ALUMNI PROFILES
Curtis Johnson '75
Knowing the Drill

Jean Minkel '80
Outside the Box

T.J. Tavares '99
Real Politik

Andrea Pomerance '02
Culture Crossing

"Puss" Tracey Tanguay has saved the day! If it were not for her little bits of news about our class, you all would be subjected to news of my immediate and extended family, some of whom attended Colby. The last time I warned you I got some real news. I don't like to threaten you, but it beats making it all up. Or does it? Anyway, Puss was one of five members of our class who attended the mostly sunny and warm Reunion Weekend. Along with Puss, Bev Deschenes Libby, Bill Niehoff, Charlie Smith and Paul Hinton represented our class. Unfortunately, a heart attack kept Paul from our 50th. I am glad that he was able to make the 53rd and plans to be a part of the 55th, which should be a great one. I already know a number of people who are looking forward to getting together on the lawn for the lobster picnic in June 2005 if not before. Maybe we could have a trial run next year! . . . "Stubby" Crandall Graves, Connie Leonard Hayes, Ginny Davis Pearce and Puss Tanguay and spouses all got together for dinner while they were in Florida last winter. . . . Susi Goldey Morrison (one of my roommates) and I get together from time to time for lunch or dinner. . . . Send me a card-a post card will do-from wherever you are. I'll share it with everyone in my next article.

Alice Jennings Castelli

previous  |  next

Deborah Smith Meigs and her husband, Peter, have been presented an award honoring them for their continuing research on the history of Danville, N.H. This award, presented by the Exeter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, recognizes the efforts made by the Meigses to collect and organize materials pertaining to the history of their town. Their efforts have proved invaluable to genealogists and historians. . . . Patti and Ernie Fortin attend the Alumni College at Colby every summer and also plan a Caribbean cruise in November. Ernie, who is active on the board of directors at his community in Florida, reports that at the annual Sarasota gathering, 60 alums heard President Adams outline the completed, long-range plans for the campus. Most exciting are the plans for the long-awaited Alumni Center, which represents the culmination of many years of hard work. We will all enjoy it when we attend our 55th (or sooner!) . . . Guy McIntosh writes that he was able to participate vicariously in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, thanks to his daughter. She drafted him for a volunteer job directing traffic. It was even colder there than Waterville! Guy keeps busy maintaining his "getaway" property up on the Mogollon Rim, part of the original Zane Grey ranch and a great place for Guy to escape the Tempe, Ariz., heat. He still keeps in contact with friends he made at the Hopi Indian Reservation, having spent 20 years working there for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. . . . Chrys Boukis Keene says hello to everyone. Betty Lou Rivers Russell '52 and I visited with Chrys not long ago. . . . Ted Weaver heard from two Colby alums, Foster Drummond '52 and Clare Bonnelli '70, who, having read the last column about Ted being in Arizona, contacted him, and they plan to get together for lunch soon (ostensibly to eat but really to solve all the world's problems). . . . Always looking for news from you all. I love to hear about what everyone is up to, so keep in touch!

