Making progress on tracking down MIA Classmates, but before we address specifics, the Court will come to order.

Look at the size of those boondockers!  RON SILVA’s been retired for a year now and reports around on his new occupation keeping him off the streets: “ I started work for an engineering firm, Washington Group International (the old Morris- Knudson Company), on 1 July 2004 as a VP for Ports, Harbors and Maritime Interdiction.  On 9 August 2004 I was on a plane to Baku, Azerbaijan to be Project Manager for a project to improve the Maritime Border Guard capabilities to do WMD Proliferation Prevention.  I'm working with a bunch of retired Coasties and others to fix ships, provide RHIBs, install land based radars and cameras, provide Boarding Team  and WMD detection equipment, provide Integrated Logistics System, provide required facilities, etc.   And associated training for all of the above.  I'll be doing this until late spring or early summer.  It's been a very interesting experience ... lots of hard work, but very rewarding.  Attached photo shows continued SAFETY focus on project.  Actually the photo was posed to show the "mud on the boots" ... a civil engineers expression of being a "hands on guy" and a guy who gets out of the office.  I should finish this assignment in July or August and then hopefully will work out of the WGI Crystal City office (just down the road from where we live in Arlington, VA) for what I was hired to do, that being VP for Ports, Harbors and Maritime Interdiction. BEV's been keeping busy with home improvement projects on the house.  The renovation of our kitchen was just completed and it turned out great.”  Photo may have been posed, but we all know the mud got there the old fashioned way...RON earned it!

It must be something in the water.  Got a quick note from BOB GONOR: “We are expecting our 4th Grandchild because Brian and Angelica are expecting their first.  Need to keep working. Grand kids are kind of like opportunities to light mucho dinero on fire.”  CONGRATULATIONS Grandpuba...and don’t forget a photo!

Speaking of photos, did you read the nice Editor’s Note in the last Bulletin?  I haven’t seen it yet, but El Presidente has promised he’d deliver the photo of Nani Peg and granddaughter Julia Elizabeth Lane directly to the Editor.  Julia Elizabeth was born at 2:30 pm on Wednesday December 29th, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs. 12 oz.  She and Mom Erin are doing GREAT ... and PAPA and NANI are just beaming.  Can’t wait to read this in the June Bulletin and see the photo!

Guess who else came through with photos?  Yes, you read the last Bulletin correctly...PETE TEBEAU got married.  “NANCY and I finally decided to stop carrying on like a couple of flower children and got married. The event occurred in the most unlikely place. I can remember 34 years ago when I was graduating from CGA seeing various classmates beating feet up the hill to the Chapel to get married. I thought to myself that there was no way that I would ever do that. I just wanted to get as far away from CGA as I could and had no intention of getting married in the foreseeable future.  Fast forward the tape 34 years.  NANCY and I are looking for a place to hold the ceremony and have it catered. Instant sticker shock not to mention a problem with availability on short notice. CGA to the rescue - we commandeered the O'Club on the Sunday after Thanksgiving for a lovely ceremony, inexpensive booze and great food. Just goes to show you - never say never!”  PETE sent along 2 photos...one the official wedding shot and the other a more relaxed, and clean shaven shot aboard S/V DILIGENCE.  More details to follow as the note accompanying the photos was from ACID’s desk at Stonington High School?

RALPH LEWIS and CAPT DEB have been traveling again.  “We just got back from a 10 day tour of Rome, including a side trip to Naples and Pompeii.  Wow, what a great time!  We enjoyed a lot of historic and religious sites, and of course lots of fantastic food as well.  Our hotel was centrally located, so we walked to a lot of the places of interest.  In fact, despite all the good eating, I lost several pounds due to all the walking.  The attached photo is of DEB and me at the Coliseum.  (If anyone wants a recommendation for an excellent tour company, based in Seattle, drop me an e-mail and I will fill you in.)  DEB continues her active duty tour as Deputy Director Joint Reserve Directorate, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB.  She will be there until the end of the FY.  We are not sure what the future career plans are yet.  Other than the geographic separation, it is nice having an employed spouse so I can play!  I am enjoying being fully retired, spending a lot of time on developing my artistic skills with wood sculptures.  I have been into carving tropical reef fish lately, and hope to enter some of my work in some local art shows this summer.  Who knows, maybe someday I will be rich and famous!”  Don’t know about rich and famous, but RALPH’s done some beautiful work...his latest carving two killer whales.  In addition to that tour company reference, ask him to send you the photos of his carvings...beautiful!

How ‘bout a quick check of the ol’ binnacle list?  CHARLIE HARRIS’ last physical therapy was Thursday 4/21 and he headed to the doctor’s office for his Safe for Solo check.  “I’m still an old man and I still creak but am feeling much betterÖsailing season is upon us and I’m ready to go!”  ROGER COURSEY reports on his surgery on April 6.  “Surgery went pretty much as planned, but not the result I was hoping for. They removed my cement spacer and put in another left total knee.  I was back to see the ortho guys today. The surgeons said there was more scar tissue in my knee than they had ever seen.  They said they had a real hard time getting into my knee due to the scar tissue.  I loss a lot of blood during and right after surgery.  Wound up having to get 2 units of blood this time.  The doctors say that there is a 5-10% chance of getting an infection again, but as of today (4/25), all looks well as far as infection goes.  After a total knee replacement, the doctors like to see about 110 degrees or better in flexion.  I had 114 degrees before they had to take my knee back out.  The docs say now, with all the scar tissue and this being my second total knee replacement, that they will be happy with 80-90 degrees of flexion, but that I may only get about 70 degrees now. But 70 degrees is better than having a stiff left leg, which I had for the last 5 months before the surgery.  I am at about 45 degrees right now.  Well, enough on the knee.  SUSAN is still the best home nurse I could have.  She has really stuck by me and went through a lot with all my surgeries and hospital stays.”

