June 2018          Foster Bitton

Retirements: The following classmates have duly reported in as newly retired, which is a nice way of saying “unemployed and looking for people to grace with my presence.” The latest class of the unemployed and underfoot are: Wayne Willis, Delta. Wayne and Amy went to New Zealand to celebrate his retirement, most likely because Wayne wanted to learn the correct way to do the haka, and Amy was hoping he’d find a hobby there. Rick Townsend, American Airlines. Rick’s wife, Gayle, threw a retirement party for him and reportedly said a plethora of nice things about him, because that’s what people do at retirement parties, but in this case everyone who attended the party agreed the accolades were valid. Dave White claims his age forcibly ejected from United’s cherished flight decks, but the flying bug has deeply imbedded itself into his carcass so he’s looking at BizJets as a way to feed his addiction. Jerry Cooke hung up his leather flying helmet after flying more than 22 years with four separate airlines. He said it was enjoyable but couldn’t compare with the 20 years he spent flying Air Force metal and serving with the “Men of ’75.” Shack.

Classmates on the Move: “Ebola Bill” and Sylvia Lyerly made a pilgrimage to Scotland in search of his Clan Gunn ancestors, which includes Olaf the Black, a famous Viking. According to Bill, the Gunn Clan was known as troublemakers and bad neighbors because they had a habit of invading other clans. Who would’ve thought that having a Viking patriarch with a dubious title would lead to such behavior? Bill and Sylvia stopped by the Old Course at St Andrews during their trip but didn’t find any ancestors there, probably because the Scots have long memories and blacklisted anyone in the Gunn Clan. To satisfy his history passion Bill also made trips to President John F. Kennedy's Atomic Bomb Shelter and Command Post on Peanut Island, FL, and to the National US Navy SEAL-UDT Museum.

This quarter Bill and Judy Murray capped their travels off by taking their daughters, son-in-law, and all three grandchildren to Hawaii for a week over Easter for “fun in the rain.” They stayed at the Hale Koa, which Bill highly recommended for price, quality, security, service, and the opportunity to be around military people. During the trip, Bill’s daughter and son-in-law celebrated their 15th anniversary and asked him to renew their wedding vows, which he did at the “Exceptionally Proud Father and Father-In-Law” rate, which is the same if it’s halved or doubled.

Dave and Libby McDaniel are moving to El Escorial, a small town in the mountains about 25 miles west of Madrid, Spain. Dave currently lives in Lubbock, TX, previously lived and studied in Europe, and completed his PhD in medieval history. When his Sq POC asked if this was a continuation of his PhD related studies or just what 65-year-olds do to enjoy themselves in their leisure years and get away from Texas, he answered, “all of the above.”

Jeff Chappell only needed one try to get one of 20 daily lottery permits to hike The Wave in Arizona. Lady luck must have been with him because several people have submitted applications for the lottery numerous times and come up empty handed. Microsoft made The Wave famous in 2009 when it introduced it as a wallpaper design in Windows 7. Park officials believe that now that Jeff has stepped foot on The Wave, its popularity will soar even higher, making it almost impossible to get one of the lottery permits. Or not.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder: This has got to be a top-ten bucket lister: Bran McAllister recently flew with his son, Dan McAllister (USAFA ’04) in two P-51s at Kissimmee FL. Bran’s dad, John (call sign “Mac”) flew P-51s and Bran (“Knife,” F-15A/C) and Dan (“Blade,” F-15C and F-22) have kept up the single-seat tradition. This is the stuff Hollywood screenwriters dream of. Chris Hemsworth could play Dan/Blade, and Anthony Hopkins and Danny DeVito could fight over the role of Bran/Knife.

If you’re looking for a good excuse to go to Great Bend this year, here are two you can use: 1) Airfest 2018 is taking place there on September 28-30; and 2) Marty Miller has been managing the Great Bend airport for 15 years and will gladly meet you at your plane with oxygen and a ride to the nearest porta-pottie. If you’re wondering where Great Bend is, it’s about halfway between Larned and Ellsworth on highway 56, just down the road from where Dorothy and Toto lived. As the Airfest website (www.greatbendairfest.com) shows, if you go there you won’t think you’re in Kansas anymore.

