Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

29 SKIDMORE COLLEGE ’43 Your class correspon- dent was the sole member of our shrinking class who attended our 75th reunion. I went because my four years on the old campus were the happiest and best of my life. I enjoyed my “last fling” touring the gorgeous new campus. Friendly students were constantly at the ready to transport us anywhere we wanted to go in golf carts. These student drivers represented their fellows wonderfully; they were smart, lively and happy. The dinners were absolutely fabulous. All told, it was a perfect weekend, for which I thank everyone who helped with the planning! Mary Sinon Sayer 99sayer@gmail.com ’48 I am delighted to serve as 1948 class correspon- dent, picking up the torch passed on by outgoing scribe Gretchen Eisner Rachlin . All of us are grateful to Gretchen for her exceptional work collecting and sharing classmate news. Let’s keep it going! There were seven of us at Reunion, accompanied by two granddaughters and a son and daughter, all of whom joined in the fun! At- tendees were Helen Wigand Bolton, Gloria D’Aiello Wehle, Pat Malmar Almond, Mary Jane Baker Macart- ney, Elouise Kenworthy Spelbrink, Bernice Warr Wil- liams , and yours truly. I received an Outstanding Service Award, and Billie Stein Tisch was honored with the Jacqueline M. Jung ’61 Lifetime Service Award. (Billie’s son Andrew ac- cepted the award on behalf of his mother.) We enjoyed a lovely tea hosted by Skidmore’s inaugural Class of ’48 Professor of Excellence, Pat Fehling. Her succes- sor, Susan Kress, joined us for dinner at the beautifully restored Surrey Williamson Inn across the street from campus. During the week- end, I happened to chat with a young alumnus, who told me his great-aunt was a former chair of the Theater Department and his mother was Beatrice Reed ’50 , with whom I became very good friends at Skidmore. What a small world and a wonderful experience! MJ Macartney shared her impressions of the week- end. “Among the ’48ers at Reunion were the infamous ‘Libby House Gang’: Pat Almond, Bernice Williams, Elouise Spelbrink and me! Chauffeured in golf carts by friendly students, we marveled at the new campus, enjoyed fine food and drink, and made new friends. In short, we were thoroughly spoiled and loved every minute!” Gloria D’Aiello Wehle adds, “The school planned so many great events and lovely dinners! Being with alumni who attended Skidmore in my era or close to it was fun. I especially liked getting to know ‘new’ members of my class and others! I enjoyed spending time on the new campus, and exhibiting my artwork at the Tang Museum was so very special. My granddaughter Abigail, who accompanied me for the weekend, loved the experi- ence, too!” Our Hawaiian classmate, Aileen Kwock Char, wants to thank Gretchen Eisner Rachlin for faithfully serving us as scribe for many years. “Mahalo!” Muriel Grossman Kaufer moved to an independent liv- ing community in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Zilpha Slosson Erskine grandotse@gmail.com ’49 REUNION ’19 Leah Cunning- ham Wood asked her son, Charles, to inform us that her eyesight is quite bad. She is thankful and happy to be residing in a nice Acts retirement community in Boca Raton, Fla. Leah moved there last summer with her family’s help. Jane Robertson Kalisch can’t believe she is 90. Husband Bob passed away five years ago. She lives in a top-notch facility, and her son calls her from California three times a day; he visits every six weeks. She is also close to her youngest nephew, who is going through a divorce. Jane loves singing in the choir. She sends her love to all. Kay Christie Shaw is especially glad to be in a residence with a full electric generator: she is “ready for all storms and blackouts.” Edi Neimark slipped in February and separated her shoulder. Six weeks after it was screwed back, she was out of the sling. She warns everyone that old people break very easily when they fall. Be careful! Alex Ordway Bjorklund is still living a mile from where she grew up, in White Bear Lake, Minn., in a “very clut- tered house.” She spends time over the winter in Carefree, Ariz. She would love to see anyone traveling her way. Alice Ziegler Bomer has five great-grands. The last was a boy who weighed in at 8 pounds. She hopes to meet him soon. Although she has had three strokes, Alice still lives in her own apartment in a retirement community. Marjorie Fee Neff thought her home in Tryon, N.C., was in a safe place. But after 6 inches of rain in two hours produced 55 mudslides in the area, she is no longer so sure. Marge enjoyed travel- ing with friends to South Carolina to visit Revolu- tionary War sites and then toured antebellum homes in Georgia. (The International Tryon Equestrian Olympics, which typically draw about 500,000 people and horses, are held in Georgia.) Marge’s grandson Jimmy is relocating to Georgia for a job oppor- tunity. Her two great-grand- daughters live nearby. Mary Lou Woodruff Street suffered a bad stroke and is now in assisted living at Brookdale in Hyannis, Mass. She receives excellent therapy and is always up- beat, according to husband Bud. She gets around with a walker and is able to visit home in a wheelchair. She is working on getting her left arm and leg back to normal. Georganne Hinchliff Eggers says she feels fine and uses a cane occasionally. She has traveled around the country to visit her kids and feels blessed that she is so well taken care of. Georganne enjoys watching the grand- children build wonderful lives. You can reach her at theggs2@comcast.net. Martha Dunkel Chilcott had a grand celebration for her 90th on the Oregon coast. All 14 family members plus three dogs got together in two gorgeous beach homes. Dunk stays in touch with Maine resident Judith Stur- tevant Harris and Floridian Claire Schreiber Pittman , whose husband, Charles, is in a nursing home. Joanne Whiting Lenci is taking a Viking Cruise to the Baltic after a hot summer. Beverly Bernhardt Jarrett turned 91 in May — the same day doctors placed a pacemaker in her heart. Her children are now old enough to collect Social Security. Grandchildren, notes Beverly, “are the greatest invention.” Betsy Bell Condron was in a car accident in June. After weeks of treatment and therapy, she has recovered nicely, even attending a full schedule of art and music performances and history lectures. Betsy also contin- ues serving on three boards as a trustee emerita. C L A S S N O T E S Scope magazine will now be published twice a year and will include class notes. Notes will be included in Scope magazine each spring and fall, and selected class news also will be featured in the February and July issues of the Scope Monthly e-newsletter. The latest notes are at alumni.skidmore.edu/classnotes. Questions or concerns? Contact Mary Monigan, class notes editor, at 800-564-0115 or mmonigan@skidmore.edu .