1977

In July Joyce, Lily, and I attended the dedication of the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The moving dedication ceremony, in which the centerpiece bronze sculpture The Spirit of Freedom, was unveiled, was the culmination of five years of effort by Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton and our classmate Michael Carter. The memorial, the first monument by a black sculptor in a national park in the District, depicts three infantrymen of the U.S. Colored Troops and a sailor, as well as their families. Surrounding the sculpture will be concentric walls listing the names of the 2 00,000 African Americans who served in the Union armed forces. Mike advised Ed during the process through which Ed was awarded the commission and continued to assist as the monument project took shape over the past four Mike joined the Washington, D.C., Department of Public Works earlier this year and coordinated the effort by several federal and city agencies to construct the memorial site at U Street and Connecticut Avenue in the Shaw district. The dedication occurred on the 134 th anniversary of the gallant, bloody, but unsuccessful assault by the all-black 54th Massachusetts infantry regiment on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, which was depicted in the movie Gloty, featuring Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and our classmate Robert Reason.

Meanwhile, 3,000 miles to the west, Mike Zischke and family spent an unusual July 4th playing in the Sierra Nevada snow as well as attending to some fishing and swimming. Mike attributes this holiday treat to El Nino and a late snowpack in California.

Mark Hunter Madsen recently left his position as senior vice president for marketing at Wired Digital Inc. to open his own marketing consultancy in conjunction with Northeast Consulting, which helps companies develop effective technology and business strategies for the digitally networked age. Mark continues to be based in San Francisco, where he resides with life partner Marcus Weiss.

Thad Seymour and family kicked off their annual western ski trip with a visit with Don "Stick" Burkhardt and wife Crystal in Denver last March. Usually the Seymours and Burkhardts spend a couple of days of skiing together, but this year Crystal was six months pregnant. Don and Crystal welcomed baby Jeffrey Daniel Burkhardt on May 18. Don practices estate law in Denver, and Crystal is a systems analyst. Thad is president of Visteon Corp., a healthcare software company. Thad and his wife, Katie, live in Lake Mary, Fla., just north of Orlando, with three kids, Thad 11, Nate 8. and Madeline 5. Steve McAllister, daughter Elizabeth, and son Reilly stayed with the Seymours for a few days after a week of Disney last March.

Donna Fletcher is involved with an advertising program for the University of Illinois at Chicago encouraging folks to be tested for hepatitis C, the"new baby boomer disease." As part of her research, Donna recently stayed up well past her bedtime to watch an excellent feature on hepatitis C on ABC News Nightline. To her surprise, the reporter was none other than our classmate Paul Donovan.

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Michael Carter helped bring the African AmericanCivil War Memorial featuring the bronzeSpirit of Freedom,to D.C. ALAN MACDONALD '77