Here is our news for 2014 ... unedited except to add your names.
1.
Claire Blickenstaff Beery
2.
Donald Camp
3.
Harishwar “Deepak” Dayal
4.
Janet Edlefson
5.
Lee Feierabend
6.
Richard and Suzy McCulloch Friedericks
7.
Mary (Fritschle) Noggle
8.
Linda (Gamble) McKendry
9.
Linda Garst Gupta
10.
Miriam (Haqq) Prabhakar
11.
Carlton Hoke
12.
Rajan Kose
13.
Pete Peterson
14.
Warren Rees
15.
David Rugh
16.
Judith Scheuerman Bender
17.
Sherry Sergeant Cox
18.
Karen Smyres Wolner
19.
Paul Spottswood
20.
Phil Spottswood
21.
Betsy Taylor
22.
Lucy Seely Varnell
23.
Cate Whitcomb
24.
Helke Wolff Ferrie
Rajan Kose:
Rajan moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio in the spring of 2013.
(Ruth Morris Paige and her husband Harvey have lived there for 27 years.) He
not only loves the small village aspect of the town but also enjoys being close
to Ruth again. He still works part time on his graphic design business, travels
often to visit family and enjoys making Indian meals for friends. Life is good.
Linda Garst Gupta:
Thanks Cate! Just lost what I was writing...hope it
didn't mail twice. We have had a somewhat eventful year although we
didn't make our usual trips abroad and will miss our annual trip to India.
Our youngest son, Rajesh, got married in March. We made a summer trip
to Colorado and will wait to go for skiing next spring due to conflicts in
grand kids vacations. Really enjoyed watching the X- Games in Colorado.
Our daughter, Meghna,(SAGE'94), moved from Atlanta TO Boca Raton in the
summer. We miss her but have made two trips to Florida! Our son,
Rahul, joined my husband's practice three years ago and is now Chief of
Anesthesia and therefore, Ashwini's boss! They are expecting our 4th
grandchild in a couple of weeks. We are planning a cruise to Panama Canal
in December and that should be the most of our news for this year. Best
wishes and thanks for your interest in our family. We look forward to
news from fellow classmates. Linda Garst Gupta
Paul Spottswood:
I have begun working part-time as of last week, no night,
weekend or holiday calls just day work. I am already enjoying the extra
time off. I plan to continue on this schedule for two more years.
Otherwise, I am healthy. My son continues to teach law at Florida
State University. My daughter Erin has just received her PhD. from
Cornell and has been hired by Portland State University to teach computer
mediated communication. My daughter Jayne continues to work on the mobile
digital user experience team for Sears in Chicago. Finally, Lydia
continues to volunteer at the church. We feel blessed and wish you all a
happy and healthy year.
Cate,
Carlton Hoke:
The big news for our family this year
was a wedding. Alden, our youngest son, was married to Heather Witmer on
June 28, 2014. They were sweethearts in Junior High School.
Sometimes it takes a while for people to get together.
Carlton
We’ve
been spending a lot of time this summer out on our boat, including a long trip
in July to the Broughton Islands, up near the north end of Vancouver
Island. My husband Frank retired a year ago, and is keeping busy with
some consulting work and house and boat projects. I’m still enjoying my
private practice as a counselor, and plan to continue for a while but scaling
back the number of days per week. I’m looking forward to our 50th
reunion!
Janet
Edlefsen
Judith Scheuerman Bender:
Jottings…wow
it really is that time of year again. Hard to believe isn't it?
This year has brought sadness and
happiness. Sadly one of our daughter-in-laws was diagnosed with breast cancer
and is on a journey of a lifetime. Ups and downs, but coming along pretty
well for a 32 year old. My husband Larry is now 4 years without cancer so that
is a blessing this year. My brother Jerry also has had his fight with
cancer and has been really doing well until recently and we are waiting for
results and are praying that he does not have cancer again. I started on Oxygen
last year, but otherwise feel pretty good. (Too many years of smoking and
finally quit a little over 8 years ago before the oxygen.) At least I can go
places and do things. My brother Jeff is living in the Philippines and is
happily married with a young son. My sister Jean lives in Vancouver Washington
just a few hours from me. She is happily traveling and doing walk -a
-thons all over the world. Lucky girl. My granddaughter is turning
3 this month and that one is really hard to believe. I swear to you she
was a tiny baby just yesterday. She is just an incredible little girl.
