1953

Aspen, the Meadows, February 1997, was an event of epic proportions, and the hero is the Class of 1953. There no doubt will be an historic marker placed on the main road into Aspen commemorating the Spiegel, Gabianelli, Buchanan, Edgar affaire extraordinaire. We are told that placards adorning the Aspen Club Lodge, the Meadows, the Merry-GoRound, the Crystal Palace, "Moose on the Loose," Callender's NASCAR racing sled with its jetquestrian power train, Laraita, Snowmass Hut, Aspen Highlands Lodge, Ajax Mountain, and Blum's mogul are already in place. Sixty-eight intrepid '53s, with a median age not much below that, came, saw, and were consumed (veni, vidi, vici) by Aspen. Many had improved their skiing markedly since our days in Hanover.

Some of us finally learned how with the help of parabolic skis. It was a stirring sight to see these warriors of the incline still charging down the mountain as we approach our middle years. Awesome. We just won't grow old.

There isn't enough room here to tell you the story. But, you will find a Hemingway treatise by our Class Prime Minister pn the home page: then "alumni, classes" and then click on '53. It is so descriptive of the beauty of the valley, and the ambiance of all the places we went skiing, dog sledding, parasailing, snowshoeing, cuisining, and an occasional sipping of the nectar. It will also preserve forever another legacy of this great class, and that is the legacy of love. Never have four classmates and their spouses and countless others behind the scenes worked so smartly to provide a fulfilling experience for their friends of nearly 50 years. To Ted, Audrey, Gabby, Nancy, Charlie, Charlotte, and Butch, and all the others: "May you have warm words on a cold evening, A full moon on a dark night, And the road downhill all the way to your door." Eternal thanks to you all.

Your delegation to the Meadows, where we resided and had daily seminars to prove we could still think, included: Bill and Joyce Brown, Steve and Marianne Pearsall, Dick and Susan McCostis, Wally Ashnault, Dick Fleming', Forrest and Alice Anderson, Chuck and Donna Reilly, Ted and Audrey Spiegel, Jack Avril, Dave Halloran and Joanne Maddaloni, Boyer and Irene Chrisman, Dan and Ann Ernst, Bernie and Joan Sudikoff, Charlie and Charlotte Buchanan, Butch Edgar, John and Lore Dodge, Bob and Cathy Callender, Jack Crisp, John and Dalia Cernius, Wade and Virginia Sherwood, Phil and Nancy Beekman, John and Susan Corcoran, Warren and Virginia Babcock, Fred Carleton and Mitzi Archibald, Ed Boyle, Dick and Judie Conn, Dick Blum and Harriet Warm, Gene and Nancy Gabianelli, Tom and Arlene Bloomer, Phil and Helga Fast, Dave Florence, Bill and Jean Vitalis, Dave Cost and Mary Warren, Bill Gilges, Put and Marion Blodgett, and Bob and Gail Malin.

On the final night, March 1, we were blessed with the presence and skiing presentations of Dick Durrance, Dartmouth's all-time greatest racer and the developer of Aspen, and on Sunday our own Father Eddie Boyle celebrated Mass at St. Mary's with a delegation of '53s as his acolytes. The snap, crackle, pop of mid-60s knees was quite audible.

Dave Halloran, Icon Associates, 700 Spring Valley Road, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714-5820;