1957

The idea of forming a Class Caring Committee (CCC) was presented at our Homecoming meeting last fall. We are all aging and many of us now face or will face illness and other adversity. The concept is that when the class becomes aware of a situation, we will reach out to our brothers with compassion. Personal classmate to classmate contact is intended.

According to our president Randy Aires, "We want to be more responsive to classmates who are ill, recovering from an operation, adjusting to loss of a spouse or facing some oth- er difficult situation. Presently we occasionally do this in an informal way, particularly by our class listserv, but we would like to do it classwide in a more organized fashion.

By forming the Class Caring Committee on a regional basis, we want to learn of any problems affecting our friends in the class. Committee members may be able to facilitate the process of getting calls, cards, letters and even visits to a classmate who has a problem. We intend to notify the class generally through e-mail, the class newsletter and the AlumniMagazine Class Notes. If the classmate wants his situation known by only a few people, we will respect his wishes for privacy. Also, as a general rule, we will not plan to ask classmates for money to help the classmate who has financial problems.

Members of the committee will be sensitive to all concerns. If a classmate prefers to go through a roommate or fraternity brother, etc., that is fine. The bottom line is, as we get older and more frail, we want to help fellow classmates whenever and wherever possible."

Randy has asked me to head up this committee as an adjunct to my '57 secretary duties. Response to Randy's initiative has been excellent. Wally Ackley (Massachusetts), Wayne Andrus (Connecticut), Ned Bixby (Florida and Minnesota), Dick Bugbee (Delaware), Joe Conley (California), Bob Copeland (D.C.), Bill Edgerton (Connecticut), Dick Leavitt (California), Hanny Mason (Iowa), Herb Roskind (Arizona and Massachusetts), Larry Selig (Florida), Bob Shirley (Massachusetts), Jon White (Florida) and Tony Williamson (Canada) have agreed to serve on the committee.

As a member of the committee, Bob Shirley will act as a medical liaison for those who have to deal with orthopedic surgery, prostate cancer, heart trouble, Alzheimer's disease, mental illness and other medical problems.

When you become aware of a situation, your first contact should be to me. I will call the individual involved to verify the problem and to find out if the individual would welcome classmate contact. With the individual's approval, I will then enlist support of the committee members and others with considerations being who lives close by, activities while in college and fraternity membership. I will also contact Bob Shirley for medical support.

The class of' 57 is a class that cares about each other. We cannot reach out unless we know of a problem. Please let me hear from you when you become aware of a classmate facing difficult circumstances.

P.O. Box 3328, Pocasset, MA02559; (508) 564-6484; fphowland@aol.com