When you read this it will be 2007, an important year! Our 40th reunion will take place on 1-3 June. You’ve already heard from Renée Allard Betts and Elana Klausner Vikan, reunion co-chairpersons, and you will soon again. Whether you’ve never attended a BMC reunion, or have attended many, this might be the grandmother of them all. Now’s the time to make plans.

And tell us about yourself. Send your questionnaire answers, poems, stories, memoirs, photos, drawings, essays, or other items by, or about, you for the Class Reunion Booklet. Mail contributions (of 2 pages or fewer) by March 15 to Jeanne Lance, 218 Appleton Drive, Aptos, CA 95003. Or e-mail text only—or questions—to taffy@cruzio.com. If you have misplaced the questionnaire mailed to you, not to worry. You can download another copy.

Special to Left Coasters: Andrea Saltzman is thinking of hosting a Spring 2007 pre-reunion dinner for BMC Class of ’67 alumnae and spouses or partners on the West Coast. If you’re interested in attending or want to know more, contact Andrea (appellatespecialist@yahoo.com) or me (taffy@cruzio.com). Andrea celebrated her 60th birthday this year by visiting Brazil (during the height of World Cup frenzy). Her empty nest has filled again with the return of her daughter, who is telecommuting for an e-zine. Andrea is working mostly at home, too, having quit her law firm job and hung out her solo shingle.

Lyle York obtained a master’s in Spanish, then worked for 32 years as a writer and an editor of books, magazines and newspapers. She married at age 49 and, after retiring, discovered what she should have been doing all along—playing the viola da gamba. Lyle would like to know the whereabouts of Jean Mason Miller.

After more than 20 years at the Overseas Development Institute, a research group in London, Sheila Burke Page has retired to being an associate, still doing research on international trade, but now able to travel to places without trade problems. Sheila was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) upon retirement.

Sylvia Young Weigand is still a professor of mathematics at the University of Nebraska, still running marathons, and still traveling. She has two wonderful granddaughters: Samantha (5) and Melanie (2).

“My daughters are much more adventuresome than I was,” reports Terry Newirth Hirshorn. “I think their generation encourages them to explore and study abroad much more than ours did. One of my daughters spent a year in Cordoba, Spain. (I visited, of course.) Our other daughter is teaching English in Mexico. Most of our children’s generation are waiting longer to get married and have children. I didn’t marry until I was 29 and had my first child when I was almost 33—unusual then, but now fairly common.”

Liz Freedman Russell is finding her early sixties to be one of the best periods of life. “It’s a pleasure to watch our two sons grow into mature, responsible men. Our mothers are still alive, well, and living independently. Realizing his life’s dream, my husband’s small environmental consulting firm is starting to blossom. And my current job is proving to be an enjoyable, if challenging, capstone to my career. For the past two years I’ve been Director of Product Development for Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, a small and innovative social studies publisher in Palo Alto, CA. Stu and I are researching ways of retiring, visiting friends who’ve already made the leap. Our goal is to semi-retire over the next several years, working enough to keep our hands in but not at our current hectic pace. If anyone has managed this transition, please advise!”

Lynette Palmer Perkins is the proud grandmother of a second granddaughter, Josephine, born 31 January 2006. “When we were young,” she says, “Who thought that the personal connections would be so strong later on—not just connections among people who were friends on campus, but between classmates who meet later on and realize they have a whole background in common.”

Happy to be alive after a serious car accident last winter, Emily Agnew Nelson is more grateful than ever for the small things in life and for the love, prayers, and care of family and friends. She recovered slowly but steadily and returned home finally at the end of May 2006.

Ann Livingston Holland hopes to attend our 40th class reunion. Her husband continues to feel well in spite of the recurrence of cancer. He finally gave in to decades of arm twisting and agreed to spend 3 weeks at their home in southeastern France. Named “Beaux Reves” (“Sweet Dreams”), the house is 20 minutes by car from the TGV (high-speed train) station at Valence, 2 hours north of Marseille (see http://www.beauxrevesisere.com). “We rent to friends and are willing to negotiate deals for longer stays. My daughter Emilie (for whom I sacrificed my Bryn Mawr degree, you may recall) celebrated her 40th birthday on May 14, 2006. See you in June!”

Taffy
’67 Class Editor

Taffy Brecht Everts
803 Rebecca Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-4899
taffy@cruzio.com