Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

42 SCOPE FALL 2018 featured member of a Mis- souri Geologists Association field trip. Anne Blodget Holberton ’s summer was a whirlwind of hosting kids and grandkids at her lakeside home in Wolfe- boro, N.H. She also joined several neighbors in support- ing the community watershed and saving a large parcel on the lake. Anne and husband Philip managed to enter their black Lab, JB, in an annual dock-diving competition, in which the old guy never missed a beat, although Anne thinks she has! She wants ev- eryone to start thinking about our 50th reunion: let’s stay connected as we plan for the big event in June 2023. Doug Gray is working with choreographer Twyla Tharp (his old boss from the ’80s), producing her latest work, Minimalism and Me, at New York’s Joyce Theatre Nov. 13 to Dec. 9 and at Boston’s ICA Dec. 12 to 16. Minimalism and Me is a retrospective of Tharp’s first nine works, eight of which were performed in silence; the ninth features the Petula Clarke song Downtown . In addition to archival video and drawings from Tharp’s notebooks, the evening presents six of her dancers along with 12 supernumeraries, nondanc- ers selected from the general public. Skidmore’s alumni office and regional groups in NYC and Boston have been encouraging Skidmore alumni to apply as “supers,” and our own Nancy Roten- berg Peterson was the first to do so. Zoë Morsette received a beautiful crystal Local Legend Award for her “talent, dedication and contribution to the Long Island City artistic community.” She delivered a huge set piece (props on wheels) for The Cher Show that previewed in Chicago this summer and then heads to Broadway for a Dec. 1 opening. While cleaning up after the job, Zoë fell and broke her right hand—she was undergoing surgery when she should have been at our 45th reunion! She is recovering and is beginning to work again. The August issue of Stage Directions magazine featured her in “Fur, Foam and Focus: In the Shop with Props Fabricator Zoë Morsette.” She is back- ing working on props for the Puerto Rico production of Hamilton . Cheryl Bonini Ellis is “so sorry to have missed Reunion.” She moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., last year and moved her 92-year-old dad into an independent-living facility there. She did get to the Saratoga Racecourse in August (she hasn’t missed a year since 1973) and at- tended a Skidmore workshop for fundraisers, followed by lunch with Tina Vigeland Ashton . “It was great fun.” Cheryl is already looking forward, although in awe, to our 50th. Lynn Faught received an Outstanding Service Award at the awards ceremony dur- ing Reunion. Our dedicated class historian for the past 20 years, Lynn has held many other Skidmore volunteer roles. She served as co- president of the local alumni group in two different cities, “both times before I had even finished unpacking.” Our class made sure to let Lynn and the ceremony audience know how proud we are by cheering the loudest and longest! Six classmates had works selected for Reunion’s Alumni Art Exhibition. Their pieces showed talent, creativity and much effort. Congratulations and thank you to Cynthia May, Nancy Meeker, Kathie Chwals Milligan, Zoë Vose Morsette, Jennifer Pearman Lammer and Nancy Katsin Stabler . I know that many of us were beaming to see our class so well represented at the show. Cynthia May says she met “the love of my life.” We had the pleasure of meeting her husband, Paul, at Reunion. To top it off, Cynthia’s son Alex just got married. Huge kudos to our hospitality chairs Timi Carter and Susie Lesser for coming up with our newest tie-dye adventure. First we creatively colored sneakers and then went for our hair (including beards) with crayons. Everyone was taking pictures of our very colorful crew as we prepared and marched in the Parade of Classes. Timi and Susie also created a jigsaw puzzle of places and events important to our student days in Sara- toga (think Tin and Lint). What fun and what memories we all shared! On the bus tour of Skidmore’s old-campus buildings, Hollis A. Palmer regaled us with stories of the folks who built and owned some of the Vic- torian homes that we lived in and walked by in our student days. Hollis transported us back in time to the late 1800s and early 1900s. My dog Rosie was asked to audition some of her tricks for the entertainment portion of a special event at the Strana- han Theater, a venue for tour- ing Broadway shows. Among her tricks are standing on two legs and pushing a grocery cart, rolling over and covering herself with a blanket, salut- ing and taking a bow. Joanne Rubin jrubin610@aol.com ’74 REUNION ’19 Helen Susan Edelman happily writes that life for her is going well. There have been two weddings in 12 months, and the universe has blessed her family with two wonderful granddaughters. (She is sparing us the “kvelling”; however, if you’d like more details, she’d be happy to share!) She still lives in Saratoga Springs, works as a writer and travels to beautiful places with her life partner. In her words, it’s more than she would have dared to ask for. Excelsior! Wendy Hamilton shares her good news first: Grandson No. 2 arrived in April! His proud parents are on the faculty at Bowdoin College. Her not-so-good news: After a crew worked full time for one year and three days to restore her new brown- stone in Boston, the house (except for the bricks) was destroyed in a fire in April. Wendy’s belongings had already been moved in, as she was planning to move in June. Although this has been a hard hit to take, she says that, being “a stubborn goat,” she is already rebuilding, because this house is a long- held dream of hers. Ellen Miller-Wolfe joined Nan Rosen Statton and Kim McClain at Tanglewood this summer for beautiful New England scenery, music, friends and family. Good for the soul! Nancy Garran is executive director of the Cape Cod Sea Camps family business, celebrating its 97th camping season with approximately 380 overnight campers, 320 day-campers and 250 staff. Nancy’s husband, David Peterson, and her two sons and their wives all work together in the busi- ness. She writes that she is blessed with five grand- children under the age of 5 who hang out at the camp as well. In the offseason the family recruits campers and staff, in addition to traveling to places on their “bucket list.” If any classmate is ever on Cape Cod, she would welcome your visit. Ellen Young Hug writes that her husband, Marty, retired this year, and they celebrated with a cruise to the Panama Canal. They are now building their retirement home in Spring Mill, Pa., and hope to move in by Thanksgiving. She sends her best to all. Kathy Corsale D’Appolonia retired in 2016 after a career in academics and banking and hasn’t looked back since. She recently joined several classmates for an exciting weekend in Sara- toga to begin planning for our 45th reunion. Kathy says that both the campus and the town of Saratoga look great! She looks forward to seeing many of our class next year. Kate Ferris is ecstatic about being retired! Living a mile from Skidmore “as the crow flies,” she intends to spend more time there. She re- cently began reunion plan- ning (for the “20th anniver- sary of our 25th reunion”) and was happy to have Vicki Greene Aldrich, Ellen Brickman, Kathy Corsale D’Appolonia, Nancy Haas Geyer, Denise Marcil, Stef- fenie Oliver Kirkpatrick and Emily Pavlovic Chiles participate. Kate saw Catherine Stroup on Cape Cod in the spring. She is looking forward to Reunion! We extend our sincere C L A S S N O T E S