February 2003:

 

Greetings from Monterey, CA.  You may have seen pictures from the blimp during the last AT&T Pro Am Golf Tournament.  Once again, no one from our class was invited to play.

 

Kid reports that Bob Goetz has come to work with the CG as a Port Security Assessment specialist.  He is working in Crystal City, where the Traveling Inspection Staff and other key personnel have been put in exile across the River in DC.

 

Chow has no news from Kodiak, but complains that the weather has been too warm (he and Darrell Nelson figure it must be global warming – I guess they have lots of time on their hands to research such things), with no snow and no freezing temperatures – my heart goes out to them.

 

Mike Kushla’s son Jarrod graduated from Coast Guard boot camp in Cape May in January and is now a Seaman stationed on the USCGC MUSTANG in Seward, Alaska (I wonder if he is complaining about the warm weather in Alaska?).  And Mike is the Sailing Directions Editor for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency – how impressive a title is that?

 

Charlie Bennardini wants to remind us that he is in sunny Boca Raton Florida enjoying a successful commercial litigation practice at the law firm of Katzman, Wasserman, and Bennardini, PA, after leaving Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.  He says it is one of the largest commercial litigation practices in the North East section of Boca Raton.  He also says he lives in a mansion and invites all comers for a week vacation in Florida.

 

Kevin Jarvis’s daughter Nicole graduated from Anne Arundel Community College and has been accepted to Towson University to continue her studies to be a teacher.  He also was privileged enough to swear his son Keith into the Coast Guard and present to him his Boot Camp graduation certificate in December.  Keith is now in ET "A" school at Petaluma.  Plus, Kevin and Patti are happy to announce that they will be grandparents, as Keith and his wife Mandie are expecting a baby boy sometime late spring/early summer.  As far as I know, Kevin will be the first grandfather in that extremely young class of ’77.  Anyone else willing to acknowledge membership in that exclusive grandparent club?

 

Greg Warth talked with Bill Stowe, the former rowing coach at the Academy.  Coach Stowe is retired and living up in Lake Placid and is planning a big reunion for the rowing team at the Dad Vail in Philadelphia the weekend of May 9 and 10 to celebrate the 25th year reunion of the rowing team's trip to the Royal Henley Rowing Regatta in the UK.

 

From Hank Tueton: “Adm. Cohen, the Chief of Naval Research (I'm detailed from HQ to ONR), was showing me his "new boat," and suggesting that we should have vessels like this in the Coast Guard.  When I told him that I was the skipper of the boat he was showing me back in 1981, he decided to send me to Hawaii to be his test pilot!  The dynamic lifting body between the catamaran hulls is an ONR project that they hope will be used on the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship.”

 

Pete Ganser has begun a new career as a Foreign Service diplomat and is in Brasilia, Brazil.  At least at last report – knowing how quickly those diplomats get transferred, he could be just about anywhere.  I hope wherever he is has good golf courses, as both Michelle and Kendra (9) have caught the golfing bug from Pete.

 

Craig Veley is back from GTMO, as his unit returned home December 16 and demobilized on January 2.  He is back flying with American as a 737 Captain and invites everyone to stop by if they are in Orlando.

 

Don Wilt is back being a beltway bandit, having joined up with General Dynamics Decision Systems, who won the $611M contract to build the Rescue 21 National Distress and Response System.  He is the Director of Coast Guard Programs and works a lot with a lot people in Headquarters, including Tom Rice and Dave Pekoske.

 

Speaking of Tom Rice, he and Mark Campbell, Dave Glenn and Paul Zukunft, were all in PacArea and had got together for a mini-class dinner (I want to know what each one ordered for dinner – that is the stuff that makes these articles exciting).  Jack (call me John) Schott was also in Alameda but skipped out on the dinner.  Tom will be retiring this summer and moving to one of the country’s best kept secrets - Pine Knoll Shores, NC. 

 

It is true, Blaine Horrocks has retired!  He is the Stakeholder Liaison (I like Kushla’s title better!) with TSA at the Portland International Jetport in Maine.  He and Nattie just completed building a vacation home in the Belgade Lakes region of Maine, so, even though his hands still hurt form all the construction, things are working out well for Blaine.  He had a fitting retirement ceremony at the Mariners House in Boston's North End in January with several classmates attending including Russ Webster (emcee for the ceremony), Jeff Poston, Burt Russell, Ted Montgomery, and Gordie Howe.

 

From the Gambler’s Anonymous report:

 

Greg Booth owes Wally lunch on their Super Bowl bet, and, of course, has not yet paid.

 

Phil Heyl won his bet – that the CGA Sailing Team would beat the Naval Academy and retain the McMillan Cup.  By winning, Phil did not get thrown in the river, as the loser of the bet, Marine Col. John R. Allen, Commandant of Midshipman at USNA, did.  Way to go Phil.  And, best of luck in Key West!

 

And, I was privy to a bet involving a classmate who will remain nameless.  He was betting on his beloved Philadelphia Eagles against Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship.  One condition of the bet was “The loser will have to send an apology to the winner with a copy to Jim Hall for placement in the Class notes.”  I haven’t heard from you yet, Mike.

 

Hope all is well.  Keep me posted on any e-mail address changes, personal updates, professional changes and other tidbits, so I don’t have to keep making stuff up.

 

Jim