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1961

Sandy Weisman Sheppard
j.sheppard@comcast.net

Helen Illingworth Challenger and husband Dave took a boat trip along the Rhine, Mainz, and Danube, and later a barge trip through Provence in France. Helen attended her 50th high-school reunion in Maplewood, NJ, where she saw Gail Rosevear Drawbaugh. The following week Helen and Dave drove north and were delighted at how Saratoga has come to life. They loved seeing the new campus and the old one—including her dorm, Ross House, which has been transformed into an attractive condo, and Furness House, now a bed and breakfast. They visited Congress Park, the spas, Saratoga Battlefield, and Pennell’s Restaurant, close to the racetrack. Helen plans to visit the spa baths during our 50th. She has recently enjoyed chatting with Joan Hobbie French and Meredyth Clark Graham and visited Ginny Merola Carter in Hilton Head, SC.

Jacki Jung had a wonderful visit last fall with Jane Perlis Ambrose at her home outside of Burlington, VT. Jane took Jacki on a tour of the huge UVM campus, the city, and the nearby islands.

In March Alice Chase Kaufman spent two weeks in Japan, where she gave a lecture on Navajo blankets and rugs to the Japan-American Women’s Club in Tokyo. While there she attended opening day of the American League baseball season, when the Boston Red Sox played the Oakland A’s at Tokyo Dome.

Julie Burger Pierson and husband Stewart thought they were retiring 10 years ago when they left Cleveland and returned to Julie’s home state of Vermont. Stewart returned to half-time work in the Burlington area, and Julie is using her clinical social-work skills volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and helping seniors and the disabled stay in their homes with HomeShare Vermont. The Piersons enjoy walks in the woods behind their home with their dogs, and visiting their seven grandchildren. Their children live in Boston and St. Louis; the family gets together for several weeks each summer in Deer Isle, ME, at their “off-the-grid” cottage on Penobscot Bay. Julie says, “Life is very good, our health holds up thus far, and we are mighty grateful. I look forward to hearing news from our class as we approach our 50th.”

Susan Stark Match and husband Ron moved to Vero Beach, FL, and live around the corner from their older daughter and family. They feel blessed to be a part of the lives of their 13-year-old grandchildren, Charlotte and William. At a recent Skidmore club event in Vero, the twins and Susan joined Eleanor MacGregor Eades to greet Skidmore President Phil Glotzbach and hear the Bandersnatchers. They were impressed hearing about the amazing progress of Skidmore, academically and structurally, and Susan notes, “What a true gem Skidmore has in the Tang Museum.” Daughter Laura Match Schaffer ’89 lives in Providence, RI. Susan and Ron spend June through October in Salisbury, CT. Says Susan, “Life has dealt us some good hands and some not-so-good hands, but all in all, we are grateful every day.”

Joyce Kawamoto Feldhaus and husband Dan are both retired, and besides the old-age aches and pains, they are basically healthy. They enjoy their 7-year-old grandson and do a lot of traveling, including cruises to Alaska, Europe, and Mexico—“a fun way to travel at our age.”

London, England, resident Betsy Hodson Dare had a rough time going through her fifties. She divorced and then lost her adored son Johnny. Betsy is now blessed with her daughter’s three adorable and funny little girls. “It’s so much easier to be a good grandmother than a good mother,” she observes. Betsy has done a lot of traveling but is now tightening her belt as the dollar drops daily against the pound and the Euro. She says she plays bad golf, paints bad pictures, reads good books, and generally loves her life now, if not her age! Contact Betsy if you want to rent a house in the south of France.

Mickey Mannion Baruzzi’s husband, Peter, exhibited recent works at the Captiva Island Community Center gallery, a new beginning for the Baruzzis as Peter is recuperating from extended period of serious health problems. They have been in Florida for several winters and see Sandy Weisman Sheppard, Paula Rosen Janis, and Margie Wood while there. Mickey’s children are scattered all over the globe: Dan on the Big Island of Hawaii, Derek in Hollywood, working in the movie industry, and Michaela in New York State. They all gather on Cape Cod during the summer, but it’s still not enough time to watch the four grandchildren grow!

Sandy Weisman Sheppard’s husband Jack’s kidney function improved enough so that they could go on a tour of Costa Rica. They returned to a less stressful life in Florida, with lots of golf and friends, and attended Peter Baruzzi’s art exhibition, which consisted of 6-foot totems of the human figure in black and white. They enjoyed seeing Mickey and Peter, who has made a good recovery from an illness. The Sheppards returned to idyllic Vermont in May.

Paula Rosen Janis has been in touch with quite a few Skidmore friends and just got reconnected with her old pal Margie Levin Millman. They knew each other in first grade and were roommates senior year at Skidmore. They reconnected at their 50th high-school reunion and now e-mail all the time. Paula and husband Paul attended Ellen Rein Goldin’s husband Joel’s recent birthday party, and they also regularly see Mickey Mannion Baruzzi and Peter, and Judy Brown Tulchin. The Janises are renovating a house on a little lake in the middle of White Plains, NY, and are loving life with a water view and being near the city. They traveled to China and Japan last summer. Between the two of them, they have six children and six grandchildren. Musician and educator Paula and co-star Carole Demas will release a DVD, Best of the Magic Garden Collection, late this year. The duo starred in the highly acclaimed and popular TV show, which enjoyed a 12-year run on WPIX-TV in NYC. Paula hopes to bring the show to a new generation of youngsters. For more information, visit www.caroleandpaula.com.

