CLASS OF 1965 | 2016 | ISSUE 1
Class of 1965 35th Reunion Memorial Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Nadezhda Georgieva ’16, French Studies, Government
Dear Classmates, As noted in my recent request for information, Mark Edmiston and Hugh Wilson, new class co-conveners, are seeking input for class activities and advocacy going forward. The plan is to establish an infrastructure to sustain the energy and involvement created by our 50th Reunion. You’ll be hearing more about this from Mark and Hugh, but we’ve already decided to use the existing Reunion and Outreach Committees as means to jumpstart our efforts. Of course, everyone’s help and ideas are welcome! So, don’t hesitate to contact them (mmedmiston@icloud.com and hrwilson@yorku.ca ) with your thoughts.
Heard recently from Bill Trapp, who, with wife Marilyn, enjoys life in the great state of Washington (Lacey). Bill is a retired insurance executive and for years they lived in West Hills, Calif. An outstanding athlete and baseball player at Wesleyan, he is a big Cardinal baseball fan and he and Marilyn will travel once again to Tucson, Ariz., this spring to root on Mark Woodworth’s (’94) talented charges.
John Dunton writes: “The Reunion was “a terrific weekend, and I’m still amazed and astonished that Los Wombatos were awarded Joseph’s Robe—I could not have been more dumbfounded. That meant a great deal to me and to all the guys…. You can also offer the gratis services of Gary and the Wombats for nonpolitical fundraisers—we will go nearly anywhere nearly any time we can all clear our schedules to have an opportunity to play. I don’t know how many gigs we have left in us, but I was extremely pleased with our performance at Wesleyan and think it demonstrates we can hold our own for a while into the future. I’d like to continue to do this as long as we are all physically and emotionally capable of getting ourselves to a gig and getting people to tap their feet, get out of a chair and get sweaty. We just don’t want to do retirement home concerts….yet.”
John also wants us to know about Intervac, a wonderful program that involves reciprocal acts of hospitality with folks from other countries. John and wife Carol have hosted a number of families from Europe at their home near Boston and in 2015 they visited some of those families. They plan to continue to have the “favor returned” in the 2017. For more info: Homeexchange.com
From Ralph Jacobs: “We hope to be back on the East Coast in 2017, and will do our best to make connections with you and others from Wesleyan whose friendship we cherish.” Great news, Jake, and we look forward to seeing you! Jake and wife Holly live in Long Beach, Calif.
Dick Travis writes a very nice note: “Thank you for all you and others did to make our 50th Reunion so well organized and wonderful. Evelyn and I were unable to attend due to many diverse commitments including the culminating activities of our first grandson’s (Christopher) graduation from high school. But thanks to the blog and summary of activities, I feel that I was there. Christopher is now a freshman at the College of William and Mary, from which his father, Eric (my son), his mother Becky (daughter-in-law), and Erin (my daughter) all graduated. Just as when our children were there, we take every opportunity to visit Christopher in historic Williamsburg, as it is less than a three-hour drive from Harrisonburg.
“After retiring as a professor emeritus of health sciences at James Madison University, I took a two-year program to become an authorized lay preacher in the Shenandoah Presbytery. From January through June this year, another lay pastor and I are providing worship services to two churches in West Virginia. I leave a little after 7:00 a.m. for the 1.5 hour drive over three mountains to the Circleville (WV) Presbyterian Church worship service at 9:00 a.m. Then, I have a 25-minute drive to the Seneca Rocks (WV) Presbyterian Church service at 10:30 a.m. So they have told me to keep the sermons short. As I drive over these beautiful mountains, I have some quiet time to think about how we all have been blessed to have education and service opportunities in our lives. I am also reminded that we are the sum of our experiences and certainly those of mine at Wesleyan were very vital in my maturation process. Many thanks to classmates and professors at Wesleyan for being so important in my life.”
News from Dave Osgood: “After 25 years working and living in Egypt, I came back to the U.S. in July of 2013, retired, and settled in Nolensville Tenn. My four adult children are on their own and doing well, and I have two younger boys still in college. I’m finding retirement extremely enjoyable after years of work pressure. I have, however, been involved, on a part time basis, in interfaith activities since my return to the U.S.”
Fred Newschwander sends a list. He’s trying to wear out his hip prostheses; is a serious practitioner of YOLO; continues to add to his James Herriot stories before he forgets them all; and travels. Trips included Botswana, for a 10-day-on-horseback tent safari in June 2014, and Antarctica in December 2014, with five days in the peninsula region, where he ate meals with folks from the National Science Foundation in D.C., as well as from the McMurdo Station and a USCG icebreaker skipper. “Fascinating,” he says. His seven days last June in the Galápagos on MV Evolution were “also awesome!” He has two trips upcoming: Cuba in March 2016 and Iceland in June 2016 on a 10-day self-guided camper tour.
Tom Elliman has a good suggestion: “How about a mini-reunion in Boston or Portsmouth for us northern New Englanders? Maybe invite ’64 and ’66, too.”
PHILIP L. ROCKWELL | prockwell@wesleyan.edu