CLASS NOTES aside 130 rooms at Natural Bridge, and I expect that attendance at this reunion will be the largest yet, and every room will be taken. So, please mark your calendar now for Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30, 2011. Lots of class gatherings since I last reported to you. We made it to Alaska and back with relationships renewed and new ones made. We had 39 people in our group, including a few friends and relatives of Brother Rats. The Alaska five-day land portion included Fairbanks, Denali and Talkeetna, and the seven-day cruise included Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Vancouver, BC. It was a first class trip. Sue and I, along with Andy and Peggy Myruski, Lynn and Shirley Hartford, and Bill and Sandra Fout, booked a trip to the Arctic Circle and a side trip to Weisman, AK, population 21. The flight was great, and the local family was very hospitable. Listening to how they lived off the land and coped with no running water, electricity, sanitary facilities and hospitals was very enlightening. The local grocery store is 250 miles away, and dry goods are flown in during the good weather days. The land portion of the trip included two five-hour train rides in observation cars equipped with tables. We had a great time eating, drinking and moving from table to table telling stories. During the day, we did our own thing, and for dinner, we sat together. We did have some problems with luggage being lost by the airlines and not reaching us until the trip was almost over. However, the Princess lodges, restaurants, etc. were very nice, and prices for food and beverages were very reasonable. The ship accommodations and
side trips were first class. However, late in the season means a tired crew, and the dining service showed it. Several of us stayed a few extra days in Vancouver, BC, and visited Victoria and the famous Butchart Gardens. Those on the trip were Larry and Jerri Wetsel, Andrew and Margaret Myruski, Bill and Sylvia Haeberlein, Ken and Sue Patrick, Ray and Sarah Hanlein, Bill and Sandra Fout, Jim and Connie Oliver, Lynn and Shirley Hartford, Harrison and Terry Fridley, Sal and Sue Vitale, Louis and Priscilla Shuba, Ken and Dorothy Templeton, Tom and Barbara Phlegar, and Spike and Mary Callander. Friends were George and Jean Davies, Leo and Janet Kirkman, Scott and Barbara Lovelace, Kenneth and Patricia Knight, Bob and Joy Oliver, and Josephine Kenny. The friends and relatives had a great time. All of them said they would travel with the VMI BRs anytime. Brother Rat Golf/ Bridge outings have become very popular, thanks to BRs J.C. Miller and Dude Copenhaver. The Olde Mill Resort in the southern mountains of Virginia was the site on 21 August. BRs and wives had dinner, swapped lies and turned in early. Saturday was breakfasted in small groups, and Lee Badgett, Dude and Cathy Copenhaver, Rhett Clarkson, J.C. Miller, Dick and Dianne Stone, George Henning, and John and Anne Woodfin hit the links to play “best ball.” Bette Miller, Betsey Badgett, Jan Clarkson and Edna Henning played bridge. (All day they played bridge!) I was told that the course was lovely, with smashing mountain views, and all those golfing ladies played better than Lee. Sunday dawned promisingly, the ladies
settled into bridge as if the cards were different somehow and the golfers golfed with similar avidity, until quickly gathering clouds dumped on them, and they quit, dispersing for their various homes about mid-afternoon. John Miller organized the affair, and did a smashing job. The week after the Alaska trip, I attended (as the official photographer) the Football Reunion Weekend at VMI, hosted by Haeberlein and Shuba. The Friday evening dinner at Moody Hall provided an opportunity to be reacquainted with the 1962 football players and a few from other classes. Those attending were Harry Shepherd ’58, Ron Swirk’58, Stuart and Sylvia Woodcock, Kenton and Sue Patrick, Howard Dyer, Don and Anne Rishell, Lee and Betsey Badgett, Wyatt Durrette, Dick and Ann Weede, Larry and Jerri Wetsel, Lou and Pris Shuba, Bill and Sylvia Haeberlein, Paul Johnston, Bobby Mitchell ’62, John Candler ’62, Mark Graybill ’62, Stinson Jones ’62, John Trayham ’62, J.W. Price’62, Ken Willard ’62, Dennis Merklinger ’62, Randy Campbell ’62, Howard Cobb ’62, Gen. Binford Peay ’62, Don M. Giles ’64, Donnie White’65 and Donny Ross ’74. Saturday morning breakfast was in Crozet Hall, and then VMI took the group on a bus tour around the Post and visited the new facilities. The PX is beautiful and rivals any country club. The ROTC building is really nice. After lunch, the crowd of old timers boarded a bus to JMU for the football game. The gang reconvened at the Holiday Inn in Lexington where they critiqued, to the wee hours of the morning, the game and how they would have played it. Sunday morning, Larry and Jerri
Class of 1961: In Lexington, Virginia, for the VMI Sports Hall of Fame weekend, Oct. 30, 2009, and participating in the “Henning golf outing” were, from left, front row: Sal Vitale, Ray Hanlein, Rhett Clarkson, Dude Copenhaver, Dick Stone, J.C. Miller, Jim Miner, Jim Bickford, Mitch Copenhaver ’93 and Stewart Copenhaver ’94. Back row: Paul Johnston, Donald Kern, Bob Burks, George Henning, Tom Henning ’89, Lee Badgett, Bill Redd, Matt Henning ’90, Charles Downs’94, John Woodfin and Ed Henning ’94.
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VMI ALUMNI REVIEW