Enveloped by Cuba
Alumni gather to help Cubans on their own turf.

Medal Round in Sydney
Hilary Gehman '93 rows in the Olympics.

Alumni Club Circuit
Club News, upcoming events, etc.

ALUMNI PROFILES
Robert C. Gerrard '60
Tackling the case
of a lifetime

Kevin Leddy '77

Helena Bonnell
Gilman '78
Microsoft in the Middle East

Todd Coffin '83

Carolyn Treat '82
Turning art into a balm

Christopher Thayer '93

Michael Eash '94
Chopping champion

Nancy and Allen Langhorne set the tone for our 50th college reunion weekend by inviting the entire class to a pre-reunion cocktail party at their lovely home overlooking Penobscot Bay in Rockport, Maine. On that Wednesday evening more than 35 of us began what was to be a spectacular weekend. By Saturday 134 classmates, spouses and friends had come together to renew old friendships and admire what has become arguably the most beautiful college campus in New England. The class reunion was remarkable in many ways, but most impressive to me was the spirit and cohesiveness of the class. Everyone was genuinely delighted to see old friends and acquaintances. We seemed to pick up where we left off so many years ago. Bob Millett regaled us with stories of some of his professors, notably of his English classes with Dr. Norwood –who would refer to her "boy" (William Wordsworth) with tears streaming down her cheeks–and of "Pop" Newman, who drove his car as if it had only one gear–first! The Class of '50 distinguished itself by breaking the record for contributions to the Alumni Fund with 70 percent participation. Since July 1, 1995, our class has contributed a total of $1,642,223.00! Another highlight was the well-deserved Colby Brick Award given to Jack Alex for his dedicated service and loyalty to the College. There were a number of classmates who were missed and asked about at reunion. Among them were Janet Haynes Lord and Kenneth "Kenny" Jacobson. I tracked Janet down in Carmel, Calif., and learned that she went on to graduate school at Yale University, earning her R.N. as well as a master's degree in nursing management. She married and had four daughters and a son, including a set of twins. (One of her daughters is about to retire from her career as a prima ballerina in Amsterdam.) Janet makes her home near Pebble Beach, has three grandchildren and is an avid tennis player and gardener. Those of us who sang and danced in some of Kenny Jacobson's musical comedies while at Colby were confident that he would make music his life's work, and indeed he has. Since graduation from Colby, Kenny has lived and worked in New York City, writing music for television and the theater as well as traveling all over the world. . . . As your new class correspondent I am looking forward to hearing news from you all. Perhaps in addition to family news and your adventures traveling, you will include some amusing anecdotes regarding your professors and friends of 50 years ago. By e-mail, snail mail or phone, please communicate!

–Alice Jennings Castelli

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In its search for alumni, Wells High School, Wells, Maine, found Joyce Hutchins, who was in the first class to graduate after World War II. Among her memories of the war years are the blackout curtains and gasoline rationing. Joyce is the executive director of Maine Prevention of Blindness and also the new president of her high school alumni association. . . . Harland Eastman has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Sanford (Maine) High School. After graduation from Colby, Harland earned a master's degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Mass., and attended the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar. He had a diplomatic career that spanned 24 years and six foreign countries, and since his retirement he has written and published five photographic books on local history. . . . John "Crif" Crawford recently visited in Sarasota, Fla., where Bob Brotherlin saw him for the first time in 50 years and Ernie Fortin joined them for dinner. With Bob's maps of the Middle East handy, they had a grand time going over Crif's exploits with various oil companies in Libya and Saudi Arabia. Shortly after this mini-reunion Danny Hall was in Sarasota, and Ernie hosted another mini-reunion south. (Okay, classmates, it is time to think and plan for a major reunion–Maine!) Class agent Ernie himself reports that May is an exciting month because he heads back to Madison, Maine, for the summer. This year he was to attend his sixth Colby Alumni College and then have a trip to England and Scotland. Of course he puts in another plug of encouragement for all of the Class of '51 to attend its 50th reunion in June 2001. . . . Clifford "Bump" Bean, Concord, Mass., is working on and looking forward to our 50th next year. He writes that the River City All Stars Barbershop Quartet is still going strong after 25 years. He and his family are anticipating a Rhine River cruise and also a cruise circumnavigating Newfoundland. . . . I circumnavigated Baffin Island myself on a Russian ice breaker, and my next trip is with 10 fellow adventurers to the wild areas of Alaska. . . . The more you classmates write, the more interesting "stuff" you will have to read in the next issue of the magazine. You send news in and I will send it out.