Wow how time flies! I have two grandsons that are also a delight and make
my heart sing. My daughter’s son who is 17, is really into learning
Japanese and I can’t understand a word he says but it sure sounds good whatever
the words are. My oldest son’s son is also 17 (3 weeks apart from the
other one)is also a gem. He survived a very bad head injury 3 years
ago and has made a complete recovery and doing a lot with his life as well.
I have truly been blessed with such a wonderful family and even though we have
had to struggle with ups and downs our ups are fantastic! Life is fabulous and
I cannot wait to see as many of you as possible in 2016! Thank you for being
such an incredible part of my life and helping make me who I am today.
Love you all!!! Judith
Miriam Haqq Prabhakar:
It was a terribly hot summer this year
in AP, a blessing to get away to cooler weather for a while.
2014 has added to my joys of being a
grandparent again, with the birth of Micah Amir in March. I am in the in NC,
getting acquainted with him and reacquainted with Isaiah Aleem who is now 3 and
a ball of energy.
Still working on where to retire, US or
India? Being busy in AP is great. Will be back in India early Oct.
My father turned 94 and it was great to see him and all of the siblings over
the Labor Day weekend.
Great to hear from each one of you.
Miriam (Haqq) Prabhakar
Helke Wolff Ferrie:
Who would have
thought that preparing for retirement is that much work! I envy Richard and
Suzi for having done it! We are in the process of making our cottage on
Manitoulin Island, where we have vacationed since 1978, into an all-season home
ready for move-in next spring. It is located on the edge of the Niagara
Escarpment and overlooks Georgian Bay and the Killarny mountains. Bob will
continue working on the island with PTSD patients, but only three days a week.
I have plans for another book. My last one, Ending Denial - The Lyme Disease
Epidemic in Canada, became the catalyst for a federal bill passed this year
mandating proper testing for Lyme in Canada and an educational program for
doctors in this country to become as Lyme-literate as their US colleagues. The
US Congress passed an even more comprehensive bill on behalf of US Lyme
patients this year also, so we are finally getting some traction on this
fastest growing of all infectious diseases. - All our children are now
middle-aged (the youngest is 43), which is very sobering! Two of our
granddaughters are entering graduate school and the third one has started
university and will soon leave us. Our great-grandson Omar, now 2 years old,
talks a mile a minute and provides endless entertainment. Having raised
our own 10 adopted and three home-made children as well as three grandchildren,
we will now be on our own in the glorious wilderness of northern Ontario. We
enjoyed this huge 45-year long tamasha, but it is never too late to have a
great honeymoon! The attached picture is from the joint birthday party
celebrating Omar's first (born Valentine's day 2012) and my 65th birthday (Feb.
5, 1948) last year.
Cheers, Helke (Wolff) Ferrie
Hi... It's Linda (Gamble) McKendry, still in
Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My parents passed away 69 days apart over the
winter/ spring of 2012/13. We miss them but God worked everything
out and after a medical crisis in Jim's life that began two days after we
burried Dad, life has settled down a lot. I still have clients that drag
me out of retirement to do projects for them in commercial design consulting,
and I've become the resident Face Painter at a local Farmer's market that is
mostly indoors year round! It's fun and very rewarding to use my artistic
gifts in this way... the only art I know of where you get paid as you do
it! No two canvases alike, and always moving! Our farm is up for
sale as will be our house so we can
purchase something more suitable to our
'retirement' desires. I want a view of the amazing rockies, or at least
the foothills and a forrest! Must be a childhood longing!
Sherry Sergeant Cox:
I did not mean to wait until the last minute to
write you but we have been fairly busy awaiting the birth of our first
grand-child! We are so excited! We have been helping Stephanie and John
somewhat with painting and flooring projects in the little house they just
bought so we can get them moved in before the 5 Oct. birth date. So
anyway here goes my 3 - 4 sentences. Steve has now worked for a year at
the Health Food Center, he really enjoys it and its nice getting free products
and a discount as well. Sherry continues helping out with
International students learning English, an Iraqi lady in particular, Bible
studies, singing in choir and going to the gym. Sarah and Tony
continue with the Air Force in Mississippi, Tony finished his Masters and may
be going to Turkey next spring and Sarah stays busy at home making beautiful
handmade Christmas ornaments. And our really big news is that we are
going to be grandparents in just a couple weeks as Stephanie and John are
expecting their first child,a girl! Sorry Cate, I
always have a little trouble keeping it concise. Enjoyed seeing your
picture at the Grand Canyon, too bad you weren't able to swing through OK on
your way, we would have loved to see you. I do talk to Linda Gupta every
once in awhile but otherwise haven't kept in touch with anyone. I am
looking forward to our class getting together in a couple years. I know a
lot can happen in that time but I know the importance of planning ahead.
