Winter Class Notes
FEBRUARY 2006
CLASS NOTES
The doldrums of winter has firmly made its presence felt. Our 35th reunion is now a fond memory. Football is over, basketball is winding down and baseball is still a few weeks away. The sky is gray and the air is cold. The annual hibernation of many BR’s is in full swing. But all is not lost, a few BR’s have kept their eyes and ears opened and have reported back with some Class news.
Our Class was well represented at the Institute Society Dinner held on November 9th at Cameron Hall. Ralph Costen, Bob Copty, Roy Heddleston and Kent Shlussell and wives were in attendance. Ralph said that it was a first class affair and everyone had a good time.
Spoke with Judge Neil (“ain’t nobody is innocent in my court”) Steverson and Neil indicated that he and De attended the wedding of Bob Hawthrone’s daughter in Richmond in early November. Also in attendance from Charlottesville were Kent and Judy Schlussel. Congrats Bob on the wedding – financial recovery is not to far off!! Neil continues to preside on the Henrico County Court, administering justice in a fair and even handed manner. He seems very happy as a dispenser of justice. Jim and Judy Mawyer’s son Taylor ’01 also tied the knot in December. Seems Taylor met his future bride at their church gym during the recreational basketball season and romance blossomed - Cupid is an interesting dude! Jimi is still with Dominion Power as is Taylor.
Tom and Jill Cooke have had an interesting and busy winter. They recently purchased a summer home in a golf course community on a lake outside of Greenville, SC. They are busy spending weekends remodeling and getting ready for spring golf. The Cooke’s also got some good news from son Todd ’98. Todd and Sally are expecting their second child this summer and “Doc” is beside himself. This of course puts pressure on their other son Brad ’98 and wife Megan, to get with the program. Congrats to Tom and Jill and of course Todd and Sally.
Got a call from Julian (Ju Ju) Smith and it certainly was good hearing from him. Smitty and Donna have been in Birmingham with the Alabama (Southern) Power Company since he left his position with VMI in the early 70’s. They planned on attending Reunion, but business reared its ugly head and they had to cancel at the last minute. Ju Ju is one the senior lobbyist for the power company and spends a fair amount of time on the road doing what lobbyist do!?!. Julian and Donna are proud grand parents of grand daughter Isabelle, thanks to son Houston and his lovely wife. Julian sees Rodney Shu on a regular basis as Pudney is also with the power company as is Smitty’s brother in law, Andy Dearman ’75. With the addition of Lee Moon to the Birmingham area, ’70 is well represented. Julian assured me that he and Donna will be visiting VMI on a more frequent basis in the coming year. Donna is on a Board at Mary Washington College and will be attending meetings in Staunton. Julian welcome back – it has been too long. When you visit Lexington in the fall bring Rodney - he has been missed as well.
Got an e-mail from Leonard (Boom- Boom) McClure. Lenny was inquiring on the recovery of his former roomie, Ralph Costen. He is down in Florida staying busy with work and family. He was sorry to miss the 35th but indicated that the 40th is on the calendar. Good to hear from you Lenny.
Glenn Kuntz reported in from Bosnia where he has been the last two years representing the European Union as a legal counsel on international treaties, arms embargoes, military operations, organized crime, communications, construction contracts, civilian personnel, environmental and real estate matters – whew, I’m tired just typing his duties. His assignment is coming to an end in January and he will return to the states in a job yet to be found. Before returning stateside, Glenn is going to spend a couple of months hitting the European ski slopes that most of just read about. He indicated that he has thoroughly enjoyed his tour both professionally and as a traveler. He ran into Bob Randle while traveling in Germany and they reminisced over lunch. Bob is with the Defense Information Services Agency and apparently has had some interesting assignments. We look forward to seeing both of you when you return stateside.
Dr. Jon Vodermark wrote from Lubbock, TX where he is working with Texas Tech developing a residency training program and working with the dean implementing faculty development initiatives. Jon’s wife Sherri is from Lubbock so it was a nice homecoming for both. Now that they are settled in, Jon is looking forward to getting back in the VMI network.
Our resident investment advisor, Snake Hill, reports that he has seen and talked with a number of BR’s around the country regarding his Cancun project. Snake recently had dinner with Larry Dempsey and his wife while in Modesto, CA. He didn’t pass on any info on Larry other than he has a very lovely wife and that he still has problems with women at VMI. Larry, I think initially a lot of us did but like gas, it eventually passed. I think if you come back you will be pleasantly surprised how well its’ working out. Snake continues to work hard on his disco/night club project in Cancun and hopefully the end is in sight.
