Class Note 1958
Issue
Jul - Aug 2018
When this column hits your mailbox, our 60th reunion, slated for June 11-14 in Hanover, will have just ended. Judging from late April signups received by registration chief Dan O’Hara,attendance could brush close to 150, somewhat better than par for 60th reunions. Not only is that a tribute to the meticulous year-long efforts of the reunion planning team co-chaired by Gersh Abraham and Frank Gould—jokingly dubbed “Gersh Gould and Frank Abraham” by John Trimble in a recent president’s letter—but success will also owe much to the home-stretch heroics of reunion communications chief Walter Vail, who’ll try to spur additional attendance by organizing a late-spring barrage of personal telephone calls and emails to fraternity brothers, athletic teammates, and other affinity groups of yesteryear.
Besides the aforesaid efforts of Dan, Walt, and John, other stellar performances were apparent during an April 20 conference call held by Gersh and Frank to review, and make last-minute tweaks to, progress reports by more than a dozen planning team members. Weighing in, for instance, were Hal Bernsen, who is in charge of the post-reunion gathering at the Woodstock Inn in Vermont; Dave Bradley, who is in charge of both entertainment and beverages; Pete Kelsey, who will preside over the memorial service honoring deceased classmates at Rollins Chapel; Andy Toorock, who has organized a breakfast for the numerous ’58 U.S. Marines; and Skip Coggin, who is arranging both the golf and the reunion souvenirs (handsome green “Class of 1958” vests for each attendee).
Winter, less happily, took its toll on our class with the passing of seven members since the last Class Notes column. Alphabetically, the departed include Richard Darby of Normandy Beach, New Jersey, on March 8; Clayton Freeman of Sherman Oaks, California, on August 16, 2017; John Goodnow of Peterborough, New Hampshire, on February 7; Louis Levy of Key West, Florida, on March 15; Robert Meyerson of Cleveland on April 15; Douglas Pease of Carmel Valley, California, on January 1; and Robert Thompson of Carefree, Arizona, on February 22. Look for fuller obits in the next Sound & Fury newsletter following the June reunion.
—Steve Quickel, 411 North Middletown Road, Apt. F-310, Media, PA, 19063; steve58@quickel.net
Besides the aforesaid efforts of Dan, Walt, and John, other stellar performances were apparent during an April 20 conference call held by Gersh and Frank to review, and make last-minute tweaks to, progress reports by more than a dozen planning team members. Weighing in, for instance, were Hal Bernsen, who is in charge of the post-reunion gathering at the Woodstock Inn in Vermont; Dave Bradley, who is in charge of both entertainment and beverages; Pete Kelsey, who will preside over the memorial service honoring deceased classmates at Rollins Chapel; Andy Toorock, who has organized a breakfast for the numerous ’58 U.S. Marines; and Skip Coggin, who is arranging both the golf and the reunion souvenirs (handsome green “Class of 1958” vests for each attendee).
Winter, less happily, took its toll on our class with the passing of seven members since the last Class Notes column. Alphabetically, the departed include Richard Darby of Normandy Beach, New Jersey, on March 8; Clayton Freeman of Sherman Oaks, California, on August 16, 2017; John Goodnow of Peterborough, New Hampshire, on February 7; Louis Levy of Key West, Florida, on March 15; Robert Meyerson of Cleveland on April 15; Douglas Pease of Carmel Valley, California, on January 1; and Robert Thompson of Carefree, Arizona, on February 22. Look for fuller obits in the next Sound & Fury newsletter following the June reunion.
—Steve Quickel, 411 North Middletown Road, Apt. F-310, Media, PA, 19063; steve58@quickel.net