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Members of the “Boston Group” of the PA Class of ’48 met for a lunch at the Stage Neck Inn in York, Maine, along with former head of school Barbara Landis Chase and husband David Chase. From left, Brad Wellman, Roger McLean, Norm Henderson, Barbara Landis Chase, Allen West, John Bloom, David Chase, and Bob Segal.
1950 65th REUNION June 11–14, 2015
ABBOT Nora Johnson 1619 Third Ave., Apt. 13G New York NY 10128 212-289-2097 noraj31@gmail.com
PHILLIPS Eric B. Wentworth 2126 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Apt. 32 Washington DC 20008 202-328-0453 ebw@bellatlantic.net
While some of us were just starting to massage those creaky joints to prepare for our 65th Reunion under Andover’s “big tent” June 11–14, two members of our class enjoyed a little reunion of their own, months ahead of time and many miles from the Hill. When George Beatty and his wife, Noelle ’50, moved to Denver last fall to be closer to their daughter, Julia, and her family, George made a surprise phone call to a longtime Denver denizen, classmate Chris Weatherley-White. Both Chris and George had been English-Speaking Union exchange students back in the day: Chris came to PA our senior year from Harrow, then George spent the following year in England, at Clifton College in Bristol. “We had a marvelous dinner together,” Chris reported, “and, as you can imagine, had a lot to catch up on after 65 years! The conversation ranged from the immense challenge of arguing a case before the Supreme Court (George,
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Andover | Spring 2015
In 2014, on a family trip to Japan, Fred Fenton ’53 and daughterin-law Sanae Nagamatsu posed beside a bronze statue of Buddha in Nara.
obviously!), writing a novel (George too), mutual experiences with Noelle’s father, Alan Blackmer, and much else.” Chris said he and George were both looking forward to our June reunion, which chairman Tony Herrey has been organizing for months with notable zeal. As for his own activities, Chris continued, “I am still very involved with Operation Smile and go on three or four missions a year. Not doing primary surgery—I have seen too many surgeons trying to operate beyond their ‘sell-by’ date—but a lot of mentoring younger surgeons, quality assurance, and heavy involvement in research. In fact, I am at present setting up a pretty major cleft palate study in India, which will take me there two or three times next year.” Chris said his three children are doing well in their various fields, from investment banking to state government, and he has five grandchildren, ages 4 to 22. “No complaints, and anticipating seeing many old friends at the reunion,” he added. Skip Schaum reported he had agreed to take the helm of a new enterprise, International Gateway Group, which will bring Internet services to remote and rural areas of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Its satellite transmitting antennas will provide educational programming as well as two-way videoconferencing, linking rural hospitals and clinics overseas with medical facilities in the United States. “I guess that I can’t sit idly by and watch the world turn,” Skip confessed. “I have a compulsion to ‘get into the game.’ ” Andy Hall, with his wife, Felicia, and daughter, Cicely, spent three weeks in India this past year. “The three of us found India to be fascinating but elusive, beautiful yet polluted, charming and at the same time uncaring for many of its own people,” Andy wrote. Last fall, Bruce Kaiser reported, “I traveled for 35 days in Jordan, Israel, Venice, Trieste, Slovenia,
Croatia, and Montenegro, ending with five days in Paris to visit friends with whom I had done business. The cultures, history, sights, and people in Jordan and Israel are interesting and complicated—nothing is simple—but I always felt safe and found the people to be friendly and open in sharing ideas. Slovenia is particularly beautiful, and the pace there and in Croatia and Montenegro is much more relaxed—and the Adriatic’s water is so clean along the whole coast.” This spring, before our reunion, Tom Keefe and his wife, Susan, spent a month in Florence, where Tom was looking forward to taking half-day Italian lessons for four weeks. “I’ve been taking lessons at Rice University for the past 10 years,” Tom explained, “but I think a little bit of total immersion will be a good addition to that.” Then, right after our reunion wraps up, Will Watson and his wife, Myra, are set to fly to Venice for a 10-day cruise along the Dalmatian coast to Athens, examining, he says, “the various Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian footprints along the way.” The cruise will be led by Dan Weiss, art historian and current president of Will’s alma mater, Haverford College. Not all of our classmates, by any means, have become globetrotters. Take Skip Weymouth, who found himself a fulfilling role close to home in Grand Rapids, Mich., with “Musical Memories,” his own sing-along program. “Eighteen years and over 1,500 performances has been a wonderful way for me to spend my retirement,” Skip wrote in the 36th and final issue of the program’s newsletter, which he sent me. Toting his keyboard, microphone, and large-print song books, Skip has been brightening the lives of people in nearby retirement communities, assisted living facilities, memory care units, nursing homes, veterans’ homes, senior centers, senior apartments, and anywhere else seniors gather. For many years, Manny d’Amonville, at 86