Ed Trinkle wrote to say that the reason he and his wife were unable to attend Reunion was that he had encountered some women problems, namely Katrina and Rita. Seems these lovely ladies kicked butt on Ed’s employer’s southeastern operations and put a screeching halt on the Trinkle’s leisure time. Speaking of leisure time, Ed mentioned that Jack Sheedy recently experienced a mid life crisis. I guess he felt life was slowing down so he went out and purchased a Porsche Boxter. The car is blue and wife Judi promptly named it “Viagra”. Not to be out done, law partner Dick Schellhammer immediately went out looking for a new car. Ed said that Dick hasn’t got the new car yet but does have a name for the car – “Thingee”. Thingee is apparently the syringe used to inject bull semen into reluctant cows!! I always heard that things were different in Texas but this is nuts. Thanks Ed for the up-date.
Rah Va Mil, Rah, Rah, Ri:, Ri Ri VMI – Chips, Chips, Chips. It you haven’t heard Class of ’70 has its own website thanks to Chip Lanier. Chips and I spoke after reunion about a site and the next thing I knew it was up and running. Chips has done a magnificent job designing the site and making it very user friendly. It is an excellent way to communicate with the Class as a whole. If you haven’t checked it out please do so – feel free to make suggestions on anything you think will improve the site or add to it. Our web address is –www.vmi70.org. Again Chips, thanks very much for all your hard work – it is very much appreciated.
On New Year’s Eve a large ’70 contingent gathered in DC for the VMI- University of Maryland B-ball game and New Year’s Eve party which followed. Included in the group were: Tom & Jill Cooke, Ralph & Marsha Costen, Roy & Carole Heddleston, Paul & Judy Dickinson, Herb & Susan Braun, Walt Ivkovich and Paula and I. The game was hard but the Keydets played as well as could be expected given the talent on the Maryland team. One thing that became very evident in the game was the coaching. VMI’s new basketball coach, Duggar Baucom, is the real deal. The kids are very welled coached and he gets about all he can from them. If he is successful (and he will be) in recruiting players with just a little bit more athletic ability, VMI will become a conference contender. After the game, the Keydet Club put on a fantastic party which was well attended. Everybody had a great time. Joining the party in addition to Coach Baucom was VMI’s new football coach, Jim Reid. All I can tell you is that everybody at the party was very impressed with Coach Reid. The man has the credentials both in experience and successes, but most of all he has an unflinching desire to win which warrants all of us getting behind him to rebuild our program - it’s gonna happen!!!!!!
The GOMBACS just returned from their annual trek to Myrtle Beach. This year’s group included John Bailey, Dave Schmidt, Tom Cooke, Warren Grasty, Herb Braun, Gary Weishaar, Jim Mawyer, Charlie Walker, AC Arnn, Tom Massey, Stix Chandler, Mike Snead and Chuck Wills. As always the golf was so-so but the activities were great. I think this is 30+ consecutive years that the group has made the trip.
And now a word from your local sponsor: Presently there are a lot of things happening at the Institute. The Athletic Department is rebuilding the core spectator sports. We have two new dedicated coaches whose sole mission in life is to turn around the fortunes of the VMI football and basketball programs. We have General Peay’s capital improvement programs in Vision 2039. We have the Foundation ensuring that VMI academic stature continues to shine. We continue to attract the best students in the state who not only carry on the VMI legacy but add to it. As with everything you get what you pay for. Annual operating costs continue to escalate while state funding continues to decline. To keep the ball rolling and to achieve the goals set, it is incumbent on all of us to participate in the VMI Annual Giving. At our station in life we should look back and reflect on how we got to where we are. Many of us will attribute our association with VMI as an integral part of our life successes. Please think about that as you write your check. That’s it - no more preaching. Please do what you can.
I recently read an article directed towards people who are entering the autumn of their lives. The article encouraged us to appreciate life, to look out for number one but most importantly not to step into number two!! Thanks to all who called, wrote or e-mailed with news. Please keep your eyes and ears open for Class news and drop me a line. You all take care.
God bless our troops and the Class of 1970.
