Our condolences go out to Jill Whitfill and her family at the loss of her mother Murlene Whitfill, who died July 8th.

Sharmaine McNeil received a copy of our reunion directory and wrote, "It was great seeing so many friends. I do look forward to our next class reunion since I will be there come 'heck or high water.' I am still in the process of selling my house / buying another. I have a contract on my house and have placed a contract on another. God willing, once this major ordeal is over, I will have some peace and quiet. I do not plan on moving again any time soon. If it is one thing I have learned going through this process, real estate is a game and a crap shoot----you never know in advance what can happen."

Joanna Wiedeman Quillen writes, "My daughter Kelsey will be entering Agnes Scott this fall as a freshman in the Class of 2009. She'll be a boarding student, even though we live 1.5 miles from campus. Any bets on how many times we'll unexpectedly run into her around town or how often she'll come home to visit? (Not many is my best guess.) I'm really looking forward to joining Meri Laird Cain as a Sundance Kid Scottie Mom! I just finished a book that I loved: The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser. It really touched me, capturing the Atlanta that I remember as a child and reminding me of a special woman who inspired me to grow spiritually."

Ann Fitzgerald Aichinger returned from Massanetta Springs Conference Center with 5 Middle School youth and another adult chaperone to the Middle School Conference July 7-10. The theme was "Ignited" with Holy Spirit. There were over 300 attending the conference and everyone had a great time. Ann and her husband Frank will be taking 21 youth and 3 adults to Montreat, NC July 31-August 6 for the Youth Conference. Lots of Youth time and lots of good times!! (See Ann's picture on the photo page.) From Susan P. Morgan comes the following: "I am living "happily ever after" with my husband, Bill Breedlove, and 2 daughters, Talley (10) and Mary (7) in Summerville, SC. Bill is a Sociology Professor at the College of Charleston and I am a branch leader with the Longaberger Company. If anyone is a fan of Longaberger, I would love to hear from them. I am currently working on recovering from a serious case of burnout and am rebuilding my business. My husband may be changing careers next year. He is currently in the discernment process to become an Episcopal priest. If all continues to go well, we will be heading to seminary (not sure where) in the fall of 2006. I can be contacted at scbasketlady@yahoo.com"

Margaret Shippen Sanders (sandship@yahoo.com) sent this: I love our webpage. It's such a great, easy way for us to keep in touch. Right now I'm directing Crimes of the Heart for our community theatre and finishing up a two-year stint as president of the local women's club (the senior version of Junior League). ::::Right now I'm reading The Wild Lawn Handbook by Stevie Lewis and The Murder Room by PD James. Both are excellent. A couple of weeks ago I read Locked Rooms, the latest entry in Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series--not my favorite book in the series but still a good read. I've also been rereading Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series, which Jill Whitfill first told me about five or six years ago. If you have any interest in Egyptology and appreciate a tongue-in-cheek attitude, give these books a try. They're great fun. Just got word from Amazon that Harry Potter is winging his way (UPS truck, not broomstick--sorry) to my house at this very moment. I'll let ya'll know how it is. ::::Later!

Kristen Sojourner Burgess has been busy. She writes, "My Mom was in the hospital for a few days. She had chest pains and they ran a bunch of tests, but came up with no definitive results. At first they thought she had a blood clotting issue, then changed their mind. They don't know what's wrong with her. She was scheduled to go on a group trip to Copenhagen and Amsterdam this Friday and, though the doctors said she could probably go, she decided she was not up to it and wants to rest at home. She offered me the trip since it was paid for and she had no travel insurance---and, of course, I said YES! So I am going to Europe with a bunch of old people I don't know---but am going to have a ton of fun. I also have a few days to bop around unaccompanied, which will be extra fun! (My friend Steve gave me some cool ideas of things to do in Amsterdam---It's his favorite place in the world. I'm looking forward to seeing it.) Larry is holding down the fort here. If any of you wish to take pity on him, please do so. He would love your company, I'm sure! I'll return July 10th. On July 15th, we're off to SC (via airplane this year---hooray!) for our annual family beach trip. I'll return from there July 25th. Soooo...until then, hang in there, have a great summer, and all good things. I'll be writing a travel log, my mother's assignment, and will forward it to you. In the traditional "Mom" style, it will be very long and detailed! Call me when I return---from either trip!!"

