Come and Gone: By the time you read this in the hard copy of Checkpoints, our 50th reunion will be squiggly lines of memories coursing their ways through what remains of the gray matter housed in our ever-thickening skulls. Regardless of how those memories are working out for you, a lot of work went into planning and executing the reunion by a handful of classmates who truly put service before self. Those classmates deserve recognition, and what better place to be recognized than in the magazine named after the little gold book that was the basis for innumerable squat thrusts, wall bracings, and opportunities to spend precious one-on-one sessions with some of our favorite upperclassmen.
Members of the Reunion Committee were Jeff Hackett, Chairman; Dick Dye, Vice Chairman and Local Area Representative (and guy who talked Jeff back off the cliff on numerous occasions); Larry Bryant, Memorial Ceremony; Rich Chanick, Financial Assistance Leader; Frank Christian, Mementos Leader; Mickey Clemons, Football Seating and Tailgate Leader; Bruce Fritzche, GBNF Next-of-Kin Liaison; Duane Lodrige, Evening Events and Entertainment Leader; Mike O’Shea, Pickleball Tournament Leader; and Kent Traylor, Golf Tournament Leader.
The Atoners: In the last issue of CP, I made mention of the fact that the inputs I was expecting from couples who had recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries turned out to be more of a trickle than a deluge. The unannounced grace period for sending in an anniversary notification was one month after the publication of the September issue of CP. Those are the rules, and I’m duty bound to follow them. You are unerringly correct if you think the rules are made up on the fly, but scribes are not known for their fairness nearly as much as they are known for their strict adherence to artificialities.
Mike “Vito” Goyden made the mistake of leaving the last issue of CP laying around the house, and Jan, his wife of 50 years, picked it up, read through the class columns, then turned to Vito and nonchalantly noted, “I don’t see anything you sent in about our wedding anniversary.” Vito said his initial reaction was to quibble, but then his training kicked in and he responded with the w-a-a-a-y more appropriate, “No excuse, dearest of the dear.” Therein lies the foundation of a solid marriage. Anyone who has read CP over the years probably deduced that the Goydens are Disneyphiles, so it’s no surprise the whole clan celebrated Vito and Jan’s 50th anniversary at Aulani, a Disney resort in Ko Olina on Oahu, and then stopped at Disneyland, where they are on a first name basis with Mickey and Snow White, on their return trip to the Mainland.
If you majored in geography at the Academy and you had a special occasion to celebrate with the woman who had put up with you for 50 years, where would you go? Joe and Barbara Bryant went to France. Whoa, whoa, back up the bus! The Academy offered a major in geography? Who knew? Anyway, Joe and Barbara did it up right in France by taking a river cruise from Paris to Normandy that included stops at the Eiffel Tower, the renovated Notre Dame cathedral, and various sites along the Seine in Normandy. They also visited Claude Monet’s home, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetery. It sounds like the perfect trip for a geography major and a patient and understanding wife who hopefully took a set of AirPods along.
John Fritz completed his fifth sprint triathlon since retirement and finished in first place (his first) at a location near his high school in Michigan. During the winter he heads up a large ski club for seniors in Summit County, CO, and this year he is looking forward to his fifth season as a ski instructor at Copper Mountain. Still-working classmates take note, John is doing septuagenarianism (just because it’s not a real word doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be) the right way.
Former class scribe Paul Kent knows the scribe business has its peaks and valleys, so sometimes he sends in an update to help fill the dreaded white space. The following input is not verbatim, but in scribe speak, it’ll do. “I had a nice visit from my daughter and her family at our home on Lake Sammamish, WA, where my 4-year-old granddaughter, Mikaela, taught me how to kayak and then harassed me on my birthday. A highlight of the summer was when my wife, Sheri, and I joined Ted Detrick, USAFA 76, and his wife, Jayni, on their 48-foot Ocean Alexander for two weeks in Canadian waters. Other than that, played some golf (trying to keep my handicap below 20), rode my bike, took some hikes, did some volunteering, and just enjoyed the Pacific NW, before our inevitable 42 degrees and rain begins around October 15th.” In short, Paul is also doing the retirement thing right.
And finally, with a gross score of 4 under par, Steve Marino and Drew Bytes won the two-man team competition at the annual Commander's Cup Golf Tournament held in July at Westfield Golf Course near Washington DC. Their efforts also helped the Falcons take second place in the team competition, just behind an unnamed team from the east.
Otto Dieffenbach: At the end of 2023 I purchased from my Air Force Academy classmate, Dave Ehrhart (Brigadier General, Retired), his 1974 Vette, purchased during our junior year [Inset, Dave in 1974]. My goal was to restore it to its original beauty and drive it from San Diego to the Academy for our 50th Reunion. Tomorrow this goal should happen. 
4. Bob Walden: Enjoying blue skies and aerobatics with my son-in-law in our "Magic Carpet"...Robert prefers viewing the earth by looking up. (October 2025)
