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In closing, I have to acknowledge our classmate Clay Bennett. Unless you have lived in a cave on Iwo Jima the past year, you know what Clay has been up to recently. As the principal owner of the former Sonics NBA franchise, now OKC Thunder, he has tirelessly and doggedly fought to do the impossible…negotiate to keep the team in Seattle when the city and the fans weren’t willing to do what it took to keep them while at the same time preparing for the contingency of moving the team to OKC in time to save the 200809 season. Oh, and also defend a couple spiteful lawsuits in the process. Observing all this played out daily in the media, we were all rooting for Clay to succeed. And succeed he did. We will have the highest quality basketball played in OKC this season, which will have a profound impact on the image of OKC nationally and our economy locally, and we have Clay to thank for that. More importantly, we should be proud of the way Clay represented himself and OKC in this process. This was a no-win situation for Clay; someone was going to be disappointed and critical of what he was doing. He had to have often been tempted to twist off and get angry and self-righteous with the media and the hostile city officials and lawyers confronting him constantly. Imagine Mark Cuban or Howard Schultz in the same situation. But Clay was cool, calm and professional the entire time, never letting himself degrade to the level of his attackers. The stress this put on him and his family was clearly evident. The greatest compliment a competitor can give an opponent is that he fought fair and hard and with grace. To leave a contest with enhanced respect from the opponent is a great accomplishment. Clay achieved this; no one in Seattle can feel anything but respect for Clay Bennett. His classmates in the Class of ’78 feel that and much more for him. He is a Casady hero. Who would have thought it 30 years ago? Way to go Clay!
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Neel Lane 505 W. El Prado Dr. San Antonio, TX 78212 (210) 828-2247 nlane@akingump.com Vicki Eddie Shadid provides a long overdue update: “Frank and I married 23 years ago. He is the managing partner of Willis HRH in OKC and I have been a stayat-home mom for the last 21 years. Yikes! We have 2 sons, Shane and Blake. Shane is a junior at OSU majoring in marketing.
Blake is a freshman at OSU majoring in Engineering and is a member of the Cowboy Marching Band’s drumline. After 23 years of being OU season football ticket holders, we are now the proud owners of OSU season tickets. (If that’s not being good parents, then I don’t know what is!)” Bobby Buchanan writes from Dallas: “Elizabeth and I recently celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary. Our daughter, Blaire, is 14 and our son, Graham, is 9. Both attend the Episcopal School of Dallas. Blaire is active in school sports, and we regularly attend varsity football, basketball and lacrosse games. I have successfully taken my hostility for all of the St. Mark’s athletic teams (which was carefully developed and nurtured during my years at Casady by coaches who will remain unnamed) and poured it into my current support for ESD against St. Mark’s. I enjoy attending the Casady games in Dallas, assuming they do not conflict with any of my favorite TV shows. Many of our classmates will remember Mr. (Greg) Randall, English teacher and golf coach. Mr. Randall now teaches and has taught high school English at ESD since 1982 (was the Class of 1980 that bad?). Mr. Randall is either Dorian Gray or he was about 20 years old when he taught us, because he looks exactly as I remember him.” Karen Mills Bevers reports from Colorado: “Sam (16) spent this summer working as a Boy Scout counselor at camp. I am delighted that he is taking care of other people’s children and saying “No”.... endlessly. He received his Eagle scout this year and is the ‘go to guy’ for all our thorny knot problems. Caleb (11) went through Gameboy withdrawal this summer as we spent 7 days canoeing the Missouri River in Montana. It was a trip of epic proportions following Lewis and Clark’s return journey. Traveling with 9 people and 1 dog, we staved off discomfort with dry ice, steaks, beer, solar showers and guacamole. Ed is still a paramedic supervisor and works at his backyard forge making bone handle knives in his free time. I continue to work part time in my psychotherapy practice, put up a website this year and dabble in making art. After our spring break trip to OKC, we traveled to Santa Fe to tour with friends. I can only describe my surprise and delight when Mr. and Mrs. Larragoite checked into the hotel right behind us! It was a great joy to catch up and we learned more about his family in Santa Fe and shared stories.” I recently had a wonderful dinner in San Antonio with Dan and Laura Hill Lensgraf, who now live in Houston. Laura
writes to fill you in: “Our oldest daughter, Delana, just moved to Houston with a job with Teach For America. Delana graduated last December from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. After graduation, she spent 5 months in Argentina, traveling with her long-time boyfriend Lorenzo, another Carolina grad. We are thrilled both chose to live near us! Our youngest, Claire, is a senior at Memorial High School. She is quite happy being a senior as with that title comes more freedom. She is working and getting her applications ready for college. She will probably land at LSU or Oklahoma. As we lived in Louisiana for 3 years, Claire has lots of friends now at LSU. Of course her daddy wants her to consider Norman! Dan’s job keeps him busy – he is CFO for Scarab Imaging, a litigation support software company. I am still teaching 8th grade English at KIPP Academy Middle School, a great job that lets me combine teaching reading, writing and photography. We see the Shaffers and Hogans – it is fun that our high school children are all friends.” Now for our update. My wife Allison was recently curator of a show of World War I posters for the San Antonio Library that is traveling the country. Our sons, Andrew (16) and Shelby (14), are now in high school, and Anna (8) is in her 3rd year of a Spanish immersion program. We have completed yet another phase of renovating our 80-yearold house—so please visit us. Last winter, we managed to slip in several ski trips; the boys bomb down the mountain, while Anna prefers tree-skiing and jumps. Last summer we visited Quebec City and Montreal— beautiful old European-like cities, but without the long flight and poor exchange rate! Sadly, Hurricane Ike hit the gulf coast, and soon after another wave of refugees to our town hoping to rebuild their lives. These events remind us how blessed we are.
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Elizabeth Breeding Royse 3837 Wentwood Drive Dallas, TX 75225 214-369-4545 home 214-697-6700 cell meroyse@att.net Elizabeth Lowe Ahearn writes in to share that she is currently chair of the dance department at Goucher College and director of the Pilates Center at Goucher College. She also teaches several Honors and GT classes at Carver Center for Arts and Technology. Recently, Elizabeth was honored to be listed in the Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Dance and Who’s Who