CURRENT ADDRESS:
Anne (Guthrie) Beard
Eugene A Beard
166 Lefever Rd
Newville PA 17241-9563
717.776.6059
To my Classmates:
Where does one begin to fill in all the blanks.....so many changes have occurred and few if any of
us are the same persons we were when we graduated from high school. I think I am rather
pleased that I am not that person. I would like to think that I have eliminated some of the
negatives in my life and expanded on the better qualities of my character.
In September after graduation I started nursing school at Baptist Hospital in Memphis. That was
not to be....in August of '57 I met Gene and that was it....my formal education came to a
screeching halt. We were married in November of same year and my career as a housewife
(referred to as domestic engineer today) began. That is no doubt the single most important
decision in my life.
Gene was career military....for 30 years and retired in '82 after we had spent a full and rewarding
time living as modern day nomads. Needless to say military personnel are prone to frequent
moves and we had a new adventure each place we lived. Most of that time was spent here in the
good old USA. We spent four years in Newfoundland, Canada
Let me back track a bit.... We lived in Millington,Tn. until late '59 and it was off to school for
Gene before being assigned a tour of duty with the marines. In April '62 our only child ...Mike
was born at Camp Lejuene, NC. From there we went to Montgomery, AL then a year tour in
DaNang for Gene with Mike and me going to NM where my parents lived. Next we headed for
the great state of GA.....to be exact it was Brunswick which is just across the causeway from St.
Simon Island. Now we are headed to Nfld......
Newfoundland can be classified as one of the last frontiers....it is still a place of pristine beauty
and the people there are unbelievable. I have never before or since known any group of people
who were so open, genteel, honest, and warm. We had the time of our lives there. Being the
outdoor type we did a lot of back pack camping, shared beaver ponds with moose, watched
snowshoe rabbits and ptarmigans don their winter white fur and feathers. Sunsets over the bay
was super. We watched whales from our front door. The Dept. of Interior and Indian Affairs
hosted a barge trip around Argentia Bay to the abandoned villages that were evacuated when the
government decided it was not safe for the people to live there.....the people did not leave
willingly. Trout and salmon fishing were world class. We went ice fishing frequently...one time I
counted the clothing I wore as I took them off once we got home....would you believe one person
could wear 43 pieces of clothing all at one time! It was a haven for kids...they had more freedom
there than most other places allowed...we always knew that if one of the kids got hurt or anything
happened, someone would immediately take care of that child. It is the only place I have worn
long johns under a ball gown! True there were many conveniences that we took for granted that
were non-existent there.
From there we made our way to Pennsylvania....Mechanicsburg to be exact. We were here for
six years before Gene retired at the ripe old age of 47....still young enough that we could enjoy
the carefree days ahead. I traded my stay-at-home mom status to a working girl for about four
years before we left there. Mike graduated high school, joined the navy and got married before
we left there...so we were back to "he, me and the dog" when we packed up and headed for NM
for what we thought would be a permanent resting place....
New Mexico was another adventure for us. We did much wilderness tent camping in the Gila
Forrest and the Cibilo Forrest. If you have not tent camped in bear country you can not even
pretend to guess what you have missed. The other game that we encountered justified the
possibility of bear encounters. Did you know that an elk in full gait could no doubt outrun a
quarter horse? Or that a mule deer can jump a 10 food fence from a standing still position?
Hummingbirds were the rule rather than the exception there and those little critters can be
violent....especially when they attack the side view mirror of your vehicle.
After my dad died in '97 Mama moved back to Arkansas to live with my younger brother and his
wife. It was then that we decided that we were getting too old to trek back and forth across
country to visit our grandkids....and we were missing too much of their growing up....so by late
summer of '98 we had made all the arrangements of selling house, contracting with movers and
again "he, me and dog" headed for PA. It too was a wise decision. Mike and family live about
15 minutes from us. Cory is 14 and Nathan is 11. Mike and Sherri have a home based business
of landscaping and green houses. His main interest has been ornamental ponds and he has been
quite successful with them in that he designed and built numerous ones for individuals,the one at
the college in Harrisburg plus he designed and laid the ground work for the Italian Garden at the
Pennsylvania Horticulture Garden. To say we are proud of the whole clan is an understatement.
So here we are...living in a log cabin on the side of a hill overlooking the valley with farm
country all around us...."he, me and dog". Four and a half acres keep us happily busy. I do love
growing my flowers and one would think Gene enjoys mowing grass...he sure gets in a lot of
tractor time.
My thoughts about returning to Arkansas to live....no...I am not sure I could accept all the
changes that have occurred in the area. Some memories are best preserved and cherished....not
destroyed by cruel changes.....I am still the timid little country girl and will always be just
that....and a born rebel.