Reunion Weekend 2011 Downloadable Brochure - Wheelock College

Class NotesDempsey Cancer Center for Cancer Hope andHealing at Central Maine Medical Center inLewiston/Auburn. And, of course, I am your ClassScribe, described by so many of you as “the gluethat holds our class together”! (P.S. It is a labor oflove.) I can’t wait to see you all in June!1971Gwynne DeLongAfter retiring from teaching at Denver East HighSchool in 2009, Priscilla Jeffery sold her house,“downsized a lot,” and moved to Connecticutto be near her children and grandchildren.“I am not a good retired person,” Priscillawrites, “so I am starting to get involved in localorganizations working with people affected bythe economic downturn. I will also return toGhana to begin the process of starting an NGOin Nsawam dealing with poverty and literacy.”She looks forward to hearing from classmatesand plans to be at the Reunion.For the last eight years, Pat Swiriduk Perryhas been involved in the Nantucket LightshipBasket Museum: In the summer months sheteaches children the art and craft of Nantucketlightship baskets. “We are trying to preserve thecraft which started on the lightships and nowis crafted on land,” she writes. “The museum isone of Nantucket’s little gems.” Pat considersherself fortunate to be able to spend a lot oftime on the island.“That number still does not seem possible,”Candy Steinhausen Wachterman writes of the“40” in the literature going out to the Classof 1971 this year. “The Classes of 2006, 2001,1996, and 1991 will be looking at us andthinking, Wow, those women are older than myparents!” Candy plans to be in attendance onJune 3 to 5 and encourages others to come andbe part of “a great time to catch up with oneanother and figure out where these 40 yearshave gone.” She is still involved with the childcare center she helped start five years ago aswell as the lay ministry group at her church.Sylvia Birnbaum Yasner has a marrieddaughter who teaches in Brookline, MA. Shealso can’t believe the “40” but is lookingforward to attending Reunion.Tina Leydon ’71 “all bundled up at theGrand Canyon at Christmas”Tina Leydon writes: “I’m still enjoying thelovely sunshine and mountain views herein Prescott, AZ. This year and last I’ve beenworking on a family history project, online atAncestry.com, and going through family photoalbums, news clippings, and letters. It’s beena wonderful learning experience.” She alsocontinues to take adult learning classes at thelocal community college.I (Gwynne) am still volunteering with ourlocal Working Group on Girls (modeled afterthe United Nations NGO – the InternationalWGG). We are in our second year of facilitatinga daylong conference for 150 middle schoolgirls followed by bimonthly Girls’ Circle groupsin the schools focusing on healthy relationships,dating, bullying, and leadership skills. Dave andI still travel a few times a year and enjoy timeon Martha’s Vineyard each summer. It’s beenmy pleasure to serve as class scribe, and I lookforward to this year’s Reunion.1976Angela Barresi YakovleffIt’s almost time for Reunion! Meanwhile, it’sgood to hear news from several of you.Judy Waitt Aswad still lives outside of Houstonwith husband Pete. She is the “very proudgrandmother of Alexis, 2, and her cousin, Sierra,1 month.” She is hoping to see her Longwoodfriends as well as Bonnie Page ’76/’92MS andJenifer Beach when she attends Reunion.Nancy Forer and her husband have movedto the Chapel Hill, NC, area to be nearer to theirfirst grandchild. After 25 years at the WaldorfSchool of Princeton (NJ), which she helped pio-neer the founding of, leaving was difficult. Beforemoving, she wrote, “Luckily, the Emerson WaldorfSchool won’t be far away!” She notes that, as astudent at Wheelock, Rudolf Steiner and Waldorfeducation never crossed her path. She hopesthat has changed: “[G]iven all that I learned andcherish most from my Wheelock experience, thismethod of education addresses and embodiesthe best of that best!” After the move, Nancywrote of “adjusting to life in the slow lane andappreciating Southern hospitality!”Along with many of us, Carolee Fucignais an official empty nester. She is still enjoyingthe San Francisco Bay Area and teaching at theNueva School, a school for gifted and talentedstudents, pre-K through grade 8. She has beeninvolved with teacher research on children’splay communities and has been studying theeducational practices in Reggio Emilia, Italy.Maryanne Galvin was honored to have herdocumentary What’s Going on UP There? shownat the Boston Public Library as part of the“Made in Massachusetts Film Series 2010” lastMay. Her most recent film – produced for theMassachusetts Department of Mental Health –is called Real Danger: Restraints & Our Children.See www.restrainingchildren.com.Serving for the second year as presidentof the Wheelock College Alumni Association,Bonnie Page ’76/’92MS is looking forward tostanding in front of the auditorium at Reunionand welcoming friends and fellow 1976 alums!She hopes many classmates are making plansto attend. Bonnie is in her 24th year teachingin Malden, MA. This is the 14th year of full-daykindergarten and the fourth year of extendedlearning time.Congratulations to Nora Ray Richards’76/’91MS and husband Joe Richards ’75, whoare celebrating the 20th year of their nurseryschool this year. Son Jonathan designed anawesome website, www.thesandpipernurseryschool.com.For the past three years, theyhave been the recipients of a MassachusettsUniversal Preschool grant, and they received nationalaccreditation for the third time in 2008.Patricia Grief Sammataro and husband Tonyare enjoying life in Waterford, CT. They have“two great sons, a lovely daughter-in-law, andtwo wonderful grandchildren.” She is in her19th year of teaching at Beth El Nursery Schoolin New London. She occasionally sees RuthGottesdiener Radin, who also lives in Waterford.Patricia, too, is hoping to attend Reunionin June.After 34 years of teaching, Sharla SitterlyWager still loves it! She has 12 students inher class this year at the school where she hastaught since 1976. She’s not yet ready for retirement,though, even though her own childrenare grown and living out of state.I (Angela) am still teaching at WhitinghamElementary School in Whitingham, VT. I’ve beenthere for 32 years. For the past two years Ihave been teaching grades 4 and 5 literacy andsocial studies. I have the pleasure of workingwith a former first-grade student! She teachesmath and science to the same students. Iserve on the executive board of New EnglandReading Association as secretary and on theVermont Council on Reading executive boardas vice president. It’s exciting to be involvedwith two such dynamic organizations. PerhapsI’ll see some of you at our NERA conference inSturbridge, MA, in September.I keep in regular touch with Dale ZabriskiePomerantz, a new grandmother to baby Jack,and Karen Berg Ezzi, also a new grandmother!My husband and I will visit Karen and husbandDavid in Arizona in February. I hope therewill be many of you joining our classmates atReunion. It’s sure to be a great time!1981Colleen Miller RumseyIt’s the middle of January, and as the snowfalls thickly while I (Colleen) work on our classnotes, I can’t help but remember the last biggestsnowstorm I lived through – the Blizzard of ’78:Cross-country skiing down the “T” tracks; lugginga sled to the store in Brookline to stock up onthings we needed; and our dinner at PresidentGordon’s house (Colchester had lost electricity butnot heat or the gas stoves). Sure seems a blizzardwas much more fun when we were students!Kathy Walsh Berube is the director of volun-Class Notes1213