Here is the March 2023 Edition!
This is one of the largest-contributed-to blogs in a long time. (Is that grammatically correct or not? 😎)
Here's what some classmates have shared~
ENGAGEMENT NEWS!
Irene Bader Calotta has some exciting family news.
Her son Joe recently got engaged! "Stevie said yes!"
Here is a photo of the happy couple. Congratulations!
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MORE ENGAGEMENT NEWS!
"Linda Swickle Everett, Mark Everett, and Jason and Alma Leavitt are pleased to announce
the engagement of their daughter Athena Leavitt to Bryan Seifert.
Athena and Bryan will be tying the knot in September of 2023 in Asbury Park."
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Wedding News!
Jan Nochta Callahan and her husband Jim share some news!
"Our daughter, Jacqie, married her best friend, Daniel Dorres, on January 25, 2023 as part of a group vacation in Maui. Just immediate family and besties, the 15 of us had a Great Time!!! They will continue to live in Seattle. We are Thrilled!!!"
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News from Lynn Savino -
"February birthdays were celebrated on February 18 at MB&G.
Randy Swickle, John Baker and Ada Cochran were guests of honor.
Jim and Lidwin Goodwine, Todd Cochran, Paul Lange, Patty Menz and Lynn Savino were also there."
Here are photos of the fun evening...
The next birthday celebration get together will be in April.
and she can give you the details once plans are in place!
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Happy Milestone Birthday Celebration Lunch for Robin Dexter Meyer!
Here are Robin and her husband Andy.
Photo by Irene Bader Calotta.
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News from Tom Collishaw~
"Photo from last month (January), when my daughter, son-in-law, and new grandson
(born June 21, 2022) visited my Mom on Cape Cod, where she lives.
The photo has four generations – my mother, me, my daughter Courtney Collishaw-Mendoza, and my grandson Maverick Mendoza."
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TJ Wilks and Debbie Demeduk shared this photo of grandchildren Ben, Zoe, and Lucas.
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Sheila Laming Hodges and her husband Michael have 3 beautiful granddaughters. Her daughter Shelby and son-in-law Gunnar are parents to Beckett, Rory and Ellowyn (shown below) and are expecting twins.
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Cathy Swickle Johnson shared some grandchildren pics, too!
Here are baby Hudson (who now is 3 months old) and Raegan who is just a little over 2 years old.
Here is Cathy spending time reading with Raegan
Here are grandkids Raegan and Hudson with their parents - Cathy's son Jacob and his wife Ariel.
Here is Cathy and Raegan and Beki's little girl Noam.
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Continuing with more photos and family news from classmates:
More family photos from TJ and Debbie from their visit to Santa's Workshop in Pennsylvania -
TJ and Debbie
TJ and Debbie, along with TJ's cousin and his wife
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Cathy Swickle Johnson shares more:
"We have been enjoying the thrill of grandchildren and cannot get
enough! Our youngest, Jacob, and his wife Ariel now have 2 tots. Raegan
is a little over 2 and Hudson is 3 months. They live in south Philly
where Ariel works for Drexel University and Jacob has his growing
business, Basch Builders. (note from Sue: check out
www.baschbuilders.com)
Beki and her husband Brian, both of
whom are artists, have a little girl, Noam who is 19 months old and
quite the character. Beki teaches at George Mason University and Brian
works at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) and they live in
Baltimore.
Jacob & Ariel
Beki & Melody
"Melody just moved back east (YAY!) from Austin to
Baltimore after being way too far away for around 9 years! She is an
artist, as well and works in many media, formally trained in
metalsmithing. She and Noam are definitely besties!
"In August
we (Cathy and her husband Ken) took an Alaskan cruise and want to visit again, this time taking in
more of what the state has to offer without the time constraints of a
cruise. It was amazing but more time enjoying the beauty of that
northern gem would be really nice. One of our treks was to Mendenhall
Glacier which, sadly, has only been shrinking over time.
SO lucky to
have been able to see it.
We met amazing people, natives and
transplants alike."
Mendenhall Glacier
View from ship
Cathy and Ken also are hikers and share these photos~ both are taken during recent hikes in
Lehigh County, PA, part of the Appalachian Trail
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We have some really creative classmates amongst us - take a look!
Linda Swickle Everett shares this photo collage of her quilts and gives an explanation about each one:
"Still Stitching After All These Years"
"I have always been a sewist (one who sews - sewer cannot be right). A bunch of years ago I started making quilts and I am obsessed. Any excuse to make a quilt is a good excuse to make a quilt - as a gift, for charity, to sell, or just because I feel like it. Here are a few recent projects, starting at the top, from left to right:
- Cyanotype quilt: This one was so much fun. I used specially treated fabric to create some interesting "sun prints" from objects around the house and in nature, cut the pieces up, and made this li'l monster.
