1978

Following last issues dearth of news, I am glad to relay communications from many classmates. Vicki Smith: "I was surprised to be honored by the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association this fall with the 2001 Outstanding Planning Professional Award for my outstanding contribution and dedication to the field of planning throughout Northern New England. My work on the Hanover 'Open Space Priorities Plan' attracted the professional attention, which led to the award. I am glad to have received it before my retirement or death, as it gives me inspiration to continue to do the work that I love. I celebrated my 45th birthday by making my first trip to Hawaii to attend a yoga retreat, and I am trying to bag all 48 4,000-foot peaks in the White Mountains "before I turn 48."

Charley Wise reported in from Vienna, Austria, where he has spent the past four years at the U.S. embassy as a political officer focused largely on NATO expansion and other regional issues (of course now including terrorism). This summer, the Newman-Wises will be moving to Bern, Switzerland. Charleys spouse, Cheryl Newman '76, recently folded the software development and Internet applications company she'd been running in Budapest "just in time to pull the family together foryet another move." The N-W kids are thriving: "Lisa in the midst of a great first year at Princeton; Alex looking to boarding school near London for 11th and 12 th grades; and Will eager to study both French and English at the International School of Bern (except for the winter Fridays, when the whole school goes skiing near Interlaken!)." Sounds like fun to me!

Jon Keeve had an international experience of a different kind, on a medical mission to Bhutan last spring. "I was a solo volunteer working at the National Referral Hospital in the capital city of Thimphu. The role of the orthopedic volunteer is that of a consultant as Bhutan has but one orthopedic surgeon. When he is away, the volunteer becomes the sole provider for orthopedic care for the entire country and its population of approximately 700,000 people. However, in addition to hard work, I was fortunate to attend the Paro Tsechu during the early part of my stay. This is a five-day religious festival filled with dancing, music and ceremony. The final and most auspicious event is the unveiling of a thondrol depicting various manifestations of the Buddha. The thondrol is a four-story-high tapestry, which is never exposed to direct sunlight and is slowly unrolled at about 3 a.m. with lighting of incense and various offerings. Seeing it is considered a very powerful blessing, cleansing the observer of all sins. I am not sure how long this effect lasts. I also hiked to see Taktsang Monastery set in the middle of a 1,000-foot cliff. There are monasteries and religious sites in every corner and on every hilltop in Bhutan. I had the good fortune to treat one of the high lamas for an elbow problem and he invited me into the inner chambers of Punakha Dzong. There were many other experiences, people, places all of that made this visit worthwhile."

After 10 years in the Bay Area, Ty Hilkert finally moved into San Francisco proper: "I'm doing a mid-life career change and applying to San Francisco States School of Social Work. I'm going to concentrate in administration and planning in order to make the best use of the systems analysis and consulting skills from my first career, while still letting me grow in a more humane direction. And at mid-life I want to do something worthwhile with my life."

Please send me your news.

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