Dorothy Held Gawley
177 McCosh Road
Montclair, NJ 07043
dnigawley@juno.com
Once again I want to thank all of you who supported our Reunion Gift project – the Ridderhof-Martin Gallery. If you did not see your name listed in the President’s Message and Annual Report of Gifts, it is because your gift was considered restricted. While I am on the subject of class gifts, you may remember that during our 50th reunion we endowed an Arrington Scholarship. The terms of an endowed scholarship specify that only the interest gained on the gift may be spent. Because only the interest accrued on the fund is awarded, the original gift is protected and will never be spent or depleted, and the scholarship endowed in 2000 will forever provide funds for a qualified student who is the child of a Mary Washington faculty or staff member. Three students have received the scholarship, the most recent for the years 2003 through 2005.
Several exciting events occurred in the lives of Marcy Weatherly Morris and husband Juney. Last July, Juney received a special Navy and Marine Corps medal for his actions of bravery aboard the USS Braine in World War II. The other event was the celebration of their 55th wedding anniversary in August. They were joined by friends and family for lunch and a performance of Roger Miller’s Big River at the Riverside Dinner Theater in Fredericksburg.
Lucille “Ciel” Schoolcraft Commander and her husband finally went on their photo safari to South Africa in spring of last year. They were in the bush six hours a day and saw many animals they heretofore had seen only in the zoo. Their Land Rover even was chased by an angry mother elephant that didn’t want them near her baby. Ciel said Victoria Falls was incredible.
Carmen Zeppenfeldt Catoni suffered a fall last summer that caused a dislocated shoulder. She wrote that she is doing better, but the humidity plays havoc with her arthritis. Her daughter, Anita, and family visited for several weeks, and they took a ferry to the island of Culebra. Anita has a 17-year-old daughter who is still undecided about college – perhaps Mary Washington? Carmen has other grandchildren attending schools on the mainland. One is at Penn State and another at Savannah College of Arts and Design. Carmen also mentioned that Alicia de Rivera-Cruz was hospitalized with pneumonia when she returned from our reunion in June. Kay Genoveses Bodley and her husband have recently moved to the Methodist Retirement Home in Seaford, Del., where they have a lovely apartment.
Our class sends condolences to Rowena Simpson Renn, who lost her husband, Ed, last summer.
As for my activities in 2005, besides spending time at my Cape Cod home, I have attended two interesting Elderhostels. One was in beautiful Cape May, N.J., and the other in the Hudson River Valley region of New York. Please remember that to keep this column going I need letters and news from you.