From New Orleans, Becky Burt says she sold her parents’ house in May 2012 and is living in the front of the little house where she went to kindergarten(!) for short time until she can figure out which way to jump. Becky has been teaching at the New Orleans School of Art and Craft (nolaartandcraft.com) for the past several yrs. and life would be much easier without the hour drive each way. Becky did take time off this summer to have rotator cuff surgery, but is much improved and is getting ready to go back on the show circuit. She will be doing Indian pow wows in TX (Sept. in Grand Prairie, Oct. in San Antonio, Nov. in Austin), plus the Covington (LA) 3 Rivers Art Festival in Nov. Also has a gallery opening on Dec. 14 in Covington and she was recently named as 1 of the 30 People to Watch by New Orleans Magazine. In Feb. 2014, Becky will be riding down St. Charles Ave. as a member of the Krewe of Muses, tossing glitter shoes to the adoring and maybe drunk crowds. Becky isn’t letting life slow her down!!! Sherry Buttrick Rebak and husband Forbes have just finished building a house on a farm near Charlottesville that they have owned for 20 yrs. The home is based on an 1840s plan of Andrew Jackson Downing. Candi Casey Beatty writes from Chicago that after 17 yrs. in international institutional sales at William Blair, she has joined a team at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as a financial advisor and equity specialist. At Christmas, Candi will become a grandmother since Richard Jr. and his wife are expecting a baby! Everyone is thrilled! Teesie Costello Howell and husband Chris celebrated their 36th anniversary in June 2013. Son Jackson (26) is living in NYC and daughter Suzannah (22) is living in Greenville, SC. They are now officially empty nesters! Kay Ellisor Hopkins, is in her 25th yr. working for Neiman Marcus Direct in the training area. Daughter Beth and her husband, Jim, welcomed Kay’s 1st grandchild, Harper Katherine, in July. Kay is burning the highway between Dallas and Houston to see her grandchild! Mary Beth Hamlin Shannon and Jim Shannon were married on 6/30/12 in Keswick, VA. Mary Beth met Jim in 1973 when he was at UVa law school and they have been friends ever since! They are living in Richmond (and keeping the house in Winnetka, IL). Mary Beth went to Meg Sheilds Duke’s mother’s funeral earlier this yr. She also had dinner with Gray Thomas Payne ’75 and her husband, Tom, in Richmond. She looks terrific and has the same funny fabulous personality she did in college. Mary Beth visited Peggy Weimer Parrish at her new B & B in Danville, VA. Peggy is still in the renovation stage, not sure when it will open, but it’s a spectacular grand dame of a house on Main St. MB sees a lot of Cathy Slatinshek Prillaman and Bill (aka “Bo”). Bo is the architect on the renovation of the home Mary Beth and Jim bought in Windsor Farms. Slats is doing very well after breast cancer surgery, great fun and a lot of laughs every time they get together. Margot Mahoney Budin and Mary Beth decided to renew a pastime they participated in yrs. ago just after graduation when they were both living in D.C. They have re-subscribed to season tickets to Arena Stage in D.C. and have been going for the past 2
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yrs. Great fun to get together several times a yr. (at least) for dinner and a play. Mary Beth talks frequently to Margaret Milnor Mallory, who is quite the world traveler. Mary Beth also stays in touch with Cora Snyder ’75 who moved from Charlottesville back to her family home in Whiting, ME. Mary Beth, Jim and her children went to China for 2 wks. last summer and had an amazing time. Culturally, quite an eye opener, but the pollution was really bad! MB spent a quick week in London this summer as son Hollis (20, sophomore at Denison) was studying at the London School of Economics. Daughter Caroline, almost 25, is working and living in Evanston, IL. Looking forward to turning 60 and celebrating with some of our classmates! Let’s hope this next decade finds us all in great health and frequent visitors back to The Patch! Ainslie Jones Uhl and husband Robert have lived in San Diego for the past 5 yrs. (his career took them west) but plan to return to NC. The 3 oldest have