- Quilted jacket back: I found a nice denim jacket at Goodwill and did this to it. It was otherwise a bit boring.
- Hospice quilt: I make quilts to donate to hospice patients at the facility that took care of my mom in her final year of life. They were awesome.
- Wedding quilt for my kid: It's not done yet, this is the top. Because it's huge and my back is a bit dodgy, I sent it to a long-arm quilter to have it finished. Can't wait to see the final product!
- Forty-Two quilt: It uses 42 different fabrics so I named it that. I made this for a craft exchange at work (we have lots of creative people in my department).
- Hudson's Triangles: Made for my new grandnugget, Hudson, before he was born. ALL THE COLORS!!
- Scrappy Hearts with a li'l party on the back: I have no memory of who I made this for. I hope they liked it.
- String quilt with piano key border: More fun with fabric scraps. I kept this for me and Mark - it's currently on our bedroom wall.
- Arrows baby quilt: I made this while recovering from COVID last summer. It's for sale! It didn't catch COVID.
- Quilted shirt back: Another boring bit of denim made a little brighter.
- Connected Cats: One of my favorites for sure. It's on rotation on my living room wall.
Hit me up if you need a quilt made to order. I can always squeeze in another."
(Note from Sue - our family, including our grandchildren have been recipients of Linda's lovely projects!)
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Philomena DePalma Chillino has shared some of her work previously and now she has a new website to highlight her work and to take orders if you would like to get a special gift! Here's what she has to say:
"My new website is now up and running! I've been busy creating my impressionistic works of art and Robert (her husband) helps with all my art displays, setups and he is always redesigning my studio as it is expanding. We also sell craft cabinets for other artists as well as wood carvings and laser engraving for the woodworkers who want to add to their own woodcraft designs.
We will ship anywhere in the USA."
Check out the website at
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Here are the Laming siblings! Gail, Ross and Sheila.
Photo taken on their trip to Asheville, NC
where they visited the Bittmore Estate.
Sheila is looking forward to retiring in August of this year.
And here we have Linda and Cathy (Swickle) and their very good friend and former neighbor
Doris Heyer (center). This is at lunch in March after going to an art gallery in Yardley.
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Joe and Ann Fagan are "on a birthday tour and
first journey is Mystic Pizza
which came out in 1988, the year we were married."
More travel news -
Irene Bader Calotta shares this:
"My
parents passed away 34 days apart Dec 2020/Jan 2021. My
Dad’s sister Grete asked me and my husband, Chas, to come visit her in
NSW, Australia.
At that time there were no flights going to Australia
period.
"Then my cousin Renate invited Chas and I to come to her 60th
birthday in 2022. When I said we would think about it, I started getting calls
from many of my Austrian and German cousins saying, “I heard you are coming, we
are so excited.” So it was decided we
would go. We spent an action packed 2 weeks between Salzburg, Vienna and Nürnberg
catching up with my 7 cousins and their families. As well as my mother, Anna’s
only surviving sibling (she was one of nine) and his wife.
"We were finally able to take that trip to Australia as well this
month. It was Chas’ first time down under. We stayed with my aunt and celebrated
her 86th birthday and the birth of her 7th great-grandchild while we
were there. It was great to catch up with my 3 Aussie cousins and their families
as well while taking in the sites. Yes, we did see kangaroos, Chas impressed by
the birds as well."
She shares these wonderful photos with us......
Hellbrunn with cousins Herta, Herbert, Rosie & Renate
Irene in the center; Nurenberg with cousins Gerda and Renate
Irene and her husband Chaz at the Silent Night Chapel
AND now on to Australia -
Irene with Aunt Grete and cousin Heidi who picked them up in Canberra
Dual capture with cousin Linda at Guerilla Bay
Chas and Irene
in Mount Dromedary, NSW
Cousin Karin overlooking Canberra
Irene also recommended this web site:
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That's it for news for now. Thanks to all who contributed news and photos!
Usual business- if you have a change in your contact information, please let me know so I can keep the class database up-to-date. You can send me your updates to mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com If you are aware of classmates who don't receive the emails please give them this address as well so they can connect with us. As it gets closer to 2026 I will post a list of classmates that we need contact information for.
The next edition of the blog will come out in October 2023 and I will send out an email to ask for contributions in early October. (You can send to me before that, I will save whatever you send and post it in October. Please be sure to let me know it is for the blog as sometimes people just send me pictures and such so that I can see but not to share.)
The class group on Facebook is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/47889678341 (titled Mahwah High School Class of 76) and there is also a group - "You Know You're From Mahwah If" at https://www.facebook.com/groups/46650173906
If you have a business or personal web site, Facebook group or Twitter that you would like to share with the class, please do! I will be happy to post info in the blog to get the word out.
And thoughts go out to those classmates who have had to deal with severe weather conditions this winter and hope that spring brings sunshine and good weather ahead for all.
~ Thanks again,
Sue
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