1956

Most of our classmates have left the class listserv, some out of a "Who needs it?" reaction to the tone of some of the conversation, others because they're really busy, others perhaps for other reasons. I acknowledge those feelings at times myself, but there's some mighty good stuff that gets shared as well. Come on back and share a bit of what's important to you. Who knows, you may find a comrade in arms!

Over the Christmas holidays Flint Ranney sent the listserv a picture of his family, all the kids and grandchildren, gathered around a fire engine our newsletter editor bought some 46 years ago from the Town of Nantucket. It's a beauty and is used annually in a water fight with the town's fire department on Main Street, an event that soaks 3,000 kids and adults. It's also a standout in the annual daffodil parade at the end of April, a seven-mile trek across the island with a hundred other vintage vehicles—all on their way to a picnic. Flint reported that his wife, Corky, is learning to walk again with a new back, the result of painful surgery last November that has filled her with "huge screws, cages, rods and clamps that hold her together."

John Chapman turned our attention to a video-sharing Web site where we could all enjoy Ray Charles Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino playing on the same stage. That was a real delight. Crile Doscher talked of a January visit to Snowmass as part of an ongoing conversation about the inroads of snowboarding on slopes heretofore saved for skiers. As are many of our conversations, it was initiated in response to an article in The Wall Street Journal.

We learned in late November of the death of Ted Beckwith.Arv Hickerson has worked with Teds wife, Barbara, on the obituary you'll find a little deeper into this issue. It's clearly a gift when a good friend and classmate can craft that piece!

Our Robert Faulkner, professor of political science at Boston College, has just had published by Yale Press The Case for Greatness, a searching defense of great political leadership. The book provides an ancient backdrop for scanning todays political leaders to examine what motivates them.

Bill Burke retired from medicine three years ago to take on the task of hosting with his wife a bed and breakfast in Skaneateles, New York, right at the top of the Finger Lakes. Spring, summer and early fall are busy, but the winter's 12 o to 140 inches of snow quiet things down, enabling them to visit their children and grandchildren in much warmer Virginia, Maryland and Florida. Richard Buck has spent the past six years battling a series of significant health issues, but has now been able to renew his interest in community history. The founder of his local historical society in Halifax, Pennsylvania, just north of Harrisburg, he has recently assisted nearby Millersburg to celebrate its bicentennial.

P.O. Box 968,Quechee, VT05059-0968; (802) 295-8912; stewwood@aol.com