Another Hacker Classic: This year’s Hacker Classic was held in Mesquite, NV. The regular hackers in attendance included Larry Fariss, Brian Duffy, Tug McGraw, Roy Rice, Jim Corrigan, Russ Trinter, Bo Montgomery, and Tom Popp. Guest IPs were Terry Young, Buck Rogers, Scribe Emeritus Jeff Hackett, and Scribe-in-Training, yours truly. In previous issues I’ve accused the hackers of leaving a “path of unspeakable destruction in their wake” and committing “crimes against golf and humanity in general.” Now that I’ve had a chance to witness their handiwork firsthand it’s only proper for me to set the record straight. Everything previously written about this band of thieves and wrongdoers was unerringly correct. Alas, reports of Fairway Frankie Farris using a golf towel to reenact Isaac’s use of a piece of desert news when breakfast caught up to him in the middle of a round are not false, nor embellished. In the end, all of the hackers agreed that the golf didn’t matter, it was sharing good times with old and new friends that held sway…which is a good thing, because the level of golf in which Tom Popp comes out on top is, by definition, mediocre at best.

In the Fight: Mike (Vito) Goyden, a self-professed soccer nut who just happened to pick up several prestigious coaching awards in Colorado, will be watching part of the World Cup this year from a hospital bed while he battles Stage 2B Non-Hodgkins Burkitts Lymphoma. In Mike’s words, he’ll have a “5 to 6-day hospital stay on slow-drip chemo with the last day being of a different chemo blast. Then when I go home for two weeks at a time I’ll self-inject something twice a week or so. Then I go into rinse, cycle, spin, and dry and repeat at least 5 more cycles.” Judging by the it’s-all-in-a-day’s-work tone of Mike’s description, if the body goes wherever the mind takes it he shouldn’t have any problems in this match.

 


Wayne Willis & family celebrating
his retirement

 


Wayne & Amy Willis
showing the colors in NZ

 


Mike McClendon, Rick Townsend,
& Bill Murray

 


Bill & Sylvia Lyerly at St. Andrews, Scotland

 


Bill & Judy Murray, & family in Hawaii

 


Jeff Chappell riding The Wave,
Grand Canyon, Arizona

 


Single-seaters Bran & Dan McAllister

 


The Hacker Classic’s Dirty Dozen


Checkpoints Extras


Association of Graduates Class Advisory Senate          Bruce Mitchell



Minutes

Bruce Mitchell and Mark Volcheff represented the Class of '75 at the April CAS Meeting.


Album


 

1. Keith Workman. (April 2018)

2. Charlie Wintermeyer: East egg hunt after mass this morning. (April 2018)

3. Ric, Matt, & Elizabeth Rosborg (and Tunket). (April 2018)

4. Chappie Hargrove. (April 2018)

 


 

 

5. Mike Marro, Carol Macha, & family in Vencie, Italy. (April 2018)

6. John Scherer (Second from Left) and family. (April 2018)

7. Kent Traylor (Center) and friends. (April 2018)

8. Dave Herlong: Happy siblings day to that amazing concert pianist, my sister. (April 2018)

 


 

 

9. Mark Lenci: Nine days after launching, despite small craft warnings and sleet/snow, the Sunflower Newport to Bermuda race crew was out practicing off the coast of Maine as scheduled. We ran through all six sails and had another great crew experience. (April 2018)

10. Max Della Pia, NY 23rd Congressional Candidate. (Sue Skidmore, April 2018)

11. Hugo Posey at the King Ranch. (April 2018)

12. Jim Schuman. (April 2018)

 


 

 

13. Greg Schmitt: Don't interrupt us when we're at work! (Friday the 13th in Bonaire). (April 2018)

14. Dave & Patti Ruddock. (April 2018)

15. Kurt Bock with Rebecca Bock: Our fifth double (10K followed by a half marathon). I plan on wearing my medals to work for the next few weeks. (April 2018)

16. John Kambourian: (Mark Beesley, Curt Osterheld, & John Kambourian) 75 Class monthly lunch at Osteria da Niño. Not pictured is Mike Anderson who snuck out after sneakily paying for my meal. Thanks Mike!!! (April 2018)

 


 

 

