Dip, Sip & Party Midsummer Celebrations in DC & NYC

The school year may end, but the fun never stops! Not everyone was at the beach in mid-July, so the Alumni Office hosted summer parties in Washington, DC, and New York to bring alumni together for a splash of fun. Alums gathered at Salazar in DC and Common Ground in NYC to sip summery cocktails and “dip in” to conversations with old and new friends. A good time was had by all!

Planning to Visit Campus?

It’s no surprise that our alumni want to come back to campus to visit favorite teachers, participate in classroom discussions, and cheer for the Panthers –and we are eager to welcome you!

Please be aware of the following procedures that will help facilitate your visits to Potomac:

• During school hours (8:00 am to 3:30 pm), we ask that you email the Alumni Office at alumni@potomacschool.org to arrange your visit at least 24 hours in advance. Security staff at the gatehouse will be informed, and when you arrive, you will be directed to the Flag Circle Building to obtain a visitor pass.

• You might find yourself in the vicinity of Potomac School Road and want to just drop by. If you arrive on campus without an appointment, our friendly staff at the gatehouse will notify the Alumni Office and direct you to the Flag Circle Building to get a visitor pass. Alumni Office staff will do our best to escort you around campus and find out if individuals that you would like to visit are available. Surprise visits during school hours can be disruptive to teachers and students, so we ask that you follow these protocols to make things work for everyone.

DC: q Gracie Huntsman ’17, Tyler Manderfield ’17, Connor Logue ’15, Brendan Dwyer ’15, Emmett Tabor ’15, Bennett Caplin ’15, Evan Becker ’15, Julia Johnston ’18, Molly Dwyer ’18, Charlotte Gerchick Alton ’12, and Natasha Urbany ’14 w Tristian Dillar ’10 and Spencer Gopaul ’08 e Stephanie Amann Kapsis ’01, John Ohly ’01, Rory Byrnes ’01, Reed Landry ’99, Skip Calvert ’01, Michael Amann ’04, and Ben Rose ’00

NYC: r Clare Conroy ’18 and Lily Longwell ’18 t Ashley Seidlitz ’03, Matt Hassett ’04, Liz Fabiani Rooney ’03, Kevin Bender ’05, and Brandon Arvanaghi ’12 y Dev Subhash ’94, Tyler Wilkins ’94, Will Lamb ’95, and Brandon Arvanaghi ’12

• After school hours, you are welcome to attend games, performances, and other scheduled events on campus, as long as there are no event-specific restrictions. No appointment is needed; just come on by!

We hope to see you at Potomac soon.

Be Connected

Class Notes is the most popular and widely read section of The Term. It provides a forum for alumni to share their news, from professional accomplishments and accolades to marriages, births, and anything else that fellow alums might find interesting. Thank you for sharing your updates!

This section would not be possible without the leadership of our class correspondents, who play a vital role in helping their classmates maintain a lifelong connection with Potomac. Throughout the year, they gather news and photos for the fall and spring issues of The Term. So when you get an email calling for news, please make it a priority! You can send your notes directly to your class correspondent, whose contact information is listed at the top of your class year. If no class correspondent is listed, please send your information to term@potomacschool.org. If your class does not have a class correspondent and you would like to fill that role, please contact Laura Miller, director of alumni relations, at (703) 749-6356 or lmiller@potomacschool.org

Class Notes come from many sources. We do our best to edit for accuracy and clarity.

DON’T SEE YOUR CLASS YEAR?

If your year doesn’t appear in Class Notes, it means we didn’t receive any notes from your class. We really (really!) want to hear from you. Please send your notes and photos to term@potomacschool.org.

Class Correspondents

Rose Kean Lansbury rkl211@aol.com

Nancy Hamilton Shepherd nhshepherd31@gmail.com

Jerrie Kohlmeier Bartlett writes, “Dear Class of 1946, thank you for writing me such wonderful words of thanks for being class correspondent for several years. I always enjoyed the job, especially when Nancy Hamilton Shepherd joined me in reporting. Also, a big thank you to Rose Kean Lansbury for stepping in to take my place.

I now live in the skilled nursing portion of Cathedral Village, where Allen and I have been for the past few years. Parkinson’s disease and macular degeneration are my daily challenges. Having dinner each night with old friends from Cathedral Village always perks me up. Love to you all!”