We will keep you posted on the new grand-baby even though it will be too late
to get into the Quad this year. By the way, I was one of those who did
not receive my Quad but Linda kindly sent me hers. Hopefully, that won't
happen next year.
Take care and stay in touch.
Sherry
Harishwar Dayal:
My jottings would be nothing but
Arpana, Arpana and Arpana! Therefore, I have attached our Annual Report 2013
for everyone's persual. I don't really do anything else. Nothing much to say
otherwise except for my fondest love to the entire CHEPBUH Family, including
children and grandchildren and ALWAYS the open invitation for all to visit
whenever in India!
If you feel this is OK to send please
do forward it, otherwise let it be. Because it is certainly not a short update! (Cate is the web master for the www.arpanaservices.org site ... so here is the link click here.)
Look forward very much to when we will
be together, which is rapidly coming closer!
Much love to you and Jack. Both of you
look wonderful in the picture! God bless you both!
Deepak
Mary (Fritschle) Noggle:
The past year has been a challenge. We
lost my oldest brother Dan on March 15 to esophageal cancer. I never expected
to lose both my brothers and now be my dad's oldest surviving child. My dad is
96 and going strong. He lives in assisted living near both Ruth, my younger
sister and me in Appleton WI. He preaches every Saturday night and leads weekly
morning devotions It is such a joy. A huge blessing. I welcomed my 6th
grandchild this year and they are all girls ranging in age from 4 months to 12
years old.I continue to work in long term care in Wisconsin helping people stay
in their homes but hope to retire next year. I so enjoy all the news and
am looking forward to the reunion in 2016. Mary (Fritschle) Noggle.
Donald Camp:
I’ve been away
from the Woodstock family for a long time but your class mailing list has been
great for getting reconnected with people I knew back in 10th
grade. John Chaffee and I came very
close to being in the same city at the same time this month, but we missed by a
week. We’re planning to get together
somehow. And being back in touch
electronically with Arun has been great.
I’m (mostly)
retired from the US State Department but they hire me back every autumn to work
at the US Mission to the UN, where I am now.
I’m the South Asia Advisor at the US Mission so I work with delegates
from India/Pakistan/Nepal and the like.
On weekends, I hang around the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art and eat
idli/dosai on the street. This weekend
is “Diwali in Times Square" (rather early, admittedly). And Prime Minister Modi will be here in a
couple of weeks, for a huge tamasha in Madison Square Garden. So, except for the weather, I might as well
be in Delhi.
I’m hoping to be
back in India in January, visiting my Peace Corps village in Tamil Nadu, but
that has yet to be set in stone. Most
of the year, my wife and I continue to live in the Washington DC suburbs, where
there are more recent Woodstock graduates in our neighborhood.
Cheers, Donald
Camp
Richard and Suzanne McCulloch
Friedericks:
We did it. We retired and moved back to
Port Townsend, WA from Hong Kong. It’s been a couple months and we’re still
settling in but its very, very good. Being in Asia was great, of course,
because we were able to travel. Last October 2013 we went to revisit the Punjab
with Suzy’s brother David. We also had a great time with Harishwar in Kharnal.
We made our annual Christmas trip back to LA and Oregon to see the grandkids.
In March we were both able to go to Nepal for the wedding of one of our close
Nepali friend’s son and Suzy stayed on to join the High School Interim group I
lead to Nepal every year. In April we went to Korea for a week. By June 18 we
were back in the USA. Our shipment arrived a month later and since we’ve been
back we put in bamboo floors in our house, got all new appliances and a new
Subaru Forester. We’ve also had plenty of time with family in Portland and
everyone came to Port Townsend for our 40th wedding anniversary. We look
forward to our class reunion in 2016 - hopefully here in Port Townsend.
Richard and Suzy
Pete Petersen News for 2014,
Sheri and I moved to Fayetteville
AR to be closer to our son and daughter-in-law who live in
Fayetteville and closer to fishing and camping of course.
