75		CLASS CORRESPONDENT Bruce Young 20 Applewood Avenue Billerica, MA 01821 978-667-4670 classnews1975@alum.colby.edu
	It is appropriate to begin this column with a write-up of our 25th reunion, which presumably did indeed take place in the year 2000. (How in the world did RELS foresee that?) But I didn't go, and neither did you. Nor has a police spokesperson given any details of the events and the alleged perpetrators. However, if we had gone, I am sure that we all would have had a wonderful time renewing old friendships and forging new ones, recalling our steps on shaded paths, gathering at the shrine, hailing the Blue and Gray and parting with many sincere promises to 'keep in touch, no really, this time I mean it, I really do!' . . . In real life, Doug Schwarz reports that while he continues to make a living as a self-employed computer programmer, he has joined the ranks of professional actors after years of appearing in community theater. (Doug, does this mean that you are now out on strike with all the other actors?) In July Doug played Monastatos in Operafest N.H.'s production of The Magic Flute. In August he appeared in the Peterborough (N.H.) Players production of Our Town as Professor Willard. A highlight of the latter was playing a scene opposite veteran actor James Whitmore. Doug wants to remind people that he can be contacted at ods_nh@mediaone.net. . . . Joyce Smith also has maintained a firm grip on the world of the theater (and hasn't changed a bit in 25 years, or so I hear), having recently appeared in the Belfast Maskers presentation of Our Country's Good. The drama focuses on convicts in 18th-century Botany Bay. Joyce played multiple roles, as did Peter Conant, the brother of Susan Conant Cook. Additionally, Joyce served as assistant director and arranged a traditional folk tune for the production. In her spare time, Joyce teaches British literature at Messalonskee High School in Oakland. By the way, the play had still another Colby connection. The director was Howard Koonce, chair emeritus of Performing Arts. . . . We all know that Deborah Marson works as senior corporate counsel for Gillette. But as a graduate of Suffolk Law School (J.D. '78) she was the subject of a feature article in the Suffolk Law Magazine. The article, titled 'Loyal to Gillette,' focuses on the years she spent as the only woman on one of Gillette's operating committees and her efforts to bring other women into management positions. Having been with Gillette for more than 20 years, Deborah was recently put in charge of worldwide legal strategy for the oral care side of the business, which generates $1.2 billion a year in sales. Congratulations, Deborah! (And can any classmate top Deb's longevity with the same company?) . . . Ed Decker reports that he is now the activities director at the Golden Hind Retirement Home in Rancho Malario, N.M. He plans field trips, bingo tournaments and other 'fun stuff' for the residents. 'Sometimes, it's a lot like a frat party around here,' he says, 'but the party is usually ending around sundown now, instead of sunrise. Not that I could handle that these days, anyway!' Ed, always an avid stickball player and Frisbee golfer at Colby, recently won the Butte County amateur golf tournament, which was held at the Trail of Tears Golf Course. . . . Hey, this e-mail stuff is easy. It's not really like writing at all! So drop me a note sometime, and who knows, you might find yourself in a future column. You might even find yourself if you don't write. See ya! –Bruce Young previous  |   top  |   next

 

