ALUMNI PROFILES
Roman Dashawetz '70
Medical Mission

Deanna Cook '88
Cooking the Books

Peter Sekulow '90
Ballpark Figure

Carolyn Szum '01
Air Cleaner

Staff Sergeant J.J. Lovett '96 & Sergeant Eric Anderson '98

Thomas Curran '02

I received a lovely letter from Charlotte Stern Rybkowski last winter and  enjoyed reading it so much that I decided to share it with all of you. She wrote, "The early start of the Colorado winter has provided vistas of snowy mountain peaks as well as recollections of our glorious family adventures in Alaska last May. The highlight was driving a rental mini-van north along the dirt and gravel roads of the 414-mile Dalton Highway that serves the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay. Crossing the Arctic Circle at Mile Post 115, we spent time in the lively construction camp at Coldfoot before progressing along the bumpy route and up the winding grades of the magnificent Brooks Range, crossing the Continental Divide at Atigun Pass and descending to the desolate, wide-open terrain of the Arctic tundra. We pitched our tent on the permafrost (this time had to anchor it down with boulders) at the glacially formed Galbraith Lake. What a feeling of exhilaration! We were completely alone in a tremendous expanse of wilderness, buffeted by strong winds and surrounded by lofty, snow-clad mountains. Thankfully there were no encounters with curious bears, but we saw grizzlies along the roadway from the safety of our vehicle while adding musk oxen, caribou and Dall sheep to a growing list of animal sightings. And what a comfort to have the prolonged daylight of the Midnight Sun when you have ambitious travel plans!" What a great adventure! Charlotte's description of Alaska makes me want to take that trip myself. . . . How about you?

Alice Jennings Castelli

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Harry Wiley and his wife, Mary Lou, are involved in many activities, including visiting with patients in hospitals and nursing homes. Harry is training to be a Hospice volunteer and will continue his good works with ill people. Harry is newly appointed VP of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, and he was proud to attend the final football game at Bristol-Eastern in Connecticut, where his grandson received the MVP award. . . . Patti and Ernie Fortin continue to travel. They are planning a Caribbean cruise, which will take them through the Panama Canal, and are also hoping to get to California. Ernie remains active in Colby affairs as chair of the Leadership Alumni Committee and annual host of the Sarasota gathering with Colby's president, "Bro" Adams, as guest speaker. Due in large part to Ernie's tireless efforts, a new Alumni Center is in the works as part of Colby's long-range plans. Ernie lost his mother and his older brother this past year, but he still plans to come up to Maine in the summer, where he attends the Colby Alumni College annually. . . . Eugene Pelletier's widow, Stacia, wrote that Gene's family, together with friends, have endowed the Eugene J. Pelletier Jr. '51 Memorial Scholarship Fund in his memory. Their son was Class of '84, and he was able to visit them when they came up for our 50^th reunion. . . . Joan Cammann McIntyre writes that her oldest granddaughter, Caitlin Peale, was a freshman at Colby this year. Caitlin's parents are Carol McIntyre-Peale '75 and Jim Peale '77. . . . Dan Hall and his wife had a wonderful trip to Wales. They visited many Welsh castles and enjoyed the country, but their primary reason for going was to research the family ancestors. His great-great-grandmother, Margaret Lewis, married Gordon Hall, left Wales and came to Northampton, Mass., where her son became minister of a church. She is buried in Northampton. Dan and his wife also visited with English friends over there and renewed the friendship that was made when they were teaching colleagues in Zambia 32 years ago! . . . Maurice "Maury" Ronayne has returned to his condo in Alexandria, Va., after having knee-implant surgery and receiving a pacemaker. . . . I'll be waiting to hear from you all for our next column!

Nancy Nilson Archibald

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From last June through the fall, you supplied me with lots of news, but apparently the long, cold, snowy winter got you all down, and almost nothing has been forthcoming. I did receive one sad notice: our classmate, William Bird of Portland, Maine, passed away on January 2. Our condolences go out to his family. . . . Around our house, my husband, Chuck '53, has been looking forward to his 50th reunion. We hope to see some '52ers there also. Do you think they can possibly have as great a reunion as we did last year? Even the weather cooperated then! . . . For lack of news from you, I guess I must tell you what we have been doing. In mid-February, with the temperature at 4 degrees and the remains of two small snowstorms still on the ground here on Cape Cod, Chuck and I took off from Logan Airport to go on a Caribbean cruise. It was the perfect tonic, and were we lucky--we missed the huge East Coast blizzard and the three inches of rain that followed it five days later! How's that for "planning"? . . . Well, my friends, if you want to hear about something other than the Andersons, please get those e-mails and notes coming. You can reach me directly on e-mail at candj@capecod.com or via Colby, who will forward it to me. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying your spring.

--Janice "Sandy" Pearson Anderson

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What a cold and snowy winter we had in New England; however, I took advantage of the great snow cover to do some skiing in New Hampshire. . . . My mailbox had only one message, this one from Dana Andersen in Colorado. He is still skiing as much as possible. Dana's life milestones include service in the U.S. Navy, captaining the Colby ski team, being Scott Paper Company Salesman of the Decade, getting the Master Award Top CBS Salesman, being commando of U.S. Power Squadron, being elected elder-trustee of his church and, last but not the least, the arrival of his four children and six grandchildren. He gave a little history of how he ended up at Colby, saying that Middlebury wanted him, but he chose Colby because of its size and intimacy. He went on to say that Colby appeared to be what a college should be. If I read his note correctly, he felt that his Colby degree and his role as captain of the ski team led to his great position with CBS Sports. . . . Next news will be full of 50^th revelations.

Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey

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Beverly Ambrose Peterson writes that after teaching for almost 30 years she retired early (10 years ago) and has been writing poetry as a full-time career ever since. She has six chapbooks, self-published, and has had more than 100 poems published in reviews and magazines, most recently in JAMA, Pine Island Journal, Aurorean and Poets' Forum magazine. She also volunteers at her church's consignment center. She and her husband, Roy, who is also retired and works regularly now for a Habitat for Humanity group, have a place on St. Martin, where they spend about six weeks a year. They have always been active in boating. Their most recent boat is a small trawler. They are looking forward to cruising Cape Cod and the islands this summer as well as making a possible trip to Maine. Their son, Earl, is head of State Street Bank's Web site, and their daughter, Nancy, who heads the brain testing department at a local hospital, and her husband recently adopted a Vietnamese boy and are in the process of adopting a girl. Beverly and Roy's son has a baby boy. They are finally discovering the joys of being grandparents! . . . Please send more news. It can be e-mailed to Colby or mailed directly to me (but not in North Syracuse since we don't live there any more). My new address is listed in this issue of Colby.

Helen Cross Stabler

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