Class Notes

Hello everyone,
Here is hoping you are surviving the summer heat and prayers to those of you who have experienced such torrential downpours and floods.
It was great to hear from some of you as we all must have stayed too busy when the last publication was going to press.  Deborah Bradford Stanley-Bloom wrote with some news.  She lost her husband of many years in 2015 so instead of retiring, she worked another year as a certificated teacher librarian at a middle school in Riverside, CA.  To stay busy after finally retiring in 2016, she contacted her publisher who agreed to put her under contract for her fourth book on teaching research. Published by ABC-CLIO/Libraries Unlimited in September, 2018, it’s entitled Practical Steps to Digital Research.  During this time, she also served on five boards including the board for the Foundation of her long-served CA School Library Association (CSLA). She continues to give sessions and workshops on teaching research skills at the state conference.  Debbie traveled to the Great Wall of China in 2016 and to Machu Picchu in 2017.  The other wonderful news is that Debbie remarried in October 2018. She and Bill are still adjusting to newly married life in Altadena, CA and enjoy the horses he races at Santa Anita and Del Mar.  Dennis and I plan to get together with them when we next visit California which will probably be within the next year.
Although our schedules have not permitted a get-together yet in Roanoke, Sherrie Mitchell Boone reports that she and her mom and stepdad, kids and grandkids are all doing well.  She is hoping to join her beloved MWC group at beach week in August at the home of Mary Saunders Williams.
The alumni association has had a couple of events in this area and it is always fun to meet people who graduated either before or after our class.  Julia Martin Belvin has been in attendance and we have been getting to know each other.  Julia still works out of her house for a magazine.  My dear friend, Norah Heckman, ’73 lost her mother in December.  We all know how tough these losses can be and this was like losing family as her mother always referred to me as her surrogate daughter.  Norah is currently working on a special project to honor her wonderful dad, who served his country proudly in the United States Coast Guard.  We are hoping that this will be displayed at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.
Cheryl Prietz Childress and husband, Dave continue to stay active with colonial re-enactments, boating trips and car clubs.  We caught up with Cheryl at the Ft. Dobbs re-enactment this past April and stopped at their home in June when enroute to Baltimore.  Both their kids and spouses are staying busy and Cheryl and Dave travel to Atlanta a lot to see their granddaughter, Ellie.
Dennis and I continue to enjoy the Roanoke area.  I have joined the county women’s club and we do a lot of volunteer work around the area.  In addition, Dennis and I plan to travel to Atlanta in the fall to visit with family and enjoy the sights.
That is about it for this time but do hope to hear from more of you soon.