Class Note 1961
Issue
May-June 2021
As the Covid-19 pandemic slowly begins to recede, the class of ’61 has begun to step up its momentum as it prepares for its virtual 60th reunion, its last big showdown at the O.K. Corral. Pete Bleyler, chairman, and his many assistants, including Maynard Wheeler and Harris McKee on the inside and class president Don O’Neill on the outside, in addition to many other classmates, spouses and widows are all working diligently to develop and implement the three-day-plus program from June 14-17.
On January 12 the class held a highly successful one-day, two-program Zoom off-campus mini-reunion. The program was chaired by Maynard Wheeler with assistance from Harris, Pete, and Don, and included two discussion panels led most ably by Chris Bosworth, widow of Steve Bosworth, and Dave Prewitt as the program moderators. One panel included a discussion of the U.S. Foreign Service from the perspective of four career foreign service officer classmates (John Adams, Parker Borg, Jake Gillespie, and Jon Sperling). The other session consisted of John Barry, the author of the book, The Great Influenza, as the key speaker. That session discussed the U.S. influenza pandemic of 1918 and its similarities to and differences from the current Covid-19 pandemic. In between the two panel discussions Terry Rogers held a photo exhibition. In total some 92 classmates, spouses, widows, and outside guests attended the mini-reunion event.
An extensive response to a survey sent out to all attendees of the January 12 event confirmed that the mini-reunion was highly successful and that the class wanted to have similar one-day virtual minis going forward on a quarterly basis.
On March 2 Harris again ran our annual class of 1961 birthday celebration, held on the 61st day of each year. Along with unique pictures of classmates holding the class logo poster for 2021 designed by Harris, this year also included a bring-your-own-bottle virtual cocktail party.
On April 6 another quarterly one-day virtual mini is scheduled to take place. The key speaker will be Mike Kirst, one of the nation’s foremost people involved in public education from kindergarten to 12th grade in California and throughout the United States. The moderator of that program will be David Blake.
To conclude, a few of us attended the recent Dartmouth social justice awards virtual ceremony, where Vince Wilson, our recently adopted classmate, received the Holly Fell Sateia Award. Congratulations, Vince.
—Victor S. Rich, 94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516) 446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com
On January 12 the class held a highly successful one-day, two-program Zoom off-campus mini-reunion. The program was chaired by Maynard Wheeler with assistance from Harris, Pete, and Don, and included two discussion panels led most ably by Chris Bosworth, widow of Steve Bosworth, and Dave Prewitt as the program moderators. One panel included a discussion of the U.S. Foreign Service from the perspective of four career foreign service officer classmates (John Adams, Parker Borg, Jake Gillespie, and Jon Sperling). The other session consisted of John Barry, the author of the book, The Great Influenza, as the key speaker. That session discussed the U.S. influenza pandemic of 1918 and its similarities to and differences from the current Covid-19 pandemic. In between the two panel discussions Terry Rogers held a photo exhibition. In total some 92 classmates, spouses, widows, and outside guests attended the mini-reunion event.
An extensive response to a survey sent out to all attendees of the January 12 event confirmed that the mini-reunion was highly successful and that the class wanted to have similar one-day virtual minis going forward on a quarterly basis.
On March 2 Harris again ran our annual class of 1961 birthday celebration, held on the 61st day of each year. Along with unique pictures of classmates holding the class logo poster for 2021 designed by Harris, this year also included a bring-your-own-bottle virtual cocktail party.
On April 6 another quarterly one-day virtual mini is scheduled to take place. The key speaker will be Mike Kirst, one of the nation’s foremost people involved in public education from kindergarten to 12th grade in California and throughout the United States. The moderator of that program will be David Blake.
To conclude, a few of us attended the recent Dartmouth social justice awards virtual ceremony, where Vince Wilson, our recently adopted classmate, received the Holly Fell Sateia Award. Congratulations, Vince.
—Victor S. Rich, 94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516) 446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com