Nancy Nilson Archibald

top  |  next

Summer is here as I write, and I am most pleased to have news for you. Let's start with our class president, Barbara Bone Leavitt, and her husband, Bob, who spent part of last winter in Florida with their sons and family. While there, Barbara took her daughter-in-law and grandson Markus to Tallahassee for his class visit to the capitol buildings and some museums. Also, they had a great visit with Caroline Wilkins McDonough and her husband, Dick, at their lovely home in Palm City, Fla., near Stuart and Jupiter. . . . Other Florida travelers were Sheila and Don Hailer, who visited Ned '51 and Barbara Hills Stuart '54 in early March. Joan Kelby Cannell was also in that group. Don reports, "all seemed tan and very well." He also says that they see Charlotte and Lum Lebherz frequently but not enough of Carl and Muffy Morgan Leaf and Judy and Herb Nagle. The four couples try to get together two or three times a year, "but winters are getting tougher." . . . And from the "it's a small world department" comes the following: Down East magazine for March 2003 had an interesting article titled "Unexpected Company," about a trip around the world taken by the author (from Maine); she met a dozen folks from Maine-one of them being Dave Farrington, who was in Sicily with his wife. . . . On a sad note, Louise Hodge Smith wrote that her husband, Dick '51, died in September 2002, after 48 wonderful years of marriage. She has four children and 13 grandchildren, and they all really miss him. . . . Flo Fisher Krejci '53 sent the Alumni Office a death notice about Anne Fairbanks Iarrobino, who died in late March, after an illness. Anne had been a lifelong resident of Natick, Mass., was the mother of two and had been active in the business community there for many years. . . . I received a letter from Merry Crane Evans, who lives with husband Ray in Aquanga, Calif. She told of a really wonderful 50th wedding anniversary celebration in March that she and Ray shared with their children and grandchildren. They all spent a weekend together in Palm Springs. "How blessed we felt!" she said. Ray is now finishing up a fourth year on the grand jury for the County of Riverside-something he has found most interesting. . . . Chandler and Nita Hale Barbour looked forward to "some hard work" during the summer. They will be completing the third edition of their last text, titled Families, Schools and Communities. In August they were to attend a literature conference at Cambridge University in England, then enjoy a few days in London before going on to Ireland for a week. . . . Bee and Dave Crocket were looking forward to spending their 40th summer at their cabin in Madison, N.H. With their 1930 Model A pickup and 1930 Model A coupe (complete with rumble seat), they go to car shows around northern New England as well as Cruise Nights in the Mount Washington Valley area. Dave also told us about their oldest grandson, David Scott Crocket V, who is in the Army in Germany. Young David has flown into Iraq to do ground escort duty and was in a firefight with the Iraqis in April, for which he earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge. He also flew to Cairo to guard the U.S. Embassy there. . . . Chuck '53 and I attended his 50th reunion in Waterville. In addition to many '53 alums, I proudly marched in the Saturday parade with Paul and Mimi Russell Aldrich and Norma Bergquist Garnett, who were there for the Alumni Council meeting. Paul and Mimi had just returned from a four-month sojourn on their boat, while Norma's husband, Norv '51, told me that they were looking forward to a Scandinavian trip this summer. . . . In case you recently sent in news for the class, I am afraid it is still in my computer, which apparently "died" while we were in Maine. So I promise to include it, and lots of other things that you will all send me, in the next issue of Colby magazine.

--Janice "Sandy" Pearson Anderson

top  |  next

I had two e-mails following our 50th reunion. One came from Joyce Maguire Demers, who really summed up our very "upbeat" week. She said she had the greatest time ever at a reunion. I will second that and am sure that everyone else in attendance will agree. Joyce says she spent some quality time with the "Palmer House Gang," sharing memories, pictures and catching up on their lives. Bob Grodberg sent a similar message and is already prepared to be considered as a helper for the next '53 gathering. Nan Murray Lasbury wrote, "Our once in a lifetime 50th reunion" was a wonderful success. About 35 alumni and spouses met at Sebasco Inn for two days of pre-reunion activities. Nan reported that it was a time of relaxation, golf and conversation topped off with a boat trip and lunch aboard the "Ruth" on Casco Bay. Then they joined the rest of us at the campus-more than 100 members of the class, plus 45 guests. Every time we gathered for a meal, we filled the dining rooms. Thursday night we had our class dinner in Page Commons in Cotter Union. Ted Lallier made opening comments and introduced the president of Colby, "Bro" Adams, who welcomed our huge group. Before dinner Chuck Anderson proposed a memorial toast to all the classmates who have passed away; the memorial left us with such a warm feeling. Friday night we joined the rest of the reunion classes for dinner and awards. Saturday of reunion is always fun because of the parade of classes ending at the field house for a lobster bake/chicken barbecue. So much spirit and photo-op there, as we all carried gold balloons, of course, to signify our Golden Reunion. Saturday night was our special class dinner in the Foss Hall dining room. This turned out to be a "fun" evening. Nan and Chase Lasbury announced the class gift to the College of $1,375,216 with 70 percent participation. Then the following class officers were announced: Nan Lasbury, president; Ted Lallier, vice president (and Alumni Council rep); and class correspondent, Barbara "Brooksie" Easterbrooks Mailey. Just for fun, Nick Sarris presented the epilogue to the "murder mystery" that was so popular at our 45th reunion. We voted on the person who was supposed to "do in" the groom; Bob Grodberg guessed correctly and was awarded a nice prize; the correct "guess": Mimi Price Patten. Next some thank-you awards were given to the classmates who have contributed to the College over the past few years. Since I do not have a complete list at this writing, I hope to report this in the near future; I don't want to leave anyone out. There was a tie for the classmate coming the furthest to attend: Gail "Penny" Pendleton Schultz, from, as she said, "The Left Coast" and Joanne "Terri" Terrill Petersen, both from Oregon. Carolyn English Caci read a note from Marty Friedlaender and said that flowers were sent to Marty from our class. Then Alice Colby-Hall presented her 50th reunion song, with all of us singing along. I would have liked to mention every name of each one I saw and shared time with, but space does not permit; maybe that's a good thing this time. Please continue to send me your news, no matter how much. I will be happy to send it to our column for the next five years. Speaking of this, the Lasburys are off to Scotland for a couple of weeks in September, and I think John Lee mentioned he would be going to Iceland this summer.

Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey

top  |  next

We were very sorry to hear of the death of Susan Smith Huebsch, who was on our '54 anniversary gift committee. We send our sympathy to her family. . . . Colby Thompson Lowe's husband, Tony, died on July 3, 2002, just days after moving to a new home in Bridgeport, Conn. They had been married 40 years. We send our condolences to Colby. Unlike most of her retired classmates, Colby continues to work as a substitute elementary school teacher in Westport, Conn. She is making plans to attend our 50th reunion. . . . Paul '59 and Marty Cornish Downing, currently living in New Jersey, have a second home in western Massachusetts but say they are slowly making their way back to Maine. They are both retired and have nine grandchildren. . . . Diane Stevens Brown writes that she and her husband now live in the greater Atlanta area, where Diane enjoys painting commissioned works, many of them portraits, in her home-based studio. She also enjoys duplicate bridge as a life master, photography and gardening. She and her husband have three children, three grandchildren and a small black dog, Petunia. Although Diane has not returned to Colby since graduation, she hopes to get to the reunion next year. . . . Selections from Karl Decker's black and white documentary photographs, The People of Townshend, Vermont, were published in the summer 2003 issue of Vermont Life. He has been working on the project for the past five years, photographing the people of this town, known to him since the 1930s. An exhibition was held in Townshend in June, and another will be held at the Westport (Conn.) Public Library in October. You can see some of Karl's work on his Web site, www.karldecker.com. . . . Ted Turchon heads up sales for a local printing and direct mail marketing company in central Florida. His wife, Luly, teaches in Orange County. They have a son who lives with his wife and three children in Gainsville, Fla., and a daughter with two children who lives in Concord, N.H. . . . Art Eddy reports that his wife, Anne, suffered a stroke in May. Art was hoping she would be back home in June. We send them our best wishes for a complete recovery. . . . Susan Johnson writes that she now has six grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. One of the joys of her life is babysitting weekly with the youngest, Emily Nicole Lannen, born in January 2002. Susan has gone off the executive board of Sacred Dance Guild, an all-volunteer international organization, after six years of service. She is now completing the leadership program for InterPlay and produced a two-day event of workshops, performances and worship in D.C. and co-led an InterPlay class at her church. InterPlay is a practice leading to greater ease and affirmation in life. . . . After final retirement from the ministry, and from teaching and textbook publishing, Herb Adams has begun a practice of mediation and dispute resolution, concentrating on educational and religious institutional conflict. He lives in Center Lovell, Maine, and Lake Placid, Fla.

Helen Cross Stabler

top  |  next