Fifties

		Class Secretary: Lois Keniston Penney, 75 Hickory Hill Rd., Kensington, CT 06037-1209 email: HuLoPenney@aol.com Class President: George M. Gamble, One Wyeth Rd., Hanover, NH 03755- 2301 Next Reunion in 2000. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu George and Ginny Hastings Gamble, Hugh and Lois Keniston Penney were at Bates as “interlopers” for the Reunion planning session for alumni classes from 1939, 1944, and 1949. A year early, we’re full of ideas and eager to inspire our class to attend our 50th reunion in 2000. Ginny and George hope to move to Paradise Road in Bethel, their new home, early in 1999. The Penneys traveled to Antarctica this past year, thus completing trips to all seven continents and all 50 states. The moon is next.
		Class Secretary: Dorothy Webb Quimby, PO Box 417, Unity, ME 04988- 0417 Co-Class Presidents: Wilfred and Melissa Meigs Barbeau, 1 Grove St., Barrington, RI 02806-1921, , e-mail:wbarb@ici.net Next Reunion in 2001. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu
		Class Secretary: Florence Dixon Prince, PO Box 594, Monument Beach, MA 02553-0594 Class President: John F. Myers, 37 Eagle Wing Ln., Brewster, MA 02631 Next Reunion in 2002. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu
		Class Secretary: Ronald Clayton, 65 Willow Grove, Brunswick, ME 04011- 9795 Class President: Alice Huntington Vannerson, 93 Pokonoket Ave., Sudbury, MA 01776-2320 Next Reunion in 2002. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu Last June Linc ’51 and Jean Fretheim Barlow had a great 17-day trip to Alaska…. Spending this winter in Sarasota, Fla., in 1998 Bill and Jean Chapman Neely traveled to Colorado, then to Quebec and New England….Ron and Nancy Lofstedt Clayton went to France in September and welcomed their fourth grandchild in July. The class was deeply saddened by Nancy’s death on Nov. 7…Norma Judson retired after 44 years in the business world and now has more time for bridge, auctions, and grandchildren…. Floyd and Joanne Kennedy Murrayenjoyed a two- week music tour of Prague, Vienna, and Budapest…. Lurancy and Curt Osborne went on two fabulous 1988 trips with Wanda and Emmett Morton, to Great Britain in April and sailing along the coast of Turkey in October…. Pat Scheuerman Pfeiffer is back teaching creative writing at Porter, the creative arts school of the Univ. of California…. During the past year, Hank and Priscilla Hatch Stred ’55 traveled extensively: Vienna, Barbados, Yucatan, Alaska, New England, and several Civil War batttlefields…. Best wishes to Ardie Ulpts Ketner on her marriage to high school sweetheart Bill Vernon…. Last April, Bob and Alice Huntington Vannerson had a 280-mile rafting adventure on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, and a two-week trip with three other couples in the fall.
		Class Secretary:Jonas Klein, N Bay Rd., PO Box 418, Georgetown, ME 04548-0418 Class President:Neil A. Toner, 1070 Sumner Ave., Springfield, MA 01118- 2150 Next Reunion in 2000. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu Enjoying class officer meetings, a barbecue, and a beautiful Homecoming day last autumn werePete ’53 and Marion Shatts Whitaker, Shirley and Neil Toner, and Jonas Klein…. Irv Knight retired after 40 years in the investment business. Son Jonathan graduated from law school and daughter Kate and family returned from Denmark to live in West Hartford near the Knights. According to Irv, “life can’t get any better!”… A call from Belfast brought Waltand Margie Terani Reuling ’57 and Jonas Klein together for a breakfast reunion in Brunswick during Homecoming weekend. The Reulings were on their way back to Vermont (you can hardly get there from here). Looking great, Walt and Margie have retired to Castleton, where they lived for many years before heading west for senior positions at liberal arts colleges. Walt was an administrator at Lindsey Wilson in Kentucky and at Culver-Stockton in Missouri, which honored him with an honorary degree this past year…. After going without electricity for several days during the last January’s ice storm, Edie White Mason has “renewed respect for pioneers.” The Whites’ power outage in Yarmouth was not as long as others and they were fortunate to have a fireplace that kept both them and their pipes from freezing. Edie and Clint, now retired, have more time for gardening, golf, boating — and keeping the woodpile at the ready.
