101 Things To Do Before You Graduate Living In History ... - Alumni

correspondence, Don gave a bit of “news” for the
column: his grandson, Spencer Staley ’13, told
him to go on the Internet to Colgate student life
and check out the pictures on the front page, and
behold, there was Don giving a hug as he said
good-bye on his 1st day at Colgate. And Don has
been enjoying a woodcarving project sponsored
by the Mohawk Valley Art and Woodcarving
Assoc. They sent out a pattern of an eagle cane,
which when carved, is sent on to have a shaft
fitted to it, and is then presented to a wounded
veteran of the Iraq or Afghanistan war who
needs a substantial cane. Don considers this a
very worthwhile endeavor (indeed, Don!) and
was working on his 4th one in Feb.
Sad news: John G Updike died in Waiblingen,
Germany, Jan 23. Next of kin is widow Ellen. Relatives
include brother Edwin H Updike ’47; uncles
Stuart N Updike ’24, G Campbell Updike ’22, and
Frank R. Greene 1906; and cousins Franklin
Greene ’44, John M Greene ’52, and Stuart J
Updike ’57.
We have also been notified of the death of
Paul Vansant’s wife, Marian, on Feb 13. Paul is in
Rockland, ME.
Also, Dave Mueller died March 26. Next of kin:
widow Marilyn. Contact me for her address.
Hope you’ve had a great spring and are off to
a fine summer. Now finish the summer in grand,
active style. See you in the fall, maybe at a game
in Hamilton.
Nels: nelsaud@webtv.net
1952
Jackson T King
476 Grace Tr
Orange, CT 06477-2619
I received the following note from John Sias: “I
guess I’ve procrastinated long enough. Without
having this sound like an obit, here’s what I’ve
been up to the last few years. Retired from my
PR business in 1990. Helped organize the Greater
Nashua, NH, Big Brothers Big Sisters in 1983.
Was 1st pres and remained a dir for some 15
years. Had 3 Little Brothers, adopted the 1st one,
and changed the state law to be able to do it.
We went on the Today Show with Katie Couric.
Was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001.
Organized the NH Prostate Cancer Coalition in
2006 and have served as pres since then. Takes
all my time. Just like a f/t job. But, of course, it’s
volunteer work. Healthwise, I’m fine. Play golf,
ski, work out 2–3 times a week, cut and split a
cord of wood each year. Weigh 3 lbs less than the
days I’d step on the scale in Huntington Gymnasium
after freshman soccer in 1948.
“I have written 7 books, 1 in its 9th printing.
Have been more than amply rewarded. Received
a humanitarian award in 2007 from NH Charitable
Fndn, and selected Citizen of the Year by the
Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce in 2008.
For 58 years I have avidly followed Colgate’s football
and hockey teams. Before the scores were
posted on the Internet a few years ago, I’d run
500' to the mailbox every Sunday morning to get
the score and read about the football team. I’ve
saved every Colgate calendar since 1983, thinking
that I was going to frame each month and hang
them all on a wall, but discovered that I didn’t
have that much wall space. The calendars remain
in a pile in my office. Anyone want them?
This is the most beautiful college campus in the
US.
“A great regret is that I’ve never returned to
campus for a football game. However, I did attend
the Frozen Four in Detroit in 1991 when the
Colgate hockey team beat Boston U but lost to
WI for the natl championship. My brother-in-law
was the asst athletic dir at BU and arranged for
me to ride from Boston to Detroit on the bus full
of parents of the BU players. He also provided me
tickets in the BU section at the Joe Louis Arena. I
sat next to him and my sister and cheered loudly
(and alone) each time Colgate scored a goal.
“My adopted son applied to Colgate but was
not accepted. He got a scholarship from BU and
graduated cum laude. And the son of my roommate
Butch Burdick was likewise not accepted.
Butch said, ‘And he was my smartest son!’
“I talked with Tom Kelley, who winters in FL
and summers here in NH. Tom and I went to
Medford HS, and he was the quarterback of the
undefeated state champs.
“If any of you fellow classmates get close to
southern NH, please call and visit!”
I also received this note from Richard S Merrill
updating us on the Annual Fund: “We have
reached better than 70% participation (and as
high as 80%) since our 25th Reunion. However,
we fell a little short last year at only 65%. Our
goal is 75% this fund year.”
