Class Secretary: Jean Lombard Dyer, RR 1, Box 191, Chebeague Island, ME 04017-9722

Co-Class Presidents: Gilbert and Marjorie Cahall Center, 24 Folsom St., Laconia, NH 03246-3005

Next Reunion in 2003. Got news? Tap out a note to magazine@bates.edu! George Antunes made some adjustments following a stroke a year ago. He uses a cane, and still drives, but with great care. He climbs on his tractor to push snow or mow grass and is thankful he can do that much…. Bob Archibald has turned his hobby of collecting editorial cartoons into a learning experience for American history students at the local high school. He gives pages of them to the history teacher, which sparks classroom discussions. He also visited the classes to discuss his hobby and life in the ’20s and ’30s. “The kids found it hard to believe that most roads in the ’20s were dirt, that most families had ice boxes with pans which had to be emptied every day, and that gas cost 14 cents a gallon. They wondered why we didn’t die of boredom with no televisions, cell phones, computers, etc.,” he writes. He spent two weeks exploring Copper Canyon in northern Mexico, four times as large as the Grand Canyon…. In November 2001, Howard and Lucy Davis Baker did something that had been on their “must do” list for years: a cruise through the Panama Canal. They started in Costa Rica and ended in Fort Lauderdale…. Douglas Borden suffered a heart attack last March, but is recovering well and starting a “heart-smart life.”… Norm Boyan and Priscilla Simpson Boyan ’42 enjoy life in their retirement community, with the exception of rising fees imposed by the managing corporation. Norm is one of a small group that is trying to put together arguments in favor of “reasonable” rather than “unreasonable” fee increases. “So far, the activity is both engaging and intriguing, something like trying to fight City Hall,” he says…. Bill Buker plays tennis at Bates twice a week. He’s met Elaine Tuttle Hansen, Bates’ new president, and finds her “fully qualified and under control.” Diabetes and the neuropathy that can go with it as well as a broken hip have curtailed Shirley’s activities…. Martha Burns Keefe became a great-grandmother last Thanksgiving when Rachel was born. She’ll grow up speaking English and Portuguese, since her mother is from Brazil. By chance, Martha met Gil and Marge Center somewhere on the road to Pennsylvania and enjoyed lunch with them…. Annabel Cofran Aldrich now sports a $12,000 smile, thanks to a year of dental implant surgery. She is still deeply involved with church, women’s club, and volunteer work…. Gordon Corbett had cataracts removed from both eyes a year ago and now has 20/20 distance vision. “Amazing!” he says. He likens life in his retirement facility to being back in a college dorm, “though our apartment is a lot nicer than any dorm room I have seen.”… Mary Derderian Brown and Jim moved to a retirement community in New Jersey, close to two of their children. Two grandchildren were born during summer 2001, giving them three to dote on. Jim has a difficult time getting around and has to rely on a wheelchair…. Tom Doe celebrated his 80th birthday with all five of his children and their children, including one who is a sophomore at Bates. Judy fell in December 2001 and is slowly recovering…. Merle Eastman is concerned that Bates doesn’t recognize Veterans Day, yet devotes an entire afternoon to programming related to Martin Luther King Day. He also maintains that Bates students were made to take down patriotic banners following Sept. 11. “All is not peaches and cream at our alma mater,” he says. (Mr. Eastman is right about the banners, but a bit of context is helpful. Bates policy, similar to other schools, does not permit any banners to be draped over building exteriors. The exception is at the beginning of the year, when banners on many dorm exteriors welcome incoming students to their new homes. – Editor)…  Roy Fairfield saw his book on creativity and “reFIREment,” called Get Inspired!, published by Prometheus in July 2001. He continues to work on poetry, haiku, fables, and other manuscripts. He is very active at the local library in Saco, Maine, working in the archives, indexing reference books, and doing ad hoc tasks for the librarian…. Ginny Gentner Crosslin went to Maui and Kauai with two of her daughters last January…. Like Gordon Corbett, Web Jackson has found life in a retirement community to be a culture shock. “It is like going away to college. You enter this new exciting stage of life shared with about four hundred other new residents/friends with similar backgrounds and interests.” Both Web and Gina underwent unplanned major surgery before their move, but have recovered well…. Jean Lombard Dyer walks a mile every day in slightly less than 25 minutes. She’s involved with the Estuary Project at Sebago Lake and the Casco Bay Island Development Association, church, and the Chebeague Long Range Planning Committee…. Doris Lyman Krohmer has suffered three losses recently. Her oldest daughter, Karen, passed away, followed a month later by Karen’s husband, Tom, and then by Doris’ husband of 55 years, Jack. She remains busy volunteering, doing church work, and spending weekends at her lake house, as well as enjoying her surviving children and six grandchildren…. Lucile Moussette Beckmeyer traveled through Europe last spring, visiting (among other places) Salzburg (her favorite) and the Matterhorn. She was in Montreal and Ottawa in August. She volunteers at the local hospital one day a week in the ambulatory surgery waiting room and substitute teaches infrequently at a local high school…. Lois Oliver Brown and Preston moved to a retirement facility in Oregon. Just before they left California, Lois fractured her pelvis. She is now in an assisted living unit near the villa that is their new home. Some days she has her meals with Preston at their villa, other days he goes to her place. She is improving slowly…. Fran Rolfe McKnight is glad she moved from Rumford to Auburn, close to her daughter. She realizes that she has had family at Bates since 1929. The latest in the line of relatives, great-niece Carrie Curtis ’04, recently was a soloist in The Messiah. Fran especially enjoys the concerts presented at the Olin Arts Center at Bates…. Elia Santilli Carver says she’s in good shape for the shape she’s in…. Paul Smith says things are fine in south Florida, except for Rosie’s Alzheimer’s. She looks fine and her motor functions are good, but her memory is completely gone and she has trouble understanding verbal requests. He feels fortunate that all of their children and grandchildren are within 20 miles…. Annette Stoehr Daggett is pleased that several family members have chosen to attend Bates: great-niece Alison Roberts ’05 and great-nephews Adam Eggert ’05 and Alex Teague ’06…. Harlan Sturgis continues to have problems with his leg and now uses a cane. He says he’ll do whatever it takes to make it to Reunion in June…. Ruth Swanson Rollins says she’s falling apart slowly but as long as she can drive, nothing can keep her down. She’s busy with clubs, church, and community in spite of operations on hip, toe, knee, and eyes…. Nancy Terry Park has been enjoying National Trust tours, one to London and the Ascot, and one by train across Canada. She keeps busy with choir, her woman’s barbershop quartet, theater, and trips…. Dorothy Winslow Drew is recovering from a mini-stroke and an eye operation in May…. Horace and Phyllis Hicks Wood are going in many directions. Woody walks nine holes of golf five days
a week from April to November and is very involved in conservation, library, church, and choir, plus other civic interests. He says he is “cutting back.” The Portland Press Herald recently featured Woody in its Seniority column, summarizing his life and highlighting his vast knowledge of his community, Saco, Maine. He has served on a number of commissions and committees in town, as well as the town council, and is widely regarded as the expert on Saco’s history. Phyl is very active with church, bridge, quilting, rubber-stamping, and family. Granddaughter Kate received her master’s in criminal justice in March and is now an intelligence research specialist for the DEA in Washington, D.C. Grandson Bradley was elected to the National Honor Society and selected for Boys State.