Class Notes: The Thirties

Co-Class Secretaries: Mildred Beckman Myhrman, 1037 E. Linden St., Tucson, AZ 85719; Dorothy Burdett Kavka, 84 Liberty St., Rockland, MA 02370-1334

Since moving to Tucson, Ariz., to be near son Matts and wife Judy, who are in the business of constructing straw bale homes, Mildred Beckman Myhrman has continued to keep in close touch with her Lewiston-Auburn friends and neighbors. She has found a different and exciting life there with new friends of all ages and many social and cultural opportunities. Recently she greatly enjoyed several concerts by Univ. of Arizona students and she is often included in stimulating discussion groups with Matts and Judy and their friends. In May she traveled with them to Gallup, N.M., where they visited Navajo reservations and participated in the building of a bale house for an elderly woman. Mildred was able to testify as to the comfort and practicality of such a home since she lives in one. She enjoyed the spectacular scenery along the way. Mildred observes that "some folks in Maine stay inside much of the winter. We stay indoors a great deal during 100- to 113-degree days in the summer months, which seems to Easterners a bit strange." But at least she can be comfortable in her special house.

Class Secretary: Helen Pratt Mason, 83 Summit St., Portland, ME 04103-2913

Class President: Dorothy Parker Ludwick, 8 Birch Pl., Auburn, ME 04210-4104

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Class Secretary: Shirley Cave, 33 Christian Ave., 420, Concord,NH 03301-6155

Class Vice President: Elden H. Dustin, Heritage Hgts., 149 East Side Dr., 361, Concord, NH 03301-5475

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Class Secretary: Ruth Carter Zervas, 66 School St., Gardiner, ME 04345-2106

Class President: Doris Neilson Whipple, 75 Nottingham Rd., Auburn, ME 04210-4137

Class President: Milton L. Lindholm, 12 Nelke Pl., Lewiston, ME 04240-5318

Class Secretary: Ruth Rowe Wilson, 374 College St., Lewiston, ME 04240; e-mail rwilson@bates.edu

