Co-Presidents:                         Bill Higgins,  5360 Miami Road, Cincinnati, OH 45243

                                                Steve Warhover, 33 William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA 01984

 Vice-President & Webmaster:  Chuck Sherman, 3100 Rittenhouse Street NW, Washington, DC 20015

Secretary:                                Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605

Treasurer:                                Jim Weiskopf, 13125 Willow Edge Court, Clifton, VA 20124

Head Agent:                            Bob Spence, 16 Surrey Road, New Canaan, CT 06840

Bequest Chairmen:                  Rich Daly, PO Box 39, West Boxford, MA 01885

                                                Alan Rottenberg, 24 Gould Road, Waban, MA 02468

Mini-Reunion Chairman:                       Al Keiller, 7 Elcy Way, Simsbury, CT 06070

Newsletter Editor:                     Bob Serenbetz, PO Box 1127, Newtown, PA 18940

                                                            Phone: 215-598-0262  Fax: 215-598-0770

                                                            Email: BobSerenbetz@prodigy.net

Class Website:                         http://www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/66

 

 

 

April 2002

 

Dear Classmates:

 

I hope everyone survived what seems to have been a very mild winter across the country.  Thanks for taking the time to send in news.

 

Ski Trip Mini-Reunion 

 

Ten classmates, wives and one son “reuned” in Winter Park, CO March 21-25 to celebrate the start of Spring, great skiing, and fabulous hospitality from Toni and Tim Urban.  The Winter Park area was relatively uncrowded and the weather for two of the three ski days was sunny and warm.  The last ski day started off sunny but some light snow arrived by noon, making the afternoon runs a little firmer, particularly on the moguls.  “The Shire”, Tim and Toni’s home just north of Winter Park, provided a comfortable and warm respite from the skiing…and Toni kept us well fed and well refreshed!!

 

Ed Jereb flew in from Philadelphia and visited many of his friends from his seventeen years living in Denver, both before the weekend, and during it on the ski slope.  Sue and Jon Colby arrived from Wisconsin, where Jon is now teaching business administration part-time at a local college.  Sharon and Gary Broughton met son Keith ’97, a recently engaged Ohio resident, at the Denver airport to drive together to Winter Park; Gary has

been dedicating time over the last few months to an AARP program that helps folks prepare their income tax returns.  Tim arrived a day late as a result of his position on the Des Moines, IA  Planning Commission. Thanks to son Andy, who met him in Denver, Tim was still able to get in a half day on the slopes the 22nd. 

 

The last night together was particularly special, including dinner at the Devil’s Thumb Ranch (buffalo steaks and antelope on the menu) in Tabernash and a raucous pool that evening for the Oscar telecast, where Jim Broadbent’s win as Best Supporting Actor fooled all bettors.  All participants hoped the Class could repeat a ski-mini in the future!

 

 

 

(L to R) Kneeling: Tim Urban

Front: Sharon Broughton, Gary Broughton, Toni Urban, Karen Serenbetz, Bob Serenbetz

Rear: Keith Broughton ‘97, Ed Jereb, Sue Colby, Jon Colby

 

 

 

News from Classmates

 

While unable to join us for the mini, Wayne LoCurto writes, “I joined the ranks of the retired in December.  I have already logged 57 days of skiing with 2-3 weeks left in the season.  I may lead the class in the number of grandchildren.  Kathy and I will have twelve by August.”  Wayne, I think you will have the lead for many years to come, if not

 

forever!!  Those wanting to check Wayne’s recreational plans after ski season can reach him at wlocurto@aol.com.

 

I had a long email from Tom Steinmetz:  “The last two years have been a period of transition for me.  In January 2000, I retired from Mortgage Banking Systems, the company that I started in the 1986.  I still go to monthly board meetings, but I’ve found it surprisingly easy to turn over the reigns to my long time partner.  In May 2000, I married Barbara Gural.  Classmate Robin Williams and his wife Mary helped us celebrate as did John and Judy Currier ’63.  I moved from the suburbs to the city for the first time in my life.  Retirement, married life and city-dwelling are all suiting me well.

 

In September 2000 I sent my son Bill off to Macalester College in St. Paul.  He’s now a sophomore studying computer science, Japanese and physics.  Bill is well on his way to independence and adulthood.  I’m glad to see him make the transition, but it is tough to be an empty-nester.  Since our wedding, Barb and I have been doing quite a bit of traveling.  We have been hiking in the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands, biking in France, site-seeing in Spain, trekking in Nepal (six thousand steps to heaven at 50 cents per step), and site-seeing/cooking school in Thailand.

 

I’m studying French in preparation for an extended visit to France in a couple of years.  I’m no better at language now than I was at Dartmouth.  French is really tough.  Fortunately, Barb is fluent in French.  She was an interpreter and translator early in her career.  This spring, the fifth edition of my book, The Mortgage Kit will be published.  It first came out in 1987.”  Thanks, Tom, for all your news.  Classmates can reciprocate at tcsteinmetz @ hotmail.com.

