Class Secretary: Jean Lombard Dyer, 6 Western Landing Rd., Chebeague Island, ME 04017

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

Next Reunion in 2008. Got news? Tap out a note to magazine@bates.edu! In early October, Dick Becker flew down to Orlando, Fla., for a reunion of the 460 Bomb Group H. He writes, “These were the guys that I flew with in B24s during World War II. It was exciting since we hadn’t seen each other since we left Italy and six of the surviving seven members of our crew attended.”… Betty Bliss Gargio celebrated another birthday recently but says, “I still feel 81, not 82!”… Douglas Borden had a heart attack last spring and, feeling helpless, they sold their house and moved to a retirement community. “We thought we had at least a year to dispose of our furniture, books, files, and things we cherish,” he writes, “but we only had a few weeks. I have slowly recovered, am feeling fine and have one suggestion: that you don’t give up your house too soon. We do not like communal eating. We don’t like apartment living with no storage.”… On the other hand, Norm Boyan and Pril find everything about living in a retirement community much to their liking — well, almost everything. Evidently the food is a bit “institutional” at times…. Weston Cate Jr. serves on the executive committee of the Vermont State Retired Teachers Assn. and the Community of Vermont Elders, and writes occasional op-ed pieces for the local daily…. Gil Center volunteers at the New Hampshire Historical Society, more sporadically than he wants, and is also involved in the Main Street Program for which Laconia, N.H., has been selected. Marge Cahall Center is interested in the centenary of the landmark Gale Memorial Library, which she served for nearly half of that time…. Gordon Corbett has revised his book, Descendents of Robert Corbett. The first edition was published in 1995 and had 3,000 descendents — the revision has more than 4,000…. Edith Dahlgren Cruise has moved to an independent living retirement home where her sister, Helen, lives…. Mary Derderian Brown and Jim have moved to a retirement village near their two daughters in New Jersey. Unfortunately, Jim had to enter the nursing facility almost immediately and has been there since March 2002. Mary visits at least twice a day. “Since we are so close to where both of our daughters live, they visit at least once a week, giving us the added pleasure of seeing our New Jersey granddaughter grow up,” she says…. George Menger-Hammond and Eva have moved to a downtown Portland, Ore., condominium on the 24th floor of a 30-story building. They like the convenience of all the theaters, and George is taking an acting course. He maintains contact with the chemists at Portland State Univ. as well as with Bowling Green State Univ. in Ohio, the latter by teleconference…. Although retired, Francis Jones still teaches a bit at the Univ. of Tennessee, and does other assorted tasks, such as working on the pathology department Web pages. He says, “If I’m not playing tennis, I’m probably working in the garden growing impatiens, or designing Web pages.”… Jean Lombard Dyer enjoys working with Casco Bay Island Development Assn. and the Estuary program. She’s working to save the program from a total budget cut. She is chair of the administrative council at her church, and organist…. Samuel and Jane White Stoddard saw their first puffins on a boat trip out of New Harbor. In September, they climbed Mount Willard in New Hampshire, revealing a spectacular view looking down Crawford Notch…. Nancy Terry Park does a lot of walking, bridge playing, and is “still able to chirp a few notes in my barbershop quartet and the church choir.”… Minert (Tommy) Thompson and Betty say they visited everything Paris had to offer, but, adds Tommy, “I do believe I’ve seen enough cathedrals, museums, monuments, and bridges to last me for a while.”