1955

Commodity mogul Harry Ambrose sent me a clipping from the Milling and Baking News which credited Betty Joe Nelson, wife of classmate Jim Nelson, with playing a part in the introduction of the new U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid. Betty Jo, administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S.D.A., presented the pyramid and background materials to 50 state directors of the Women, Infants, and Children program at a recent conference in Tampa, Fla. It's nice to have news of 1955 spouses who are making their own significant contributions.

A recent telephone chat with Lionel"Lonnie" Schlank revealed that he sold his business, Keystone Franklin Inc., in 1986 and, after staying on in management for a few more years, has now retired and acts as a consultant to the company. Keystone Franklin manufactures household specialty and plumbing supplies. Lonnie is currently helping to find manufacturing sources for the company's product line in the Far East. He has traveled extensively in this assignment to China, Taiwan, etc. and says that there is much enthusiasm among the younger generation Asian entrepeneurs he has met.

Dr. Jim Mckendry writes that after 25 years of orthopedic surgery practice in Augusta, Maine, he has begun to branch out into other pursuits. He has taken up a second career in metal sculpting and also finds time to sail his 28-foot trimaran Salma out of Rockland. Jim and his wife, Helen, whom he married fresh out of Mary Hitchcock in 1955 and who is now a parenting educator, have four children: Jennifer McKendry-Welp is a kindergarten teacher; Elizabeth DMS '79 is practicing in Seattle; and sons Peter and Andrew are professional ski patrollers at Sugarloaf and coowners of Tidal Transit Cos., an ocean-kayaking venture in Boothbay Harbor.

Every once in a while I learn something new from the class mail that comes my way. Tom Wittenberg has northeast Georgia road-kill on his mind these days. Tom travels the blue roads in that area for Sam's Club in search of new members for the Athens store, typically merchants, farmers, ranchers, professionals, and business owners and managers. What he finds along the way are road pizzas such as 'possums, squirrels, cats, raccoons, dogs, an occasional deer, and "recaptoids." These, I learned, are those tire husks and treads that litter all highways, take all shapes, and require close-up observation to establish their true nature. I suppose Tom can now be classified as a "recaptoidist!"

At the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association this past January, classmate John French III was honored with a special citation for his "long and many contributions to the development of environmental law in New York for the past 25 years." John's contributions to the field of environmental education were also cited, and he was called "a pioneer in the practice of environmental law in the state." Congratulation on this well-de- served recognition.

110 Valeview Road, Wilton, CT 06897