Correction: In last month’s Retirees’ Corner there was an error. Bill and Sue Simecka have a new Grandson, not granddaughter.     

Besides traveling, Bill Fritts (Nondestructive Evaluation and Hazardous Waste, 1998) and his wife, Karen, are busy: digitally documenting his family history, scanning photographs dating back to 1906 and creating a slideshow on DVD. Bill transferred an 8mm movie of his parent’s 1930 wedding to DVD. They created photo books for their three grandchildren and had it printed and bound by Apple Computer. He also has a family web site and says he got hooked on the digital life at the Lab. Karen teaches speech communication part-time at Palomar Community College in San Marcus, CA, to keep her grey matter active. She really enjoys teaching but not necessarily the commute two days a week.

Gus (Engineering Directorate, 1993) and Jane (Mechanical Engineer, 1993) Olson, have been keeping busy with local California trips. They visited friends in Auburn for a day, and then attended Jane’s granddaughter’s high school graduation. The next day, they finally found Railroad Flats near Jackson where Jane’s step-son, wife and grandson were participating in a Cowboy Action Shooting match. They stopped at the Jackson Rancheria on the way home. Later in the month, they went to Cameron Park to visit Effie (Willbanks) Hurley (Jim Hurley’s widow, Weapons, 1979) to celebrate her 87th birthday. That afternoon they visited three wineries in the Placerville area.

Garith (Mechanical Engineering, 2002) and Amy (Laboratory Services, 2002) Helm were in the Bay Area for about a week visiting family and friends. They saw many friends from the Lab and even attended the Fair Preview Party before going on to Oregon to visit more family. They are thoroughly enjoying their new home in LaQuinta, CA.

There are no Travel Group Meetings for the remainder of this year. They will resume again in January, 2006. Thanks to Margie O’Dell for another year of fine shows.

The Retiree Picnic was well attended on June 15th. The weather was perfect and there were approximately 97 people in attendance. It was a good opportunity to see people that we had not seen for a year or more and enjoy the delicious buffet.

The next Retiree luncheon will be held at noon on Wednesday, July 20th, at the Elks Lodge in Livermore, 940 Larkspur Drive. ( Make a reservation here.) The speaker will be Ilene Vergino and her topic is: “Seismic Cooperation and Caucasus in Central Asia (all of the “stan” countries).”

Please send any news or input (please include the date and department from which you retired) to Jane or Gus Olson. E-Mail: Jane@LLNLRetirees.org or Gus@LLNLRetirees.org.

This article appears in the first issue in July 2005 of Newsline.