Laura Townsend:
CLASS OF 1970
Pontiac Northern High SchoolClass of 1970
Pontiac, MI
LeBaron Elementary SchoolClass of 1963
Pontiac, MI
Laura's Story
Life
Profession: Registered Nurse
Did quite a bit of traveling after leaving school then went back and became a Registered Nurse then went back to traveling again and never settled down to have a family. Often went on solo backpacking vacations in the Upper Peninsula mostly between Munising and Grand Marais but sometimes Newberry, L’Anse or Copper Harbor. Would do the Mackinaw Bridge Walk every year. Toronto and Stratford Ontario were favorite places to go to for a day or two at a time, Stratford definitely for a play or two a year. Highland Games in Glengarry, Hamilton, Kingston, Alma, etc.
I was in the Society for Creative Anachronism for some years and went to many events and several Pensic Wars (ah the good old days!). Need to find a group of them down here and get back into it.
Traveled often to historical places like Colonial Williamsburg, Gettysburg, Plymouth and Salem, etc. My brother spent 32 years in the army so I would often travel to where he was posted (posted twice to Hawaii and three times in Europe). Would like to go back to Europe again, especially Scotland (Glencoe, Culloden, Inverness, Edinburgh, Stirling), Germany (Heidelburg, Mulhausen, Colditz, the Black Forest), the Island of Mainau (lovely gardens there), Belgium (Waterloo) and Liechtenstein (beautiful little country).
Never settled down until recently and am now retired due to medical problems. Retired from the State of Michigan and moved to Punta Gorda, Fl, a lovely small town on the Gulf coast in 2014. I can't say that I miss Michigan winters and have no complaints about Florida so far but that may change after the first major hurricane since Charley hits the area.
Punta Gorda is about as far from Ft Myers as Detroit was from Pontiac so easy to get to big name entertainment or night life if wanted. Sarasota/Bradenton only a bit farther, Orlando about 2 ½ hours. This is a quiet town except in snowbird season when it triples or more in size but the crime rate is very, very low and for the most part t...Expand for more
he people are friendly. It is jokingly called “God’s Waiting Room” for the number of seniors who live here. There are also a very high number of war veterans who live here. So many that they were able to collect enough to have a copy of the Viet Nam Wall built here last year.
The city is on the Peace River where it empties into Charlotte Harbor. Charlotte Harbor (actually a bay) is 270 square miles is size but no big boats can enter it as the entire thing is very shallow, averaging 7-8 ft deep with some places 11-15 ft. Lots of sailing, kayaking, fishing in the area. A lovely riverwalk along the shore through town with connecting parks. There is no paid parking anywhere here, all free. Between here and Port Charlotte across the river there are lots of restaurants and stores. Lots of wildlife too around here along with citrus groves and cattle ranches. Beautiful beaches and amazing sunsets over the harbor
The summers can be brutal with heat in the 90s with heat indexes in the 100s but the humidity tends to be low during the day and goes up after our nearly daily afternoon and evening thunderstorms and stays high during the night. Other than that and the occasional hurricane it is nearly perfect 8-9 months out of the year (Glad I moved down in October so had months to acclimate).
The only really bad thing about Florida is the fire ants. Never, ever lay on the grass or for that matter stand in one place in the grass too long or you will regret it.
Although I lived for a time in Ft Lauderdale in the 70s (was a great place when you are young not so sure about today) and now live on the Gulf Coast I have never gone to any of the Disney Parks and haven’t felt an interest in ever going however I am planning to go for one of the rocket launches at Cape Canaveral this summer and the annual Jimmy Buffett Parrothead, Meeting of the Minds in Key West.
I am going back to college for the fun of it and to keep the old brain active. Plan on studying anthropology both physical and cultural.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos