10 March 1999. This one was to have been another with photos. Bad news: too late to submit the photos, so you are stuck with words. Photos in Jul/Aug Assembly. Good news: mostly words of others from email and other sources.

New Grandchildren. A good category with which to begin, but in no particular order. From Ed Dodd we have news of his first grandchild. "I would like to announce the arrival of a Class of 2017 candidate. My first grandchild, Kristal Elise Dodd was born at 0954 hours PST, 28 Jan 99. She weighed in at 8 lbs 8.5 oz and measured 20 1/4 inches long. She has a head full of black hair and (need I say) is beautiful. The proud parents, Ed Dodd III and wife Shawn are doing well although they do seem to need a bit more sleep and general rest." Ed’s second message said, "OOPS! Sent the attached to the wrong place. Grandpa isn't too excited, just another of the recurring attacks of CRS."

Roger & Laurelei Waddell are pleased to announce the birth of their first grandchild. Katherine Chase Hurford was born 9 October. The parents are Jenny and Jeff Hurford of Duluth, GA. The baby and parents are doing well.

And from Margaret & Hugh Morgan: Our first grandchild, William Forrest Flammer, was born at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on February 5, 1991. The parents are Carol (Morgan) & William Flammer of Marietta, Georgia. Forrest weighed in at 8 pounds and 12 ounces. He was 10 1/2 inches long." Next came Hugh’s correction message: "Please correct my previous message to a date of birth of 1999. I guess old grandpaw is entering his dotage." To which Scribe adds, aren’t we all?

And from Bill Parks, news of new grandson, another grandchild on the way and good news on daughter Susan Parks Hower’s recovering from her auto accident. First, the grandson: "Great News from the Parks family! Casey Prentice was born Fri, Feb 26 at 6:45pm weighing 7lbs 1 oz. Casey and Nancy (aside: Bill & Mary Jane’s #2 daughter) are doing well. They will come home on Sun 2/28. Susan (aside: their #1 daughter) is putting weight on her left leg and can stand by herself, holding for support of the right leg. We still do not know what to do with the right leg. The bone is not mending sufficiently to bear weight. She had a wonderful smile on her face when she first stood up on the left leg! It’s been 7 months since the accident. Mary Lamb (aside: their #3 daughter) announced she is expecting her first baby in Oct. We are excited that he, Casey, will have a similar aged cousin to play with. 99 is turning out better and better."

In-Barracks Mini (14-17 Jun 99).

First, it might not be too late to sign up when you read this in May/Jun Assembly. Call Jerry Mitchell (703-866-0145). The following advertisement is from Mark Sigurski via email from George Lawton, who wrote. "Although not on the official schedule, I also received a plan of action on nocturnal pursuits from the leader of our "over the wall" gang, Mark Sigurski. I would like to share this irreverent communication with you in the hope you find it as funny as I did. This is pure Mark.

• AFTER TAPS TOUR. Guides: McCaffrey, Ordway, Roosma, Sigurski and Tierney.
• This will not be a pretty tour. We ask that each of you bring a letter of permission from a responsible adult, i.e., wife, mistress, or lover.
• Along this road to perdition there will be some boozing and much wenching. We will visit some of the finest sewer holes that your guides called home during our cadet days. These include the TP (Trading Post), Mama P's, Gallus, and of course, the Bear Mountain Inn.
• The participants should be in good enough condition to climb the steps from the Mess Hall to the Cadet Chapel. The tour will begin at 2300 hours at the Cadet Chapel in limos. We will use limos in lieu of Bosch cabs. For the faint of heart, some of the limos will return promptly at 2330 hours after a short tour of Lusk Reservoir.
• The rest of the budding degenerates will meander for days. The limo drivers will be female and available for up to four weeks or a wedding--should you fall in love--at the Cadet Chapel, which ever comes first.
• You may designate children whom you do don't particularly like to pick up your belongings in the barracks prior to the academic year--September 1999. This of course is applicable only to those who went on the tour and never came back. The Midnight Riders.

Back to Lawton’s email, -- As a bonus for those in attendance, current plans call for us to participate in the dedication of the Debate Council & Forum Room in memory of George Walker during the mini reunion. In addition, in May of this year, the top two graduating cadet debaters will each receive a set of books during the "June Week" festivities. I know there are still a few people who have expressed interest in this mini, who have not signed up. I suggest you get your reservations in ASAP.