Northwest AR is home to Walmart
and Tyson Chicken so the Univ of AR and the Arts have received loads of
money for academics, museums, and charities while they pay their employees
minimum. There are several Indian restaurants catering to the Indians that
work at Walmart. I volunteer at our library and local mental
health sites and take univ classes for fun. Sheri is pretty active substitute
teaching. Our son, Sean teaches Social Studies and Debate in HS
in Springdale, AR and Suzanna is a MD working as a hospitalist at Wash
Regional. I had aortic valve replacement last year which I blame on
hiking at Woodstock and running(ha!), so I'm fit again to travel some
more! We live on 2 acres overlooking the White River which
feeds all the lakes that border AR and MO. Did Padre Island
North, TX on the Gulf this spring with our small RV and really enjoyed
camping on the beach, birds and fresh shrimp. Had a visit from
Jim(akaBlue) and Laurie Ginn. Blue was my Hostel roommate jr and sr
years. We will hit the East Coast next spring or fall, then Europe
and Turkey next year or next. A cottage on the Irish coast for a
week is one of many things on our bucket list.
Enjoy everybody's news.
Chepbuh and Namaste y'all, Pete
Lee
Feierabend:
Every
year I mean to send jottings but attempting to depresses me because I get
reminded of all the things that I could have done but didn't, or places I have
missed, or how trivial my problems are compared to others, and so this year I
finally have something I am excited enough about to overcome all those
thoughts. I am finally moving "back
home". We bought a condo in
Madison, Wisconsin. I am commuting to
work in Louisiana every other week because you cannot work in Wisconsin without
board certification but that same increased standard is why Sandra is doing
better with her lung problems. She is
still on oxygen with exertion but able to get out and about again. All but my brother Bruce are in the Madison
area now as well several Woodstock "family" members so we are looking
forward to being here even if retirement is just something I can envy others
getting to do! Looking forward to 2016
reunion!!!!
Phil Spottswood:
Phil and wife Michelle moved to Lexington,
KY. Our new address is 1135 Richmond Rd., Lexington, KY., 40502. We
moved to Lexington to be near our children and grandchildren. We live
with our daughter Abby and her husband Jeremy and their two children,
"little" Phil and Laura Craigen. Michele works as an ER nurse
at Good Samaritan Hospital (part of the UK medical system). I work for
God's Pantry, a non-profit agency that delivers bulk food, produce, bread and
other essentials to the food banks in central and eastern Kentucky. What
a blessing to be able to continue to serve the Lord as I serve His needy
children and adults in an area of great poverty. Blessings to
all. Phil
P.S. I do hope that we ALL commit to our 50th reunion at Woodstock in
2016. I have already begun to save my money for the trip.
Philip J. Spottswood
David Rugh:
Thanks Cate for
hunting down these recalcitrant jottings. Here's mine again, in case the
previous email was swallowed by the Grand Canyon:
"DAVID RUGH is
developing skills as a naturalist on the Olympic Peninsula.
He volunteers time on protected properties, studies wildlife, and serves
on the Guiding Committee of a local Natural History Society. At home he
continues to build woodsheds (five at the last count)."
Also, I've added a
photo showing Ruthe, me, and Chris Green at the Woodstock Reunion in Baltimore.
We look happy.
-Dave
Hi there classmates!
I sent a pithy blurb
to Cate for the Quad, but, inspired by these friendly paragraphs from so many
of you, it seems only right to tell more: 2014 has not been a year of
great transitions. Ruthe and I live on the Olympic Peninsula, spending most of
our time in our custom-made home in 28 acres of deep forest (which we hope you
will visit in 2016!) My focus continues to be on natural history (wildlife,
ecology, etc.), a passion begun while wandering the Tehri Hills. There have
been 40+ naturalist events, i.e. field trips or lectures, so far this year,
including setting bait and cameras in a program to see if fishers have returned
to the area; these furry animals – smaller than a wolverine, bigger than a mink
– were trapped to near extinction in WA and have now been reintroduced.
Not much travel to
report for us: just a few trips to visit relatives and friends in PA and
MD, including the Woodstock annual gathering.
-Dave
Lucy Seely Varnell:
I regret I cannot be there for our class reunion. My husband
and I retired this past January and we love it. We have five grand children
which keeps us very busy, with after school pick up etc.We also have a disabled
son from 13 years with the U.S. Army with very severe Crohn's disease. He has
had 3 major surgeries already. He made the Audie Murphy Award within 4 years of
service and was ranking real fast and loved the service, but was disabled by
the Army with great pay, but sad to leave. My husband and I have been doing a
lot of traveling when we can to see sisters and brothers. 7 siblings is a lot.
