1955

A reunion of several '55 Alpha Delta Phi's and their spouses took place in early August at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich. Present at the event were Neal and Joan Allen, John and BettyRossiter, Dave and Joanne Heegard, Mary Carrington, widow of Bob Wiley '56, and Dan and Amelia Musser, who hosted the event. Dan, who owns and actively manages the hotel with his son Dan HI, is the only working member of the group, the rest having retired over the past couple of years. According to Neal, who very kindly sent along a picture of the happy group, they had a splendid five days together. The Grand provides a nineteenth-century lifestyle with modern amenities minus motor vehicles. Members of the group engaged in such activities as golf, tennis, croquet, carriage-riding, and elbow bending. Neal reports that, while the Grand Hotel in no way resembles the AD basement bar in 1955, there was no difficulty in bringing back the memories of 39 and more years ago.

Not long ago I became aware that JackCornman was with the Gerontologist Society of America in Washington. This led to a chat with Jack, who until recently had been executive director of this organization which involves interdisciplinary study of aging. While there, Jack co-authored The Ties that Bind, a book about intergenerational relations. Earlier in his career, he was a newspaper reporter and editor in Pennsylvania, then moved to Washington with an American Political Science Fellowship working with Senators Bartlett (Alaska) and Hart (Mich.) in the 19605. He next became president of the National Rural Center, an advocacy group for the rural disadvantaged. Now he serves as executive direc- tor of the American Anthropological Association, a professional organization with more than 11,000 members which publishes journals and conducts conferences for people working in that field. His wife, Donna, is running a pilot program for volunteers serving as advocates for older people in the Arlington, Va., area. The Cornmans have three grown children and are active in local politics. Jack stays in touch with ex-roommate SkipHance, and he and Donna hope to attend our 40th next June.

Joe and Mary Mathewson drove from Chicago to Hanover during the summer and paid a visit to Herb Darling in Buffalo on the way. Herb has been with the family construction business which specializes in work for the steel industry in western New York. With the demise of that industry only two of the original seven competing construction firms are left, one of them Darling's. The company suffered another setback when its headquarters building burned down two years ago, with the total loss of all business records. Herb and his son and son-in-law, who are with him in the business, have completed a new building and restarted operations. According to Joe, Herb still has the old twinkle in his eye.

Treasurer Ralph Sautter has sent out the annual dues and class-gift notice. Please send your responses to Ralph if you haven't already done so.

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