Contact:

Granger, Washington
pearshef@bentonrea.com

• Abdul, Sheik of Patton Pool c.1965
• Patton Swim Team Summer of 1966 Photo
• Water Wonderland Finalists #7: (Mary Lou Shefsky, Johanna Cooke, Mary Beth Ceresko, Joan Makkonen, Louise Kennedy, Joanne Scarborough, Cynthia Goyette, Tina Solis) c.1962
• Carol Danboise, Mary Lou Shefsky, Tina Solis, Mary Beth Ceresko c.1963
• Doug, Move Your Big Fat Head!: (1st row: Randy Penn, Unknown, Sally Williams, Susan Williams, Elaine Cooper, Sally Sherk, Diane Greer; 2nd row: Peggy Sherk, Barbara Foster, Mary Beth Ceresko, Mary Lou Shefsky, Tina Solis, Alice Ceresko, Janice Enck, Susan Roll; 3rd row: John Szuba, Tom Koch, Sue Spilski, Marcy Snyder, Jackie Jones, Christine Szuba, Linda Foster, Carol Danboise, John Sherk, Randy Cooper; 4th row: Joyce Allen, Bonnie Danboise, Stan Johnson, Fred Johnson, Carl Boyd, Craig Dwyer, Greg Penn, Ron Enck, Doug Webster, Tom Szuba; 5th row: Rick Skarbo, David Sahagian, George Saldana, Pete Adams, Mark Manrique, Ron Boyd, Larry Dalton, Richard Szuba, Jay Osrowske, Ed Picard, John Powser, Harry Hauck) c.1962
• Wholesome And Thensome: (Carol Danboise, Mary Lou Shefsky) c.1962
• The Dirty Dozen: (1st row: Joan Makkonen, Lynn Makkonen, Janice Enck, Carol Danboise, Mary Lou Shefsky; 2nd row: Linda Foster, Harry Hauck, Lee Davis, Sue Spilski, Mary Jo Szuba, Bonnie Danboise, Marcy Snyder) c.1962
• Rogue School Of Mermaids Attacks Swimmer: (Mary Lou Shefsky, Mary Beth Ceresko, Harry Hauck, Tina Solis, Carol Danboise, Joanne Scarborough, Jane Johnson, Alice Ceresko, Linda Foster, Barbara Foster, Joan Makkonen) c.1963
• Medalists: (Bottom row: Ed Snelzer, Unknown, Carol Danboise, Unknown, Alice Ceresko, Mary Lou Shefsky, Greg Golin, Mary Beth Ceresko; Top row: Jerry Gorski, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Bob Foley, Ken Karasick) c.1963
• Musical Chairs: (Richard Szuba, Dennis Manrique, Marion Abbott, Ron Boyd, Joan Makkonen, Mary Jo Szuba, John Hollinger, Mrs. Allred, Mr. Allred, Mrs. Szuba, Harry Hauck, Ed Picard, John Savinsky, George Saldana, Mark Manrique, Fred Savinsky, Sue Spilski, Lynn Makkonen, Bobby Allred, Diane Allred, Barbara Foster, Lee Davis, Jeanie Sherk, Mary Lou Shefsky, Tommy Koch, John Westcott) c.1962
• Les Fleet Femmes: (Carol Danboise, Mary Lou Shefsky, Tina Solis, Mary Beth Ceresko) c.1963
• Victorious Vixens: (Front row: Mary Lou Shefsky, Tina Solis, Jane Johnson, Back row: Mary Beth Ceresko, Joanne Scarborough, Alice Ceresko, Barbara Foster, Carol Danboise, Joan Makkonen, Linda Foster) c.1963