Portland Mini (7-10 Sep 00). Please know that the Gang of Four (Vanture, Hill, Miller, Connell) are moving along on the P.M. Let me give a few details to assist your own class activities at this point. We plan to send a total class mailout via the OR State Dept of Tourism in mid-Apr. Then, to follow this up in May with a P.M. letter/package to the entire class (we'll back up with information on the e-mail class mailbox). The letter/package will contain specifics, and will include response items having to do with determining interests and desires. Nevertheless, we do plan to stick pretty much to the tried and approved format. Our emphasis will also be to have everyone interested to add their own special trip at the beginning or the end of the time here in Portland. One special item will be to examine interest in a cruise to Alaska, which we will plan at the conclusion of the time here, starting Sun or Mon, Sep 10 or11. We DO intend to pass the planning for that off to others, very probably to classmates in the Seattle area. Portland (info). Primary Hotel: Portland Marriott (On the downtown waterfront).  Dates:

• Thurs, Sep 7:  Arrivals; Check-in; No-host Benny Havens Hour (probably 5-9pm). We'll have our own large class room throughout.
• Fri, Sep 8: Arranged bus-tour up Columbia River Gorge, Bonneville Dam, etc. Lunch and other activities to be included. Also, golf, tennis, individual activities as desired. Late afternoon/evening: Memorial service at Oregon VN Memorial, followed by outdoor (casual) dinner, beer, wine, etc., at Oregon Forestry Center, adjacent to VN Memorial. Buffet style dinner, casual music, dancing, mixing, and lots of mixing. (The Ore Zoo is right here, too!).
• Sat, Sep 9: More of the same, to include golf, etc, or whatever else is of interest and responds to our May package mailout. Our emphasis is also NOT going to be to have a whole lot of organized activities, but rather to encourage folks to do their own thing, see Portland and a bit of the NW, etc. We will have several considerations for this purpose, and will assist to max extent possible. Sat evening: More formal dinner, (announcements?), dancing, mixing at the Marriott Hotel.
• Sun morning, Sep 10: Class breakfast and class business meeting, to the extent this is desired. Again, similar to other Minis. I have been to many now and believe this is imperative.
• We will arrange for a selected nearby RV park for those who wish to come that way. We'll seek to make full arrangements and do whatever level of coordination and assistance needed to make this work. We'll also plan to assist and/or facilitate anyone’s desires to visit to other places out here in the greater NW area. This could and will include everything from the Bay area to Victoria, BC and Vancouver. But we plan for individuals to make their own schedules and arrangements for these added items and days. But we can help with tourism addresses, etc, from the four states out here for folks to contact, and help every way else possible. We believe Portland will offer enough within the City and environs to please every interest, but we also plan to concentrate on enhancing mixing with others throughout, as opposed to too many scheduled tours.
• Paul Vanture is ‘President’ (Scribe note: what happens when the 40^th is your first-ever reunion—you get to run the next mini) of our gang and I hope you will not hesitate to go to him at any time. Suggest any correspondence be sent to the three of us (OK Hill has dropped off e-mail, but we'll assure he is included on our end). Paul has also gotten into the administration and the soon-to-be mailouts.
• Above all, he (we) will need latest and most accurate mailing and mailing labels if possible. The State Tourism will send a package to each at their expense. Our later package mail costs will be ours. You might inform us further re use of class funds. However, as in past, we will bill everyone planning to attend a pre-Mini fee to cover our planning and costs in advance. So far we are good (Orlie banked the Hotel advance fee.)

Your Scribe says, with this Assembly notice and two advanced mailings you have no excuse not to be in Portland in Sep 00. And in Santa Fe in 01 (Tom Claffey) and then in Panama City, FL in 02 (Ken Phillips). Of course, back to West Point in 03 (Garry Roosma).

The recent Ski Mini: various reports. First from Hugh Trumbull "You may hear some war stories about the MOAST. Don't believe any of them - except one. The one that you should believe is that classmate Bob & wife Bonnie Moscatelli were exceptional hosts. Thoughtful, gracious, generous - hospitality at its very best!!! The get together was great and Bob and Bonnie were the MOAST!!"

And from Palmer McGrew: "I have been urged to report to the class on the recent class ski trip, named and earning the title of the Mother of All Ski Trips (MOAST), our third annual Class Ski Trip. Bob & Bonnie Moscatelli, with the able assistance of Herb & Carma Johnson, put together a fun-filled week of skiing, dining, imbibing, sleighing, etc etc in Summit County, CO for some 28 classmates, a bunch of wives, and one son. The only damper on a perfect experience was the illness of some of our stalwarts, namely Jim & Sally Tilley, and George Lawton. We missed them greatly and hope they have recovered by now (I know, some of you are saying that there is no hope for George, but this was a physical ailment). The weather was both wonderful and dreadful. We had 2 warm and sunny days, 1 blizzard, a sunny day of well below freezing temps. Plenty of excuses for sitting in front of the fire if you wanted, and plenty of good snow for skiing if you wanted. Conditions at Keystone were very good and Copper was just about perfect. It's hard to summarize a good time. Everything was great from the welcome party at the Moscatelli’s' to the farewell dinner. Just superb. I think nothing beats a gathering of classmates (the best folks I know), whatever the setting. The skiing just makes it better. If you are a skier and are not attending the class ski trips, I'm sorry. You are missing something wonderful. We skiers will not be inundating the class net with our messages so much in the future, it's just the euphoria of the last event you're seeing. The way we avoid pestering you with our traffic is through the use of our own ski58 list (Scribe note: 51 classmates on this list that operates similarly to our class email net: one address reaches all on the list). If you are a skier and are not on our class ski list, please reply to me (Palmer) and I will put you on.

