Class Note 1943
Issue
March-April 2020
More freshman year nostalgia: Our highly touted frosh football team went undefeated, with Bud Kast and Ray Wolfe leading the pack. Our frosh basketball team, with future headliners George Munroe, Jim Olsen, and Stan Skaug, made varsity head coach Ozzie Cowles grin from ear to ear when seen on Main Street.
It took five months before our first Winter Carnival. Ten days before the mid-February 1940 event, a voice rang out, “George, do you have a date for next week?” I replied, “No, why?” He told me, “Now you have a date, okay? I’ve met her and she’s a fun gal.” He later stated that his steady was a freshman at Mount Holyoke and her roommate was dying to come up for Winter Carnival.
And what a wonderful blind date: a dark-haired cutie, an infectious smile, a bubbly personality. As we headed for lunch on Main Street she gripped my hand and said, “George, I am so happy to be here.” We went to see sporting events, a tour of Baker Library, and even drove out to the Hanover Country Club golf course to watch the ski jumpers catapulting into the frigid air. Then, after dinner in Thayer Hall, we headed to the gym to dance—was it Count Basie or Duke Ellington? The dance floor was rockin’ and jumpin’! Following Sunday brunch the gals left by car. My date, kissing me on the cheek, said “George, I thank you for a marvelous time. A great weekend!” Crazy, but after 79 years, I remember her telling me her boyfriend was at Cornell but I can’t even recall her name!
Our class sends heartfelt condolences to the families of Thomas F. Ellis, who died on July 12, 2018; Robert L. Grant, who died on August 16, 2019, in Sarasota, Florida; and George H. Lowden, who died on October 7, 2019. The College has also recently learned of the deaths of Carl J. Batter Sr., who died on January 7, 2012, in Rockville, Maryland; Charles R. Cusack, who died on November 4, 2016; Donald W. Kingsley, who died July 5, 2010; Alexander C. Nagle Jr., who died on August 12, 2013, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Robert G. Taylor, who died on November 21, 2010, in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
—George Shimizu, 2642 Saklan Indian Drive, Apt. 2, Walnut Creek, CA 94595; (925) 937-2504; marymariko@comcast.net
It took five months before our first Winter Carnival. Ten days before the mid-February 1940 event, a voice rang out, “George, do you have a date for next week?” I replied, “No, why?” He told me, “Now you have a date, okay? I’ve met her and she’s a fun gal.” He later stated that his steady was a freshman at Mount Holyoke and her roommate was dying to come up for Winter Carnival.
And what a wonderful blind date: a dark-haired cutie, an infectious smile, a bubbly personality. As we headed for lunch on Main Street she gripped my hand and said, “George, I am so happy to be here.” We went to see sporting events, a tour of Baker Library, and even drove out to the Hanover Country Club golf course to watch the ski jumpers catapulting into the frigid air. Then, after dinner in Thayer Hall, we headed to the gym to dance—was it Count Basie or Duke Ellington? The dance floor was rockin’ and jumpin’! Following Sunday brunch the gals left by car. My date, kissing me on the cheek, said “George, I thank you for a marvelous time. A great weekend!” Crazy, but after 79 years, I remember her telling me her boyfriend was at Cornell but I can’t even recall her name!
Our class sends heartfelt condolences to the families of Thomas F. Ellis, who died on July 12, 2018; Robert L. Grant, who died on August 16, 2019, in Sarasota, Florida; and George H. Lowden, who died on October 7, 2019. The College has also recently learned of the deaths of Carl J. Batter Sr., who died on January 7, 2012, in Rockville, Maryland; Charles R. Cusack, who died on November 4, 2016; Donald W. Kingsley, who died July 5, 2010; Alexander C. Nagle Jr., who died on August 12, 2013, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Robert G. Taylor, who died on November 21, 2010, in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
—George Shimizu, 2642 Saklan Indian Drive, Apt. 2, Walnut Creek, CA 94595; (925) 937-2504; marymariko@comcast.net