Class Notes

Mike Bennett wrote that he currently spends a lot of time in the U.K.  He purchased an historic building near Greenwich with friends 10 years ago and they are currently renovating and looking to expand the buildings future with local government.  He volunteers on the board and in the kitchen of a local food pantry in New York City; work he finds incredibly gratifying that provides perspective on just how fortunate he is.  He will be volunteering with the DNC in 2020.  Cinda Sheehan Haas continues to enjoy her long summers at her cottage in Maine but recently moved to Jacksonville Florida to be closer to family and 3 grandsons.  She has also taken up painting.  Vicki Haynes Morris welcomed second grandson Macklin.  She visited Mexico, Amsterdam and Costa Rica in 2019 and will visit Australia and New Zealand in early 2020.  In June 2020 she plans a 14 day cruise visiting 10 countries in Eastern Europe.  Diana Burton Utz recently retired after 30 years with the George Washington Regional Commission, most recently serving as Director of GWRideConnect; a nationally recognized rideshare program.  She has certainly been part of the tremendous growth in the Fredericksburg area.  She also shared news that her daughter Juliana Utz danced in the Moffat ballroom scene of the Little Women movie.  I believe she was also featured in the movie trailer – yellow ballgown on the staircase.  Beth Doyle continues her 30 year career in nonprofit management and was recently named Executive VP for the Centra Foundation. Betsy Rohaly Smoot announced her retirement from the NSA in 2017 but went back on a part time basis to complete two manuscripts and the biography of Colonel Parker Hitt will be published in October 2021.  She and husband Andy celebrated her final retirement with a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth from New York to Southampton via Canada, Iceland, Scotland and Ireland and then around Britain on the Queen Victoria and back to the US on the Queen Mary 2.    In late October, I joined Annmarie Cozzi, Jenifer Blair, Carla Richardson Barrell, Debbie Snyder Barker and Jennifer Goodwin Donegan for a New York city adventure.  We took in several museums and danced in our seats at the Broadway show Ain’t Too Proud.  Nancy Kaiser and wife Mary McElhone planned to join us but were sidelined as Nancy continues to recover from knee Re-replacement.  I have seen several group birthday celebrations on Facebook as most of us will turn 60 this year.  I plan to celebrate all year with lots of travel. In early February, I will spend a week in Bonaire followed by a two-week cruise with my mom in early April to Holland and Belgium.  Please stay in touch and share how you plan to celebrate your birthday.  Our 40^th reunion is 2 years away – go ahead and put the first weekend AFTER Memorial Day on your calendars.