Class Note 1969

This will be the penultimate column before many of us meet in Hanover in June. All the information for our reunion book is in the hands of the editors and may even be on the way to the printer when you read this. Despite the proximity to our reunion, those of you who tarried and did not sign up to attend still have time. Go to our class website or contact any officer to let us know you want to be a part of this important event. We now have more than 300 classmates with positive responses, although some are in the “maybe” column.

There have been two mini-reunions since October. The first was Homecoming, with a good crowd and a successful football game. More than two dozen classmates and guests attended, with a band preceding our class contingent at the parade and a great meal at a new venue, Ariana’s Restaurant at the Lyme Inn. There was even a dry place to watch the bonfire. That site was Paul Tuhus’ home away from home, the Spiritorium, located just behind Casque & Gauntlet with a view of the Green.

Dudley Kay had proposed a Southern mini during November, and with the organizational work of Steve and Judi Cline, 21 classmates and guests were treated to three days of enjoying the beauties of the Charleston, South Carolina, area. There were terrific venues for food, drink, and conversation, walking and boating tours of historic areas, and even quiet times for a few people to wander on their own. Attending with the hosts were Fred Becker with Carolyn, Gary and Kazumi Day, Emerson Horner with Peggy, Dudley with Jill Ford, Mike and Kay Neal, Bobby Pearlman, Charlie Pineo with Linda, Rick Saunders, Lee Seabury, Jerry and Missy Schulze, and Robert Smith with Ginny. All agreed it was an event that should be repeated.

Not to be repeated were the October and November falls that sent Greg Lau to Dartmouth-Hitchcock for an overnight stay during Homecoming, when they stapled the cut in his head. Greg reports he is recovering nicely. In November I fell in our garage and was treated to an ambulance, then helicopter ride to an Atlanta trauma center, where I spent two days in the ICU and was diagnosed a skull fracture, subdural hematomas, and a concussion. No surgery was required, and four weeks later the blood on the brain is disappearing and my neurosurgeon is optimistic that I may return to whatever “normal” is in the next month or so. Both Greg and I are grateful for the messages of concern and support we have received. Dudley believes things such as this happen in groups of three, so he is sending a warning to all remaining Alpha Theta brothers to wear safety helmets when leaving bed.

Ending with a bright note, the Polka Dot restaurant has been reborn as the Phnom Penh Sandwich Station with a newly renovated interior and food that Philip Bush has credited with being affordable and very good. A Dot run in June…I can see it coming!

—Steve Larson, 837 Wildcat Trail, 10328 Big Canoe, Big Canoe, GA 30143; (360) 770-4388; wheat69@outlook.com