	76		CLASS CORRESPONDENT Valerie Jones Roy 38 Hunts Point Road Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107 207-767-0663 classnews1976@alum.colby.edu
	Mark your calendars now for our 25th reunion, June 8-10, 2001. Plans are underway by a great group of our classmates who have volunteered to be the 1976 Reunion Planning Committee. As of late August, the group included Scott McDermott, Ann Beadle, Janet Oken Nicholas, Peter Labombarde, Sharon Walsh McNally, Pam Came, Bill Campbell, Brian Hurley, Nancy Daly, Susan Tauer and Jennie Frutchy Ford. There may be other classmates involved by now, but please plan to come to Colby that weekend to see everyone and reminisce! Please direct your comments, questions and/or suggestions to the committee (c/o Scott McDermott, who can be reached at 978-402-2710, or to Margaret Viens '77 in the Alumni Office). . . . Kate Cone has been busy getting daughter Sam through the college application process. Sam is now attending Goucher College, where she received an academic scholarship and will continue her studies in music. Son Burke, 16, is a scholar/athlete at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine, excelling in soccer, basketball and lacrosse (and occasionally picking up a book and writing a paper). Meanwhile Megan, 10, entered fifth grade this fall and is at that great age where she still consents to a hug from mom. Kate is beginning a full-time master's program at the University of Southern Maine in American and New England studies and will fulfill her assistantship by working and doing research on school children mapmakers at the Osher Map Library. She invites e-mail (capsicum@suscom-maine.net) from long-lost classmates. . . . Betsy Bowen continues to enjoy living in Fairfield, Conn., with husband Jeff Schwartz and son Ben and teaching at Fairfield University (as associate professor of English). In July she returned from an exciting two-week trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, where she worked with Russian university teachers on ways of teaching writing in their English classes. . . . Check out the editorial reviews on the amazon.com Web site and you'll find a nice review on Janet Wray Gorman's Even My Family, the first of a trilogy concerning a pre-Civil War young woman set on a path determined by her family's heritage and her struggle to find her own path. . . . Scott Butchart reported on the birth on August 10 of a new baby, boy #3, named Conall. Congratulations, Scott. Hope you're getting some sleep by now! . . . Joe and Noël Barry Stella's first-born, Abbey, is a 'first year' at Colby. Does that make me feel old or what? Both Joe and Noël are teachers and remain very busy with the athletic pursuits of daughters Mary and Maggie, including Mary's recent participation as a member of the East Regional Championship team at the Softball World Series in Kalamazoo, Mich., this summer. . . . That's about it for now. One more time: Plan to attend our 25th reunion during the weekend of June 8-10, 2001. –Valerie Jones Roy   top  |   next

 

	77		CLASS CORRESPONDENT Ellen D. O'Brien 96 Soaring Hawk Lane Charlotte, VT 05445 classnews1977@alum.colby.edu
	Chris McKeown Burry was to move into a new senior executive position at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., late in the fall. Currently she works in DIA's corporate headquarters managing strategic planning, financial resources and public affairs and corporate outreach programs. In her new position she will manage military analysis for all of the Middle East and Africa, and she says she is looking forward to the opportunity to travel overseas again. She placed a recent college graduate who was working in the summer intern program into a full-time position with DIA as a Latin American analyst and says she would be glad to help other Colby students looking for summer internships in the Washington, D.C., area. . . . Charles E. Frankel reports that there aren't momentous changes in his life, but in the interest of providing us with an update he says that he and Denise have been married for 15 years and have two children, Elisa, 11, and Angela, 8. Charles is a partner in a law firm in New Windsor, N.Y., and primarily handles real estate and estates and trusts. His passion for skiing, which he enjoyed while at Colby (perhaps too much, he says), continues with family winter weekends at Ski Windham, a local area in the Catskills. Aside from skiing, they all play tennis, rollerblade and occasionally bike ride. He mentioned that he doesn't seem to have enough time for all the demands, requirements, meetings, activities, interests, hobbies and sports that now fill their calendar, but he's looking forward to returning for the 25-year reunion–he really enjoyed the 20th. –Ellen D. O'Brien top  |   next