–Barbara Jefferson Walker

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Although Bob Hooper had a quadruple heart bypass in March it didn't keep him and his wife, Iris, from a 17-day trip to Ireland in June. Iris grew up in Dublin and had not been back in 10 years. During the year Bob will have had visits from his three daughters and their children, who live in California, Pennsylvania and Australia. Bob also made a trip to Waterville to visit his mother, Marion Merriam Hooper '25. . . . Bob Ryley and his wife, Allison, toured Scotland in the spring. While there they visited Brechin, hometown of Dave Crocket's father, and sent Dave a photo of a local pub. I have not learned whether this was an indoor shot or part of a study of Scot architecture Bob may have undertaken. Dave has "discovered" genealogy, has identified a number of forebears and unearthed some heretofore unknown cousins. Although I have not talked with Dave's wife, Bee, my guess is that she wishes Dave could come up with something else to talk about at dinner. Genealogy hobbyists can bore you to tears with their tales of the hunt and the discovery. I know this because my wife, Mimi, is married to one. . . . Al and Joan Martin Lamont will be heading back to Stuart, Fla., in October after a summer at their cottage on Lake Sunapee, N.H. Al has retired from optometry but is still working at golf and tennis. Joan, no longer a banker, is an accomplished ringer in a bell choir. . . . Joan Acheson Bridge, another classmate suffering from snow avoidance, now retired from full-time teaching in Satellite Beach, Fla., divides her time between homes in Melbourne, Fla., and East Boothbay, Maine. An auto accident last December slowed her down a bit, but she tells me that both she and her steering wheel have recovered nicely, thank you. . . . Last spring Bob '50 and Nancy Weare Merriman enjoyed a Mediterranean clipper ship cruise, which included stops in Sicily and the Greek islands, among others. In November they will be on an Elderhostel Mississippi River cruise, Memphis to New Orleans. The Merrimans attended Bob's 50th Colby reunion in June and challenge us to match it! . . . Speaking of which, our tireless president, Norma Bergquist Garnett, continues to goad your 50th reunion committee into preparations for both a pre-reunion event and a weekend on Mayflower Hill. You are advised that it will be well worth your time to be sure no other events are allowed to interfere.

–Paul M. Aldrich

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My "Colby mailbox" has been empty, but I am hoping that will change after the next due date. The only contact I have had lately was a quick phone call from Priscilla Eaton Billington. She says that her future home is just a hole in the ground at this writing. She and Ray '54 hope to move into a brand-new house before too long. . . . I have recently joined all you other retired classmates–my last day was May 31–but I do have a family obligation that will keep me quite busy. I am getting acquainted with a new computer, the surprise gift from my former employer, Wakefield Distribution Systems. . . . Ginnie Falkenbury Aronson was planning on traveling to Germany this summer especially to see the Passion Play at Oberammergau. She also planned to take in Expo 2000 at Hanover as well as some of the castles along the Bavarian Alps. It is her first trip to Germany since the '50s, so she was getting excited to check it all out again. . . . Please, all write soon.

–Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey

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We were saddened to learn of the death of Dorothy Duda Cecelski. Dot was a fellow English major and took Chappie's contemporary literature class with me. T.S. Eliot was one of the more challenging writers studied, and I was awed when Dot chose Eliot's "Four Quartets" as the subject of her term paper. She was honored in her senior year as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. . . . Susan Johnson writes that her life is brimming with a part-time job as treasurer/bookkeeper for an international association, the Sacred Dance Guild, involvement with several dance groups and classes and trying to keep up with four children, their three spouses, five grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. She says, "All that plus active participation in Seekers Church, an exciting community and lots of travel make for a busy, rich life, with its ups and downs and many blessings." Susan also reports that while in California in January, she, her brother and his wife and her mother were dinner guests at the home of Bill and Rosemary "Penny" Thresher Edson. She also had dinner another night with Dick Gilman, who was professor of philosophy and religion at Colby while we were there and has now retired as president of Occidental College. Also in March Susan saw Scottie Lee Austin, who was at Colby our first two years. Scottie is busily retired, along with her husband, John, a former curator for Colonial Williamsburg. . . . The trustees of the Richards Free Library in Newport, N.H., announced that Robert B. Parker will receive the Sarah Josepha Hale Award in October. The award is given annually to a writer who, "through his or her life work, maintains a connection to New England." Robert, better known to us as Ace, has written more than two dozen Spenser mysteries plus other books. His recent bestseller, Family Honor, is soon to be made into a film staring Helen Hunt. . . . Keep the news coming!

–Helen Cross Stabler

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