 

Following up on the news included in the last newsletter of the June 2000 Grand Canyon trip with the families of Dick Birnie, Steve Smith, Stu Schweizer, and Gary Bryson, Dean Spatz sent me a note on his activities and a lengthy article on Dean and his company Osmonics in the February issue of Minnesota Business:  “My wife Carol, UVM ’66, and I completed 33 years of marriage and 32 years running Osmonics.  We still live in the same house we bought in 1972, but have remodeled it three times.  We totally enjoy living on Lake Minnetonka and it is rather amazing that a boy from Albuquerque is now such a lake person.  Our son Mark is a U of Rhode Island ’92.  He worked in the aquaculture business for a couple of years and then with a dot.com until recently, when he and his wife Jennifer started up a small company selling inorganic membrane products to laboratories.  Our daughter Sharon, Dartmouth ’96, Thayer ’98 is working at Ford in Dearborn, MI as a Product/Project Manager.  All we have left at home are two Irish Setters, 14 and 1 1/2.  This is our fifth Irish Setter since I got my first one in grad school at Dartmouth.  They are both great for bird hunting and house dogs.  I also do a fair amount of big game hunting: elk, deer, and sheep.  A couple of years ago I shot a ram Big Horn in Colorado that qualified for the Boone & Crockett record book.  Besides our trip to the Grand Canyon with classmates in 2000, last year we helped Chris Miller celebrate his daughter Anna’s (Dartmouth ’98) wedding in Hanover.”  The article highlights Dean and Carol’s start-up of Osmonics in 1969, its growth in sales to the current $200 million, and Dean’s plans to build the company to $1 billion by 2012.  The article is available at http://www.MinnesotaBusiness.Com/.

 

 

Jim Keating sent along a photo and writes from New Orleans, “All is well down here in the deep, sunny south.  I have entered phased retirement, going into business for myself, selling my time on the open market as a contract radiologist.  I sell 35 hours each of 42 weeks a year.  The time is available only Mon-Fri, 7 AM to 7 PM.  This way I avoid calls at nights or on weekends and no one is complaining!  The best hospital in town bought up my time for 18 months.  Then in July 2003 Patty and I shall move to Pass Christian, MS on the Gulf Coast.”  Jim, sounds almost as good a deal as when you rented mattresses in the basement of your house in Hanover on big weekends for $3 a night!!  Class docs wanting further info can get hold of Jim at jameswkeating@hotmail.com.

 

 

(L to R) Patty and Jim Keating, Kiley and Adam

 

 

In Memoriam 

 

I received word from the College that Randall Schulze passed away four years ago on March 1, 1998.  Randall was not listed in the 1966 Aegis, so he may not have graduated with us.  He was a brother of Phi Tau.  Our condolences to his wife Pamela and children Erik and Kris; they can be reached in Austin, TX at 512-335-5249.

 

 

Class of 1966 Survey

 

Having devoted the last two issues of the Newsletter to issues facing the country and the demographics of our Class, this issue will focus on recreational activities.  Please keep in mind that only 80 or so classmates and approximately 40 spouses completed the survey, so it is not statistically reliable.   

                                                                                                            Classmates            Spouses

            How many non-business trips of one week or longer

            have you taken in the last 24 months?

           

0                                                                                                 8.5%           15.4%

            1                                                                                                  8.5                   3.8

            2                                                                                                18.6                 11.5

            3                                                                                                15.3                 23.1

            4                                                                                                10.2                 11.5

            5 or more                                                                                39.0                 34.6

 

Clearly, we’re a well-traveled group with about half the class averaging about 2 1/2 trips per year.

 

            How many non-business trips of one week or longer

 were outside the US? 

           

0                                                                                                30.5%          34.6%

            1                                                                                                18.6                 15.4

            2                                                                                                23.7                23.1

            3                                                                                                13.6                 11.5

            4                                                                                                10.2                 15.4

            5 or more                                                                                  3.4                   0.0

 

Likewise, our travels take us with great frequency to other countries.  Will this be changing subsequent to September 11, 2001?

 

                                                           

How many hours per week do you spend on the internet

for non email purposes? 

           

0                                                                                                15.3%          16.9%

            1-5                                                                                            59.3               64.0

            6-14                                                                                          20.3                16.0

            15 or more                                                                                5.1                  4.0

 

 

 

The majority of us spend less than an hour per day on the internet; very little difference between classmates and spouses.  The favorite sites for classmates were Yahoo/Yahoo Finance, Amazon.com, NYTimes.com, CNN.com, Weather.com and various on-line brokers.  Favorite spousal sites were more varied, although Amazon was the favorite.

 

How many books have you read in the last twelve months?                                     

           

 0                                                                                                 3.5%             4.0%

            1-5                                                                                            33.3                16.0

             6-10                                                                                         25.4                24.0

            11-20                                                                                       18.6               36.0

            21 or more                                                                              16.9                20.0

 

Our spouses are heavier readers than us, with the majority reading more than one book a month.  When asked which book was your favorite, only three books had more than one mention: “Founding Brothers” by Joseph Ellis, “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom, and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling.  Besides best-sellers, some of us picked “David Copperfield”, “The Jungle Book”, Eugene Onegin” and “The Brothers Karamazov”. 

                                                                       

            How many hours per week do you watch television?

 

            0                                                                                                  8.6%             7.7%

            1-5                                                                                            41.4                23.1

            6-14                                                                                          37.9                46.2

            15-30                                                                                       12.1                23.1

 

Spouses seem to be heavier viewers than classmates, in spite of reading more!

           

             What is your favorite show? 

 

            West Wing                                                                              21.9%          23.1%

            Frazier                                                                                      18.8                  3.8

            The Sopranos                                                                          9.4                  7.7

            NYPD Blue                                                                                9.4                  3.8 

            Ally McBeal                                                                                6.3                  7.7

            Judging Amy                                                                             0.0                  7.7

            All Others (one mention)                                                      34.2                46.2

 

It seems that our favorites match the critics’ favorites.                       

 

I will review more of the responses in our next newsletter.

 

 

Moosilauke Hiking Trip

 

Based on an enthusiastic response at the Fall 2001 Mini-Reunion, Al Keiller has planned a hiking trip up Mt. Moosilauke August 2-4.  Details are on the sign-up sheet.