Class Note 1978
Issue
Jan - Feb 2019
News from near and far as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the College on the Hill.
Four-dozen members of the class of ’78 traveled to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge in October for the dedication of the Class of 1978 Bunkhouse. The ceremony was the culmination of a significant fundraising effort (more than $1.1 million) and volunteer construction blitzes over the summer and fall. Class president Barbie Snyder Martinez served as emcee (and my embedded reporter!). Charley Wise, who along with Dave Graham co-chaired the bunkhouse steering committee, related the epic tale of how the bunkhouse came to be. He then revealed the donor recognition board (great work by Nancy Mayer Freedman and others on the design), with the names of more than 400 ’78s who contributed their time, talent, and treasure to the project, and presented the bunkhouse as a gift to the College. Class vice president Jim Bassett presented former dean Ralph Manuel ’58 with a plaque that will hang in the bunkhouse. (Manuel, looking at a 40-year-old picture of himself, quipped: “I haven’t changed a bit!”) Barbie presented appreciation boards to Dave, Charley, and Tim McNamara for their “vision, perseverance, and leadership in bringing the bunkhouse to fruition.” This is an effort by the entire class that we can all take pride in!
An unusual alignment of the starsoccurred at a mineral exploration conference held in Sonora, Mexico, when three ’78s—Dave Jones, Phil Pyle,and Steve Maynard—were scheduled speakers in the same afternoon session. A fourth ’78, John Larson, heckled from the audience. Says Steve: “Tequila ensued.”
Tom Thaler reports that he and his wife, Beth, recently returned from Thailand, where they took a team of U.S. high school students to the International Earth Science Olympiad. “We have been the mentors for this program for 12 years. We run a national assessment and invite the most qualified students to come to a one-week intensive in all things earth science-related held at the University of Vermont. Team USA took first place among 37 other countries attending. All of our students took home gold medals and also did well in international team events. But the reason we do this is not to win medals for our country. It is to address issues such as climate change, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, topsoil loss, etc. We need to have young earth scientists who can not only excel at the science, but also be able to collaborate with a team of international peers.” When they are not running this project, Tom and Beth do volunteer work in Haiti as part of the Vermont Haiti Project.
Class officer awards: Harriet Travilla Reynolds accepted the Donald C. Smith ’53 Award in Recognition of Outstanding Mini-Reunion Program for Classes 26 years Out and Older. And yours truly was named Class Secretary of the Year for the same cohort of classes, an unexpected honor, which I greatly appreciate.
Send news.
—Rick Beyer, 190 Bridge St., #4409, Salem, MA 01970; rick@rickbeyer.net
Four-dozen members of the class of ’78 traveled to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge in October for the dedication of the Class of 1978 Bunkhouse. The ceremony was the culmination of a significant fundraising effort (more than $1.1 million) and volunteer construction blitzes over the summer and fall. Class president Barbie Snyder Martinez served as emcee (and my embedded reporter!). Charley Wise, who along with Dave Graham co-chaired the bunkhouse steering committee, related the epic tale of how the bunkhouse came to be. He then revealed the donor recognition board (great work by Nancy Mayer Freedman and others on the design), with the names of more than 400 ’78s who contributed their time, talent, and treasure to the project, and presented the bunkhouse as a gift to the College. Class vice president Jim Bassett presented former dean Ralph Manuel ’58 with a plaque that will hang in the bunkhouse. (Manuel, looking at a 40-year-old picture of himself, quipped: “I haven’t changed a bit!”) Barbie presented appreciation boards to Dave, Charley, and Tim McNamara for their “vision, perseverance, and leadership in bringing the bunkhouse to fruition.” This is an effort by the entire class that we can all take pride in!
An unusual alignment of the starsoccurred at a mineral exploration conference held in Sonora, Mexico, when three ’78s—Dave Jones, Phil Pyle,and Steve Maynard—were scheduled speakers in the same afternoon session. A fourth ’78, John Larson, heckled from the audience. Says Steve: “Tequila ensued.”
Tom Thaler reports that he and his wife, Beth, recently returned from Thailand, where they took a team of U.S. high school students to the International Earth Science Olympiad. “We have been the mentors for this program for 12 years. We run a national assessment and invite the most qualified students to come to a one-week intensive in all things earth science-related held at the University of Vermont. Team USA took first place among 37 other countries attending. All of our students took home gold medals and also did well in international team events. But the reason we do this is not to win medals for our country. It is to address issues such as climate change, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, topsoil loss, etc. We need to have young earth scientists who can not only excel at the science, but also be able to collaborate with a team of international peers.” When they are not running this project, Tom and Beth do volunteer work in Haiti as part of the Vermont Haiti Project.
Class officer awards: Harriet Travilla Reynolds accepted the Donald C. Smith ’53 Award in Recognition of Outstanding Mini-Reunion Program for Classes 26 years Out and Older. And yours truly was named Class Secretary of the Year for the same cohort of classes, an unexpected honor, which I greatly appreciate.
Send news.
—Rick Beyer, 190 Bridge St., #4409, Salem, MA 01970; rick@rickbeyer.net