Class Notes October 2003

JIM BURNS, of Hertford, N.C., says he lost 10 trees on his acre property but managed to save his boat, the 42-foot "Proud Mary" from Hurricane Isabel in September. Like many North Carolinians, he lost power and water for a week, and now observes, "If we hadn't filled up the bathtub, we'd have been out to lunch.".

It has not been too often that any class member has reported any loss in a natural disaster. But Jim says that, despite clocking 111-mile-per-hour winds during the hurricane, he managed to save his boat by taking it up a nearby creek and anchoring it. He found it after the storm sound but covered with mud.

"We'd lived through Hurricane Floyd, but this was a real hurricane compared to the others," Jim told me. "The storm went on and on and on, eight hours of wind you couldn't imagine."

And the experience reminded Jim somehow of his days in Navy ROTC, and the summer duty he and classmates AL CAMERON, SAM BOWLBY, BILL DANFORTH, JAY CRANE and TOM BROCK, among others, passed training in Little Creek, Va. "I still remember our barracks, Q-111," he said.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but our classmate MURRAY JANUS, of Richmond, Va., also lost power for days as a result of the storm.

We are a prize-winning class in giving to the College, $447,890 this past year, but it is worth noting that many classmates are engaged in other charitable activities that deserve our esteem.

BOB MESSNER continues his years-long effort to commemorate the Battle of Braddock in the French and Indian war by establishing a Pennsylvania park and historical visitor's center to mark the battle's 250th anniversary. "I've raised $1.2 million and have about $1 million more to raise," he said. "We've got an interim center in a restored Carnegie library and museum. A federal commission has been formed, and there will be a special on PBS in 2005."

JIM CULVER, meanwhile, taking advantage of Ohio's offer to senior citizens to audit free classes at any state university, has been doing so at Cleveland State, and he will join a social work class traveling to India's Kerala state in December to do work in orphanages and clinics for four weeks. Also, Jim spends a day a week working with Habitat for Humanity, building houses.

JON COHEN, has put in many years on the Tuck school board of overseers, but he also is a trustee of the Wildlife Conservation Society, whose flagship is New York's famous Bronx Zoo, as well as a trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, in Philadelphia. Jon is proud of having a hand in "looking after" four zoos and one acquarium in New York City.

DON STODDARD, like many classmates, says he is "enjoying retirement completely...I have a new gal in my life. We ski a lot. I'm in a group of '59s, '60s and '61s who go to Europe each year. This year it was Switzerland, last year France and the year before that Austria. We ski for a week and hit a major city for three or four days. It's a group of about 20 couples."

--KEN REICH, 5522 Nagle Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91401, (818) 994-9231 (h), (213) 237-4712 (fax); e-mail: ken.reich@latimes.com