Class Notes 2004
March 2004
Who'd have thought meeting with class officers Nancy Barton Fellinger (president), Susan Loucks (co-Fund Agent), Liz Brown (treasurer), Sharon Howard and Heather Corbett from the Alumni Office and classmate Lisa Darman to talk about our 25th reunion would result in this? I'm now your new class secretary. A huge thank you to Anastasia Sarantos for taking on the role for the past year. I'm sure class officers Kathy Sullivan Kolar (VP), Deirdre Kelly (VP) and Sheri Orcutt Zimmerman (co-Fund Agent) who couldn't make the March 7th reunion planning meeting in Boston in person, but who have been working on this by phone, never imagined.
Back to that 25th reunion statement. I know we can't be old enough for a 25th! But after Nancy called, I did the math. It's true. We're twenty-five years out in June 2005√just a year from now.
This is going to be a weekend you don't want to miss, so Save The Dates May 20-22, 2005
.You should have heard Susan Loucks reeling off ideas of what we could do to make our reunion a not-to-be-missed weekend.
Remember that bright orange PIG book Wheaton handed each of us at orientation freshman year? Why PIG, anyone remember? None of us did.
What if a couple weeks before reunion we each got that book again only enhanced with where we all are now? Imagine how fun that would be. Volunteer to join the Reunion25 PIG book committee. Make Reunion25 Great!
What if one or more of our members designed a Class of '80 motif symbolizing our Wheaton experience and we had Reunion25 T-shirts, caps, or even canvass bags? Class of '80 artists. Make Reunion25 Great! Volunteer for the Reunion25 design committee.
What if we put together a webpage on the Wheaton site? Check out the possibilities under: http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/alum/class/
Surely with some 300 Class of 80'ers, we've must have a web guru or two, or three, or twenty among us√offspring or spouses could volunteer! Our page could follow the Wheaton template or we could strut our independence and design from scratch. Class of '80 Dreamers, Weave us a Webpage! Join the Reunion25 Web committee Make Reunion25 Great!
Be part of the Reunion25 Planning Committee! You have no idea how much fun it was bouncing around ideas of what we could do. Be a part of it. Make Reunion25 Great!
Oh and to make this reunion a real bang-up affair, we need seed money. Did you know class dues are $50? Neither did I. Apparently, our class treasury is empty. Quick, send off dues in check payable to: Wheaton Class of '80 to our treasurer, Liz Brown 9 Lawrence Street, Boston, Mass, 02116-6211. Make Reunion25 Great!
Other than this reunion planning meeting. I don't have much Class of '80 news. Susie Cohen Titus and I have been taking in MFA exhibits together√Monet, Gauguin. Susie looks great. She, husband David, and two-year-old William are living in and renovating their Belmont, MA home√excellent stories! Susie works full-time as a software engineer at Fidelity Investments computer systems, and is designing a T-shirt for a New England Morris Dance event.
VOLUNTEER to help with Reunion25, or to SEND ME NEWS:
email@TommyeKMayer.com
, 617-367-5815:Tommye-K. Mayer 84 Prince St. #1D, Boston, MA 02113. No news from you, and you read all about Tommye÷the self-promotion queen√I have no kids
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July 2004
Nancy Barton Fellinger (our class president)and I (Tommye, filling in as class Scribe) traveled back to Wheaton for Commencement/Reunion weekend this year, May 21-23, 2004. We thought we'd observe the class of '79, etc. check out how a twenty-fifth reunion is organized. Hey, I've never before been out of college twenty-five years. Have you?
Here's what I saw:
Remember the hoots and hollers as we reconvened on campus each year after a long summer away? Multiply that by twenty-five. That's what a 25th reunion sounds like. and then, wafting from a boombox in the Craigen parlor˘where Œ79ers gathered between and for planned events˘you could hear the familiar strains of our college years soundtrack--We Could Make That CD For The Class Of '80. Volunteers to help with the play list contact email@TommyeKMayer.com
As I stepped into Craigen, knapsack on my back, and began hauling myself over those four stairs leading up to the old bellhop desk, there was Anne Bransford '79 who looks just the same, hobbling too. Living now in Utah with children, she'd done damage to an ankle a while ago. No dancing for Ann reunion weekend, but being Ann e Bransford, a little damage to an ankle didn't damper her spirits much We commiserated some˘what a drag it is getting olderΣ I also bumped into B.J. Bikofsky Cataldo and Cheryl Abrams Savit '79 on Saturday as alumnae lined up to parade the dimple--remember that tradition? BJ is working in Cambridge, living and Moming in Needham. With the alumnae procession already stepping out, BJ and Cheryl set off. Wish there was more to report.
Reunion weekend 2004 included great music in Emerson Dining Hall Of course I danced the night away˘well, the band was playing our music--lots of oldies but moldies as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young put it--and I had to show those kids reuning from the classes of 1999 and 1994 how to dance to itΣ I may be older, but wiser? Sure, but less exuberant?
Eagle-eyed Alumni office staff perusing the May 2, 2004 Connecticut Post read about Catherine Coleman. She's been named director of radiology at St. Vincent's Medical Center, (in Bridgeport, CT I believe). Congratulations!
