Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

40 SCOPE FALL 2018 beautiful garden and bees! Mary Burge Pearcy writes, “Reunion was fabulous!” Since then she has been enjoying her morning coffee in her big white Skidmore mug, working in her garden and horseback riding in the Aiken, S.C., woods. She and husband Steve are cruising along the Alaskan coast be- fore continuing on to Tokyo. Niki Holbrook Sabbath continues to be “too busy” in retirement. At work on a ge- nealogy project, she expects to have a booklet ready by Christmas. She spent a week in North Carolina with her older daughter, and in April she welcomed a new grandson, who is thriving. Niki says, “It’s fantastic to see the world through children’s eyes.” Her other grandchil- dren are 6 and 4. She and husband Larry are doing a fall cruise from Budapest to Prague. Reunion attendee Jeanne Shipp Waldinger hopes we all remain inspired to stay in touch in person and elec- tronically. Stefanie Newton Matteson ’s work at MDI Bio- logical Laboratory in Bar Har- bor, Maine, keeps her very busy, but she makes time for mini-reunions. In July she got together with Renee Akel Rosebrook, Joan Low Ham- mond and Cathy Traber Ruff in southern Maine. A few weeks later, Jeanne and Stefanie had a terrific time exploring Stonington, Conn., and Deer Isle, Maine. In August Jeanne and husband Peter met up in Saratoga with Ellen Rosen Wolfson and her husband Michael for a SPAC performance. They also had the pleasure of spending time with Andrea Fenton Campbell and Bill. Judy Schapiro Yogman and husband Bob recently “through-hiked” the Cohos Trail in northern New Hampshire. “It was hard but beautiful, especially in the Connecticut Lakes region,” according to Judy. She en- joys playing the ukulele with others in southern Vermont. Sadly, I must report the death of Marilyn Miller Colvin in 2014 . She had lived in Cali- fornia for many years. I thoroughly enjoyed Re- union, although I was not there very long. My grand- daughter graduated from high school that Saturday, so I had to leave early for Baltimore. The weekend was filled with “planes, trains and automobiles,” but I was able to reconnect with old friends and enjoy the company of new ones. Dorothy Kanrich Sandford sscott106@aol.com ’69 REUNION ’19 In February I met up and traveled with Barbie Herbert von der Groeben in Santa Fe and Taos, N.M. While there, I managed to slip on a patch of unseen ice and broke my arm and wrist, resulting in a trip back home, surgery, casts and splints, and physical therapy. My post-surgery visitors included Barbie in March and Laura “Lolly” Dubinett in April. As John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.” Charlene D’Avanzo is excited to announce the publication of Secrets Haunt the Lobsters’ Sea , the third of her Mara Tusconi mysteries about the adventures of a Maine oceanographer with a passion for exploring the unknown . A marine ecolo- gist herself, Charlene writes “climate fiction” to help read- ers understand the impact of climate change through fast- paced, exciting narratives with empathetic characters. The series is available at www.charlenedavanzo.com . Charlene lives, writes and sea-kayaks in Yarmouth, Maine, with her husband, John. Planning for our 50th reunion began in earnest in July. Please mark your calendars for May 30 to June 2, 2019, and look for updated infor- mation on www.skidmore. edu/reunion. I hope to see many of you there! I am saddened to learn that Deborah Hall Shapiro passed away in 2016. Our belated, but sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to Debbie’s family and friends. Carol A. Bogardus mscarolab@gmail.com ’70 Judith Chaffee hosted Stephanie Martini and Pam Kerr Frothingham for a July mini-reunion and 70th birthday bash at her home on Plum Island, Mass. “Pam, Steph and I had a lovely afternoon catching up with pictures, conversations and many laughs about college memories.” Steph, who was visiting family on the East Coast, lives in Leeds, Utah, and recently married her longtime partner Kjeld Jensen. Together they’ve enjoyed traveling to Africa, New Zealand and Central Europe, among other places. Pam lost her husband, David, to cancer a few years ago and is finally retiring from Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont, where she was director of retail/rental operations. She enjoys traveling, skiing and hiking with her children. Judy retired three years ago after 41 years of teaching dance and theater at Boston University. Her partner, Pete Wishnok, just concluded his career as a research scientist at MIT. Judy has been busy choreographing, directing, acting and traveling when not walking the beach on Plum Island. She would love to connect with classmates in the Boston area. Happy birthday to all of us who are turning 70 this year! Barbara Crossman Bell bici@twcny.rr.com ’71 Greetings from Vienna, Va., where I’m enjoying my grandchildren (now in first and fourth grades). As I helped my daughter Kimberly Davidson Young ’04 prepare for a party, she didn’t care for the channel I had on in her kitchen, and she asked Alexa to tune to a different station. The first song took me back to our freshman year: “Though I know I’ll never lose affection/ For people and things that went before/I know I’ll often stop and think about them/In my life, I love you more.” Both generations love the Beatles, and Kimberly and I both treasure our time at Skid- more—“the people and things that went before.” Jill Wertheimer Rifkin retired after 25 years as an independent college counselor but increased her volunteer hours, which keeps her “reasonably sane and very happy.” As chair of Instruments for Children, a program affiliated with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Jill seeks out used instruments that are given to school students who can’t afford them. Thus far, 81 instruments have been collected, enabling the recipi- ents to play in their schools’ orchestras or bands. Alumni in Albany, Schenectady or Rensselaer can donate in- struments by contacting her at jrrif@aol.com . Jill is also teaching a delightful 74-year- old refugee from Liberia to read, tutoring in an Albany elementary school, and serv- ing on the board of Grassroot Givers, which has donated 240,000 books to adults and children in need. She says her husband, Richard, “shares my dual passions for biking (he’s near expert and I’m sort of passable) and classical music.” They spend lots of time with their three grandchildren (ages 3, 2 and 3 months), who “make us laugh and are nestled forever in our hearts.” Retired from the office of legal counsel for Dane County, Wisconsin, where she lives, Molly Plunkett says, “My hobbies have run amok: pottery, bonsai, clocks, memoir writing group, book club and chick- ens. On the side I serve on some boards and write grant applications.” She attended her “one and only reunion in 2016 and connected with English professor Ralph Ciancio thanks to Nancy Schwerzler, who keeps in touch with him.” Two of Molly’s daughters and one granddaughter met with her in D.C. for the January 2017 Women’s March, “which was a magical event.” Her young- est child “has left the launch pad, although ‘launch’ may be too strong a description.” C L A S S N O T E S