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CLASS NOTES
st. george’s school
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alumni who wrote in for the current issue. And once again this astounding total was achieved not only by my own hard work, but by some pretty fancy arm-twisting behind the scenes — not only by the Big Guns whom I’ve previously mentioned in this respect (Jody Martin, Lise Anderson, Marian Smith and Katie Pratt), but also by influential individuals like Vicky Bippart, who (back when I only had three updates in hand — hers was No. 4) complimented me by saying, ‘Wow — you’re really good at this!’ Then proceeded to rope in three of her best cronies to submit their updates posthaste. (Vicky, I love you!) So no, it wasn’t record breaking, but it was a darn fine achievement by the members of my cohort — and I am VERY proud of both the achievement and of them. The big event that happened in both my life and in the lives of 32 other members of the Class of ’76 was our 40th Reunion over Alumni Weekend this past May 6–8 in Middletown. We ended up staying in several different places, but the bulk of us took up residence for the weekend at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown, which turned out to be an inspired choice for a place to stay, congregate, party, meet as a group and reconnoiter. I am very much indebted to my 40th Reunion Committee co-planners — Marian Smith and Alan Fleisig — for doing the bulk of the legwork, fundraising and organizing of activities for our glorious weekend, and to Chad Loebs for aiding Marian in the local logistical operations for our ‘days in the sun.’ And once again I owe a great deal to fellow Dragons for contributing generously to Alan Fleisig’s class agent travel reimbursement fund (www.gofundme. com/tp9shsc). Much gratitude to Mike Hansel, Susie von M. Morse, Charlie Gledhill, Luke Durudogan, Fred King, Lisa Lovering, Chris Lirakis ’77, Peter Massey, Bar Gooding Littlefield, Vicky Bippart, and to whomever is responsible for a couple of massively generous contributions to this fund in the past six months. Once again, thank you all very much! The fact that the often-unpredictable Rhode Island weather did not cooperate during our desired ‘days in the sun’ and provided us instead with plenty of rainfall for most of our first two days in Middletown did not put a permanent damper on the spirits of 33 lively ’76ers determined to make the
best of the weekend. The walk to Sachuest Point on Saturday morning, and the bike-riding and wine-tasting activities on Saturday afternoon went nearly flawlessly and on schedule. The attendance at the gala Saturday night featured some 30 of us trying to fit into a photographic booth that could only comfortably accommodate 25 or so bodies. We managed, but came close to tearing down the booth in the process. Also on Saturday night there was dinner and dancing for those who chose to stay, and an initially frustrating time caused by a cancelled reservation for those of us who chose to eat in town, but the situation was saved by a nearby accommodating restaurateur who was glad to have our business. Prior to the activities on Saturday afternoon, we attended to the serious business of meeting as a cohort to discuss the deeply disturbing events which underlie the sexual abuse scandal at SG, many of which occurred during our time as students at the school, and both before and after that time. We had a serious discussion of the events and their aftermath, which was moderated by Peg Langhammer of Day One. I can’t speak for everyone in the Class of ’76, nor can I predict what the outcome of the meetings of the committee to deal with these matters will be in terms of tone, direction or emphasis in that committee’s actions going forward, but I can say that in general we did resolve to have individuals from our cohort meet to craft a response to the situation that we can present to the current administration of St. George’s School, and we ended on the very positive note that we, by our collective action, can help in redressing past injuries, meeting with survivors to help them to come to terms with what happened to them, and providing some impetus to ensure that policies are in place and are being enforced that will (insofar as this is possible) prevent such incidents from ever happening again at SG. Many of us also attended the service in the “new” school library that was coordinated by several of the survivors along with Peg Langhammer. It was a very simple and short service that many survivors have said served their needs, despite its having been considerably shorter and much less in depth than our Class of ’76 meeting. Two of the most emotionally fulfilling
moments of Alumni Weekend for me were connected with meals. The sight of over 30 of my erstwhile classmates and teammates eating lunch together in King Hall on Saturday — taking over three tables near the entrance to accommodate our numbers — provided me with a strong nostalgic rush of emotion and a sense of fulfillment insofar as the responsibility of being able to assemble 50 percent of the surviving members of our cohort lay in my own labors and in those of individuals with whom I have been in close cooperation. Several old classmates mentioned this time and time again: ‘You know, Cliff, that all of this is because of you, don’t you?’ And even though I still insist that these SG Bulletin extravaganzas and the outstanding turnout for our 40th reunion are collective achievements, I would be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that I do feel a tremendous sense of gratification in being identified as the major catalyst in the realization of these awesome achievements. My second emotional mealtime moment occurred during our class luncheon on Sunday as I said goodbye to so many members of my cohort whom I have only corresponded with by email or talked with by telephone in recent years. Nothing can replace being able to shake the hand or give a hug to classmates or teammates who meant so much to me during my formative years at St. George’s School — people whom I have come to like, respect, care deeply for, and, yes, even to love. Over and over, we resolved to meet again before our next scheduled “BIG” landmark 45th Reunion in 2021 — and because of the exigencies of dealing with the current crisis in the history of the high school alma mater that so many of us both revere and love, I really believe that we will do it. In my personal life, I have continued to do substitute teaching, but at a steadily diminishing rate. I am still much more involved in after-school tutoring, ‘Read Better Be Better,’ driving for Uber, Lyft and Amazon Prime, income-tax preparation and other incipient entrepreneurial activities. I am also scheduled to go back into the classroom full-time in the fall, working as a paraprofessional in reading intervention for Champion Schools, a charter-school system in the Phoenix area that combines the character-building aspects of sports for