		Class Secretary: Joan Davidson Christenson, 148 Parker St, Newton Centre, MA 02159-2553 Class President: Edward K. Ward, Briar Ledge, PO Box 39, Bailey Island, ME 04003 Next Reunion in 2000. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu
		Class Secretary: Thelma L. Pierce, 19 H Wiggins Farm Dr., Simsbury, CT 06070-2471 Class President: Jack K. Merrill, 63 Prospect St., West Newton, MA 02165- 2338 Next Reunion in 2000. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu
		Class Secretary: Arlene Gardner Foulds, 115 Marshall St., Torrington, CT 06790-2509 Class President: Paul D. Steinberg, 106 Peninsula Dr., Babylon, NY 11702- 3336 Next Reunion in 2003. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu
		Class Secretary: Marilyn Miller Gildea, 8087 Presidio Dr., Cupertino, CA 95014-4026 Class President: William D. MacKinnon Jr., 706 N. Reeve Rd., St. Helena, SC 29920 Next Reunion in 2003. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu
		Co-Class Secretaries: Clifford A. Baxter Jr., Apt. 310, 21400 Burbank Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367 7043, e-mail:bud@lafn.org and loki4@juno.com; Margaret D. Montgomery, 400 Central Park W, New York, NY 10025-5838, e-mail loki4@juno.com Co-Class Presidents; Gerald M. Davis, 15 Hamlin Rd., Falmouth, ME 04105- 2205; Henry J. Keigwin, 28 Narragansett Bay Ave., Warwick, RI 02889-6608 Next Reunion in 1999. Got news? Tap out a note tomagazine@bates.edu Reunion plans for June 11-13 are moving along with the enthusiasm and energy worthy of our 40 post-Bates years: “Earth, Wind, and Fire…Still!” It promises to be a truly special weekend, and those of us on the planning committees hope beyond hope that everyone will make an extra effort to join in, whether people have been back to Bates recently or never since ’59. Hey, we’re too old for comparisons or competitions, so there’s no need to worry. And folks may be quite surprised at how welcome and at home they feel. As you read through the notes here, add your name to the list of those who’ve already pledged “Yes!” Registration and an all-College dinner will be on Friday, with panels and seminars (featuring Bates faculty, alumni and students) on Saturday, along with the alumni parade and awards ceremony. Saturday evening is capped off by a Class of 1959 reception (hosted by Beverly and Jack Keigwin), followed by the class banquet in the Museum of Art at Olin Arts Center. This is the first Reunion banquet ever held in the Museum and is bound to be elegant. A Reunion schedule and registration information will be mailed in early March. See you in June! Rita and Bud Baxter are still in California, but anticipate making a move to Rhode Island in the next five years. Their kids are all over the place, so there’s no happy medium to find. Bud continues to work on the Microsoft Certification Program, a slow process, with exams that make our old Bates tests seem like a dream. Of course he looks forward to seeing everyone at Reunion…. Bobbie and Lou Brown enjoy their new home on Capitol Hill in D.C., which they’re sharing right now with Shelley and little Abby while Troy serves with the Navy in the Persian Gulf. Keeping up with a 2-year-old is harder than Lou imagined! Bobbie was promoted to senior staff assistant to the director of the East Asia Urban Unit at the World Bank. Lou has increased responsibilities for international liaison for the National Science Foundation’s ocean, atmosphere, and earth-sciences research programs. He chairs the federal interagency working group that provides international support for the U.S. Global Change Research Program and represents the United States in several other groups related to global change research, which has brought him to Tokyo, Den Haag, Beijing, and Havana. He and Bobbie have vacationed in the Far East and Paris, and they’re looking forward to Reunion in equally romantic Lewiston…. Vicky Daniels Aberhart‘s managerial position at the venerable Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research was eliminated when her employer “merged” with UMass Medical Center, and so she’s officially classified as unemployed; realistically this seems to be the start of retirement. Vicky is making the transition into this new phase of life and enjoying it so far. The opportunities for low-key part-time jobs, volunteer work, etc., are numerous, so she’s learning to be selective. During the winter they celebrated her 60th with a relaxing Caribbean vacation on St. Kitts and Nevis. They recommend these islands to those seeking mountain scenery, quiet beaches, friendly population, and non-commercial ambiance…. Jerry Davis has a new grandson, his third and namesake. He enjoys working with the Reunion committee and in November won election to the Maine Legislature, House District 40…. Ross Deacon finished his first year as a school psychologist in the Clark County school