An update from Katie Alexander Grimes; “This summer has been a rough one here as we lost my husband, Paul Grimes, in early June after a horrific battle with Parkinson’s and more. Our three children have been a terrific help, but there is so much to be done, even with heat and other discomforts! I would love to join a Zoom gathering later if one of my girls comes to set me up. Hope you all are well and your area is not as bone dry as we are here! More later…”

Rose Kean Lansbury shares, “I remain in my aerie overlooking Central Park. I don’t go out unless necessary, since I have a very bad back. Walking is painful. There seems to be no solution.

My view is spectacular. There is lots of sunshine. At this time of year, air conditioning is welcome. I read, draw, browse the computer, talk on the phone, and welcome friends and family from time to time. In addition, there are wonderful lectures and classes on Zoom. I collect the notes for my Vassar class, so I am also in touch with those friends.

I may have already mentioned that Carter Kean Lansbury, great-grandson number one, arrived on my birthday and is now six months old. He is based in California and has made one visit. More are promised.”

Audrey Hadow Michie reports, “When I last wrote to The Potomac Term, I had moved in with my second daughter, Lindsay, in Lynchburg, VA. Two rooms, a bedroom and a study/guest room, were designated mine. One she painted pale blue, the other a favorite green. My last house in Crozet was bought jointly by my son, Ian, and his girlfriend, Nancy. That has ended, and just recently, the house was bought again. I’m asked if I regret all this; I don’t. Owning that house and fixing it up was a great adventure. I put a lot into it, and it was a good place for gathering friends and visitors, with even a rental or two in the fixed-up part of the basement. I am where I should be now.

My oldest daughter, Forsyth, is still in her house near Clinton, NC, ‘going great guns’ as we used to say, with her editing/writing for well-known internet companies. Her daughter, my granddaughter Mary, now has a small house in Goldsboro, NC. I was there at Thanksgiving and reunited with her two cats. They tried to pretend they didn’t know me. Anna, granddaughter number two, lives in Clinton, NC, closer to Forsyth. They are both in their early thirties.

My third daughter, Emily, and her husband, Bob, are fully retired and, instead of living in Maine, are back at their old house in Sandy Hook, CT. I planned to visit in October, as I hadn’t seen Emily for almost two years. Getting their home in livable shape was far more of a job than they could ever have imagined. Their dachshund and two cats are finally content.

Lindsay didn’t stop at just a plan to go to South Africa for her sabbatical. She took an earlier trip to England and Scotland, and Forsyth joined her. This was partly a reunion with alums from Keele University for Lindsay and, for Forsyth, partly wanting to go to Scotland as she had never been there. After London, they traveled to the Isle of Mull. Iona was close by, so they went there – I envy that part. When Lindsay got back, she contracted COVID. We stayed strictly separated for a bit, and I got tested and was very luckily negative.

I will never forget Potomac. Those years are when I turned myself into an American teenager from an English child with long braids and socks turned up the wrong way, or hoped I had. Later, when I was 17, my brother and I were naturalized and became American citizens.

Besides the Thanksgiving get-together, the only other trip I have taken was in late May with Lindsay and our friend Trina to Virginia Beach, staying at the Schooner Inn, a motel familiar to our family. We had such a good time and ate so much that we decided to stay an extra day. Lindsay and Trina took a boat ride to see the dolphins –which did appear. I spent the day with a friend who had been one of my long-term houseguests in Crozet. She is a native of Virginia Beach. That night, Lindsay and I were treated to the sight of the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen, against a sunset sky.”

Nancy Hamilton Shepherd writes, “Dear Classmates, Last April I turned 91! I’m sure many of you know the feeling and the ups and downs that come with having lived that long. I still live in a house that is much older than I am (300!), where Tom and I lived for 52 years. I’m grateful for the memories that live with me here. I also have a newish companion, a black and white cat named Oreo. He is good company. I continue to be a member of Trinity Chapel, an Episcopal Church where I was once rector. I have good friends there and participate in various ways, including the choir, pastoral care, and leading an occasional service. I’m also grateful for friends in Stow, MA, where I live, and happy that COVID has kept its distance. I stay in touch with family, whether by email or visits. A real treat was a week in Vermont this summer with several children, grandchildren, and three greatgranddaughters. Finally, in late August, a fourth great-granddaughter appeared. Rose Kean Lansbury and I hope to see some of you via Zoom later in the fall. Stay tuned.”

Carol Exnicios Tucker shares, “Not much news from here. A couple of my children and one grandchild went with me to the Canadian Rockies for a week last month.” Carol’s daughter, Elinor Tucker ’80, shares about their travels, “Our family had a wonderful trip starting in Calgary, then Waterton, then Banff and, last but not least,

Jasper. We had a great time and saw so much wildlife! Grizzly bears, black bears, elk, mule deer, hoary marmots, and pikas.” Carol continues, “Aside from stressful airline travel both going and returning, it was a great trip. I have a divine little Yorkshire terrier named Sophie, adopted from the Humane Society here (in Tampa, FL). She replaces my 17-year-old Cairn, who finally packed it in but was brave to the end.”

