Class Secretary: Susan Bourgault Akie, 8 Mayfair Road, Dedham, MA 02026, susieakie@aol.com

Class President: Deanna L. Grayton, PO Box 164, Danvers, MA 01923, heydee53@aol.com

Next Reunion in 2005:  Got News? Tap out a note to magazine@bates.edu Rick Baker wants to remind everyone that he is still the holder of the Bates decathlon record (28 years!). After years living and working in Oregon, Rick and his family moved to Longmeadow, Mass., in 1997. He is the general manager of a division of Valassis, a marketing services company. With a B.S. in biology, Rick has spent his career in sales and marketing. He’d loved to hear from the Bates friends he’s lost touch with…. In April, Susie Bourgault Akie and most of the Wilson House girls — Mame Kiltz, Patty Simmons Risley, Geri FitzGerald, Kathy Burns Slivka, Sandy Shea, Mindy Cole DelCioppio, Cammie Stuart Marzelli and Louise Rutland — met in Hilton Head, S.C., for a joint 50th birthday celebration. Sandy Krot was there in spirit. Lots of old stories and photos!… Carol Burgess Goetz is vice president of development for Planned Parenthood of the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania and is working too hard, says husband Steve Goetz ’74…. Leila Caskey Gray taught a class on news media coverage of the Iraq war as part of a day of reflection at the Univ. of Washington in Seattle. At UW she also uses her biology studies in communication about biodefense issues. In February, she’ll lead a panel workshop at the National Assn. of Science Writers/American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her daughter, Allison, is recovering from thoracic surgery while studying chemisty in college. Her husband, Mark, is a grades 6–12 teacher in a home schooling program in their disctrict…. Fred Demers is still happy living and working in Baltimore with his family and their dog Goldie. He’s just finished 19 years with McCormick & Company, bringing you the best spices in the world. His two sons are students at Gilman School. His wife, Barbara, continues as an assistant attorney general for economic development. He’s looking forward to our 30th Reunion…. Paul Ferry prefers not to show up in the births and deaths announcements, but is willing to share that he is in a “dead pool” with Bob Pickett, which keeps their twisted and macabre sense of humor in good form. He had Warren Zevon, so he’s a recent pool winner. He’s also looking forward to the 30th Reunion, when he will be tuition-free at last. (He offered to buy a round at the Goose.)… In November, Tom Fiorentino won his third four-year term on the West Hartford Board of Education. He has served as both chair and vice chair of the board, and was the leading vote getter in the last election. He would love to hear from old friends at Thomas.Fiorentino@po.state.ct.us or tfiorentinol@comcast.net…. Geri FitzGerald just came back from a trip to southern France with her mom. Nice and Gorges du Verdon (the “Grand Canyon” of France) were on the itinerary, but Geri has to take her mother’s word for it. She had to keep her eyes on the road with its hairpin turns and guardrails! They especially loved the tiny towns of Haute Provence and Valbonne…. Rick Forde thinks no news is good news. He’s still in Connecticut at CIGNA…. Tom Grande has a head of gray hair and is trying to avoid Paul Ferry’s 1971 prediction that in 10 years he would be fat and bald. He’s still not bald, and says he’s handling the other part of the prediction…. Margaret McCann Wilcox is having a wonderful time with her residential real estate career at Coldwell Banker in Glastonbury, Conn. Her daughter Melissa ’03 graduated from Bates this spring, and their son Kevin is at Bowdoin. Her youngest is a junior in high school…. Chris Oberlin is in computer systems development for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in D.C. He and Joan have a daughter, Allison (9). He enjoyed the rain this summer, because area rivers have been up and the kayaking is great…. Colleen Peterson Seremet moved to Baltimore in 2002 to work as assistant state superintendent for instruction. Her job includes curriculum, assessment, and professional development for Maryland’s 24 school districts. She loves the city — she can walk to her office, and enjoys the Inner Harbor and Federal Hill with her new yellow lab, Cal…. Julia Ragan is a single mom, raising two wonderful daughters. Her oldest is applying to colleges, but thinks Maine might be too cold. Her younger daughter just started high school. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner, working in a private practice, a drug rehab center for adolescents, and teaching at the Univ. of Cincinnati College of Nursing. She’s also a church deacon, sings in a choir, and runs several times a week…. Susan Russell-Robinson says Cindy Gengarelly converted an old white house into a restaurant — Boyce Restaurant — in Boyce, Va. They serve lunch, and gourmet dinners, with delicious desserts a specialty. Cindy also caters local events held at nearby vineyards or historic sites…. Dotty Sammons-Lohse is an assistant professor of instructional technology at Idaho State Univ. She transitioned from archaeological fieldwork to IT with an Ed.D. in that field in 1999. Her children are still at home: oldest in graduate school (chemistry) at ISU, second son just starting at ISU, and her daughter in fifth grade. She still hasn’t worked in a trip back to Bates with them…. Birge Sigety and Beth are living in Tampa, where Birge is still in the manufacturing business. Aerial Machine and Tool helped supply the paratroopers who dropped into northern Iraq with their safety equipment, and Aerial is most proud. Birge’s oldest son is looking at colleges, and Bates is on his list. The family built a new camp in Maine this summer at Lake Onawa near Dover-Foxcroft, something he would not have done if he hadn’t gone to college in Maine!