Class Notes

From Betsy: Bev Bird Miller said: “In the last six weeks, a lot has happened! We bought a house in Hoschton, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. After 38 years in our Stone Mountain house, downsizing was a challenge. We love our new home in this Del Webb gated community and are enjoying meeting new people and learning new things, as in pickle ball, and back to line dancing again. We are much closer to both of our children now—15-30 minutes, so life is good.”

Barbara Wheeler writes: “I am sad to report that my husband of 54 years, Jim Wheeler, passed away in April, following a long illness. My family and I and our close friends miss him very much.” You can reach Barbara at babswheeler99@cox.net.

From Janice Coleman: “Although we still have a tiny apartment in Fredericksburg, our official address is now in Florida. MW alumni office provided the names and phone numbers for other MW alums here to give me a chance to start a MW group/club; however, none returned my phone calls—perhaps they thought I was simply fundraising. My only news is the happy conclusion of adding funds to my scholarship at MW to increase the annual award. For any of you who have granddaughters (or friends with granddaughters) who may live on their own family farm that is functioning as a true agricultural enterprise, you may be interested in passing along info about this MW scholarship. The process started with the difficult and very time-consuming task of accomplishing a VDOF Conservation Easement on my family’s farm. Once the farm was fully protected from development, I donated it to MW to boost the Coleman Family Farm Scholarship. The real challenge has been and remains to be getting the information to high school students who are in remote agricultural areas. If anyone would like more information about CFFS before you contact MW, please feel welcome to use my email address: countryjanice07@aol.com.”

Nancy Maynard writes: “I have remained quite busy, especially with the continuation of work activities.  As mentioned in my last note, I moved to Florida where I am a Visiting Scientist at my other alumna school, University of Miami, in the Cooperative Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) and the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) in Miami. I am continuing research on climate change, and in particular, on a three-year project with Indigenous Norwegian researchers and reindeer herders at Sami University College and the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry. Together with these colleagues, with whom we have worked for over 10 years, we are focusing on both challenges and opportunities for sustainable reindeer husbandry using both scientific and Indigenous knowledge in these current times of rapid climate change in the Arctic. I am also serving on the National Research Council (NRC/NAS) Polar Research Board, am a member of the Advisory Board for the Florida International University School of Environment, Arts, and Society (SEAS), and am especially pleased to be grandma to a wonderful two-and-a-half-year-old grandson.

Ginger Logie Carr writes: “We visited Carol Van Ness Clapp and her husband Dick at their beautiful home in Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Eileen Hildebrand Andrews and her husband, Ray, joined us. We had a great time catching up. We spent a few days with both couples last September at our home in Boothbay, Maine. It has been great to be able to spend the time together. On June 24, our two daughters and their husbands and seven grandchildren in total joined us to celebrate our 50th anniversary at Mohonk in New York State.

Nancy Slonim Aronie says: “So I saw in our alumni news that you so brilliantly put together that Linda Gulnac Steelman lived on Nantucket (what we call THE OTHER ISLAND) and I knew I was doing a workshop over there. Called information, got her number, called her, and we talked for an hour. Then a few months later I flew over there and the day I finished my workshop I called her. We met for lunch. A total ball. Nostalgia with balsamic dressing!! (Nancy attached a photo of the two of them with huge smiles!)

Linkey Booth Green says she’s still very involved with AAUW, the local library friends, and Celtic Hospice Pet Therapy. Linkey enjoys keeping up with classmates on Facebook.

I recently talked to Judy Wolfe Allen ’62, who just completed her 30th-plus walking trip in the UK. Judy and Jack Allen have been my longtime friends since we first met in August of 1963, when I left Virginia for San Diego to teach in San Diego City Schools. San Diego recruited for teachers at Mary Washington, and Susan Rutan Joehnk, Cathy Foster, Nancy Slonim Aronie, and I all went. Judy and her fellow MW grads welcomed us with strawberry daiquiris, and we all lived on Mission Beach, dated Navy and Marine officers, partied, and taught school. Everyone else made fun of our Mary Washington “funny shoes” (weejuns), because no one else wore them. We all became California girls, danced to the Beach Boys, and moved out of our beach houses each summer when the rent went up. We cheered Nancy on as she did stand-up comedy at local clubs. Judy and Susan married and moved up the beach to La Jolla, where they still live. Linkey and Polly Roesgen also lived in the San Diego area in the 60s. Mary Washington was well represented. Judy and Jack Allen have hosted three generations of my family throughout the years, and I am so grateful for their friendship and generosity. Judy was also my excellent mentor several years ago after she donated a kidney to her sister; she mentored me as I donated a kidney to my husband. I’m happy to report we are all doing well.”

In a short writing class I took in the spring, I wrote about the first days of our freshman year at the amphitheatre, singing, “standing in the doorway, telling you goodbye.” Several of us emailed each other, including Linkey, Karen Vandevanter Chapman, Kathy Friedman Levinson, and Susan Rutan Joehnk, trying to remember the words of the song. If anyone remembers the words, please email me. I recently redesigned my website (www.virtuestraining.com) and still love facilitating workshops and webinars. If you’re visiting the Seattle area, I’d love to see you!

Please send us your news for the next issue! – Linkey & Betsy