1948 75th

2023 is your Reunion year! If you are interested in helping to plan the celebration to be held on campus next October, please contact Director of Alumni Relations Laura Miller at lmiller@potomacschool.org.

1952

Class Correspondent

Louise Graham lbgraham@myfairpoint.net

1953 70th

2023 is your Reunion year! If you are interested in helping to plan the celebration to be held on campus next October, please contact Director of Alumni Relations Laura Miller at lmiller@potomacschool.org.

1954

Class Correspondent

Tina Knox Radigan eradigan@va.metrocast.net

Roman Fullerton Hynson writes, “In May, I visited my daughter’s family in London. Then, I went on to Budapest, where my youngest granddaughter graduated from her L.B. It certainly didn’t look like our Madeira graduation! Since then, I have been home doing some much-needed house repairs. Not fun, but…”

Tina Knox Radigan shares, “I went back to Florida again last winter, but that will be my last year of doing so. Emily McLean died a few days after I arrived, which threw me. I knew she had been battling lung cancer for years, but I never believed she wouldn’t be there the next year. I was able to go to her lovely funeral and see her wonderful children grown up.

I have back problems and haven’t played golf in a year. I was just diagnosed with spinal stenosis and am advised to have surgery, which I don’t want at my age. I have not decided yet and am looking into other alternatives. On a happy note, I just bought myself an adorable car. It is an MG TD 1952 replica with all parts from VW. It is a bright yellow convertible, and I will just use it around town. But what fun!

Roman Fullerton Hynson was the only classmate that I heard from this year. I hope everyone else is doing well and staying healthy.”

1957

Courtney Hagner reports, “I turned 80 in August and celebrated ‘big and happy’!

1958 65th

2023 is your Reunion year! If you are interested in helping to plan the celebration to be held on campus next October, please contact Director of Alumni Relations Laura Miller at lmiller@potomacschool.org.

1960

Class Correspondent Stephanie deSibour sdesibour@ivymount.org

Eve Auchincloss Lilley writes, “Greetings from DC! Life has changed a bit for me, as my dear husband passed away a year ago. Difficult to write that. So I am adjusting to a new life. Thank heavens for my wonderful large family, dear friends, and doggies. I am still working, so I’m keeping busy. Ballet is still in my life, for which I am most grateful. So all moves along, as we are all so very much aware. Love to everyone.”

1962

Class Correspondent Deborah Johansen Harris debjohansenharris@gmail.com

Thank you to Deborah Johansen Harris for being the 2022 Class Reunion Chair!

Eldie Acheson joined the Zoom group from Wyoming, where she and spouse Emily Hewitt were taking a breather with friends in Jackson Hole. She reported that they were looking forward to spending more time in their house there, now rented. They also enjoyed time at their home in Bass River on Cape Cod.

Across the pond, Antonia Caccia and Lexi Roper Douglas bemoaned England’s economic and political climate. “Very dire,” they both said, “given a spate of railroad and tube worker strikes and the prime minister fiasco.” Lexi said she enjoys seeing her children and seven grandchildren who live nearby.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Davison reports, “I am happily retired and spend much of my time in my art studio at Artists & Makers. However, I keep my hand in my urban planning. I will soon receive an award in Los Angeles as an International Member of the Year of Lambda Alpha Land Economics Honorary Society. Also, my quilt was part of a show this past fall at The Strathmore Arts Center. The show is called PurposeRepurpose. My piece includes scraps from my mother’s cocktail dresses, cut up silk scarves, kimono fabric and upholstery samples, inspired by the orchid house at Hillwood Mansion and Gardens.”

Deborah “Deb” Johansen Harris managed to corral as many classmates as possible for a Zoom reunion in late August. “It’s always great fun to catch up with everyone,” she said. “Although it’s a big year for our reunion at school in October – our 60th – I don’t know how many people will be able to attend, so these Zoom meetings are a great way to see one another.” Deb enjoyed her usual week after Labor Day on the tip of Cape Cod and has kept up with her watercolors and gardening.

My sad news is that my mother passed away just a month shy of her 99th birthday. In a condolence letter, Mimi Merrill Russell wrote to me ‘Your mother was the coolest mom.’ And so she was.”

