Retired teacher Elsie M. King writes from Rochester, N.H.: "I live at Gafney Home in Rochester, expect to pass my final years here. It is a nice place. May the Lord guide me always."

IN MEMORIAM: Pauline Ellison Maynard '30 died Nov. 28, 2005, in Claremont, N.H. She was a teacher and assistant principal in the Newport, N.H., school system for 38 years.

IN MEMORIAM: Mary Grace Sullivan '30 died in November 2005 in Weymouth, Mass. She had taught at Pollard Elementary School in Quincy, Mass., for several years.

Iva Stiles of Strafford, N.H., writes: "I retired from teaching at Portsmouth Junior High School in 1971 after teaching 39 years, eight of them at Daniel Junior High in Franklin, N.H."

Always a joy to hear from Harriet Richardson Ames. She received a bouquet of carnations for her birthday when the Golden Circle gathering was held at Heritage Heights in Concord, N.H. Harriet enjoys the luncheons because she sees old friends and always makes some new ones. She is such a delightful lady with a warm, friendly personality.

Nathalie Scott Tisdale was spied at a local restaurant with niece Janice Scott Hazelton '60 and Janice's husband John Hazelton '57. It was nice to see her smiling face.

Margaret Newman Chickering has been nursing a sore foot that kept her from the Golden Circle Homecoming luncheon. She was able to attend the KSC gathering at Lilly's on the Pond in Rindge, N.H., where she was honored for graduating before the rest of the alumni present.

Louise Chapman Whitehead has moved from Florida to Falmouth, Mass. She now lives near her son, Jack. Louise always looks forward to the letters telling about all the happenings at KSC.

Olive Milligan Smith wrote a lovely thank-you note for the photos taken at the Golden Circle luncheon held in Lancaster, N.H., last July. She enjoyed her time with the group and thought everyone was very nice.

Frances Shaughnessy and her sister, Mary, are active members of the local Women's Club but their meetings conflict with those of the Golden Circle and the Cheshire County Retired Educators. They have been missed.

Beulah Perkins Thayer writes: "I am 93 years old, in excellent health, and involved in many community activities. My family are my greatest treasures - one daughter, two sons, nine grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren!"

IN MEMORIAM: Mary Grimes Doyle '34 died Jan. 4, 2006, in Peterborough, N.H. She taught third and fourth grade in Dublin (N.H.) Consolidated School for 15 years.

IN MEMORIAM: Dorothy Aiken Morse '34 passed away on Jan. 15, 2006. Her early years in rural Putney, Vt., especially in her family's berry fields, set the stage for her lifelong love affair with the natural world as well as the classics. She studied first at Putney's little red schoolhouse and then rode the train each day to Brattleboro High School. After Keene Normal School, she accepted a teaching job at the Maple Corner School in Calais, where she met her husband, Harry. She ended her teaching career at the East Montpelier Elementary School. Her long teaching career is distinguished by people with this message: "Dot Morse was the best teacher I ever had!"

Helen "Peg" Szalajeska Raymond writes from Florida that her son George Donald Raymond '68 is principal at Dr. N. H. Jones Academy of Math, Science, and Technology, a magnet school in Ocala, Fla. His school was awarded a 3A rating from the federal government, receiving a plaque, a blue ribbon, and a special write-up. Needless to say, Peg is a proud mom. She still volunteers at a local school two days a week, works in her yard, weeds her garden, and enjoys her beautiful flowers.

A lovely long letter arrived from Ferne Coffin Fogg. She keeps busy helping her daughter with housework and filling the bird feeders. Ferne, Margaret Guilmette '56, and Norma Wright Walker '51 attended a NDEA Reading Institute at UNH back in 1966.

Velma Peirce Smith has been spending time in Maine with her daughter Martha Smith Campbell '65 . Val was helping with guests and with canning and freezing vegetables to be used throughout the winter. She wrote that she had done her student teaching in Hancock, N.H. After getting married, she and her husband moved to Canada where she became principal of the Upsala Agricultural Bible School. When Val graduated from Keene Normal School she was the youngest in her class.

