1968

What a reunion! Watch for more detail in a future class newsletter—but I wanted to share my personal recollections and impressions before they fade. Great turnout: 138 classmates, two '68 wannabes (a '67 and a '69) and 220 total guests. Reunion gift to College of $1,768,000 (with more coming, I'm told) and 61 percent participation. Great 40th reunion book (extraordinary thanks to Dick Olson), which all classmates did or will receive. Absolutely miserable heat and humidity for the first two days; a thoughtful, interactive celebration of life in the White Church with music provided by the instrumentalists and vocalists of the SWB (guesses on what it means continue to be welcome); tornado (!) warning that forced the Tuesday dinner indoors to Collis (into two rooms, slightly unfortunate, and with one power outage); fierce rainstorm with cleansing cool air, and later, sitting under the College Hall porch listening to the then-gentle rain; back to the tent, where the SWB reassembled, with singing and dancing for hours; school bus ride (we are students forever) to the Skiway and the McLean Lodge for a final class dinner. On the return trip Bear's car brought the keg back, and when the rear lid was closed the back window shattered.

We snuck in a "quinquennial" class meeting to elect new officers: Ron Weiss, president; Peter Fahey, vice president; Jim Lawrie, treasurer; David Peck, secretary; Greg Marshall, newsletter editor; Dennis Donohue, head agent; Dennis and Ed Heald, co-chairs of Gift Planning, Mike Lenehan and Bear Everett, co-chairs of mini-reunions; Bill Rich, freshman trips endowment chair; and Gerry Bell, alumni councilor-in-waiting (when we get our own again). And of course found time to thank Bear Everett and Gerry Bell for the reunion, outgoing president Clark Wadlow for his five years of leadership and both thank and congratulate John Engelman, outgoing newsletter editor and recently elected member of the Association of Alumni executive committee. We also set a couple of upcoming events: the weekend of October 10 (Yale game) for a minireunion and week of February 28, 2009, for the 11th annual ski trip, at Steamboat Springs, in Colorado.

The College provided a new level of enrichment at the reunion: sprinkled through the four days were lectures by distinguished or innovative faculty on a variety of topics and programs by classmates; special artistic events for all reuning classes by marionette master Dan Butterworth and by sculptor Roger Arvid Anderson at the Hood, reviewing his bronze sculptures. By the way, he will be holding a show September 19 through October 17 at the New Concept Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Contact Roger at raanderson@att. net. Hope you've been having a good summer, all, and keep the news coming.