Zoomers, 10/19/23
Host Fred Elder convened October’s Zooming with the Aces session #22. Participants zoomed in from all parts of the U.S.
Row 1: Marilyn Tompkins Bellert, Sycamore, IL; Fred Elder, Madison, WI; Lee Ayres, Fresno, CA.
Row 2: Perry Ann Porter, Poulsbo, WA; Rod Pierce, Colorado Springs, CA; Charlie Briscoe, VA.
Row 3: Skip Granger, Sun Lakes, AZ; Linda Soderberg, St. Louis, MO; Tom Tatlock, Appleton, WI.
Row 4: Roxie Ferguson Wilkerson, Welcome, MD; Charles Howard, La Canada, CA; Kay Ellen Consolver, Litchfield, CN, in hospital garb again this month and in a rehab facility, recovering from cardiac surgery.
Editor’s Note: What follows is a summary of discussion and not a verbatim transcript. If your comments need to be revised for accuracy, let us know. (mbellert@niu.edu)
Fred welcomed Rodney Pierce and Roxie Ferguson Wilkerson, new participants in our Zoom sessions, and asked each to give us a quick update on life since East.
Rodney Pierce: I just celebrated my 63rd wedding anniversary. After 24 ½ years in the Navy, 10 years, with General Dynamics and the Tomahawk Cruise missile, 10 more years in security, I retired to Colorado Springs, CO where I have been for almost 20 years. We have 3 daughters, 10 grandchildren 15 great grand-children. I played golf yesterday and I’m living the good life.
Roxie Ferguson Wilkerson: I graduated from high school, went to
college, got married, had six kids, and moved to Gainsville, FL. Then, my husband got a job at the Smithsonian, so we moved to Maryland. We keep busy. For instance, I make greeting cards and my husband makes cutting boards. We have a boat and go fishing. I worked for 35 years as a vocational rehabilitation counselor.
We asked Charlie Briscoe to check-in, since he has not been on a Zoom call for a while.
Charlie Briscoe: I’m calling in between appointments. For about 200 clients, I take care of senior citizens insurance. This is the annual election period, so it’s really busy. I will be going to Indiana to announce the state track and field competition. We live in Roanoke, Virginia, but will be going to Arkansas for Thanksgiving and to Wichita for Christmas.
Fred reminded us that today’s theme for discussion is Volunteering. What role, if any, does working as a volunteer play in your life?
Tom Tatlock – In 1999, I fell off a ladder and sustained a traumatic brain injury that forced me to retire. After recovering, I became an
advocate for people with brain injuries. I served on advisory boards of organizations for brain injuries and gave many lectures on the subject. Now, after learning that 50% of homeless people have suffered brain injuries, I am working with organizations that advocate for the homeless. Some of them are the nicest people I’ve ever met. With healthcare workers, I wrote a protocol for working with people who might have brain injuries, especially the homeless and those involved in domestic abuse cases. We created a brain injury questionnaire and taught professionals how to use it. I have also continued to be active in activities at my church and neighborhood association.
My advice is don’t fall off a ladder. We were preparing to go to our son’s graduation in Vermont when my accident occurred. I washed off my bloody head and said let’s go. My wife said, “You are going to the hospital,” and so we did.
Roxie Ferguson Wilkerson – I play the piano at a couple of places, including a senior center and an assisted living facility. In working 35 years as a rehab counselor, including some clients with traumatic brain injuries, I helped many of them return to work.
Charlie Briscoe – Once a month, I am the convenor for our retired evangelical minister’s association and twice a month, I sing with another group. I also conduct church services for various groups, including a retirement home and a VA location. Although the army I was in was the Salvation Army, I give a chaplain’s program for retired servicemen.
Skip Granger – Before we moved to Arizona, I had many volunteer 
activities, but they have kind of gone away. I was on the board of the Institute for Psychotherapy, which served kids with mental health problems along with other such activities. One of my major contributions was to donate Starry Night wine from our winery and offer tastings for various events. A particular person I remember was Huey Lewis (of Huey Lewis and the News). He frequently asked me or my wife Mary Ann to refill his glass with Chardonnay. Nowadays, I edit a newsletter in hard copy and online for my K.U. fraternity, Sigma Nu. My son Trey helps me produce it. Originally, our mailing list was about 400, but what with aging and Covid, our numbers have declined substantially.
Linda Soderberg McKay – I am on the board for my condo association and work with landscaping. I have learned a lot! Our area
was formerly a park and has many beautiful old trees to maintain. Secondly, I continue to work for a DC group, Character.org, to advance character, moral and ethical development in children. I started working on character education as part of local efforts in the St. Louis area. After serving on the non-profit board of the organization, I eventually worked as national president in Washington, DC. Currently, I am on the St. Louis area board.
Lee Ayres: Several of you know of my work with the Allensworth Community here in California. My most interesting volunteer 
assignment in the past was when I was recruited to be president of Little League in Sunnyvale, CA, a job nobody wanted. The position was designed to fail. The organization had 19 Board members, each with a well-guarded administrative assignment. In the chaos, about 50 prior decisions had been postponed. I brought some order. At the end of the year, I announced that I was finished. When a Board member insisted that the president’s term was longer, I reminded him that I was a volunteer. On nice thing about volunteering is that you can decide to move on.
Perry Ann Porter – For 15 years, I served on the board of Peninsula Services, which trains disabled people to get jobs. We help to meet needs of the many military facilities in our area and other
organizations that need employees for work such as paper shredding, landscaping, food services, and more. Presently, many Spanish speakers are coming into our area. I am now involved with teaching English as a second language, especially helping people learn English with games. I volunteer in my hometown, about 90 minutes from Seattle by ferry.
Rod Pierce – I’m a member of the Knights of Columbus, 3rd degree. Our activities include road cleanup and burrito sales. I cook the eggs for Burrito sales. I also help with trimming trees keep down fire hazards. And I volunteer to cook breakfast every Sunday at home.
Kay Ellen Consolver – Drama and theater have been my passion since I was a girl. Another area of volunteer commitment is leadership
and mentoring young women in achieving their goals. While I was living in DC, I was invited to join a public studio theater on fund-raising and other needs. There, I chaired a project that promoted encouraging new ways of teaching girls to use computers. I was also invited to join the International Womens Forum, which reaches out to younger women emerging as leaders in their workplaces. As I moved, I joined the International Womens forum in New York City, Boston and London. Now, I participate from Connecticut, working with the Girls Scouts of America. I worked in Boston and London forums, also NYC. Starting when I lived in London, I got involved with the London Academy of Music and the Performing Arts. theater. We worked with artists to help them get their starts, manage their money and business affairs. Through some of those contacts, I helped produce a play about South Africa.
Charles Howard – When I lived in Oregon, I worked with the Boy Scouts, which was ironic because I had daughters. Currently, I have been on cancer medication for about six months, and that takes my time and energy. I did not volunteer for cancer.
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert – I have done much volunteering and like Linda, have seen volunteer activities turn 
into paying jobs. Currently, I work every day on the Class of 1960 website and other reunion activities with Diane and Fred. Getting to know so many really interesting people has been gratifying and a lot of fun. I also serve on a board that provides support for Jane Adeny School for Girls, a private high school for 160 very bright girls from very poor families in Kenya. Many of the girls come from little villages where they live with their families, sheep, and goats in tiny mud and dung huts without electricity or running water. At school, they are very serious students who work hard to continue studying at a place where, for the first time in their lives, they have enough food and water, beds with sheets, indoor toilets and showers, uniforms, access to books and computers, healthcare, and access to both academic and vocational entrepreneurial training. All of them pass the national exams and go on to four-year colleges (about half) and technical education similar to our community colleges. We raise more than $70,000 each year for scholarships, school fees, equipment and facilities. You can learn more at jamskenya.org and janeadenyschool.online.