district, serving three elementary schools in Las Vegas. Working in the fastest-growing school district and living in the fastest-growing metropolitan area have been truly invigorating. Although he’s working full-time now, the pace is significantly reduced from past years of part-time work in several New England systems. It’s a perfect transition from early retirement to “real retirement.” Change is good, he says. He and Pauline have bought a home in Sun City MacDonald Ranch, a retirement community very popular in the Southwest. There’s never a shortage of things to do in Las Vegas and, after many years in the Northeast, it’s a pleasure to see snow in the mountains (where it belongs!), never on the ground in their high-desert community. They still get back to their summer home at Point Sebago Golf and Beach Resort in Casco. They look forward to hearing from and seeing touring classmates and are planning to attend the Reunion…. Jackv and Jane Lysaght DeGange also say life is good. Jane has spent 10 years in two places (either side of nearly two years in North Carolina) as executive director of David’s House, the home-away-from-home for families with children being treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Jane was the original director when David’s House first opened in Hanover in l986. When she returned from Charlotte in 1991, her successor had resigned so she was rehired just in time to play a major role in the campaign that raised more than $2 million to build a new David’s House, now located adjacent to the also-new DHMC that moved from Hanover to Lebanon in 1991. In the same year Jack planned to start a communications consulting business, but the plan was interrupted by six-plus years as director of publications for Dartmouth’s 1991-1997 capital campaign that raised $558 million. Now he’s building Jade Communications, which offers PR and marketing communications services to business, education, and nonprofit clients…. Fred Drayton sends greetings from the other side of the workaday world. After 36 years and four months, he exited his federal government career. He took one day off and the next day incorporated himself as president, CEO, and sole employee of Drayton Communications Inc. Now he works more hours than ever, but loves it at least twice as much. He leads communications workshops and focus groups, designs and develops logos, coaches speakers, does radio voiceovers, and publishes educational story and coloring books intended for kids ages 6 to 9 and designed to teach valuable life lessons. He hopes all ’59ers are well and using their lives and later years to make the world a better place…. Billie Dufton Corning retired on April 1, 1997, and on the fifth moved to Cypress Lakes, Fla., a retirement community of manufactured homes that boasts two great golf courses, pool, tennis, and all the amenities. Each day is a joy, she says…. Harry Goff has started counting the months instead of the years until retirement. This year’s plans include Phoenix, New Orleans, Scottsdale, Nebraska, Hawaii, and Boise as a beginning….David Harper is now in his 16th year as maintenance carpenter for the very progressive Syracuse Housing Authority, but he’ll definitely retire within two years, if not sooner, to pursue more pressing interests in environmental sculpture, autobiographical writing, family genealogy, outdoor activities, and travel with Sue to the extent of their energy, time, and means…. Fully retired now, Burt Harris has been working on various projects for Bates. It’s been very rewarding, he says. (And we know Bates has benefited considerably from Burt’s contributions.) He looks forward to Reunion ’99 and seeing all of us again…. On Palm Sunday 1997, Dwight Haynes reached another life goal: 10,000 miles on his 23-year-old three-speed bicycle. But on the following Sept. 25, he was almost killed when a driver blinded by sunlight decided to turn left. Seeing him, she panicked, stepped on the accelerator, pitched him head first, and totaled his bike. His helmet was badly scraped, but it saved his life. His legs were bruised and his neck and shoulder tendons stretched, but the miracle of God’s healing allows him to continue in his inner-city parish in Manchester, N.H. Within two weeks he had a new 21-speed Schwinn Searcher and managed by year’s end to cycle 1,200 miles. Some may r ecall he was never a college jock; now he’s making up for lost time. It’s nothing for him to cycle 20 miles in about 100 minutes after Sunday supper! His mom’s his role model. At 95, she enjoys independent living in Florida, prepares her tax material for an accountant to check, and still wins most of the several bridge games she plays every week…. Mary Ann Houston Hermance says retirement is all it’s cracked up to be! The freedom to say “no” when no fits your schedule best is a great release — but it’s not so easy to say “no” enough