17-19. John & Jennifer Kambourian in Egypt, at Giza, sampling local transportation, & at the Temple of Karnak, Luxor, respectively. (April 2018)

20. Bob Oswalt with his doppleganger, Elvis Presley. (April 2018)

 


 

 

21. Tony Mahoney watching the Knights DOMINATE. (April 2018)

22. Don & Terri Byers at Disney California Adventure Park. (Jennifer Lawton, April 2018)

23. Paul Kent, apparently enjoying his retirement. (April 2018)

24. Jim Hartney, in a flattering caricature, presented to him on the occasion of his retirement from the business world. (April 2018)

 


 

 

25. Gary Whitfield. (Angela Faith Hebert, April 2018)

26. Rick Kim: Presented this young man a scholarship on behalf of my high school class this evening, along with fellow classmate Marcia Domingo-Sumile. Congrats Joven! Best of luck at UH Manoa next year. (May 2018)

27. Don Byers: This big guy was looking for someone to haul him around the Fresno area on a bike. He said he traded in his Celtics jersey for this new cycling jersey that he loves to wear!! We completed a nice 60 mile ride around the local area, with about 2000’ of climbing. He said his name was Bill Walton, or something like that!! He sure is a big guy. Regailed us of some great stories of his playing days with the Celtics and LARRY Bird!! It was a great afternoon!! (May 2018)

28. Bill Buchta & friends. (Nyla Medlock, May 2018)

 


 

 

29. Gary Exelby & his copilot. (Karen Exelby, May 2018)

30. Steve Blackburn. (May 2018)

31. Carol Macha: See this guy? He's the hardest working, most generous, and selfless man I know. (Being handsome, smart, and funny doesn't hurt either). Happy birthday Michael Marro!! Love you! (May 2018)

32. Mike Dehart: Wow! Another year has passed already!? Well then, sons, Happy 41st Beerth-Day! (May 2018)

 


 

 

33. Steve Blackburn & his grandkids. (JoAnne Blackburn, May 2018)

34. Steve Duresky: Nice catch from Saturday. (May 2018)

35. Dave & Janet Middleton Wallace: We didn's see any of Ibiza's hedonistic side, but enjoyed the 70s sunshine, the trip to the walled old city, and the Med atmosphere common to places east of here. (May 2018)

36. Janet Middleton Wallace: Me and my guy sailing from Ibiza to Cartegeña. What a great night. (May 2018)

 


 

 

37. Vicki Kallman: Grandpa (Rod) still has the touch!. Night night Sebastian!! (May 2018)

38. Ric, Matthew & Elizabeth Rosborg. Congratulations Matthew on graduating in four years AND getting a job in your degree field. So incredibly proud of you son. (Elizabeth Rosborg, May 2018)

39. John Scherer, Jenny Scherer, & Jena Scherer at Jenny's graduation ceremony. (Jenny Scherer, May 2018)

40. Bob Orwig at the University of North Georgia Dahlonega Campus. (Linda Hamil Orwig, May 2018)

 


 

 

41. John & Jennifer Kambourian: At Allison's graduation from American University!!!! Real empty nesters now!! (May 2018)

42. Congrats to my folks (Bill & Sylvia Lyerly), new owners of our family BEACH HOUSE!! Let the summer begin!!! (Heather Lyerly Ballew, May 2018)

43. The Lyerly family at the beach house. (Kristin Lyerly, May 2018)

44. Bill Murray: Jordan Spieth & Bill Murray at The Colonial! What a nice young man! (May 2018)

 


 

 

45. Mickey & Jeannine Clemons with their grandchildren at Disneyland. (Jacob Matthew Clemons, May 2018)

46. Branford McAllister: In Gettysburg, PA, with my son and grandson, by the Pennsylvania monument near the McAllister Mill off Baltimore Turnpike, dedicated to the McAllister family's role as abolitionists and their participation in the underground railroad, helping escaped slaves get across Rock Creek and to safety to the north, while fleeing from the bounty hunters (1840s, 50s, and 60s). A proud family heritage! (May 2018)

47. Dave Beatty: A salute for my Dad – thanks for your 23 years of service. (May 2018)

48. Steve & Barb Wedell enjoying San Diego. Steve appears to be multitasking by catching some Zs while being photographed. Once a cadet, always a cadet. (June 2018)

