"I do plan to come to our 40th reunion - egged on by my daughter who went to her 10th last year and had a blast - provided I can figure out how to buy a ticket with milage! Let's see, that gives me approximately 3 months to get in shape for the big expose... Venturing out beyond rural Alaska always gives me pause, but I'd love to see everyone again. I hope the nametags are in big print!"
But on April 22 she wrote:
"I had high hopes of coming to Westtown but I find I must stay here to be with my friend who is terminally ill with metastized lung cancer. She was diagnosed a year ago June and is valiantly hanging on. We have shared
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So, you will just have to come to Alaska! I am so sorry I am going to miss you. Please give hugs to all the others for me." (* see Stephanie's thoughts on her life in intentional communities, below).
I have attached a picture depicting traditional Alaskan pastime activity.
I retired from the local school district in August 2004 and have taken up the following responsibilities:
Coordinator of the Haines Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorders Community Education Project
Special Education Consultant to the Southeast
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| left to right are Joshua, Heron, and Reed |
Regional Resource Center
Member of the Haines Borough Assembly.
Children:
Reed Scott-Schwalbach (Westtown class of 1994)
Joshua Scott-Schwalbach (Westtown class of 1997)
Heron Scott-Schwalbach (attended Westtown 2 years,
graduated from local Alaskan high school)
"Steph Scott" <sscott
aptalaska.net>
Box 431 Haines, AK 99827
907-766-2718 (I am very proud of this phone; I just
got it last year after 30 years of phonelessness!)
"I like to say that I've lived in communes all my life - beginning in an odd sort of way with my biological family which was embedded in a Quaker meeting in NJ. And then there was Westtown - group living, I'd say. After a couple of years on a college dorm, Susie and I got an apartment in DC for our Junior year, then moved into an "official" commune. After that, I was hooked - lived in a commune during graduate school, lived in a commune in VT., and then fell into this wonderful group of people in AK when I came up here for a job in '73.
We have organized our land trust so that no one in their right mind would ever become a member if they wanted to get rich! Our land "shares" never appreciate; our houses can't fetch a market price because the owner of the house doesn't "own" the land the house sits on; and to be a "share holder" all present share holders have to come to concensus regarding your inclusion. And we can chew on a decision for a loooooong while! Our kids can't inherit because that would ruin the idea that the community is choosing itself consciously. Definitely odd balls. We have even managed to convince the tax assessor that our property cannot be assessed for it's market value, thus our taxes are a bit lower than would be expected otherwise. We think of ourselves as stewards of the land and leave most of our 80+ acres undeveloped. It's kind of lovely. Sometimes I feel just like Christopher Robin, living smack dab in the middle of a nearly hundred acre woods as I do.
And sometimes I feel incredibly selfish. Why should I have such luxury? I measure my wealth in empty unpeople space. And even though I don't have grided electricity or a flush toilet, I did get a phone AND internet 2 years ago! Watch out 21st century! My kids grew up hauling water; never had TV; shopped at Salvation Army; homeschooled in the early years; 2 graduated from Westtown; they are surprisingly well adjusted adults - even the one who couldn't last at W'town because he couldn't bear to leave AK - and truth be told, he wasn't much of a student, though brilliant in his own way. He now builds and restores wooden boats for museums."