Joyce, Joan and I will be traveling to Austria, Germany and Switzerland next
June. My husband will stay behind to help our disabled son. I hope you all have
a great reunion. Love to each of you, Lucy
Karen Smyres Wolner:
This has been a momentous year to say
the least. In April our son Jason and daughter-in-law Lisbel welcomed
Anjelica Ana, a sister to 3 year old Manny. Needless to say, we were
thrilled. Sadly, a month later on May 14th we lost my dad. Not
unexpected but hard all the same. My mother then passed away on August
9th. We had already arranged for the memorial service to be on August
16th so it became a service for both of them. Fitting, as it was the day
following Independence Day. About 25 family members celebrated the 15th with a
Hindustani dinner while celebrating their lives.
On Labor Day weekend, our daughter Kim,
son-in-law Caleb, and 2 year old grandson Nathaniel moved to Albany from the DC
area. It is so wonderful to have them live just a few minutes away.
What with all the trips back and forth
to Florida to check in on my folks and then to settle their affairs, we haven't
been able to plan any other traveling. However, we have some things on
our bucket list for next year. Hopefully, I will be able to report on
them for the next Jottings!
Looking forward to our 50th reunion.
Can't believe it has been so long! Are we really that old?!
Warren
Rees:When I read what some of y’all did this year, my life feels tame. I had my
second grandchild graduate from high school. I pick up my third grandchild from
school in the afternoon, and every Monday I take my youngest two to school and
preschool. I miss being a world traveler, but first I would have to get a
passport, I posted my last passport picture on Facebook, it looks very similar
to my senior year book picture probably because it was taken in the summer of
1965. I get immense satisfaction, unlike the Rolling Stones who couldn’t get no
satisfaction, in being an important part of my grandchildren’s lives. December
Marie and I will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. I am
looking forward to our reunion.
Betsy Taylor:
great to hear news from all of you.
I've been busier than I would like. I'm on the
national steering committee for the US Extractive Industries Transparency Initiativewhich brings me to DC every several months (since many of my family are in the
Baltimore / Washington area, that makes the trips also personally
meaningful). I'm working on several collaborative research projects with the
Alliance for Appalachia -- to build community-based vision &
action for post-coal economies. On a completely other and possibly ADD
track, I'm trying to nurture interfaith discussion on the Israel / Palestine situation,
building on really terrific work of Presbyterian Church in developing study guides. Herbert
& I also occasionally get away to Asheville NC for a break, but wish I had
a bit more time to ponder & to porch... Happy Trails all! Betsy
Betsy Taylor
Claire Beery: In the spirit of catching up,
here's my news from Sonoma County. Last year was a big one for me - I
got married. Hopefully many of you will get to meet my husband, Bill,
at the reunion. Our one year anniversary was yesterday. We used to
work together 15 years ago and re-met at a professional training. It¹s
nice to be married again after 18 years. Took me three times to get it
right! We live in Rohnert Park near Santa Rosa.
I¹m
semi-retired. Ended my job as Director of programs at a family social
service agency doing parent education, childcare consultation and
related work. Now I get to focus exclusively on my life as a college
professor teaching Child Development. I recently created a brand new
course that focuses on working with children and families going through
stress and loss in their lives (something I know about for sure).
Bill is also semi-retired now and able to give more time to his writing. Here¹s a link to one of his works: http://counterculturecreations.com/.
My
kids are all doing well. Willow (Rosenthal) is 42, married, and still a
leader in the urban farming movement living in Berkeley. You¹ll find
her on any number of websites on the internet. Mira (Rosenthal) is 40
and gaining national recognition as a poet and translator (of Polish
poetry!). She
received the great honor last year of being
short-listed for the Griffin Poetry Prize (out of Toronto). She has her
own website. Zoe is 24 and exploring the best fit for her career in
sound engineering. She lives in Oakland. She graduated from San
Francisco State in 2013 and has been working as an intern at Skywalker
Sound for the past year a real prize to intern at one of the top
companies in the world. She's also a dancer.
Mira and husband
Greg brought two granddaughters into my life: Tillie (5 and in
kindergarten) and Lulu (2) They live in Jacksonville, Florida which, of
course, is sad for me. But Skype keeps the world small. Here are two
photos from my wedding: one of me and all my girls (Willow & Zoe
on my right, Mira on my left).
Really looking forward to the reunion of our "family" in 2016.
Love, Claire
