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The photo shows Wendy thanking Elke (Oehlschlaeger) Beecken (MEd’84), for her long and successful work as head of the German Queen‘s Alumni Group, originally established by Wendy and her husband, Peter Trutnau (BA’79). For almost 20 years, Elke worked non-stop organizing very successful reunions all across Germany. The photo was taken by Alison (Walker) Plön (Artsci’92), who, together with Elke, organized a wonderful alumni weekend in September 2024 in Flensburg, Germany. Sebastian Gocht (MSc’86) in Electrical Engineering, has offered to take over from Elke. This is super news for the German Queen’s alumni group because Sebastian has helped support all the gatherings, starting back in the early ‘90s when the Trutnaus were in full swing. Elke deserves our thanks for her years of service for Queen’s in Germany!

Dorris's sixth novel, Bear With Me, was launched October 2024 in Toronto and Thornbury, Ontario. About 150 people squeezed into L.E. Shore Library to celebrate the publication as well as her 80th birthday. The novel is not about bears, rather it’s about an adventurous, wildlife photographer in a marriage that has become dangerous. It portrays some Queen’s grads and uniquely Canadian scenes with universal connectivity. It’s published by Rock’s Mills Press. 

Greg recently published a Second World War novel, Champagne in a Broken Teacup, which is woven into detailed historical reality. The novel was inspired by the activities of his French aunt, who was an art teacher in France and a member of the French resistance during the war. The aunt referred to in the novel was the sister of Greg’s mother, Francoise Duncan, who was formerly of the Queen’s French department and the sister-in-law of his father, Prof. A.R.C. Duncan, who was former head of philosophy and dean of arts at Queen’s. The book is published by Kenebec Media via Amazon KDP.

Mike was inducted into Curling Quebec’s Hall of Fame in 2024, in the category Player and Builder. His involvement in the sport of curling began in 1970, and since then he has gone on to win more than 15 medals in provincial championships, including four Seniors and four Masters Championships. He also received the Sportsmanship Award in 2001 and a Masters Silver Medal in 2012. He was only the second player in the history of Quebec curling to have skipped for two different teams the same year (2009). During his career he was involved in the 1982 Quebec Games, the 1983 Canada Games, the 1988 Brier, the Canadian Masters championships for 10 years, as well as Curling Quebec. He played various roles in each of these organizations, either as director, administrator, technical director, coordinator or president. He also developed the first page system for curling; was a member of the Governor General’s Curling Club (2013); was chosen as administrator-volunteer for Sports Quebec (1988); and received the Curling Canada Ray Kingsmith Lifetime Volunteer Award (2018). He's happy to here from friends who’d like to get in contact with him.