Class Note 1965

This will be a bittersweet column. We have word of the passing on of Andrew Wells Lewis and Art Rainey since last we spoke. Steve Waterhouse left us in December. His memorial service was held in Hanover on January 6 and was attended by Betsy and Mike Gonnerman, French and Bob McConnaughey, Sue and Bill Webster, Diane and Tom Campbell, Nancy and Roger Hansen, Linda and Steve Fowler, Rich Beams, Mike Bettmann, Pete Frederick, Larry Duffy, Dennis Purnell and Hank Amon.

There was sweet with the bitter. Estimable activities included intrepid outdoorsmen Amon, Beams, Dave Beattie and Gonnerman spending February 12-14 at the Class of 1965 Cabin at Mount Moosilauke. They were joined by Dan Nelson, formerly head of the DOC, and Bill Young, Hanover resident, M.D., friend of the class and Appalachian Trail hiker. They made the climb and “after lunch,” Gonnerman writes, “we cross-country skied or hiked with snowshoes the Al Merrill Loop Trail to the John Rand Cabin. (The snow was) not ideal for cross-country skiing, but good for micro spikes.” (Read more about the trek on page 31.)

The micro-mini in Hanover is thriving and has birthed a Florida spinoff, which was attended by Bob Murphy, Rick Mahoney, George Wittreich, Bob Busch, Jim Griffiths and Michael Zare.

Dewitt Jones wrote from Molokai, Hawaii, “For the last 20 years I’ve been giving keynote speeches to corporate audiences around the world on the lessons about creativity and vision from my time as a photographer for National Geographic. Recently, I compressed all those presentations into a TEDx talk called ‘Celebrate What’s Right with the World!’ ” His intention to find a perspective that translates the ordinary to the extraordinary is admirably captured in breathtaking photography and an uplifting talk at www.celebratewhatsright.com/tedx.

Dick Durrance mentioned his TEDx talk, titled “What I Learned Photographing the Vietnam War.” His haunting photography captures “not knowing whether the person you’re aiming at is a friend or an enemy.” Durrance wonders how the kid’s going to “put it back in the bottle when he gets home.” He says he put the talk together because “20 veterans commit suicide every day! I didn’t know it, and I fear most people don’t.” Some 30 percent of returning vets have PTSD. It’s a trenchant talk on an important matter. Both of these fine videos are on www.biggreen65.com. Speaking of the website, our class meeting of February 20 is captured in PowerPoint (thanks to Gonnerman) on the website. Some great pictures of the aforementioned trip up Moosilauke and the Florida micro-mini.

Finally, a secretarial erratum: The eagle-eyed Gonnerman (sounds like northern nonmigratory species, no?) noted, “In the March/April issue of DAM you report that Bob Murphy is the baseball player. In fact, it is Ken McGruther.” The ever-vigilant McGruther replied, “Heck, now that I have it in print that Murph is a baseball player, I’ll recruit him to go to Cooperstown on my team in September!”

We had some great material this time around. Keep it coming!

—John Rogers, 6051 Laurel Ave., #310, Golden Valley, MN 55416; (763) 568-7501; johnbairdrogers@comcast.net