Remember my previous column where I cleverly introduced a nameless classmate by saying, “In the immortal words of Ed McMahon, ‘Here’s Johnny!’ ” I hope many of you deduced that the news that followed came from John Carson. John, I’m sorry; I owe you a chug at our 35th reunion (save the dates everyone: June 19-21, 2015).
Speaking of reunions, mini-reunion chair extraordinaire Phil Odence shared the rest of this column’s news about a ’79 tradition that’s aging like a fine wine: “David (Guy) Van Wie says 20 years; I think it’s 21, but we weren’t keeping good records back then. I was living in Hanover the first time we embarked on our annual trout fishing excursion to the College Grant. Guy and I are the only ones left from the original crew (which included Trustee Bill Burgess ’81), but the current bunch has been pretty stable for the last 15 years. If, like most alums, you’ve never availed yourself of this incredible resource, well chug! The Grant comprises 27,000 wild acres five hours north of Boston and boasts the only native brook trout fishing left in New England. The cabins are quite rustic, despite being equipped with gas and running water; these days we try to get the one with the toilet. I’m team captain by virtue of my (alleged) organizational skills. My main job is to reserve a cabin once the snow starts to fall. From there it’s just a matter of locating and herding the cats. My other responsibility is to pick up tax ace Norm Richter when he jets in from Baxter Healthcare in Chicago. The next morn we head north at zero-dark-30, destination LL Cote Sports Center in Errol, New Hampshire, to pick up fishing licenses and flies. Guy arrives around noon from Portland, Maine. Most years he’s our top-producing fisherman, but every year he’s our undisputed champion breakfast chef; his egg, ham and asparagus sandwiches are legendary, much like Norm’s lunchtime chicken quesadillas. Our buddy Bob Chamberlin, Th’83, is usually on Guy’s tail with the rest of the food and five cases of beer (enough said). The stragglers are Bill Conway, Dave ‘Klingon’ Klinges and Ed Baldridge. Conway, a fancy Washington, D.C., attorney, is the wine man. Klingon, who still raises funds for transportation infrastructure projects, is the stalwart dishwasher. Ed, the most recent addition, manages other people’s money from home in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Some years we catch 150 fish; this year wasn’t one of them, but that really didn’t seem to matter. How long are we going to keep this up guys? Ralph Manuel ’58 has been doing more or less the same thing on more or less the same weekend for decades, ever since John Sloan Dickey ’29 first brought him to the Grant almost 50 years ago. Two years ago I arrived to find a one-third full bottle of Jack Daniels in my cabin with a note from Ralph that read, ‘To my good friend Phil Odence.’ True story.”
—Stanley Weil, 15 Peck Road, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549; (917) 428-0852; stanno79@gmail.com
