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Talk about nostalgia! The 50th anniversary Kingston Trio Concert on May 14th in Zoellner Arts Center is just too much! I remember in the spring of 1959 when Class President Jack Davidson suggested that we sponsor a Kingston Trio concert in the fall. I’d never even heard of the group. “There’re up and coming,” assured Jack with his entrepreneurial self-confidence. “It will be a winner!”

And so it was. By October, everyone had heard of the Kingston Trio. The Grace Hall concert was sold out, and the Class of ‘61 made a handsome profit — or should I say a killing! It seems only fitting, with our 50th Reunion rapidly approaching, that we should commemorate our success as a Class with an anniversary concert by the Trio. This article may not reach you before the concert, but if it does, grab yourself some tickets by going online to www.lu61.com, and join your Classmates for a day heaped with heart-warming nostalgia.

I was thrilled to learn that Jack Davidson will be returning to campus from Atlanta for the concert. You may know that he has been suffering from multiple sclerosis for the past 30 years. “I really want to come,” he declared. “I’m living very well in this fine nursing home. Things are great! My big deal is that I’m writing a science fiction and love novel which I think is coming out great.”

It was Ken Weaver who convinced Jack to come, when he and Jessica visited him on a recent road trip down to Florida. The Weavers are retired in Ocean City, NJ. Ken is chairman of marketing for the concert. Jim Williams is handling general PR, Larry Moyer is the program chair, and George Spill is putting together a series of educational presentations preceding the concert. It should be a great event!

Brian Bauknight expected a quiet life full of travel when he retired after 43 years from the United Methodist clergy. Not to be! At the urging of his youngest son, he moved to a farm with “two houses, four horses and an assortment of farm equipment.” He now finds himself to be a “farmer’s helper” and a part-time coordinator of leadership development for western Pennsylvania clergy.

Doug Braendel writes that he and Camie have three children and 14 grandchildren. They live in the mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania near the town of Bedford. Doug is the part-time business manager of White Sulphur Springs Hotel and Conference Center.

Joe Celauro sadly reports the death of Bob Staff. While at Lehigh, the two Pi Kaps snuck off from their “very conservative brothers” to hear a stump speech by presidential candidate Jack Kennedy, only to see their picture in the crowd on the front page of the next morning’s newspaper!

Another sad report came from Charlie Wentz, announcing the death in his sleep of John Highfield. You may not have known John personally, but I’m sure you remember him as quarterback of our great football team. He was an avid golfer, and past president of the Maryland State Golf Association. John had worked for UnderArmour Corporation and McCormick & Co. He left his wife, Carole, a daughter and four grandchildren. Charlie reports that his four young children are still in school, his oldest son now a senior at Lehigh. His 42-year career with Bethlehem Steel ended abruptly when the steel giant went bankrupt in 2003. He now markets metal products for Tampa-based McNichols Co.
Charlie and wife Leslie live in Morristown, NJ

Fall 2008

Although the big event is still more than two years away, our 50th Reunion Committee is already hard at work. I just got off a conference call with Class President Paul Smith, reunion fund chair Joe King, and Ed Watters, who are planning a series of momentum building “happenings” leading up to the reunion.
The first took place at halftime at the Cornell game on October 4, when Paul, Joe and Ed presented 611 Challenge Scholarships to three members of the Class of 2011. Each received a $1,000 scholarship from the Class of 61 Scholarship Endowment in recognition of their leadership and contributions to Lehigh. Shortly thereafter, at Founders Day, $5,000 was awarded in Class of 61 Professorships to help 4 newly tenured professors further their scholarship or research. Since we began this program following our 20th reunion, 43 Lehigh professors have received such grants.
The biggest pre-reunion event is the 50th Anniversary Concert by the Kingston Trio at Alumni Weekend on May 14, 2009. Remember our original Kingston Trio Concert in Grace Hall in October 1959? The group was at the peak of their popularity, and we made a bundle for the Class treasury! Well, the Reunion Committee hopes to repeat that success with a nostalgia concert in May. Plan to attend the concert.
Roy Martins sent me an e-mail noting that he and Vonnie have recently moved from San Diego to Carlsbad, CA. He conscientiously landscaped his new yard with xeriscape (waterwise) plant material — lots of cactus and succulents! Roy maintains his strong interest in college wrestling, attending the NCAA Wrestling Championships each year in St. Louis. He will join early ‘60s Phi Delts at a mini-reunion at the Penn match on February 22.
Austen Heydon suspects that he’s the last in our Class with young children. Although 18-year-old son Patrick and 21-year-old daughter Angela seriously considered Lehigh, they both chose to attend California schools and live at home in Portola Valley. He and Barbara are yearning for the house to clear so that they can enjoy their anticipated “endless vacations.”
It appears that Bob Haigh is busier in retirement than he was in his 38-year career working for the State of Pennsylvania. Among other endeavors, he launched a statewide pre-kindergarten program funded at $13million by six national foundations. Once that was rolling, he appointed his successor and moved into an advisory position. He’s now consulting and volunteering to assist non-profit associations which support early childhood education. He is also co-chair of the State advisory council on health insurance for low-income children (CHIP). Now that Carol is also retired, Bob anxiously looks forward to travel the world.
Like Bob, I am now retired. I wrote a book on city planning and enjoyed a great trip to Australia in October. But I’m getting bored and restless and will probably take up consulting or teaching as an adjunct professor. Fortunately, my three daughters and ten grandkids all live nearby in Southern California.
Not so for Bob Jablon. His son Stephen lives in Israel near the Lebanese border; his daughter Lara lives in Nevada City, CA, and has a “sustainable agriculture” farm in Prairie Farm, WI; and, his son Joel lives in Portland. Bob and Cara are still in Washington, D.C., “a small colony without Congressional representation.” He remains a working partner in the “public spirited” law firm of Spiegel & McDiarmid, where he focuses on avoiding antitrust or market power abuse among publicly owned electric power companies.