Meanwhile, everyone should read Bill Gillette's proposal for an Austrian ski trip next year and, if interested, reply to Bill. I urged Bill to keep that message short and he did. If you don't understand it, reply to Bill and ask for more detail. He told us in great detail how wonderful the hotel was, the 4-star chef, and so on. It sounds like a first-class trip at reasonable cost. And it will be with your classmates!!" On behalf of ’58 let your Scribe say thanks to Hugh & Palmer for reports on MOAST and thanks to Bob & Bonnie and Herb & Carma for hosting the MOAST! Pearl Mesta has been replaced as the Hostess with the Mostess…at least for ’58 and what else counts anyway.

Ski Austria 2000. Info from Bill Gillette follows: Tentative Schedule

• • 8 January, 2000- Depart Dulles Airport (Washington DC).
  • 9 January, 2000- Arrive Hotel Enzian, Landeck, Austria.
  • 10-15 January Ski the Tyrol (Six days to ski or travel). Three Sightseeing Trips: 1. Nauschwanstein Castle, 2. Innsbruck, 3. Meran, Italy
  • 16 January Depart Landeck for Munich; Overnight stay in Munich.
  • 17 January Depart for CONUS.
  • Package includes : Round trip airfare - Dulles –Munich; Rental Car; Seven (7) Nights with breakfast and dinner at the Enzian (double occupancy, however, a few rooms can accommodate three upon request); One (1) Night at the Comfort Hotel at Munich Airport.
  • Estimated cost of package $1,400 ( subject to economic and currency risk).
  • Firm price by June 15, 1999.
  • Due to limited space in the Enzian Hotel, anyone interested in the trip should e-mail sharpblade @msn.com or mail to 1189 Winer Road, Odenton, MD 21113 ASA.P. Persons on this list will be sent information on the final cost and schedule. Full payment must be received by August 15, 1999. Trip insurance will be available.

Annual mini reunions, annual ski trip, some companies having micro reunions, every fifth year back to West Point (actually, back to West Point this Jun for In-Barracks Graduate Seminar), local society Founder’s Day dinners and other functions, DC area luncheons—there is no excuse for not seeing your classmates, described by Palmer as "the best folks I know," to which Scribe can only say, AMEN!

For those who cannot wait for these events, you can follow the lead of Palmer & Ceda McGrew and visit others. Palmer writes, "Winter is now over for the McGrews. We are getting on the auto train tomorrow (2 Mar) and will wake up Wednesday in Florida. We will visit Rae Ramsden in St Augustine, where we will also see the Shellenbergers and Galens. Houseboat with Grohs around Sanibel and Captiva. Stop with Tomlinsons on the way home. In other words, if we can find out your address, you're in trouble. We's a comin'."

Another one leaving the snow for sunny FL (but home by the time you read this), "Hi to all. For anyone who may want to reach me, I shall be away from my computer and off the air from Feb 26 - April 2, while traveling and in Naples, Florida, trying to kill off the last of the winter in a more congenial climate. Regards to all, Paul Ciasullo."

Another retirement, Tony Nadal writes, "Yesterday was L day. That stands for Liberation Day. I am now officially retired and hereby join the ranks of the Greedy Geezers. Those of you who are still working please keep it up and pay your social security taxes so I can enjoy retirement. "In June I will be moving to Ford's Colony, a golf community outside of Williamsburg, VA where several other classmates are living or planning to move to in the future. My address at Ford's Colony will be 110 Carnousti St., Williamsburg, VA 23188. I recommend the area to anyone looking for a retirement place. Always looking for more playmates."

Out of time, energy, ideas, but not out of information, so please tune it next time. This one is May/Jun so the next will be Jul/Aug. Our subscription rate remains terrible. I had a great suggestion from Chuck Densford in response to an email plea for more to sign up. Chuck suggested the following—can’t find it. My email ate his message. The gist of it was for company-mates to give a gift subscription another in the company not subscribing because of ignorance, oversight or just plain cheap. Great idea except it requires your Scribe to break down the non-subscribers by company and pass to the CCQs, etc. Someday maybe.

Till next time best wishes for a great summer. Hope to see you at In-Barracks Mini, also called Graduate Seminar. Hope you re-up for Assembly when the flyers arrive (about the time of May/Jun Assembly). Please check out our homepage, the labor of love by Pete Trainor. If you are not part of the email class net (over 300 are), contact Dick Buckalew or Scribe (I will forward info to Dick). And plan now to attend Portland in 00, Santa Fe in 01, Panama City in 02 and West Point (45^th) in 03. And don’t forget the skiing opportunities, local Founder’s Day dinners, etc. Be touch. Subscribe to Assembly. Enough admonitions.