Sharon Core "wanted to give you a sabbatical update. I started my sabbatical May 1 and it has been an amazing time so far. I spent the first week doing nothing, except what I wanted to do--planted a garden, liberated another plot of ground from weeds, culled the recipe drawer, had lunch with friends, stayed up and watched the 11:00 news. The second and third weeks I took classes at the College of Preachers--on the grounds of the National Cathedral. Both weeks were blessings: the first focused on music, the second on preaching--both are areas I love and I realize need to pay more attention to the conversation between the two. Then we went to the beach for a week. We rented a house at Folly Beach, SC (outside of Charleston). Saw my parents (who are doing well), friends came and spent time at the house with us. We took in some Spoleto events--including Lady Chablis. Did you read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil?" She's something else. Not for the faint of heart. Probably the best thing about the beach was that every morning, Nick and I took Cooper to the water. He's crazy for the ocean and exhibited typical Lab behavior. We spent lots of time throwing a ball into the surf and watching him chase and retrieve. Sometimes, he forgot about the ball and just went bodysurfing! Now, it's time for the trip. Who would have thought that getting ready to leave for a month could be such work!? I feel like all I've been doing is making lists, checking things off lists and then making new lists. But today's the day! I leave at 6:50 p.m. out of Dulles. I fly to London and then on to Glasgow. Saturday morning, I catch the train for the journey to Iona, a Christian community, founded by the Benedictines. Here's their website, if you're interested: www.iona.org.uk. I'm there for a week and then Nick joins me. We'll meet up in St. Andrews, Scotland. Then it's on to Edinburgh, Ireland, Normandy, Heidelberg (Nick's birth city and we'll be there for his birthday!), Geneva, Cluny and Taize. Taize is another cool place--another Christian community founded by a group of priests after WWII. The Taize web site is: www.taize.fr. We're back on July 17 and then I have two weeks before going back to church. This has been an amazing time so far. I met with a friend last week who does spiritual direction and also has suggested books for me to read. When I told her I've already been made aware of so much, she said, "And just think what it will be like when you return from your trip! One piece of advice: when you return to the church, don't give them indigestion." That's good advice, I think. Don't throw so much at them that they can't take it all in. BUT there's so much to share! Two things I realize are I need to be better about self-care and related to that, the way I spend my time. We're going to be learning lots of new things together, I think. So, that's all for now. May you find cool places this summer and many blessings.

News from Bradie Barr is she's "adopted" a new baby boy--Atticus (named for the character in To Kill a Mockingbird) - a 2 year old Golden Retriever from the local rescue program. He is such a good dog. Bradie and Tollie recently took him on a 20 hour car trip to Danville, VA to visit Bradie's 94 year old grandmother. He easily charmed the old ladies in the nursing home. Summer has been filled with work and just enjoying her neighborhood's local farmers' market, pubs and coffee houses--all the places she can take Atticus. Tollie and Bradie also did their annual 4th of July outing with their moms in Delray Beach, FL--swimming with the sharks, playing some golf and enjoying the nightlife of Delray (Well--that is until 10:30 when they were so tired they had to go home). (Take a look at Bradie and Atticus on the photo page.)

