Whatever you celebrate . . .
best wishes for a wonderful holiday season
and a healthy, happy 2008!

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Dear Milne Alumni and Supporters,

In this issue:

* Florida Mini-Reunion(s) Anyone?
* Alumni Personal & Class Updates
* Sad News
* Mural Update
* info-please.com

FLORIDA MINI-REUNION(S) ANYONE?

Many Milne alumni either live full-time in Florida or have become "snowbirds." Please let me know if you are interested in helping to plan or would consider attending a Florida mini-reunion in your area. This can be as simple as meeting in a restaurant that has seating flexibility (i.e., ability to move tables together) and that will allow you to "hang out" for a while. One of the Class of '61's most successful reunions was a lunch at a local Chinese buffet! Click here to send an email with your comments. I will also be sending out a personal email to alumni in Florida and southern Georgia.

ALUMNI PERSONAL & CLASS UPDATES (in class-year order)

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed "news" for this month's Milne Alumni newsletter! I hope that you all enjoy the personal and class updates below as much as I did.

Pat (Costello) Smith, '49: "Our first great-grandchild, Connor William Lybeck, was born November 26, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona." Congratulations, Pat!

Dan Brown, '57: "On Sunday, November 18th, girls and boys of the Class of 1957 were reunited with a classmate they had not seen since graduation. Victor Hoffman joined seven of his classmates for breakfast at the Gateway Diner on Central Avenue in Albany. Sue Powell-Van Buren, Betty Wassmer-Finn, Larry Berman, Jiggs Englander, Lou Hauf, James Allen Cohen, and Dan Brown welcomed him home. Victor lives in Israel and returns to Albany each year to visit his mother. He was formally a Rabbi and, among other endeavors, served a congregation in New Orleans prior to the devastating storm there. He is now involved in the real estate business in Israel." Sounds as though you "girls and boys" had a wonderful mini-reunion!

Ginnah (Huntington) Howard, '57: Ginnah has just sold the rights to her novel, Night Navigation, to Harcourt. It will be published in 2009. She is currently working on the third novel of the trilogy. Some of her stories are available on the Internet if you're curious. Your Milne English curriculum served you well, Ginnah!

Faith (Meyer) Sandles, '59: "Members of the Class of 1959 are planning their 50th Reunion at New Bern, North Carolina, in 2009 – no dates set as yet." Thanks for this information – and reminder that not all reunions must take place in Albany!

Jana Hesser, '62: "In September I took a trip to Greece and had a reunion with classmate Ellen (Spritzer) Rocco. She and her husband Tom Rocco have been living in Greece for about 2 years, where he is Provost of a new American university in Athens. Ellen and I had a great time reminiscing about classmates, catching up on the last 45 years (!). It felt, in some ways, as that almost half century, hadn’t existed except for our white hair and a few wrinkles. We last saw each other, briefly, in Athens in 1991 where by chance we bumped into each other in Plaka. We reconnected just recently through one of my co-workers, a Greek American, who moved to Greece 2 years ago and ended up working at the University for Tom Rocco. Small world isn’t it?" It certainly is!

Marc Kessler, '63: "The Class of '63 has scheduled a reunion (45th, and our first one!) for July 2008. So far we have well over 30 class members looking forward to being there." Your first reunion . . . of many I hope!

SAD NEWS

The following Milne alumni, attendees, or family members passed away between mid-November and mid-December. Please note that I rely upon the Albany Times Union and input from other alumni for this information, so if you become aware of someone who has passed away, please let me know. If a name is underlined, it represents a link to the obituary. The Times Union links are available free for 365 days after the initial posting. Other newspapers may have different timetables.

Charles H. Freedman, father of two Milne alumni, Steven Freedman, '67, and Mona Freedman Hampson, '72, and brother-in-law of Cynthia Frommer Freedman, '58, (December 5. , 2007) - Times Union

Ann GRAHAM Carter, 1946, has learned that Elizabeth Soyar BATES Taylor, Class of 1946, passed away suddenly on July 14, 2007.

MURAL UPDATE

From Valerie DiRocco-Ruskin, Director of Donor Relations & Fund Management
Division of University Development, University at Albany:

1) Project Status: Through the summer of 2007, ten of the fourteen Lithgow murals had been restored. According to Jerry Parker, they would like to restore the remaining four murals in the summer of 2008. However, based on the pace to date, it is possible that two of the remaining murals will be restored in the summer of 2008 and the final two murals will be completed in the summer of 2009.

2) Funding: There is an account in the Foundation called the "Downtown Campus Campaign," which is managed by Bill Hedberg. The purpose of this account is to house funds for renovations on the downtown campus, including the Milne mural restoration project. Funds in support of the Milne mural restorations have been raised through a variety of broad-based efforts with alumni, including the Milne alumni. Today, the current balance is $98,000. All monies designated toward the mural restoration have been deposited into this account. I understand that generous donations from Milne alumni, in excess of $25,000, supported the restoration of the first three murals in the summer of 2003, 2004, and 2005.

3) Future expenditures: University leadership will make the decision/prioritize how to utilize any funds that remain in the account after the mural renovation is paid for and completed.

infoplease.com: I thought you might enjoy this website: http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html. You can choose any year (your graduation or birth year perhaps?) and read about the "happenings" of that year. There are other options also, including a perpetual calendar. Thanks to Carol RICHTER Roffman, '70, for this link. Enjoy!

Thanks to all of you for your interest in Milne Alumni activities.

Judy (Koblintz) Madnick, '61
Milne Alumni website: www.albany.edu/~milne/