Class President: Donald C. Gautier, 52 Old Carriage Rd., Auburn, ME 04210-8948

Some great trips from California to the Czech Republic have been fun for Ellen Bailey Fryling. As always she continues with her music ‹ church and chamber music ‹ and she is blessed by her entertaining and caring family.... Toni Bates Brown's highlights: becoming a great-grandmother, trips to Florida and to New York City for a granddaughter's Broadway role as Mildred in Ah Wilderness, and the prospect of attending her nephew's wedding in Spain.... Dan and Carolyn Blake Burch send news via their Christmas letter. Carolyn has lots of help for daily needs from aides and others. She still does latch hooking with assistance, and Dan works word-search puzzles with her every night. They went to Las Vegas and plan an Arizona family reunion.... Still at Langdon Place, Nashua, N.H., Ruth Coan Fulton speaks with pride of her grandchildren: "makes me the typical grandmother." With holidays and family reunion at daughter Pam's, and with son David's activities and those at Langdon, she keeps busy. Ruth hoped the ice storm didn't damage her Belgrade Lake camp.... Ed Foote has settled down in his Hill Top Place condo. He plays tennis, bowls in winter, walks, and plays bridge. He took two major cruises, a 1996 New Zealand trip and one to the Baltic in 1997.... After 61 years Gale and Jane Warren Freeman '39 "are still going strong." They hoped to attend a grandson's July wedding in Des Moines. Still playing bridge, they are also active in their park's travel club.... Your beloved leader Don Gautier wrote of a couple of interesting experiences while "roaming around Europe" and, wearing his Bates hat, he met a Bowdoin junior who asked, "How is the Bates football team doing?" Then, when he was boarding the plane for home, a young man came up to him and said his name was Cheney and that he was the great-great-grandson of President Cheney. Vive la Bates!... Polly Hanson Hansen sends greetings to all and her wishes for a wonderful summer. She is recovering from a broken hip from a fall in April, and looked forward to being back in her own home. "No place like it."... Billie Hatch Randall has her first great-granddaughter. With a granddaughter's wedding and a grandson's high school graduation in Dallas that she hopes to attend, Billie also looks forward to being in Maine with her youngest son and family this summer.... In April, Irving Isaacson spent a few weeks in southern Spain. Excellent food, incredible artifacts, dry and baked hills, and hundreds of miles of olive groves. "Very dull [terrain]," says Ike.... We send our heartfelt sympathy to June Lovelace Griffin on the death last January of husband Lewis '35, whom we remember fondly as our unofficial Reunion host. June again spent time in Florida and occupies her time with travel and writing.... Our faithful class agent Edith Jordan Anderson continues with her reading project with Maine Federation of Women's Clubs. Bill keeps busy with his gardening. They were in Florida during February and March, a welcome relief from the aftermath of the ice storm.... Carleton Mabee is writing his second book on railroads, this one on the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge over the Hudson River, focusing on the human story: who rode the train, who built the bridge, and who crewed. "Having a wonderful time working on it," he says. Carleton serves on preservation boards for open land, for the Samuel F.D. Morse home, and for the memory of Sojourner Truth, who grew up in the region and is the subject of his earlier book.... "Don't send flowers yet," writes Georgia McKenney Frothingham. She continues to have mini-reunion chats with Eleanor Wilson Niedringhaus, Ruth Coan Fulton, and the annual visit with Webb and Charlotte Corning Wright '38.... Your class secretary has kept out of mischief with the magazine deadline, her garden, opening the cottage in Ocean Park, and many family events. "Thank goodness I am on e-mail (rwilson@bates.edu)."... At her Staten Island home, Virginia Scales Varnum does a lot of reading, spends great days with her dog, takes short walks, and sometimes goes to a restaurant.... As usual, Shirley and Damon Stetson planned to spend mid-May to the end of August on Nantucket. They plan a trip then to Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, and Switzerland... Kathleen Torsey has been working on a program to honor all citizens of Berkeley County who are 90 to 102 years old. For the special luncheon, Kitty decorated 25 tables with baskets of pink roses, "as a result my letter writing has disappeared into oblivion."... At Schooner Estates, Happy Walker Webber is literally back on her feet after cracking a hip from a fall while she was, characteristically, playing ping pong. Don Gautier keeps in touch several times a week and Ruth Wilson tries to keep Happy supplied with books. Her daughters come frequently. We also see cheery Iris Provost Samuelson, Lew Davis, and others among the sizeable Bates contingent of alums and former faculty who live at Schooner.... "Life at the 'old folks' home continues pleasantly," says Dot Wheeler Holbrook, and she is as busy as she wants to be. During summers at Ocean Park she sees her family, and she and I run into each other at the postoffice and "around."... We wondered how Connie and Dave Whitehouse fared during the California floods. They were OK. Dave and Don confer by phone periodically, discuss current affairs at Bates, their non-hunting trip, and how to make pea soup.... Although her traveling has slowed down, Eleanor Wilson Niedringhaus did go to Croatia with her sister in 1997. She and daughter Judy flew to New Jersey to check on her "roots," and they took in several shows in New York. Jerry still plays bridge and mah-jongg.... Last October, Betty Winston Scott's daughter Ellie took her to Greece and Turkey with a cruise of the islands. At Christmas, Betty spent three weeks with all of Ellie's family in California. The Scotts see the Stetsons who live across the street and Leo and Val Kimball Glaser nearby. Betty sees Jane Muskie in the summer and talks to Dot Staples Fredland once a month.... We regret to report the deaths of classmates Frank Simpson and Hank Sawin and send our thoughts and sincere sympathy to Evangeline Jane Simpson, Evelyn Sawin and their families.

Class Secretary: Jane Ault Lindholm, 12 Nelke Pl., Lewiston, ME 04240-5318

Class President: Robert M. York, RR 1, Box 833, Orrs Island, ME 04066-9727

After many years as a Boston resident, Marjorie Buck returned to the Lewiston-Auburn area, joining other Bates people at Schooner Estates residential community in Auburn where she is also near brother Clifton.... In February, Jason Lewis took a trip to Europe with grandson John where he visited in Luxembourg with the children and grandchildren of the family with whom he lived during his assignment as a medical officer during World War II. He was awarded a special Certificate of Appreciation for his contribution to the liberation of Luxembourg. In April, Jason moved to a residential community, Whitney Center, in Hamden, Conn. He plans to continue attending local lectures and other cultural events, maintaining his many interests and hobbies.... Millicent Thorp Pendleton has moved to Avery Heights Living Center in Louisville, Colo., not far from one of her children. She anticipates enjoying the many programs available there.... We were saddened by the recent deaths of Gene Connell, Ernie Robinson and Norman Priest '34, husband of Edna Canham Priest. The Class offers deepest sympathy to Billie Connell, Olga Robinson, Edna, and their families.

Class Secretary: Evelyn Jones White, 193 Jackson Hill Rd., Minot, ME 04258

Class President: Howard H. Becker, 1223 Pine Needle Rd., Venice, FL 34292

Next Reunion in 1998.

Class Secretary: Eleanor Smart Parker, PO Box 210, North Bridgton, ME 04057-0210

Class President: David B. Howe, 16 Taylor Home Dr., Laconia, NH 03246-2585

Next Reunion in 1999.