in Cape Elizabeth…. Wanda and Emmett Morton with Lurancy and Curt Osborne went to Morocco, camping three nights in the Sahara. Last fall they rented a 63-foot barge in Britain, provisioned it and sailed through canals in England and Wales. Between trips Emmett gardens, plays tennis, bikes, reads and does volunteer work…. Ann Parnell Davis reports: “George and I are well, but find ourselves busy with home/house needs, emptying his mother’s home for the family who have bought the house. Looking forward to our 50th in 2003.”… Don Peck’s publisher keeps him traveling, but otherwise he is fully retired. He and Lorraine especially enjoyed Muir Woods and Big Sur on a trip to California. He is a volunteer with Habitat and has helped build three houses…. Rich Raia plans to cut back to three days a week work…. Glad to be back living in central Pennsylvania after four years on the coast of Georgia, John Rippey volunteers at libraries in Bellefonte and State College…. Barbara and Fred Russell are active in their church and other charities at home in Tucson, Ariz. Last Christmas all their children and five grandchildren were with them in Williamsburg, Va….. Pat Scheurman Pfeiffer still has fun teaching part time at UC-Santa Cruz. Husband Rob still crafts furniture for their home. Son Chris’s company, Sunrise Telecom, went public in July, and their daughter will leave her biology research job in the Aleutians and join a Swiss engineer on a sailboat circumnavigating the globe…. Near Blue Hill, John and Barbara Earl Sturgis enjoyed a week’s family reunion last summer. In Sedona, Ariz., John and Barbara are active volunteers with the U.S. Forest Service…. Although Bud and Joanne Taylor Kellogg moved from Southport Island to Stuart, Fla., last year, they plan to spend the coming summer in Maine. Jo worked on the 2000 census as a teacher-trainer…. Bill and Ardie Ulps Ketner Vernon live in Holiday, Fla. on an inlet off the Gulf of Mexico. They harvest oranges, lemons, tangelos, and grapefruit off their own citrus trees. Ardie says its a Shangri-la for them…. While on an Elderhostel on Grand Manan Island last July, Mary Van Volkenburgh Kashmanian and Kash made a side trip to Little Seal Island where they mingled with nesting auks, terns, and puffins, then spent a month with daughters and family on Martha’s Vineyard. At home Mary continues to work with various homeless programs and is involved with her church…. David Welch has sold his business practice of 37 years in Fort Myers, Fla., and moved across the state to Palm Coast. He and Alice are just minutes from the beach…. Carolyn and Bill Wyman’s antiques and collectibles business continues to thrive. They are now in three group shops in Arundel and Wells, sell on eBay during the winter…. We regret to report that the Class of 1953 has lost three members since the last newsletter: Robert Diehl, Raymond Delisle, and Thelma Dowling Gaines. Our condolences go out to their families.