Network Amherst: The Lehrer Report

By Phyllis Lehrer

Published on September 14, 2007

What I did on my summer vacation: I made 12 jars of beach plum jam, froze tomatoes, carrots and corn, made pesto, mowed the lawn, stacked some wood, went to the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, saw "Turnadot" in Lebanon, N.H., visited Brattleboro, saw some movies and the garage has been improved by some trips to the dump.

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The new postcard contest is now under way. Winners will receive homemade cookies in December. A half dozen postcards were on my desk when I returned. Thank you.

Martin and Jude Wobst, of Leverett, sent a card of Blair Castle in Scotland at the end of a journey that took them to visit relatives in England, then on to the Outer Hebrides and the North of Scotland, where the weather is beautiful, they said.

Irene Starr, of Amherst, sent a card of the Northern Territory in Australia where she saw termite hills.

Rob Kusner, of Amherst, sent a card from Buzios in Brazil where he was at the IMPA Conference on Minimal Surfaces. He will go on to South Korea for a 25,000-mile round trip.

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Julie Melrose, of Amherst, has an article about musical instrument recycling for New Orleans in the current issue of "E - The Environmental Magazine." She has been working with the nonprofit Tipitina's Foundation to replace some of the thousands of musical instruments that were destroyed in Katrina. Local donations of used instruments are welcome.

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Dr. Scott Rauch, the son of Ruth and Harold Rauch of Red Gate Lane in Amherst and president and psychiatrist in chief of McLean Hospital and chair of Partners Psychiatry and Mental Health, was awarded the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School.

Rauch, a leader in psychiatric education for Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital and HMS for more than 15 years, was chosen for the award because of his dedication to furthering the education of future generations of clinicians and researchers.

The Barger Award, established in 1995, honors members of the Harvard Medical School and School of Dental Medicine faculty for being exemplary mentors. Medical and dental faculty, trainees and students submit nominations.

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Daniel Denton-Thompson, Trung Do, Nathan Lauter-Johnson, Sarah Perrott, Andrew Wismer and Ryan Pease of Amherst and Ivan Gilabert, Erin Mazumdar, Rebecca Sadlowski and Justin Tharp of Hadley were named to the dean's list at Springfield Technical Community College.

Sarah Hoffmann, the daughter of Chris and Anne Hoffmann, of East Hadley Road in Amherst, was named to the dean's list at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., where she is a junior. ... Eliza Gentzler, of Amherst, was named to the high honors list at Deerfield Academy, where she is a freshman. ... Lindsey Whitmore, the daughter of Chuck and Cindy Whitmore, of Shattuck Road in Hadley, graduated magna cum laude with high honors as a Mary Lyon Scholar from Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in English and minored in American studies. She won the Virginia Lee Barnes Prize. She plans to live and work in New York City.