Ann Colona Bennett writes, "No vacation pics. We do have three new kittens - all boys: Tom, Pete, and Angus. Gifted to us several weeks after the sudden death of Gandalf (who was 17). Penny, another 17 year old, is adjusting slowly and reluctantly. With the situation with my dad being what it is, and the weekend trips to NC, the kittens are a blessing. I advised my brother & sister in law (who were the source of the gift) that a puppy would not be counted as a blessing :) My dad is responding well to chemo, although this past weekend he was not as good as previous weekends. I believe it's likely because he re-started oral chemo after a two week break. Jon's doing quite well in Accounting 101, although as he said, it's the hardest he's worked on anything in a long time. The garden is growing, so the groundhog and rabbits are starting to take interest, so it's time to make the fence more secure!! I'm still temping at Ohio University. (Ann also wants to know if any Sundance Kids have had genetic testing done, or knows anyone who has. "I considered it when mom was diagnosed. I'm considering it again. More seriously this time. I've emailed the Genetic Counselor that's connected with the Johns Hopkins' National Familial Pancreatic Tumor Registry. Haven't heard back yet. Does anyone know anyone, preferably a woman, who has talked about having genetic testing done or has actually done it? It freaks me out a little. I can tell you, psych at times like this is really interesting... if you can get some distance it can be entertaining.... kinda.")

Carol Buterbaugh Hays has been busy redecorating her beautiful home this summer. She's also keeping busy with Lauren and Will and their busy schedules.

News from Julie Gilreath Henry is, "I have news. I'd like to report that Allyson Parr Beckley and I ran the Peachtree Road Race for the second year in a row. We joined 55,000 of our closest friends to run down Peachtree Street! Despite the July heat, the race is fun because there are plenty of distractions --- there are the slower runners and walkers to dodge and run around, the beer-drinking onlookers and bands (yes, at 8 a.m.!), and of course, the nostalgic trip past such formerly great Buckhead haunts as Buckhead Beach (which is now a restaurant of some kind) and Good Ole Days (also renamed). Allyson also likes that the races passes by her Episcopal church so she can have holy water sprinkled on her by her priest (he does it for anyone, not just his parishioners!). Neither of our husbands ran the race, but both cheered us on from the sidelines. After the race, we gals met up with a non-sweaty Marie Wooldridge for brunch. Marie and her husband, Chris Curley, live in Inman Park and are active in their neighborhood association. Marie is a paralegal with Hunton & Williams in Atlanta. Chris is an architect and is working on the Marriott Marquis renovation downtown. I'd also like to report that Petra Dotson was married in late May to Waylon Yong. Petra has been teaching elementary school (mostly 4th grade) for 20 years in Gwinnett County. They met at school - Waylon is a teacher as well. After a honeymoon trip to Spain, they are combining households and blending their families and are living in Lawrenceville. They ran in the Peachtree, but we think they were way too far ahead of us to catch! Allyson and her husband, Bob, have four children (three boys and one girl) and live in Atlanta. My husband, Free, and I stay busy with our three sons in Cary, NC. That's all for now! Thanks again for keeping us all up to date!

Thanks to all the Sundance Kids who are sending in their news! With limited space in the Class News section of the Main Events, it's nice to have the room to print some details. As for me, I survived my trip to Boston. (I will admit, though, that I had an upset stomach for 2 days before we left thinking about driving a very large SUV.) But, what an awesome experience! The girls and I did it all - from whale watching (we saw 5 humpbacks) to going to a Red Sox game (they lost), to visiting so many historical places (Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, USS Constitution, Plymouth, Newport Mansions, just to name a few). History truly comes alive when you walk in the footsteps of our forefathers. Their favorite spot was Salem - the Witch City. We spent two days there exploring the maritime and literary history as well as the facts and fiction about the witch hysteria. July 4th fireworks were viewed from the top of my parents parking garage (7 stories high) and we were able to see 8 different shows from the neighboring cities. (In the pictures, my daughter Sarah is the redhead.) I have also recently received a new responsibility at school - along with teaching 3 classes this year, I'm the new business administrator. Who needs sleep - it's so over-rated! The best book I read this summer was 25 Biggest Mistakes Teacher Make and How to Avoid Them by Carolyn Orange. Although geared more toward elementary teachers, it was a real eye-opener as to how bad some teachers are. Michael is currently on a trip to Alaska with his Boy Scout Troop, and Larry is heading to Hawaii for his Navy AT. Until next month, may blessings abound! --Ellen