 


 

 

49. Ken Finn: Water works after Ken's last flight with Delta. If you know me, you know I don't do me very much. I now have a Medicare Card and have flown my last flight with Delta (Mandatory retirement age 65). After more than 32 years and more than 23,000 hours and more than 1500 Atlantic crossings and innumerable flights around North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe with Delta, it all ended with a wonderful final trip to Munich. (May 2018)

50. Wes Routh & friend Bradley Thomas. (Marti Routh, May 2018)

51. Stan Jones: Great morning to change a flat! (May 2018)

52. Mickey & Jeannine Clemons plus three little ones. (Jeannine Clemons, June 2018)

 


 

 

53. Bob Hickcox, at Ireland's School of Falconry: My first session with Aztec. We flew two hawks and flying at the same time, they would take turns beating each other to take both handlers' treats. (May 2018)

54. Mark Donnelly. (May 2018)

55. Steve Duresky: Mountain time with my girl. Ogden, Utah. (May 2018)

56. Stephen Pitotti with Bert & Stephanie Williams. (Stephanie Williams, June 2018)

 


 

 

57. David Beatty: My friend and I on the Swilken Bridge on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. (June 2018)

58. Jim Dill with son and grandkids. (June 2018)

59. Dave Wallace: A toast at 1975, 4 June 2018. Best Alive, my brothers! (June 2018)

60. Dave Ruddock on the occasion of his retirement. (June 2018)

 


 

 

61. Gary & Karen Exelby. (Karen Exelby, June 2018)

62. Julius Hargrove. (June 2018)

63. Steve Weilbrenner. (Kelsey Weilbrenner, June 2018)

64. Ric Dahlstrom with varied and assorted family. (Erin DeMatteo Dahlstrom, June 2018)

 


 

 

65. Bob Orwig with the entire family on Father's Day. (Chad Orwig, June 2018)

66. David Beatty: Aahh...Birburger on tap! (June 2018)

67. Bill Murray with brothers & sister at the Murray Family Reunion. (June 2018)

68. Larry Bryant with grandson Jack. (Annie Bryant, June 2018)

 


 

 

69. Hugo Posey: I had a great Father's Day weekend with two of my Grandsons who flew down from the East Coast. Zachary (on my left) and Ben (on my right) have had a blast visiting their cousins and other extended family for the past week. (June 2018)

70. Paul Kent & daughter Victoria. (Victoria Seibert, June 2018)

71. Bentley Rayburn & family. (Debbi Rayburn, June 2018)

72. Rich Finke. (Erin Finke Ridolfo,June 2018)

 


 

 

73. James Corrigan with son Jake. (Jake Corrigan, June 2018)

74. Mike Matte with three of his grandchildren. (June 2018)

75. Dave & Patti Ruddock in Venice, Italy (June 2018)

76. Mark Lenci celebrating his birthday. (June 2018)

 


 

 

77. Ted Thompson, from the Daedalian Aviator: Air Force Staff Sgt. Kendrick Valerio soloed on May 2, completing Gunfighter Flight 93's first Daedalian Flight Training scholarship activity. Pictured with Sergeant Valerio is retired Air Force Col. Ted Thompson, who carried out the final series of pre-solo training flights during Idaho's windy April springtime days, providing the NCO with lots of crosswind and turbulence experience. (June 2018)

78. Mike Marro & Carol Macha cheering on the Red Devils – well done Belgium! On to the knock-out round! (Carol Macha, June 2018)

79. Jeff & Christine Hackett in the Glass Bottom Boat and snorkeling. (Christine Hackett, June 2018)

80. Charles & Nazli Wintermeyer enjoying dinner with the inlaws. (June 2018)

 


 

 

 

81. Bob Hickcox & Jackie Henry. (May 2018)

82. Jeff Chappell: DMZ tour with Matthew Chappell. Quite an experience. Glad we're allies with the ROKs–great country, great people! (June 2018)

83. Jim & Emily Marshall with their grandchildren. (Kelly Vannoy, May 2018)

 

 


Scrapbook


     

Paragould Daily Press
Commentary
Gary Exelby

     

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