V1N2P2, V1N5P3, V1N8P3, V1N8P4, V1N9P3, V1N11P2, V2N3P4, V2N5P5, V2N11P3, V2N11P4

004, 029, 047, 050, 053, 078, 119, 121, 146, 153, 156, 160, Letter to Harry

I have done a lot of roaming around the world since my Patton days. I majored in Spanish at Albion College after which I joined VISTA and worked in Utah with a migrant farm worker program for a couple of years. Then I joined Peace Corps and was sent to Paraguay, where I worked in health education and sanitation for a couple of years. It was a true life-changing event. It was a tough, challenging two plus years; but over time, the painful memories have faded while the joyful, heart-warming ones have glowed. Stephen (who eventually became my husband) and I were two of twelve PC volunteers in our training group. We spent a couple of months training in Ponce, Puerto Rico, before going to Paraguay; but the first time we ever really talked to each other was on the way to Paraguay from PR. We got stranded in Lima, Peru, because the Peace Corps neglected to get us confirmed reservations all the way to Asuncion. Not wanting to be on the streets of Lima with a visible, obvious group of North Americans, I asked Stephen if he wanted to visit the museum that the PC trainers in PR had mentioned to us. He agreed to go with me. Well, it was a museum on the outskirts of Lima which "featured" an incredible exhibit of pre-Colombian erotic art! I was too flabbergasted at what I saw to be embarrassed! We had lunch together afterwards, but then parted ways for all practical purposes until we were assigned to the same rural town of 3,000 and project in Paraguay. We were expected to letrinize the town of Ybycui and eradicate intestinal parasites in its population in two years. The project called for five PC volunteers; after two months there were just the two of us. We failed at what we were supposed to do, but we salvaged some of the projects ideas. We took our education component and taught teams of elementary school teachers all over rural Paraguay.

Stephen and I worked very well together, became very good friends, and fell in love. We got married January 14, 1978. We returned to Paraguay in 1982 so that I could do some research for my master's thesis. Although Stephen and I had not constructed a single latrine in Ybycui, we had sensitized and educated the town. The next PC volunteer and her Paraguayan counterpart accomplished a lot. The town went from 48% of the houses having sanitary latrine facilities or modern bathrooms in 1974 to 73% n 1982.

We have a lot of wonderful memories about living and working in rural Paraguay. We can tell amusing latrine stories, cultural and language jokes (Paraguay is bi-lingual--Spanish and Guarani), and we sing (try to, anyway) and play some Paraguayan music on the guitar (I'm a self-taught guitar player--not very good, but enthusiastic). I share some of the things with my students in Spanish classes at Heritage. About the funniest cultural story we have is about my winning raffle ticket that Stephen bought me. I won a live steer, and it was still on the range in a remote area. It had never been off the range. Stephen ended up "taking care of it" for me--he had bought the ticket anyway. Do you know how to get a live steer off the range? Well, of course, you pay a boy to walk it to market sandwiched between two oxen.

After we returned from the PC, Stephen decided to go to medical school. He became a pediatrician, while I got my masters degree in public health. We spent some years in the D.C. area, where I directed a Central American refugee clinic during the Salvadoran war, and then moved to Florida for a time. For the past eight years we have been in the Yakima Valley in Washington State, where more apples are grown than in any other area of the country. We have two wonderful boys: Daniel 11 and Matthew 13. Our house has a panoramic view of the Cascade Mountains. Both Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier are visible. Stephen works at a community health clinic in Yakima; I teach Spanish and Public Administration at Heritage College, a small, liberal arts, private college with a large minority population. The average age of our students is 33, and the vast majority are on financial aid.

In the early 1980's Stephen and I vacationed in Puerto Rico and visited the Haucks. What a joy it was to see them again! Harry arranged for Tim to take a group of paying tourists on a snorkeling trip so that we could go along for the ride. It was a fantastic day! The Hauck told us some of his Puerto Rican adventures--his encounters with sharks ("the bad ones"), his incredible swim from St. Thomas to Puerto Rico. (6/98)

Browsing through the Patton Pool web site is truly enjoyable. It has helped me reflect on that period of my life over thirty years ago during our formative years. We experienced and learned from hard work, perseverance, physical pain, team spirit, close friendships, self-improvement. My old wooden kickboard with that shivering picture on it that Sully painted for me had to be thrown out years ago--it had begun to rot. I took a picture of it before ditching it; but so much more important are the pictures, images, and feelings I carry in my heart and mind. And most important are the lessons I learned. My thanks to all of you for your friendship, leadership, and spirit.