Overseas travelers include Rachel Kitzinger, who wrote from the Emerald Isle, “My partner, Eamon Grennan, and I come to Ireland every year. He’s Irish and has to have an infusion of Irish culture! We have a cottage on the west coast in County Galway and spend three to four months here. Eamon is 80, and we are in a very remote place, so I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to manage the trip. My only big news is that our daughter, Kira, got married in May to a very nice man, Jake, and they are taking some time off to work on their art and then to travel to Europe. Their generation seems to be very good at knowing what matters!”

Deena Breed Larlee started our 11-member Zoom reunion with news of her and her husband Howard’s bike business. From the influx of electric bicycles to the up-anddown availability of repair parts, the business was changing all the time. “But I still love the business,” she said. “There is always something new going on.” When asked about the growing popularity of electric bikes, Deena responded ruefully, “Well, a lot of them are on the road illegally and cause accidents because many of the riders are out of control, going much too fast.”

Katherine Marshall, our inveterate traveler, is back at it again after the long COVID pause, with visits in the last few months for conferences and other meetings to Azerbaijan (in the Caucasus Mountains foothills!); Rome; Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.; Qatar; Riyadh; Tangier; Lyons, France; Los Angeles; and other places (exhausting to think about it). “Seems that everyone wanted to make up for lost time,” she said. “I’m still teaching, with a freshman seminar this fall at Georgetown University on COVID-19 and pandemics. It’s fascinating to link each student’s personal experience to what’s happening globally, as well as to look back at moments in history, which were often shaped by pandemics.”

Carol Mattusch is still pursuing her research on ancient Greek bronzes and is now completing a book about how ancient literary texts help to explain the material remains. She also continues to work on the first 18th-century catalog of early finds from Herculaneum, one of the cities destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. “It’s very interesting that only three copies of that book were printed,” she said. “They are now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Royal Bourbon Archives in Madrid. I’ve been trying to track down the artifacts in that catalog.”

Rosemary Merriam reports from the Lone Star State, “Unfortunately, I haven’t run across any former Potomac classmates in my travels over this awful summer. I did make it to Jackson Hole for a few cooler days and two weeks in Santa Fe, NM, which were a welcome relief from the heat in Austin. Needless to say, living in Texas is hard not only due to the heat but also state politics. I’m considering moving out of state. Sorry to miss the Zoom call, and I hope all are well.”

Nina Nitze Moriarty reports that she and her husband joined members of the Royal Horticultural Society of Scotland to tour gardens on Scotland’s west coast. Impressed by the lush shrubs, trees, and flowering plants, Nina was especially taken by the profusion of rhododendrons and azaleas. She explained, “The area is on the Gulf Stream, so much of it resembles the coast of Maine. We were in our wellies and raincoats and had a lovely time. My favorite was a grove of Scots pines, labeled Granny Trees because they originated in ancient Caledonian forests, propagate little offspring, and nurture them.” Nina noted that she began her last semester of teaching history of art at Babson College this fall and will retire in December.

Liz Murray Platts is still helping out with lower school student admissions at Maret School on a seasonal basis. “I have done interviews by Zoom,” she reported, “which is a little strange when you are trying to interview a five-year-old,” Liz reported that Carol Eakin Burdette recently met up with Debby Fort in Colorado and has also recently visited her younger son in Los Angeles. “Carol is always on the go,” said Liz.

Marianna “Mimi” Merrill Russell also traveled to Scotland (“I’d never been before,” she said, “although I’ve been to Ireland many times.”) and the Lake District in England. Always the avid gardener, she confessed that her flower beds were getting overwhelming, but her husband, John, produced a bumper crop of summer veggies for them and their family to feast on this year.

Anne Darneille Snodgrass reports, “Tony and I are well. We continue to enjoy our time divided among three places. Home is Florida. We summer in Maine and stop in Washington, DC, in the fall and spring as we head to and from Florida. I am still playing tennis, paddle tennis, and now pickleball. I do lots of gardening in Maine. I play some bridge. I enjoy it but will never be a particularly good player. As far as we know, neither my husband nor I have had COVID. I hope our luck will continue.”

John Wathen, who attended Potomac up through the third grade, shared, “After Potomac, I attended St. Albans and Phillips Exeter Academy. After that, the story gets too long and complicated, but I currently live in Rockville, MD, and continue to work at the Environmental Protection Agency. I would be glad to hear from classmates and other Potomac acquaintances at jwath@yahoo.com John said that he was excited about attending this October’s Renion.”

1963 60th

2023 is your Reunion year! If you are interested in helping to plan the celebration to be held on campus next October, please contact Director of Alumni Relations Laura Miller at lmiller@potomacschool.org.