Many thanks go to Val, Waldo Streeter, and Eva Dostilio Wheelock for writing letters to classmates encouraging attendance at Reunion 2006.

Florence Hutchinson Cooney of Springfield, Va., writes: "Still bowling up a storm! One great-grandson."

Helen T. Tsiotas writes: "Enjoying a long, healthy retirement in New Hampshire after retiring from the 'well-paying' school system of New Jersey. Like the oxygen in New Hampshire."

IN MEMORIAM: Luther Preston '38 passed away in July, 2005 from cancer. His son, Eugene '69, wrote: "He had a very positive attitude to the very end. He came out to live with us in Brandon, S.D., the last of April. He still enjoyed reading books on forestry and spoke of the interview he had with Angela Frazier '00 when she was preparing the article in the alumni magazine last spring. He always spoke positively of his time at Keene and enjoyed his classmates. On the Saturday before he came to live with us, the Greenland (N.H.) community had a surprise going-away luncheon for him. It was neat to see the young people and children around him and talking with him. He aged gracefully and I think his relationship with young people helped him keep a youthful attitude."

Carl G. Bartlett writes:
"The last Wednesday in September has been a special day for the members of the Class of 1939. For almost 15 years, we have gathered at the Cat 'n' Fiddle restaurant in Concord, N.H., for a reunion on this day. We are well aware that our average age is about 88, but we still enjoy seeing, meeting, and eating with old and very dear friends that we have known since the fall of 1935. Great events have occurred since we graduated; we have been part of a great generation. As for our reunions, I guess that we are reluctant to surrender our fragile, but still wonderful, ties to this part of our past.

"The following were with us last fall in Concord: Helen Marison, Paul Perkins, Rowena Newell Walsh, Ruth Maker Worrad, Bunny Berry Dodge and husband Cap, Edna Twombly and her sister Isabel, Carl and Lil Bartlett.

"Also there from the Class of 1938: Scottie Bean Smith and husband Erville, Doris Delaware Piper, and Paul Nordman.

"We heard from the following from our Class of 1939: Ruth Bernier Mitchell, Ernie Fiske, Bert Tardif, Gordon Tate, Edith Foulds, Rose McCaugney Reyor, Dot Orser Nelson, Grace Blanchard, Richard Dundas, Eleanor Richardson Morin, and Angela Lampesis Johns.

"And we heard from these members of the Class of 1938: Arthur Ide, Hazel Dean Smith, and Geneva Smith Jones.

"Last June at the KSC reunion, my wife and I spent part of Friday and Saturday on campus. We walked a lot and were driven around in a golf cart. There were times when I wasn't sure where I really was. We visited several buildings - some new, some rebuilt, all in prime condition. The campus is truly a large, beautiful, and wondrous place. If you haven't visited Keene recently, go! It will be worth the trip.

"Saturday morning, at the Golden Circle group, I saw Dr. Richard Dundas. Dick was a well-known educator who served many colleges and became the president of Castleton State College in Vermont. It was nice to see him.

"Last month I received a nice letter from Amy Jo Vonderhorst who is the Funds and Stewardship Coordinator at KSC. She informed me that the Class of 1939 International Education Endowment is doing much better financially than it did a few years ago. As of June 30, 2005, the fund totaled about $68,000; last year the net return was 10.3 percent. They paid out 4.7 percent, or $2,290, and reinvested 5.6 percent. The Class of 1939 can be very proud of establishing this fund.

"I was able to ride my bike only about 200 miles this year due to very heavy traffic, unfavorable weather, and old age. Still, we feel very fortunate. We have a warm sunny home full of antiques acquired over many years. We have children and grandchildren in town. Our neighbors look after us. We have good doctors and dentist, and an award-winning hospital less than 10 miles away.

"By the way: last September, we all decided that we want to meet again in 2006, the last Wednesday in September, Cat 'n' Fiddle restaurant, Concord. Meanwhile, keep in touch."

Ruth "Bunny" Berry Dodge of York Beach, Maine, writes: "Life has been good to my husband and me - 64 years of marriage in June."