Class Note 1966
Yes, our 50th is less than three years away and closing fast, but mini-reunions, really informal affairs, seem to be happening across the country and, well, around the world just about all the time. There are those five fellas who all met, beanies on heads, on the second floor of North Massachusetts Hall in the fall of 1962, about 53 years ago. Dan Barnard, Dick Birnie, Bob Brock, Bill Risso and Peter Titcomb have taken to getting together once a year, with the most recent shared adventure being a cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee. Speaking of cruises: Howard Dobbs took a break from his European medical device regulations consulting assignments in early September and headed to Paris from his home in Reading, England, to rendezvous with the Bob Serenbetz-organized European river cruise mini-reunion. There he broke baguettes with a bevy of ’66ers, including Bob, John Barbieri, who had also come over from London for the weekend, and Tim Urban. Speaking of Paris: That’s where Paul and Marya Klee and Jim and Elizabeth Lustenader met for a couple of days in early October. The Klees were doing England, Switzerland and a Queen Mary crossing, while the Lustenader’s were all over France, from wine country to the Atlantic. (Remember when a trip to White River Junction, Vermont, was a big deal?) Speaking of Paris, again: That’s just one of the places that Tom and Donna Clarke have visited recently, along with Italy, Puerto Rico, Dallas to visit son Justin and Tom’s 4-year-old grandson, and San Diego, to visit son Dirk and a second 4-year-old grandson. Tom retired about three years ago from his orthopedic practice. “It was a privilege to help people for more than 40 years and I deem myself lucky,” he says. Now it’s travel, golf and encouraging Donna to keep working at her brother’s ob/gyn office. “The best three words in the English language?” Tom asks through a smile. “My wife works!” Henry Clapper works, running a solo law practice in Galena, Missouri. But what Henry really does is play—competitive baseball. In October he was in Phoenix, Arizona, at the 70-year-old Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series, and then it’s on to the 60-year-old-and-up Roy Hobbs World Series (what a great name!) in Fort Myers, Florida. How’s he doing? Henry’s putting the Bambino to shame. Patrolling first and third, he went 12 for 15 with a .850 on-base percentage in Phoenix, and even hurled seven no-earned run innings. The fact that his team went 1 and 5 did nothing to diminish Henry’s spirit. There’s always next year. Chuck Faerber says that he semi-retired last year after 30 years as a VP with the National Notary Association, which represents the 4.5 million notaries in the United States. But it sounds more like Chuck has started another fulltime career as a playwright. His comedy with music, Greeks, 6–Trojans, 5, set inside that infamous Trojan Horse, ran for five weeks in Sherman Oaks, California, this summer. He’s also written Counter Men, a drama with music about the Iraq War set in an L.A. restaurant. —Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (917) 747-1642; lgeiger@aol.com
