A 50th What? September 30 – October 2, 2016

Way back last year, noises were being made that my graduating class from Chapman College (now Chapman University) was going to celebrate a 50-year reunion. What? How can that be when I’m not even 50 years old yet? At least that’s how I feel most days. Fifty years is a long time and the thought of the reunion caused me to do some reminiscing, retrospection and just plain thinking about where did all those years go and how did the time pass so quickly.

I dallied with the idea of not attending because of cost, reverting back to my somewhat shy days of never being good enough and not measuring up to my buddies, and if the celebration would be worth all the hassle. BUT, curiosity about classmates and the ever changing campus prevailed and my long time buddy, Connie Gibson Raub, convinced me that it would be FUN, that we could room together, and we could attend the events together. So it is that we made arrangements and we went to celebrate.

The trip was quick and I apologize to my Orange County friends for not stopping by to see you and catch up. My duties at the Nevada State Museum and other obligations prevented me from spending more time down south. I will try to do better next time I’m down south.

I’ve only been in Minden for 3 ½ years but it seems that many things have changed or become worse (i.e. traffic) since I’ve been in Orange County. Or maybe I’ve become very used to almost nil traffic here in northern Nevada. Chapman has certainly grown and changed and it was fun to see the new buildings and tour many of them.

The neighbors from the old ‘hood knew I was coming down and arranged a very nice dinner party for me and we all had a good time talking about the changes in the neighborhood and finding out what each was doing. Thank you, Cerritos folks!

Don’t forget to double click the images if you would like to enlarge them

Connie had some old Disneyland passes that are true relics and we found some magic at the Magic Kingdom. DLand is a great place to feel young at heart.

We spent the next three days participating in the many events that had been planned for alumni and the community. It WAS a lot of fun.

Hangin’ with the newly inaugurated Chapman president Danielle Struppa

The Class of ’66 joining the 50 Year Club. Sadly, not many attended.

Judy Rostagno Boroskin was one of my roomies during our undergraduate work. We were at the chili cookoff prior to the football game that night. This was new for us since Chapman didn’t field a team when we were in school. Judy and I were on the Chapman basketball team together

Connie is showing off her school spirit.

Our regalia

Connie and I attended an interfaith service and had the privilege to hear Emma play her didgeridoo. I had never heard one played before and I found it to be melodious and very relaxing. She played while those who chose to do so, walked in a meditative labyrinth.

It’s supposed to be very relaxing but I didn’t find it so because I was too concerned about running into people on the narrow passageways. Given more practice I might find it very spiritual.

The last thing we did at Homecoming was to attend a Big Band Bubbly Brunch. It was fun and tasty with a nice buffet. The Chapman Swing Band played while some Chapman dancers strutted their stuff.

There were many more weekend activities in which we participated and I thought we were done when we went to the brunch. But there was one more big surprise! As we walked into our hotel lobby, we were met by our good friend and buddy, Dick Schmidt. He took us to a lovely dinner and we ended the evening watching the Disneyland fireworks. What a treat and awesome weekend!