The latest from the Gang ... 

These are excerpts from our May 2020 Newsletter.
Nancy M.: sorting through hundreds of old photos
Marilyn N.: yard work and early gardening, cooking, baking bread, cooking soups, and keeping in touch
Ken & Linda S.: Beyond movies, TV binge watching, lots of phone calls and reading? Many walks, online courses, yoga…
Merle W.: Virtually celebrated Passover with an absolutely fantastic and completely unforgettable online Seder
Joe M. & Dawn M.: making and donating face masks, yard work, garage and files cleanup
Maryann D.: cleaning closets, shredding old records, reading, finished a 1000 piece puzzle, baking breads and cookies
Marco A.: long walks, scanning and posting 30+ years of newsletters and documents on TOHG.org
Beverly C.: working in pj’s, no makeup, bedhead, junk food nearby aiming to paint the light at the end of the tunnel.
Joe and Maggy C.: walking and hiking the FGH State Forest, cycling, online exercising, and zooming with family
Marina K.: Lots of coffee, sawing face masks, walks and Zoom, while Helgard seeds vegetables
Sandy & Hyman S.: discovering things we never did before, looking at maps and guidebooks finding places to bike, hike and kayak
Ines A.: creating a new colorful quilt to brighten the stay home, and sewing masks
Emmy C.: Staying home, walks meeting neighbors for the first time six feet away. Hoping for a Gang 6ft-apart walk limited to 10p, Ha!
Joan S.: Keeping in touch with with long time friends across the country and helping those nearby, baking and cooking.
Jane P.: organizing and enjoying photos and slides
Hedy & Mo P.: joined households with daughter's family. They are putting us to work in the newly planted vegetable field
Chuck & Susan H.: A very quiet meal for Easter. We have been Zooming with family from RI, MA, NJ, DC and even Tobago

Thanks to all contributors for sharing

Ski trips West can be challenging as well as rewarding as we found out on our trip to Snowmass. We had 3-4 inches of snow every night which provided powder skiing at the higher elevations and softer conditions at the lower elevations. Everyone gave rave reviews for the skiing and the lodging amenities, as well as the ski-in, ski-out location and proximity to both Villages. Several of us experienced a true “Rocky Mountain High” when Bob B. and his “Belles” rode the Poma lift to the extreme summit at 12,585 feet.
We’d like to acknowledge Pat P., our long time member and former Ski Coordinator, for her recommendation of this trip to Snowmass and our stay at the Snowmass Mountain Chalet. In her own words, this time was “the best skiing I have had at Snowmass in many years.”
The combination of long-time and new members made for a very congenial group and we all enjoyed the fabulous skiing as well as the après-ski parties, meals out, shopping, etc.
The challenge we faced was the unprecedented closure of the entire ski area due to COVID-19, which cut our skiing short by two days. Happily, we were able to wrap up the trip and return home a day early, safely, and seemingly in good health. We unfortunately suffered one injury—Marge C. suffered a broken leg due to a mishap getting off a chair lift—and Lisa F. suffered a lengthy bout of altitude sickness. Marge is recovering well at home and Lisa is completely recovered by now.
Everyone is looking forward to next year!

Rachel A.

Twelve members of the South Mystery Group met for a delicious lunch at the Lafayette House in Foxboro.
This was the first outing under our new Group Leader Betty F.. Betty follows Linda K. who lead our group for many years.

The West Mystery Group enjoyed dinner and Trivia at the Westford British Beer Company on Sunday evening, February 16. We were most successful on questions about sports, thanks to Allan. WATCH OUT for Meredith who chimed in with “anemometer,” an instrument that measures wind speed, and “Arctic Tern,” a bird that flies from the North to the South Pole on its migratory route. Gang members came in rather lower than first place for information, but first place for fun! Trivia is a humbling game, we decided. If only the movie star pictures were of actors who are age 60 plus!

Louise P.

Our Florida contingent of 6 met for a 5 K walk around Lake Sumter in the Villages on a beautiful 70 degree winter day. We walked the lakeside and boardwalks, parks and golf cart trails for 4 miles. Later we shared lunch a nearby Fire and Ice restaurant. Our walk was organized by Christine B. and lead by Dawn M.. From left to right we have Dawn M., Joe M., Joy T., Walter B., Joan H-B, and Christine B. This is our second winter adventure. Our first was a 20 mile ride on the Tarpon Springs to Sarasota Bike path. Having fun, but missing friends and skiing.

Joe M

16 Loonies showed up for three or four days of skiing at Loon and Bretton Woods. Tuesday was a day with great snow conditions but poor visibility. The rest of the days were terrific. We had a game of Balderdash with Tom Jefferson teaching us how to play, making us scream out loud laughing! The Kancamagus Lodge serves a great breakfast every morning to keep our energy up till lunch, with the exception of Charlie C. who has a metabolism the rest of us would kill for. I got to know some newish members - Pam , Tom , Susan , Charlie, Bruce , Elizabeth , Nora , Marge , Steve - and realized what a nice addition to the Club they all are! Great skiing, great food, great people - what more could we ask for? Thanks to all the newbies and oldies but goodies for making this trip so enjoyable. PS Look for Mary W. and Pat P’s special ski t-shirts on upcoming ski trips!

Mary W.

It was a reunion for many and a first time for some at the recent cross country/snowshoe trip to Old Field House in Intervale, NH. Though there wasn’t much snow the week before, we were lucky to be surprised with a snowstorm on Friday. That made driving up North a bit messy, but everyone made it without incident! Skiing and snowshoeing conditions were ideal!

Friday night’s Happy Hour was topped off by pizza, salad and homemade goodies – thank you Peg T. and Lucy McG.! True to form, many gathered to play games until bedtime.

After a tasty breakfast featuring the innkeeper’s famous blueberry waffles everyone was out and about either snowshoeing or XC skiing. Dinner that evening across the street at the New England Inn was followed by more games – one especially raucous one named “Catch Phrase”

Everyone headed home on Sunday, many stopping along the way for one last bit of outdoor activity. Old Field House is so comfy and familiar to so many of us, it’s like home!!
Judy T., Trip Leader

We had a group of 16 members (12 downhill skiers and 4 x-country/snowshoers) for our "swan song" year at Stowe. We were delighted with the ski conditions, even though we had to contend with some fog at the top for the first two days (the visibility did clear as one dropped down on the trails, especially the tree-lined ones). Wednesday started out grey with some light snow, but by noon time that gave way to full sunshine and bright blue sky for a glorious afternoon - it was our banner day. Our snow dances must have worked as we had 6 inches of new snow on Thursday and were skiing in powder the whole day (also enjoyed by the snowshoers who had an active and strenuous day climbing to the peak cabin at the Trapp Family Ski Center). We were very grateful for the soothing hot tub and pool at the Stowe Mountaineer Inn, as well as the satisfying and plentiful buffet meals we had there. After 5 years, we are finishing up our tenure at Stowe and were very happy to have such good skiing and a fun group for this last year.

Nancy B.

Seven Walkers ventured to the FarandNear Trustees of the Reservations site in Shirley, MA. Meeting at 10am we walked until noon through the varied landscape including beaver ponds and an arboretum of Pine trees. The paths were clearly marked but a few were a little icy. After we had a great lunch at the Devens Grill in Devens, MA; the former Ft. Devens.
Meredith P.