In another bit of news, Genl Tom Morgan
(USMC retired) has been very active in the program
to get veterans to apply to Colgate. He visited
Dartmouth and met with key people there,
including the recently retired pres, James Wright.
Wright was the driving force to get wounded
vets to come to Dartmouth. He had spent quite a
bit of time at Walter Reed Hospital talking with
wounded vets. After an initial start with 2, there
are now 16 vets attending Dartmouth. There are
150 at Harvard and 0 at Colgate.
Tom has been active with other active serving
military people. He arranged a recent meeting
at Camp Pendleton (CA Marine base) with the
commanding general and other key marines for
Gary Ross, Colgate dir of admissions. This was to
review their program with western US colleges
about the GI Bill program. It has been very successful
getting vets to apply and get accepted.
Tom has also made a contact with the Garrison
Commander at Ft Drum (near Watertown
and only a 2-hour trip from Hamilton). He hopes
to determine the best point of contact for Colgate
and how the best arrangements could be established
for them to get together. Ft Drum is one of
the major Army bases in the US.
The GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program can
get a qualified vet in Colgate for free.
William J Cooksley Jr died on Jan 6, in Vestal,
NY, at the age of 81. He was a member of Theta
Chi and the Class Gift Committee ’94–’95. He majored
in psych. He is survived by his sons, William
III and Alan.
Everett M Fogal died on Jan 6, in Lighthouse
Point, FL, at the age of 79. He majored in natural
sci and math and was a member of the Commons
Club.
I would certainly appreciate hearing from you
by phone, mail, or e-mail.
Jack: 203-795-9111; jtking@kingandshaw.com
1953
Lou Wilcox
20727 Cove Rd
Bivalve, MD 21814-2004
Food for thought from the good ole Class of ’53
for the summer 2010 Scene. I revealed earlier that
Gene Schulze regularly entertains me with his
marvelous e-mails, all of which contain interesting
pieces of info. Gene’s latest find was the
world’s largest dog — Giant George — a Great
Dane. George weighs in at 245 lb and measures
almost 43" at the shoulder. He measures 7'3" from
nose to tail. George consumes 110 lb of dog food
every month and sleeps alone in his own queen-
size bed: his owners had to move him out of their
king-size bed! I wonder if Bernie Siegel has a cat
this large.
Gene’s items that point to the fact that “times
are a changin’” to wit: I got a pre-declined credit
card in the mail. I ordered a burger at McDonald’s
and the kid behind the counter asked, “Can you
afford fries with that?” CEOs are now playing
mini golf. If the bank returns your check marked
“insufficient funds,” you call them and ask if
they meant you or them. McDonald’s is selling
the 1/4 ouncer. A truckload of Americans were
caught sneaking into Mexico. The mafia is laying
off judges. Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 congressmen.
US Congress says they are looking into this Bernhard
Madoff scandal. Oh, great! The guy who
made $50 billion disappear is being investigated
by the people who made $1.5 trillion disappear!
Arnie Koch sent along a marvelous reprint
from the Maroon about the 1953 Winter Carnival
with Jimmy McPartland and his Allstars featured
at the winter prom. “Brings back memories!”
Norm Newman wrote: “This past weekend we
had the pleasure of having Esther and Chuck
Hargrave as our house guests for an enjoyable
3 days. Even though the weather was a bit cool
for Ft Myers, it felt good to them compared to
Farmington, NY. On Sunday, Sara Lee and John
Sanborn drove down from Venice, FL. The 3 of us
went out to a local restaurant for dinner with
Ginger and Bert Snyder. In effect, the 8 of us had
a mini-reunion of the Colgate Commons Club.
The time went by much too fast.”
Three of us ’53ers came to Colgate from Westfield,
NJ: Paul MacCowatt, Al Wanamaker, and me.
Al checked in recently, writing, “Thanks for your
work on the class notes. Having done that for 15
years, I understand meeting deadlines. I retired
as a NYS administrative law judge about a year
and a half ago and moved from northern NY to
Sun City Center on the east coast of Tampa Bay.
My neighbor here at Freedom Plaza (a great place
to retire) is Dick Schubert ’51. Dick and I attended
a recent Colgate luncheon in Sarasota to hear
the interim pres; we were joined at our table by
classmates Jerry Blackwood and Pete Perretti
as well as Chuck Carrier ’52. Life is good here at
Freedom Plaza, but frankly I miss the seasons, the
nip in the air, and the snow crunching underfoot.
Best to all.”