graduated from college and are working in their respective fields of interest. Daughter Colbern is a culinary publicist in NYC, and other daughter Everett graduated in May and works in PR in Boston. Son Hart is program director for a think tank in D.C. focused on Syrian democracy, and youngest son Henry will attend the U. of Puget Sound in the fall. Ainslie recently accepted a position as a literacy specialist for an educational consultant and continues to work as a freelance writer/editor. Emptynesting will be strange, but she still has her faithful curly-coated retriever, Scout, to baby. Ainslie happily gathered her extended family in June at their beach house in NC. Nothin’ could be finer. Lynn Kahler Rogerson says she continues to thank Miss Laing for her riveting “baby art history” class!! This yr. it led to her organization opening exhibition tours of the decorative arts of “DECO JAPAN: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920—1945” and “Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne: Paris 1880-1910,” with exhibitions of American folk art and Henry Moore to come soon. Lynn loves working on her 1820 house in Alexandria, VA and participating in tours with her grandfather’s 1953 Packard automobile. Lynn’s daughter will be beginning high school in the fall and is already thinking about attending SBC! Cheryl Lux Cobb’s daughter, Elizabeth Cobb ’15, recently received the 2013-14 Alumna Daughter Scholar Award at SBC. Mare Moran Goerler is planning to retire in 2014 to North Myrtle Beach, SC. In the meantime, coping with the stress of being marketing director for a fast-growing law firm in NY, she is taking more trips! Recently, Mare traveled to Charleston, SC, and Captiva Island, FL. Debbie Mutch Olander says she has become an avid bird watcher while living in Jacksonville, FL, and manages to take art classes, too. Tennessee Nielsen has joined the Dallas office of CS Group LLC as director of career services, providing executive search services to mid-level management through C-suite clients seeking new career opportunities. Connie Radford Butler and husband Robert live in Louisville, KY, and their daughter, Austin, graduated from Colorado, has a master’s in early childhood intervention and teaches. She is
married, living in Louisville and has a son, Charlie (3). Charlie spends several afternoons with Connie. Son Robert graduated from Wake Forest and attended U. of Louisville Medical School. He and his wife are living in Providence, RI, where he is in his 2nd yr. of residency in emergency medicine. Connie has just begun her 24th yr. of teaching preschool—it keeps her feeling young! The engagement of Meg Shields Duke’s daughter, Margo (SBC-JYF ’05 and D.C. resident), was cause for celebration in Washington this spring. On hand to toast the future bride at the engagement party, bridal shower, and/or Georgetown group dinner were the following SBC pals: Mary Beth Hamlin Shannon, Caroline Bickel McLoughlin (Margo’s godmother), Gray Thomas Payne ‘75, Chris Strous Conner ’63—whom Meg lived with during 2 winter terms, Cathy Slatinshek Prillaman, Ookie Hays Cooper, Margot Mahoney Budin, Sally Mott Freeman and their various spouses. MB, Gray and Chris (along with Jimmy, Tom, and David) will represent the Briar Patch at the Denver wedding in Sept. 2013. Thank you, fellow Sweeties, for making this time so special! Cathy Slatinshek Prillaman remarried 5 yrs. ago, retired from government service, went back to work for a U.S. congressman as his outreach director, then finally retired when she received a cancer diagnosis. Slats is feeling great now considering she has been through a double mastectomy, many cycles of chemo and rounds of radiation ending in Dec. 2012. Slats has been playing tennis and golf, riding and visiting/caring for her parents (dad 95, mom 85) in D.C. Slats also sees Sally Mott Freeman, Margo Mahoney Budin, Caroline Bickel McLaughlin, Ookie Hayes Cooper, Meg Shields Duke, Lisa Nelson Robertson, Mary Beth Hamlin Shannon, Ann Kiley Crenshaw, Liz Jenks Cardin, Terese DeGrandi Busch, Paula Brumm Hennessy ’77, Maggie Shriver ’77 and Angela Scully ’77. Gina Spangler Polley and husband David took a tour of China in July 2013 and David had his hip replaced on Aug. 21. Gina has been nurse and physical