	78		CLASS CORRESPONDENT Robert S. Woodbury 484 Bridge Street Hamilton, MA 01982 978-468-3805 617-951-9919 classnews1978@alum.colby.edu
	Thanks for all the news! I received e-mail titled 'A scary thought' from Doug Giron. He was in the company of Pete 'Hurra' Krane '79, and they were into some serious party action. Hurra was paying his first visit to Gyro in some time as he was cruising through Providence, R.I., on his way to the Cape. Sorry I missed it. . . . I ran into Sarah Bryan Severence at a local Starbucks while grabbing some corporate fuel. Sarah was on her way home to N.J. after picking up her 13- and 15-year-old sons from Camp Kieve, Sandy Buck's stamping grounds. One of the boys had to get home quickly to start football practice. I wonder what kind of an effect it has on a teenage kid to be left with Roebuck all summer. . . . George Kesaris wrote from Bar Harbor that he, Doug Maffucci, Jon Hubbard '77, Dave Raymond '77 and Peter Roy '68 attended the Fifth Hiram Maxim Society machine gun festival at Dover-Foxcroft in July. George claimed that it was a nice break from the brutal pace of summer in a tourist town to see 50 or 60 men and women shooting machine guns all at once at junk cars. He called them a 'Serious Second Amendment crowd.' They especially liked the flame thrower demonstration at lunchtime. I'm sure it reminded George of his old pyromaniac days. . . . Pat Hotchkiss Bakir provided some news from Amman, Jordan, where she's been for five years, the longest she's been in one place since graduation. Pat said that life goes on like anywhere else as her kids, Abdo, 10, and Hytham, 8, attend Little League and soccer practices. She's doing consulting work in water and irrigation management, mainly for Chemonics International, a U.S. company. She also presents some papers and does some training in community participation at a few local and international conferences. Her husband, Hamed, is regional advisor for the World Health Organization, a job that involves some travel, most of which the rest of the family misses. In their spare time they camp in the desert and visit Pat's in-laws in Ramallah, Palestine. She invited anyone interested in visiting or learning more about Palestine to contact her at bakirhp@nol.com.jo…. Steve Miller checked in from the west coast of Florida, where he's lived for 16 years. He wondered about some of the old Pi Lams, specifically Tony Lopez, Dave Abrahamson and Wally Ollen (whom Steve is quite confident he could still beat at roofball). Steve and his wife, Terri, and son, Max, live in Treasure Island on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico. He misses frozen beer on the windowsill of his Colby dorm but margueritas while watching the sunset over the gulf is a reasonable substitute. He sold his C.P.A. practice to American Express 11 years ago to help establish their accounting presence in the southeast U.S. He ran that corner of the country for them as they built the ninth largest accounting practice in the country. While he was there, the state of Florida went after Steve, attempting to take his C.P.A. license because he was practicing in a non-traditional forum. Steve was severely miffed and sued the state. His case went to the U.S. Supreme Court (Miller v. The State of Florida), where he won unanimously. Accounting Today, a trade rag, named him to their list of Most Influential Accountants in the U.S. He then opened his own practice again! . . . Bill and Joann Barry Getchell along with their 2-year old daughter, Zoe, are moving from Burlington, Vt., to Austin, Texas, where Bill is VP-controller of Green Mountain (I thought they were leaving Vermont) Energy Company. Green Mountain Energy markets environmentally cleaner electricity in deregulated energy markets. Joann is working very hard at keeping up with Zoe's active educational, social and recreational schedule. . . . Alicia Rodriguez Connolly is expanding/evolving her business to coach exclusively. Generally Alicia helps people to live more fully, with more vitality in their professional and personal lives. She married Jerry Connolly '75 and they have a 5-year-old son, Joseph, who just started kindergarten. They live just outside Annapolis, Md., and spend summers on Peak's Island, Maine. Jerry is head of the upper school at the Severn School in Severna Park, Md. Alicia plans on making our 25th! . . . I've got lots more news, but I think I've hit my word limit with Colby so I'll save some for next time. –Robert S. Woodbury   top  |   next

	79		CLASS CORRESPONDENT Cheri Bailey Powers 6027 Scout Drive 719-532-9285 719-380-6806 classnews1979@alum.colby.edu
	As I write this column I can truthfully say that summer has left us here in Colorado. This past weekend we had our first snowfall! That means school is back in session, football games abound on the television, and it's time for another column. . . . I have baby news to report. Larry Sparks and his wife, Nancy, welcomed into their family a son, Steven Alexander Sparks, on August 7, 2000. His godparents are Carol and Dean Morrissey of Beaufort, S.C. Larry says that they visit Dean and Carol often, especially in April when they leave Connecticut for the warmth of South Carolina. . . . Also welcoming a baby into the family is Kyle Harrow. Ella Joy was born on April 30 and joins her big brother, Samuel, 4. Kyle and family have been residing in Millburn, N.J., for almost three years after living in Toronto for six years. She is very happy being a member of the 'unpaid workforce' as an at-home mom. If she needs excitement, Millburn is only a 35-minute train ride from N.Y.C. . . . Lynne Graybeal has joined Perkins Coie L.L.P. as co-chair of their trademark and copyright counseling and registration group in the Seattle office. Lynn has extensive trademark-related experience in U.S. and international trademark prosecution and filing strategies, trademark selection and counseling, trademark disputes, co-existence and licensing agreements, and domain name issues and disputes. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on trademark and domain name issues. Lynn received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Puget Sound School of Law. Congratulations, Lynn. . . . Folks, this is it for this column. I really need to hear from you, as I have nothing more for future columns. I would really love to hear from Janet Deering Bruen, Libby Maynard Gordon and Debbie Lieberman Moore. Please write! Please call! Drop in! –Cheri Bailey Powers   top  |   next