times! She hasn’t made any commitments that require her to be in town any specific days of the week, but driving for the Cancer Society and her local senior center, as well as various volunteer jobs for her church have kept her out of trouble. The bulk of her time has been taken up with her three granddaughters and her 93-year-old mother. She misses her students and colleagues sometimes, but not the everyday hassle of teaching. Don is busy directing the church choir, writing music, and trying to get it published — no mean task! The computer has made his life easier with a program that allows him to compose directly on the screen. They look forward to Reunion 1999 and plan to be there “the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.”… Clif Jacobs underwent routine colon surgery last year and ended up with severe complications and medical bills totalling $130,000. He’s still arguing with his health insurance carrier. (He’ll show off his scars, he promises, during Reunion!) He still manages Mount Carroll Mutual Insurance Co. (27 years) and serves as choir director and organist at First Baptist Church. He and Mary Lou enjoy grandparenthood (four granddaughters)…. Anita Kastner Hotchkiss is now president of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey. Principal in the law firm of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, PC, she chairs the firm’s pharmaceutical and medical-device product liability practice group. She is also a recent member of the New Jersey Supreme Court committee on model civil jury charges…. Beverly and Jack Keigwincontinue to try to simplify their lives, but feel they’re not making much progress. She oversees their financial operations as CFO of the expanding design, construction, and development businesses, while operating her sewing school and mail-order enterprise. He’s CEO of the private sector ventures and in his 15th year as executive-in-residence at Bryant College, teaching four courses each semester at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. They’re both involved in community activities, with Beverly serving on the boards of a few nonprofits and Jack as chair of the Board of Governors of Higher Education in Rhode Island. Jennifer has joined them in heading up their commercial real-estate investments. She’s working out so well at it that rather than backing down from these activities, they’re expanding their long-term commitments. The Keigwins are especially looking forward to Reunion, when the College will celebrate their efforts to plan and support the remarkable renewal of the northeast Quad on campus (Lake Andrews and around Olin Arts Center). Jack and Beverly are especially happy to be able to celebrate with classmates…. Roger Langley takes advantage of retirement by visiting Florida’s attractions during weekdays with smaller crowds and by volunteering in a local fifth grade. In summer he returns to Camp Waziyatah in Waterford, featured in Bug Juice on the Disney Channel. He’s also planning a trip to the British Isles…. Margie and David Lowry have moved to an historic home right on the ocean in Duxbury, Mass. They take long walks along the ocean, bought a Jeep for driving onto the sand for evening picnics and sunsets, and keep a boat moored right in front of the house, all ideal for entertaining five grandkids. Retirement is looking more and more attractive, he says, though he can’t imagine anyone having a more satisfying career than he has had in public education. He may teach part time at the college level, and then there’s his ’47 Ford, plus his woodshop…. In December 1997, Marilyn Macomber Ivesretired from the state of New Hampshire and joined Chris ’58, the dog, and the cat in their new home in Winchester, Mass. Since then, she’s been trying to get settled and be a lady of leisure, aside from the usual church school class, sacred dance, and so on. She and Chris spent a week in Florida last February and a day with their daughter cutting up fallen trees at their island cottage in Maine. She spent most of July there, importing the grandchildren after she directed a week of swim camp and before and after going to Lycoming College for a convention. She and Chris hope to make the Reunion…. John “Mac” Makowsky enjoys great living in California these 15 years. Great weather, great golf, great career, great mortgage payments! Seven grandchildren live in the Bay area, and the last of three daughters married in September in an old winery. Mac’s still in the insurance business with an office in San Francisco. His firm was acquired in June 1996 by Arthur S. Gallagher Co., so he’s no longer a partner, but it’s a great company, so he has no regrets. “Hope to make Reunion!” he says…. Bob and MJ Mears MacFarlane spent the year aboard their sailing home Highland Light in Fort Lauderdale and surrounding waters. With more necessary boat gadgets installed and