Ellen Rein Goldin’s husband Joel celebrated his 70th birthday. Son Edward is a dentist and practices with Joel in NYC. He and wife Sarah live in nearby Armonk with children Brooke, 4, and Harry, 2. Son Spencer ’93 is marketing manager for beverage company Hint Inc. in NYC. Ellen is busy with French lessons and bridge. She also has a volunteer job leading a book club for homebound blind and elderly people. After listening to books on tape, the group meets via telephone conference call. Ellen keeps in touch with Reina Gothelf Reisler, Alice Chase Kaufman, Joni Horowitz Behr, and Paula Rosen Janis.

Cookie Rapoport Thier is a consultant, executive coach, and facilitator, bringing her in contact with all sorts of interesting people and organizations. She also does pro-bono work for a world human-rights organization. Cookie and her significant other, Ken van der Laan, did a house exchange in Melbourne, Australia, for a month. They also took Cookie’s two oldest grandchildren, ages 8 and 6, on their first camping expedition to Death Valley, CA, for three nights. Cookie saw Joan Horowitz Behr and husband Dick when they were in Boulder for Judy Brown Tulchin’s daughter’s wedding. Cookie sees Val Blumenthal Gordon when she visits her son in D.C.; he works for the US Institute of Peace. Cookie hears from Mary Jane Dolbear Banks and Linda Speer Diez.

I heard from college roommate Jerry Conley Richmond in Hawaii. After 14 years enjoying husband Henry’s foreign-service career postings, the couple returned to Hawaii in 2002, where Jerry resumed her work in Montessori education, rejoining the faculty at Chaminade University part-time. In addition to being active in the Montessori teacher-training program, she now directs an ongoing mission education and teacher-exchange program. She has taken a group of teachers to Cebu City, Philippines, to give teacher workshops and do field work with several outreach programs in impoverished communities. Jerry gets great satisfaction from this work, second only to the joy of being a grandmother to two spirited children, ages 5 and 2.

Pam White Leighton spent a week in Honduras in February with a small group from her church. They were at Our Little Roses Mission in San Pedro Sula, which cares for 75 girls and young women, ages 3 to 22, who have been physically abused. “It was an incredible experience that brought the true meaning of giving of oneself to those less fortunate girls,” says Pam. “The girls were happy and full of hope in this wonderful place that teaches them to succeed and believe in themselves.” The group lived in a walled area bordered by the worst slums, under 24-hour armed guard. Volunteering has always been the cornerstone of Pam’s life, but this experience surpassed anything she had ever done.

In January Brenda Giombetti Darcey traveled to California, where she saw Kris Holst Whitsett, Mary Pierce Riney, and Anna Karp Gray. All are well and are at various stages of grandparenting. “There is nothing like old friends,” says Brenda. She and Dick had a recent trip to Italy to see son James and his family, with some side trips. The Darceys spend busy summers at their Maine cottage.

Ginny Merola Carter keeps up with Helen Illingworth Challenger, Joan Allen Croce, and Dottie Albright Lynn. Ginny enjoyed her 50th high-school reunion. She and Ted have made Reston, VA, their home for 35 years, 17 of them stationed in South Korea, Egypt, Pakistan, and Barbados, with the foreign service. They built a retirement home in Hilton Head, SC, and spend two weeks a month there enjoying golf, kayaking, biking, and birding. The Carters can’t make the move to Hilton Head permanent, as they have three married children, spouses, and eight grandchildren within five minutes of their Virginia house. Since Ted retired in 1993, they have been to Scandinavia, Romania (where their daughter was working), Hungary, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Nova Scotia, and Alaska. Ginny, who plays lots of tennis, says that “retirement is the best stage of live.”

Joni Horowitz Behr and Dick vacationed in Tucson, AZ, this past winter. They had such a good time with Linda Brafman Berke that Joan met her in Saratoga in April when Linda was there visiting her daughter. They connected with Jacki Jung and Carol Kaspin Polacsek, met with alumni-affairs staffers at Skidmore, and checked out what was blooming on campus. Another mini Skidmore get-together included Joni Behr, Judy Tulchin, Barbara Ruth, and Pam Leighton. They visited the Cecelia Beaux exhibit at the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Frida Kahlo show at the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Joan Beckwith Braffet and husband Mickey love living in The Villages in Florida. They are active with golf, bridge, mahjongg, bocce, yoga, etc. Their daughter married a Scotsman and is living in Prague, Czechoslovakia, with their 2-year-old son. Joan and Mickey visited them over Thanksgiving and then spent Christmas in Austin, TX, with daughter Cathy and three grandchildren.

Claire Hawkins Seaquist sends her greetings from Nantucket. She knows that many of us have been grand supporters of Skidmore, and looking back on the richness of those years, she appreciates that kind of loyalty.

After losing my husband, Alan, in 2006 I have been so grateful to have 20-month-old granddaughter Nora only five miles away in Old Town, Alexandria. I’m fortunate to have a network of close friends and family and activities that have kept me going during this challenging transition. My favorite journey with Alan was the three weeks we spent in the Balkans in 2005. We stayed with a family in Sarajevo, with whom my son lived in the ’90s when he was doing election supervision. I see Debbie Martin Grabner at our semi-annual meeting of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration. And each summer I catch up with Mary Campbell Paddon at her summer home in northern Michigan. Last summer I had a fun visit from Margot Folsom O’Neal and husband Jim. Margot was in Ann Arbor for her 50th high-school reunion. We had not seen each other for 47 years but had exchanged lots of Christmas cards. I went to my own 50th high-school reunion last October and saw Nancy Stevenson.