1957

The 50th reunion offers us an opportunity to connect with classmates we haven't seen or talked to in years. In order to reach every living classmate, the reunion committee divided the class into groups of 25. Here is some information from my calls: Long Islands Kwan Ha Yim in Valley Cottage, New York, is still teaching international politics at Manhattanville College. Steve Zaslow continues his active psychiatric practice in Patchogue, New York. Larry Trueman teaches physics in Shoreham, New York.

Upstate New York's Michael Waldbillig is active in civil engineering in Albany, New York, and lives on the family farm where he grew up in Slingerlands, New York. David Tyree has retired from consulting and spends his time in Kingston, New York, with extensive travel, and increasingly at his place on the coast of Maine. Jim Ventura of Poughkeepsie, New York, divides his time between restoring air-cooled Franklin cars and his place in the Adirondacks. John Austin is retired and spends a lot of time on local history in the Glens Falls, New York/Lake George area. I remember John as president of the Daily D and we talked about now getting it online. Lee Hirschey still runs Climax Manufacturing, a paper mill business. His home is on a peninsula overlooking the St. Lawrence Seaway, where "the sun rises in my kitchen and sets in my dining room." Dick Gilman, a retired geology professor in Fredonia, New York, pursues his hobby, old-time folk music. Tony Pell in New York City is busy with Global/Home Infrastructure Finance, creating communities and building low income housing overseas, now expanding into the U.S.A.

I tracked down Herb Johnson in Asheville, North Carolina. He's retired, reads a lot, raises chickens and bees, works in his solarium where he grows banana trees. Bob Creasy of Corte Madeira, California, has taken up fly fishing, which he does at his home in New Zealand for a quarter of the year. Kent Whittaker and his wife, Judy, are both retired from long careers practicing law in Kansas City, Missouri, and live in Shawnee Mission, Kansas.

More than 200 of us now participate in the '57 listserv. Discussions can be spirited or just plain reflective. Mini-reunion gatherings are a common topic. If you are not already taking part in this activity, consider joining the list. Instructions for sign-up are easy. Just go to the '57 Web site, www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/57/, and click on "Brief descriptions and instructions for joining."

Homecoming this year is the weekend of October 13-15. The fall colors, the parade, the bonfire, the class meeting, football against Columbia, the banquet and Sunday breakfast. We do it all. Mark your calendar and make plans to attend.

Everyone has a story. We know our own.The fun comes in hearing what others are doing. The grand 50th on June 8-10,2007, is now less than a year away. You will be able to see more '57s in one place than at any other time. Don't miss it!

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