Art Cooper checked in: “I enjoy reading your
columns about the Class of ’53 so much that I
now feel compelled to write you. [Sure wish that
more classmates would feel compelled to write!]
I had dinner here in Raleigh with Dave Roach,
Colgate’s athletic dir. He has been on a sabbatical
this spring visiting other schools and picking
their brains. He was in the Triangle area during
a visit to Duke, UNC, and Davidson. Knowing
he would be in our area, I e-mailed him and we
managed to get together. Some of the talk was
about the current state of college athletics, some
about Colgate, and some about my experience as
faculty athletic rep at NC State during the ’90s.
My impression is that Colgate’s athletic program
is in strong, competent hands.
“Despite Vail Taylor’s characterization of
me as a forestry expert, I remain only moderately
active in the field, mostly through work in
professional forestry orgs. I did get some nice recognition
when I received the profession’s highest
award, the Gifford Pinchot Medal, in 1999, a nice
way to start to close down a career. Now I am
concentrating on volunteer work and writing.
I work as a volunteer host on the train NC runs
from Raleigh to Charlotte. This has been most
rewarding: 1) it fulfills my childhood passion for
‘riding the rails,’ and 2) the work of volunteer
train host played a small, but important part in
NC’s success in getting funding for upgrading its
rail system between Raleigh and Charlotte and
for development of a high-speed rail connection
with the NE. I also do volunteer income tax work
with low-income people during tax season. It
is interesting, frustrating, and hard to believe,
all rolled into one. It has given me a heightened
sense of compassion for people when I realize
how close to the ragged financial edge a lot of
them are. This year, at least half the people I have
done have had unemployment compensation,
whereas before it was uncommon to run into
it. The writing has been mostly personal stuff:
the biggest project is documenting the nearly 6
years I spent in a political position in state govt.
I am doing it because some of what happened
is historically important and needs to be written
down, some of it defies all understanding
and needs to be documented, and some of it
is downright hilarious and the stories need to
be preserved. I have no idea what I’ll do with it
when I get close to finished. I may just take it to
my grave with me. I don’t believe in throwing
Granny out in the snow, but I sure hope I don’t
end up the way she is — it can’t be fun for her.
Except for minor problems, I have been blessed
with relatively good health. My wife, however,
has serious arthritis, which limits her mobility
and our ability to travel. We did, however, make
it to the ’53’s 55th and will do our best to be at
the 60th. Enough about me. You need to put
something in your column about yourself and
life on the Eastern Shore. We’re interested in your
doings, my friend.”
OK, Art, here is a report about life on the Eastern
Shore, also called the Delmarva Peninsula
since it is occupied by DE, MD, and VA. I moved to
said peninsula 13 years ago and find it interesting
from the historical, ecological, and sociological
perspectives. It reminds me of the historic
Collier County, FL. Until 1952, the peninsula was
very isolated and underdeveloped — lots of
farm land and chicken farms. In 1952, when the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built, people came
flooding in from all over the place and development
started. The crabs and striped bass, not to
mention the watermen, resent this influx for it
has increased the pollution of the bay. As for me,
I do not care for the heat, humidity, and haze of
the summers, but love the long springs and falls.
I continue my lifelong love affair with plants,
and have lots of gardens of all sorts, including a
large vegetable garden and many fruit trees and
vines. I love this time of year when my asparagus
comes in, soon to be followed by strawberries.
My biggest crops are onions of all sorts, garlic,
and shallots. Otherwise, I grow enough to eat
and do no canning or freezing except for my annual
production of chunky salsa, which I freeze.
I continue to advocate for those with developmental
disabilities and serve on the board of
directors of the org that runs homes where my
son Terry lives. The big time-consumer in my life
for the past 5 years was writing a book about
my son’s life. It has been a great experience, a
real learning experience with much research in
preparation for the writing. Of the moment, I am
in the final revising phase with the help of lawyers
and editors. I hope to have it to the publisher
this year and then we will be off to the races to
market same. During the fall and spring, I do get
in a few rounds of golf to just get away from the
intensity of writing.
Well, that’s about it for this go-around. Please
keep all those cards, e-mails, and letters coming,
and remember, it is only 3 years to our 60th
Reunion. I hope that someone in the class will
volunteer to organize it. And, remember, this
column is not for purposes of fundraising, and
anything you send in is not used for fundraising
purposes. Yes, Robin Jaycox will send you a note
News and views for the Colgate community
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