Class Correspondents

Marisa Knowlton Domeyko mdomeyko@comcast.net Anne Williams annegw200@yahoo.com

Sally Briggs tells us, “I’m living in Marseille in the southeast of France, which is great except for July and August 2022, which were hotter than I can remember. I’m still studying, and all is well with my family. I really enjoyed the Zoom we did...thank you. I hope all is well with everyone.”

Marisa Knowlton Domeyko shares, “In April, Wendy Neel Ellsworth was in DC with her husband, David Ellsworth, a renowned woodturner, to attend the Smithsonian Craft Show Ceremonies, where he received the Smithsonian Visionary Award. Five Potomac alums gathered at my house for dinner: Wendy, myself, Zan Smith Thomas, Carol Eakin Burdette ’62, and Betsy Davison ’62.”

Wendy Neel Ellsworth writes, “In late October, I went to Kenya as a member of Morning Star Rotary Club, Bethlehem PA, to document Phase 1 of our large Rotary Foundation Global Grant for maternal and child health care for a Turkana community in Northern Kenya. It will have a huge impact on this community, where there is currently no maternal or child health care available.”

Dede Fryer Hacking shares, “We had a super family visit at my home in St. Davids in July. Jack came from New York, and JB and his family came from Morocco. The photo is of me with JB and his daughters at our “everybody’s birthday party.” We plan to meet up again in New York for Christmas. Hoping COVID and the weather cooperate. In the meantime, I have joined the SeniorsFit program at the local university. Bridge, mahjongg, and eating out keep me busy.”

Margit Sanne Leger tells us, “In August, I said farewell to Colorado, packed up the car, and headed west. I am now a fully committed denizen of Los Angeles, the City of Angels. From the Rockies’ high ground to the Pacific’s wild shores, sea change indeed. I have found a place to live in the South Bay. My new granddaughter arrived in July, and she, along with a few professional mandates, will keep me busy in the months ahead.”

Elly Lindsay shares, “The past months have been full of personal delight amid the political turmoil of living in Texas and the fall of Roe v. Wade. Our summer included more travel than normal. In June, we headed east for my (delayed) Harvard 50th reunion, which was marvelous. We spent two weeks in Boston, Rhode Island, and Maine, seeing friends and family. We then had a bucket list trip to Greece in late July/early August. I had spent a gap year between high school and college in Greece. The program, CYA, now celebrating 60 years, offered an alumni trip. I still can’t quite believe I was floating over the Aegean in early August and eating dinner in the Pangrati area of Athens, sitting on the balcony of our apartment. In the span of 18 days, we managed to get to quite a few places: Delphi, the Meteora, Santorini, Mycenae, and Epidaurus.

We are grateful for our now two-year-old grandson, who lives only 20 minutes from us and loves spending time in our house, which has been sprouting toys, books, and baby equipment over the last two years.”

“I still work as a professional actress and am excited to have two shows in 2023,” Carroll Rogers Rooth writes. “Our visit in June to Washington, DC, was a real treat, a high point of our summer! Our daughter, Liv, and her husband are in the touring cast of To Kill A Mockingbird, and our family met in DC to see the show and relive old memories of my hometown, including spending a day with Marisa Knowlton Domeyko.”

Anne Williams shares, “Lots of summer visitors here in Sharon, CT! My sister Laura Williams Ivey ’57 and her husband, Ron, visited this summer and Harriet Sweeney Fraunfelter and her husband, Eric, came in early September. Maria Franco Granquist, Leni Chapman Preston, Leni’s granddaughter, Sophie, and I have a lunch date soon.

This year as an experiment, I dedicated part of my large lawn to No-Mow May (www.pollinator-pathway.org/). The butterflies, bees, and I enjoyed the abundant wildflowers. My daughter, Amanda, and her family (Bob, Easton-8, Lila-15 months) are in Italy for 10 days. Easton spent a week with me, attending the local Audubon Camp, where he learned about jobs in conservation. I’m still (too) heavily volunteering, and my mah-jongg group has grown with the addition of several fun younger players (including a licensed marijuana farmer!) All is well, and I feel very lucky, given the state of the world and the challenges some of my friends are facing.”

1964

Class Correspondent Alison Peake alidee1@aol.com

1965

Class Correspondent Sallie Ayers Barker s2barkers@yahoo.com

A note from your class correspondent, Sallie Ayers Barker: “Greetings from the North! Not only did I hear from many old friends this go-round but also a new “friend” came a-knocking at the window, just as I was typing up our notes – a black bear!! Fortunately, he lumbered away. I definitely would prefer a visit from any one of my classmates. Come on up!”