Bob Conn's 40th Reunion Memories

Here's a Stream of consciousness review of our 40^th reunion from retiring Alumni Magazine Class Notes Editor Bob Conn

-- five days of peaks and one sad valley. The biggest part of any reunion is catching up -- and there was a lot of catching up going on. Some was visual, such as Sam Baker looking only 45 and still with a 32 inch waist, or Larry Gleeson basically looking unchanged, except perhaps a bit grayer, and an overall impression that most classmates would still be recognizable from Green Book pictures. (A few, however, had changed so much that the name tag was the only clue as to who they were.) Some of the catching up was about family: Bob and Linda Rosier proudly showing of pictures of two new grandkids, one by each son. Some of the catching up was about lives -- some guys moving into retirement (or already there) while others are launching new careers. Those with new careers formed the basis of a lively Tuesday morning discussion featuring Jack Reno, Bob Naegele, Steve Bosworth and Sam Baker. Some of the catching up was about coping -- such as dealing with the decline and death of parents (and the importance of making time to be with them as the end nears,) and about maintaining our own lives and physical fitness -- conversations that dominated this year's passages discussion, skillfully led as usual by Duane Cox.

And there was the ever present evidence of our own mortality, which began with the shocking news of the recent death of always fit and always upbeat John Edwards, in a pool, while swimming, and continued at the memorial service as Pete Bleyler slowly intoned the names of our dead classmates. Nonetheless, Rev. George Bland and Rev. Duane Cox made the Rollins Chapel service uplifting, concluding with the praise to God of the Kaddish, the traditional Jewish memorial prayer (in English).

About 140 classmates and 260 individuals attended some or all of the reunion, some at the last minute, as handwritten name tags attested.

The reunion was studded with highlights including the cocktail reception given by the Hopkins Center Director Lewis A. Crickard in honor of our Class of 1961 Legacy, the American Tradition of Performance, and featuring special recognition for the two classmates who inspired the legacy, Oscar Arslanian and David Birney. One of the three 2001-2002 performances that our endowment is supporting is internationally known violinist Itzhak Perlman!

Several hours after the reception, most of us were back at the Hop for an Alumni Glee Club performance -- one of several nightcap performances. Tuesday, the Big Smoothies played a wonderful mix of dance music in our tent. Wednesday, the Dartmouth Aires sang during our cocktails at the McLane Lodge at the Dartmouth Skiway, and following dinner, an alumni group of the Barbary Coast/Sultans played ‘till the wee hours. 1961 classmates playing with the 7-piece group were Jim Watson, tenor sax, Steve Dale, piano, Steve Willard, alto sax, and Tony Wright, drums.
Various fundraising schemes during the Wednesday dinner-- the rights to the Tanzi license plate for a year, auction of ten vacations at settings owned by classmates -- raised more than $25,000 for the Legacy. And the class presented President Jim Wright with a check for $1.l million for the Dartmouth College Fund.

Pete Bleyler is taking over as president from Oscar Arslanian, and by the time you read this, you should already have seen the minutes from the class meeting.

One quick note: Frank Ginn is offering procrastinators an opportunity to tell their stories. He's planning an electronic supplement to the wonderful reunion book. He said, "Those who wish to share their "Reflections at 40" with the rest of the class but missed the April deadline should ask (casaginn@aol.com) for a template."

I should note that this is my last Alumni Magazine column after 24 years (since 1977.) Vic Rich and Dave Armstrong will be dividing secretarial duties, with Vic wordsmithing this column. I'll be one of your class vice presidents.

Bob Conn, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem NC 27157-1015. Rconn@wfubmc.edu