Fred Elder: With Marilyn and Diane, I spend time on the website and other activities. I am also on my condominium Board. Not so long ago, I spent some time on the Board of the Lutheran Campus Center on the University of Wisconsin campus. My kids and grandkids also get my attention.
The Back and Forth
Skip Granger – I had an email from David Robinson, who has been a regular on this Zoom. He was on his way to the VA to get his Covid shot. The Allen House in Wichita, where he volunteers, was shorthanded today, so he can’t take time off for the Zoom. Next week, he is going to California to visit friends. He sent greetings and best wishes to Kay Ellen for a speedy recovery.
Kay Ellen Consolver – Thanks for the many well-wishers. I have really, really appreciated them!
Tom Tatlock – Thank you to Marilyn, Diane, and Fred for their work on our behalf. I thought some more about my volunteering. One of the other things I do is to mentor people who are getting confirmed in our church. Volunteer work with homeless and domestic violence takes me into parts of my community I would never see otherwise. For 20 years, I planned meals for a local organization. Now, I really enjoy cooking. It’s creative.
Perry Ann Porter – I enjoy this opportunity to get together and share ideas and thoughts. A native superstition in our area says that when we have a bunch of spiders, that means a mild, windy winter. No spiders means freezing temperatures and snow. This year, we have a lot of spiders, so the winter should be mild.
Lee Ayres –Note to Perry Ann: I talked with Rich Hayse. He and Linda have a condo in Kingston, which is near you. They will be there for Thanksgiving. Fred will help them with contact information and Marilyn will send to Perry Ann links to stories Rich has written for the website.
Question from Lee to Tom Tatlock – About the protocol for evaluating homeless people for the possibility of brain injuries. Can you share that? Tom responded that he was using an Ohio State instrument, which includes a lifetime history. It doesn’t make diagnoses, but it can identify likely conditions and recommend strategies.
Tom Tatlock recommended a book — From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks. He writes about the difference between “resume virtues” and “deep virtues.” I found this book so powerful that I sent it to my children and recommending it to everyone.
Roxie Ferguson Wilkerson – Were any of you in the orchestra? The answer was yes!
- Skip Granger, clarinet, said Bob Gates was a superior player.
- Roxie played violin
- Charles Howard played second violin.
- Lee Ayres played the trumpet, but said he was the third of three trumpets, with David Gale in the first chair. David went on to a high-profile musical career in New York.
- Several people recalled Bill Strout, who had his own band, and also mentioned Dan Tontz, who was in the orchestra, and fielded his own band after Strout graduated.
Roxie asked if anyone remembered Gary Payton, who played the drums in Bill Strout’s band. Gary was her first husband. She also asked what had happened to David George, the orchestra’s concertmaster and a wonderful violinist. Marilyn responded that the website team had been trying to find him for several years, but had not been successful.
Fred Elder – In response to Tom’s book recommendation, I am pleased to know that this is the second half of my life. I thought I was in Overtime.
Skip Granger recommended Belletti Prosecco. I just bought a case for $8 a bottle. My dentist said it was a lifetime supply. Now I’m afraid to drink the last glass.
Kay Ellen Consolver – One of the things I loved most in high school was drama. The faculty and students were so talented and interesting. They really got me interested in the field. It was a most valuable life experience.
Fred Elder asked our two newcomers if they enjoyed today’s Zoom session enough to come again.
Rod Pierce responded – All the aircraft carriers on which I served are now in museums, in mothballs, or being cut up for razor blades. I had all the fun I could stand in Vietnam.
Roxie Ferguson Wilkerson – I will try to join again.
Kay Ellen Consolver – Have a great tomorrow, everyone. Go, Aces!
The next session of Zooming with the Aces will be November 16 at 2 p.m. Wichita time. Watch for an email with details from Fred around November 14.