Martha Russell Davis lives in Concord, MA with husband Glenn (They're married 2twenty-four years now.) with their three children. Fifteen-year-old and Six foot, two inch Stuart, attends Lawrence Academy; Thirteen-year-old Tyler, attends Fenn School; and seven-year-old Hannah heads into second grade next year. Martha works in administration in the Exec. VP's office at Brandeis University. She gets together with Diane Nordin often (in fact, just about every morning they get together to walk sleep-quiet streets of Concord, MA at 5:45 A.M! Diane, a Partner at Wellington Management heads up Global Relationship Management for the firm. She reports her work involves a lot of global travel that husband Tom Keller coaches at the local high school and her children are fast approaching college-age. At seventeen, Matt's a junior at Middlesex School in Concord, fifteen-year-old Allison's a sophomore at Concord Carlisle High and thirteen-year-old Julia (will attend Deerfield next year. Diane gets together with Edie Dillon Thompson, Patti Flowers, Gay Packard Wilson, and Allison Lobdell. She also works with several Wheaton alums, including Mary Ann Carroll '79 and says she's looking forward to reunion25 next year (Mark your calendar May 20-22, 2005!
Hey folks! Our 25th reunion looms. You've got to help me out with cards and letters telling me what you're up to. New jobs, cool trips, interesting experiences. If don't send me news,, Im going to use this space to describe some of the many fascinating detail I learned, observed, or experienced, as a community activist, through a decade and a half of monitoring Boston's Big Dig the federal Highway project technically known as the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project. It's captivating, really...
But wouldn't you rather read about your classmates˘or about YOU? So write, email, call. Here's what you need to get in touch with me: Tommye-K. Mayer 84 Prince St. #1D, Boston, MA 02113-1737 OR email@TommyeKMayer.com OR 617-367-5815.
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October 2004
Susan Loucks writes: Reunion activities connected me to Pamela Knox and Suzanne Ingraham. Both sound like they're coming to Reunion25 next May. Pam andI had a great night of sushi and sake. She's contemplating moving back to her home base in New York City/Queens from San Francisco. Pam's had an amazing several years with lots of travel, fascinating jobs and moves around the country. Living and working on the Cape, Suzanne sounds great√still as funny as ever! Her twin sister Eli is my colleague at WGBH. In early 2004, I saw Donna Sposato Williams and Audrey Cady Stanton at Audrey's ordination in the Episcopal Church. Audrey and husband Glenn live in Connecticut with Emma, Bill and Harriet, their three really nice kids. Donna, working for American Express lives in Rhode Island with husband Peter and redheaded daughters Molly and Annie. Has everyone seen Mary Anne Marsh '79 on New England Cable News and Fox Television? You go girl! I hope everyone's coming to our 25th reunion. Be part of the planning√it's fun catching up with classmates.
Your class secretary sends kudos to Kathryn Sollmann,. She's doing outstanding PR for Women@Work,the job-replacement firm she co-founded two years ago to help women re-enter the workforce after taking time√like a decade raising children√away from work. WBUR's talk show, "On Point" interviewed Kathryn in April. In May, Woman@Work showed up in a Wall Street Journal Work & Family column. I caught-up with Edie Dillon Thompson. A 7th grade teacher in Rhode Island, Edie and high school junior daughter, Sarah, were on campus April 3rd for Wheaton's "Junior Weekend." Also on campus were Kitsey Snow with her son and Audry Cady with daughter, Emma. On vacation in Charlotte North Carolina, Edie caught up with Lynne Kennedy/Piaba. Having spent a few days in hedonistic (her word), comfort at Grace Park Inn, Asheville, Edie says this is the location for our 50th reunion.
Speaking of reunions, our 25th in just 6 months away! You've got those dates saved, right? May 20-22/2005. I've been thinking about how much fun it's going to be--rearranging furniture in the parlor for an all-night gab in our jammies (Lantz or anti-Lantz) listening to the sounds of 76-80: Frampton coming alive, Donna Summer dancing her last, Gloria Gaynor surviving, Fleetwood Mac, and my favorite, Bad Company√my roommates & friends are rolling their eyes (hopefully smiling) at that thoughtΣ What are your audio memories? You have to chime in. We're "all getting older too...")
What else should we do at our reunion? We're limited only by imagination. Join class officers Nancy Barton Fellinger, Deirdre Kelly, Liz Brown, Susan Loucks, Sheri Orcutt Zimmerman, me, and classmate Lisa Darman to make this the best 25th reunion Wheaton's ever hosted! Its your reunion, Help us make it memorable.
Just what would helping make Reunion25 memorable involve? (I too jealously guard my time.) Maybe making a few phone calls√to the women who were part of your life for four years that you've lost track of and find yourself thinking about every once in a while. Imagine what a kick it would be if she came to reunion. What about her, and her. Make it happen. f they knew you were coming, they'd probably come and so wouldΣ). Or maybe helping out means sifting through picturesΣ Imagine sitting around in the parlor looking at photos from 25-29 years ago. What if helping involved something you're really good at--like building our website? That'd be easy.
Ok folks, you didnt flood me with cards & letters. What's that about? Cards and letters would have been nice. A neuroma in my right (read not-stroke-affected) foot has me off-road since June 14th. I was looking so buffΣ Please write. I need material!
As I go to Press, Edie says Patti Flowers just returned from two weeks biking in France. Anastasia Sarantos writes she relocated from Andover, MA to NYC. And Amelia Iacobucci Jestings emailed with enthusiasm about Reunion25√interested in helping make it memorable.
Last but not least, treasurer Liz Brown says Class of Œ80 dues ($50) have slowed to a trickle. Come on ladies. How can we stage a memorable reunion without seed money?
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