their courage pumped up, they plan to head back this winter to the Abacos, the rest of the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and on down the chain….Chris and Betty Cook Miller have vowed to “simplify,” but somehow they don’t seem to see that happening. In March they moved, but not a giant step, instead to a house only 2.5 miles from the old one. It has one level, slightly bigger with a larger yard. Chris is on the board of directors of the New England Collegiate Baseball League and an ardent fan of the Danbury Westerners, for whom he announces and does stats for each home game, and umpires for the Danbury Women’s Softball League. Last summer, though, he fractured his ankle. Remaining close to the children and granddaughter Alexandra’s first year has been wonderful, especially for Betty who goes up to Durham, Conn., once a week to get her baby fix. Chris is in his last year of teaching at John Jay Middle School in Katonah, N.Y., so retirement is looming ahead for June 1999. They both definitely support the Reunion plans…. Besides this Bates letter with Bud, which does her nostalgic heart good, Peggy Montgomery is also involved with starting a similar letter with 64 other retirees from John Jay High School. She volunteers on the social action/advisory committee of Women in Need, a nonprofit agency that provides temporary housing, education, and job counseling for single mothers with kids. On Friday mornings she’s helped out at the soup kitchen of the Unitarian Church of All Souls. One evening a month in her living room she hosts a support group, detailed in a short piece in The Daily News and on local Channel 11 news. She actually works a few hours a week as a staff assistant for the Caron Foundation, another non-profit in the recovery field, and for four semesters she co- coordinated a staff development course at Park West High School (50th and 10th) under the auspices of The New York City Writing Project at Lehman College/CUNY. “Going to work” on the subway to midtown is very different from hopping in the car and driving up to northern Westchester. “Once we get to 62,” she may just retire for good…. After 49 years in business,Ralph Posner closed his jewelry manufacturing company. It was emotionally difficult, but as time goes by, he realizes it was a sound decision. He’s now working in a much less stressful environment as executive VP of a large jewelry company. Getting married at 40, he says, has its benefits, but his kids are in ninth and 12th grade, so he must earn a few for c hips. He’s looking forward to the 40th and intends to come even though they closed Lewiston Raceway…. Randy andHelene Marcoux Quint plan to see us at the 40th. Helene retired from Portland public schools in June, and Randy took April, May, and June off to recover from quintuple bypass surgery. Jerry Davis was his able sub for most of that time….Betty Reid Rickey lives in Fenton, Mich., and is employed by Michigan Dyslexia Institute as a language evaluator and instructor. The work is labor intensive, but very satisfying. This past summer she spent a week at Chautauqua, which she describes as heaven…. Roberta Richards Gibson still loves going to work at Russell’s in Wayland, a garden center nearby. As a family-run business, they have created a “model” work environment where employees are proud of their work and look for ways to help each other instead of competing. The result is a harmonious atmosphere, where there’s lots to learn, amid beautiful scenery of flowers and plants. She’s also clerk of her church. Jeffry retired from Digital to do part-time consulting in public relations; then Digital (now Compaq) hired him back for a year as a consultant. Still, they both enjoy having time to do things together they’ve put off for years, like traveling up and down the East Coast, spending quiet time in Florida (and seeing the MacFarlanes), and heading out to California to visit Jill and her husband Vince in the Bay area. Jaralyn has stayed in the Saratoga Springs area to do political work, teach riding, and train horses…. Ronnie Scudder Harrold says she and Ray are definitely slowing down, but their daughters are in overdrive. Leslie has been appointed an assistant professor at UMass Medical School. Laurie is joining a group oncology practice in Trumbull, Conn. Lynne is taking graduate computer courses, while working days as a market research analyst…. Barbara Smith McIntosh spent Christmas ’97 and some weeks in January and February in Connecticut when Ken’s mom passed away, so they never headed south. Instead, after almost 40 years, Barb tried skiing again. It came back easily, and the new skis are so much easier than those long, wooded ones she used at Sugarloaf. They were back in Connecticut in June for a family reunion, and then joined friends for the B&B route through Scotland in September….Jan Spiers Forsman spent her annual