therapist. She has a new horse and enjoys showing under saddle for the 1st time in 6 yrs. Marshá Taylor Horton has been appointed interim dean of the College of Education, Health and Public Policy at DE State U. in Dover. She took on her new duties on 8/19/13. Ann Works Balderston writes from WY that her mom passed away in 2012 after several yrs. of suffering from Alzheimer’s. Ann and her husband, Biv, are now actively involved with Biv’s parents’ care—definitely the sandwich generation! Ann spends spring/ summer in WY with daughter Sarah ’09, who is working as a nurse at the hospital, and daughter Maggie ’11, who is working as a wrangler at the R Lazy S Ranch. Son John, who will be a senior at St. Lawrence U., came for visit with Biv in June before heading back to Rochester, NY, for work. Ann will stay in WY until Sept., when Biv arrives for a break! If any of you find yourselves in Jackson, WY, Ann is there from May through Sept., give her a call. She would love sharing cocktails on the porch! And I, Cissy Humphrey, the “pesky” class secretary, finally got hired as a permanent employee at the oil and gas company where I have been working as contractor after 1 ½ yrs. Gotta love those benefits!! And for class notes, you will be hearing
from me again about the time you will read these notes! Thanks to all who wrote/ emailed me. I appreciate it and your fellow classmates enjoy reading that all of us are still here!
1977
Sally Bonham Mohle
5039 Lewisetta Dr Glen Allen, VA 23060 SallyBonhamSBC77@aol.com Becky Mayer Gutierrez: I just spent a week in Old Orchard Beach, ME, with my 2 oldest sons and families. My 4 grandchildren make it amazing, watching them chase seagulls or being excited about finding seashells. It eases the pain of school starting in less than 10 days. I am teaching a 4/5 class again this yr. Summers get shorter and shorter. A friend who graduated in ’83 and I visited SBC in April. We were shocked it had its own exit. We completely enjoyed touring the campus early in the morning. I am truly blessed in life and enjoy its wonders and new experiences. Debbie Koss McCarthy: Our family news is that Courtney and John and our 2 wonderful grandbabies are moving from Atlanta to Charlotte (woohoo...back in NC!) and Alex has taken a new job in D.C. and is starting an MBA at Georgetown U. The Augustine Literacy Project keeps growing and keeps me way too busy. If any classmates are interested in starting a replication chapter, I’d love to talk with them about it. Linda Uihlein: I’m still hard at work on Em Paks and Owl’s Nest Games creating more USA outdoor preparedness board and card games. Still involved in fire/rescue work. Still looking for a single male, over 2 ft 4 in., head on top of his shoulders, eyes facing forward, who loves animals, adventure and laughing. If he comes with a ranch—more points. Reconnected with Nan Stuart ’75 at a Foxcroft School reunion. Lots of common connections. She still has an incredible sense of humor. Learned about animal rescue in her Code 3 Assoc. VA classes and found out about our similar lives of working with animals and rescue work. Nan has done more for animals than I ever would. I had lunch with Beverley Crispin Heffernan ’75 via Nan Stuart ’75 when I was in Salt Lake City in Jan. Saw more of Bev and her family in early Aug. Rode Bev’s horses, too. What FUN to reconnect with her and her laugher! Anyone traveling to Charlottesville may feel free to stay at my farm. Missy Flanigan Clark: I’m happy to report that with our 3rd child graduating from college this May we have had 3 up and 3 down! Woo hoo, no more new tuitions for us! Gregg Smythe: I am a 2x-granny; my husband finally retired—no regrets leaving D.C. in our dust; we have renovated our house and love porch and dock time; we’ve had a string of summer visitors. Very happy in Charleston. Vera Blake Thiers: Greetings from sunny Germany—we are having a couple of wks. of great summer weather. Not much to report—everyone is currently healthy and gainfully employed. I look forward to a trip to Elba, Italy (in an RV!), and my fall trip to hunt in Ireland. Let me know if any of you are coming this way—always have room in my dungeon for any SBCers. Kathy Roantree Renken: This has been a big yr. for us. We are grandparents to a