By the time you read this, it’ll be the Reverend Stan Norman!  “I will graduate from Fuller Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree on June 4, 2005.  The ceremony and worship service will be at John Knox Presbyterian Church in Normandy Park (near Seatac airport) at 2:00 PM, reception to follow.  SUE and I have been appointed to serve the Willapa Valley United Methodist Church in Raymond, Washington, beginning on July 1, 2005.  We are honored and humbled by this opportunity to serve, mostly humbled.  Your prayers are requested and appreciated.  God's ways are truly inscrutable!  Who would have thought that we would be called to this ministry when the world is telling us to retire?”  But STAN, what about that home in Florida?  Raymond, Washington?  Everyone get out that old atlas and look for photos in August!

After that grueling Antarctic cruise, I had to take a little R&R in the Islands.  MARY JANE, Kurt and I had a great time with 4 days on the Big Island and another 4 on Kauai.  We really enjoyed visiting Kilauea volcano.  Drove down one day from Kona and drove to the end of Chain of Craters Road where it ends where the lava covered it.  The active flow was another 2.5 miles over the lava beds, more than Kurt would be able to handle.  Instead, we booked a helo tour to the volcano ... can’t believe I paid for a helicopter ride!  An amazing flight over the volcano and a couple of very active lava flows, ones that looked like fast moving rivers of lava.  We probably were at about 50’ and could feel the heat.  Unfortunately, it was extremely windy and proved too much for both Kurt and Mary Jane.  After that experience we decided not to do a helo/waterfall trip in Kauai...but did book a sunset cruise on a catamaran along the Na Pali coast.  Beautiful evening, but very choppy and I was again concerned...but they both held up like true sailors.  Not so a few aboard...there were a couple men so sick I’m sure they wanted to die and were afraid they wouldn’t!  The photo is of the 3 of us at the Holei Sea Arch, right next to the end of the Chain of Craters Road.  We couldn’t schedule in a stop on Oahu, but CHARLIE WURSTER is still there and will be for another year.  “I got an extension to my tour here until the summer of 2006; so there’s still plenty of time for classmates to visit.”

With some outside assistance, I’ve been successful in tracking down a few of our missing Classmates.  Thanks to Mike Rosecrans ‘73 for forwarding an address and E-mail for BOB LETOURNEAU.  I spoke with BOB who is alive and well, working at Newport New Shipbuilding and living in Virginia Beach.  I’m waiting with anticipation for a LETOURNEAU Update.  TOM GEMMELL saw BRYANT NODINE’S ex-wife at the airport here in Juneau and forwarded a Tucson, Arizona mailing address.  I’ve tried both E-mail and snail mail contact, but to date without success.  But a SWABO’s been issued to RON LOOMIS who, small world that it is, lives less than 5 miles from BRYANT.  Check out Classmates page <http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Campus/7184/classmates.html> and drop each of them a note encouraging them to send in an update.  Just minutes before starting these notes on deadline day...never do early what you can put off until later...I got an E-mail from KEN COFFLAND.  KEN’s out of Alaska and flying in the Gulf of Mexico.  He’s in the middle of a move to Texas, but promised to send an update in the next couple of days, hopefully for the August Bulletin?  After a little Internet searching and a couple of E-mails scattered out into the electronic ether, I got a current E-mail for BO JOSEPHSON.  BO sent in a great photo and update: “I see you've got bloodhound AND pitbull in your blood line!  Seriously, I'm surprised that I was still among the lost because I thought I'd sent you an email many moons ago when I surfed the class web site and noticed that my email had fallen off the chart.  Be that as it may, you have indeed found one of the lost lambs.  It fascinates me that the Class of 71 has covered so much ground: most of us are at least two-thirds through the course! All of us show the wear and tear, and as a testament to that fact I'll introduce the attached photo of VICKIE and I, which shows clearly what time has done to yours truly.  Fortunately, I married a lovely girl 15 years ago,  so I'll always have something beautiful to see if I avoid mirrors.  VICKIE and I live in the Temecula Valley of California, which is about 75 miles north of San Diego.  With its adjacent orange groves, wine country, and mountains; family-oriented atmosphere; and Mediterranean climate, we feel very fortunate to be here. And that's in spite of the facts that we don't drink, look like senior citizens in church, and I, at least, get a little uncomfortable when those 100-degree days come around in the summer!  Besides being much my better half, VICKIE is a homemaker and gifted fabric artist and teacher. Our son Matt, 27, lives in Portland and is planning, we hope, to finally marry and fill his quiver with at least one or two children that we can go visit. I'm the director of product development and training for a local (no more 90 minute commutes!) insurance claims consulting company here in Temecula.  The position allows (forces?) me to draw on just about every business skill I've picked up in an eclectic career, so I feel blessed. Retirement is at least 6 years off, but if I stay with my present company it will be a fast and interesting final run.”

Four more Classmates accounted for...so who’s still missing?  DON BUMPS, BOB BUSH, RICH ENGDAHL, BOB GAU, BOB GULICK, BOB KASPER, BRUCE LEE, JIM MCGUINESS, BILL MILLER, PAIGE MOORE, BILL PHILLIPS, CHARLIE PIKE, DON PLAKE, DAVE RAMSEY, BOB SLACK, JOHN SMITH, STEVE WALLACE, and JOHN WOOD.  If you’ve got contact information, how about trying to get them to report around.  As Mike Rosecrans did, I’d appreciate anyone from other classes seeing a familiar name to let me know if you’ve got contact information.  Even if just a snail mail address, the Court will spring for a 37¢ stamp...we’re adjourned!