week on the Isles of Shoals in June at the Natural History Conference with a bunch of savvy, unpretentious folks who like life at an old New England hotel 10 miles out at sea. She still keeps an eye on her 90-year-old mother, who insists on living alone. Because of the damage to her trees during January’s ice storm, Jan’s garden got more hours of summer sunshine, but she didn’t think of that when her basement family room was full of water, the woodstove was awash, and the days were short, dark, and cold. She’s winding down her responsibilities at Clinton Community College by handing over the writing program to a colleague and limiting her committee work. It will be good, she says, to be able to teach an elective, American Literature I, again, along with her usual sections of comp and technical writing…. Dave and Susan Stewart have spent two and a half years building and living in a log home in the Wildcat Hills in the panhandle of Nebraska. They’re about eight miles from Gering and have deer, wild turkeys, rabbits, owls, and the usual varmints like prairie rattlers as regular guests on their land. Their four children have provided five beautiful grandchildren that they visit in Mesa, Ariz., as often as possible. They plan to be in Lewiston in June 1999…. In January 1997, Sue Stoliker Goulding‘s lifestyle took a dramatic change when she and her husband decided to go on the road as fulltime RVers, selling their Southwick, Mass., home, putting memorabilia in storage, and becoming gypsies. They began their odyssey in Florida for the winter, returned to New England for the summer, and then headed West for leisurely travel down the Washington and Oregon coast and a winter in Southern California and Arizona. Sue says it’s marvelous to explore this wonderful country and savor the national parks, rugged mountains, and desert out West. They came back to New England briefly for the summer and are back in Florida. “Pretty great to be able to retire early. We are looking forward to Reunion.”… Bob and Joan Child Tinklepaugh are still in New Hampshire, still solvent, and still married. Joan’s busy as town historian; last year she wrote Hollis Family Album: Folk Tales and Family Trees of the First Settlers in Hollis. Bob’s busy with investments/stock market. Their kids are doing fine: Ellen is into computers and Andrew is a CPA. Joan and Bob are aging gracefully, they say, and travel every year, more like laid back vacations on the beach…. In December 1996, after 33 years as an economist/statistician with Edison Electric Institute in New York and D.C., Carl Tobie was terminated and moved to Santa Fe in April 1997 with James, his partner of 28 years. Great place to retire, he says; weather is varied and moderate, the Rockies are beautiful, culture is rich, and rents and food are cheaper than the East Coast. He’s looking forward to Reunion…. Nancy Tyler Harris says things are pretty much the same for her andKenneth ’58. She’s still working as a secretary in the Department of Government and Public Affairs at Slippery Rock, and Kenneth is still chair of the theater department, but they’re beginning to count the months/few years until retirement. Kenneth was part of a group to Japan this summer, and Nancy took vacation time around the edges. David was married in May, and Jennifer has gone back to school to get certified as a special- ed teacher, inspired by daughter Claire, who’s doing fairly well…. Charlie Updegraph lost his job in September 1997 after 24 years, but was really lucky at our age to get three offers within a few weeks. He’s now selling the same product in New York and Long Island, rather than Jersey, and managing an organ showroom for a large keyboard company, Frank and Camille’s. With many professional memberships, he was recently awarded lifetime membership in the American Guild of Organists for serving 15 years as treasurer. And he went to three choral festivals in England in July 1997, his 10th such trip. He’s really looking forward to Reunion, too…. While browsing through the Bates Web site, Clark Whelton came across a page for the Bobcats’ Ultimate Frisbee team. He immediately e-mailed a player and asked if he’d like to hear Clark’s version of how frisbee came to Bates 1956. The player said, “Sure.” See this issue’s On and Off Campus section for the details…. John and Joan Williams Lepper are still rearing grandchildren. Erinn is 13 and Emily 11. They are on the road all week long with school activities, softball, and gymnastics. Since John is running for his third term in the Massachusetts Legislature, Joan’s role is to get sales for their jewelry factory. She travels fairly often and finds it challenging but exhausting at shows standing for hours and hauling heavy duffel bags. An important new discovery: much business can be conducted on-line!… See you all in June. Anybody else who remembers us, come on back, too!