Thanks for staying in touch! With Social Networking sites everywhere (including your ability to post comments and photos at our www.USMMAAF.com class page), I won’t expect anyone to update the list at our class website, but I’ll leave it up there for hysterical historical reference.

Craig Matteson writes:
Here is a picture from this Sept/Oct at KP. Mike Keane, John Rhatigan and myself met Jim Goulden at the Point to hang with Jim. It was nice to visit and super nice that it wasn’t one of our anniversaries in that we could do what we wanted. Many thanks to Mike and Jeanie Keane for their hospitality. We all realized that we need to do this more often.

Mickey C writes:
Once again we are planning our trip to Myrtle Beach. This is the 25th year we’ve done this in some shape or form and it grows in numbers just about every year. Again, we are equal opportunity in our approach and even let Deckies attend. Bob Ross has been going for a few years and we almost (not completely) forgot Bob was a Deckie. McAloon came last year and spoiled it for Bob as we had just about forgotten. Plus, Jimmy Maloney has been coming off and on for about ten years and, well you know he’s a Dualie. If you can roll with this type of stupid humor and your in!

I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling this past year seeing many classmates. I spent time in New Orleans and saw Mr. Quern. Jim has found a way to ruin tennis as means of exercise. He claims to be exercising and then lets it slip that he takes a six pack as well. Next thing you know he’ll have a cupholder on his racket. And thanks have to be extended to Frank Liantonio and his wife Kim for keeping Jim’s “drunk calls” to a minimum while at LSU football games. That was funny 20 years ago and is still funny when you do it to Jim (Sorry Ann). The final update on Jim is he’s decided to not cut his hair and if he were to grow a mustache he’d look like a 70’s porn star(except for the other requirements).

I just spent a few days on the West Coast and saw Rich Boudiette. I’ve gotten older and am losing my hair and vision but still do not remember calling him Rick. Sorry Boo Boo. We decided to spend a saturday evening in Berkley and drink all the beer we could at one sitting. The best idea we now use since we are post 40 years old is the invention called the Taxi. It seems like you can drink forever and never have to worry, until the next day. Rich is doing well, still the New Yorker we all loved. We did wonder what happened to Dennis Drummond?

Finally, I spent the last two days in San Diego and caught up with Dan Baerman and Del Lewis. Dan is a hard working Manager at a beautiful power plant in the area and is still the sophisticated individual we all know and love. Del is the President of his own business and was gracious in taking me to an event as he is part of the Holiday Bowl Committee. Thanks again Del. Words of advice, live or retire in San Diego as it is beautiful. So, if in closing if anyone is interested in golfing in Myrtle Beach
drop me an email at

Class Ring Saga: (If you had not heard of this, email Ray to get on list…) As many of you know, Rita in Alumni Office alerted us to the fact that a KP’83 class ring was up for auction on eBay. It turned out to belong to Jeff Bubin, who eventually paid and recovered it after having lost it 25 years ago! (The power of the internet) Jeff reports. “It’s in great shape and so strange but nice to have it back in my possession after all those years.”

The tragically funny part of the story is that soon after sending a group email, I was deluged with
messages indicating that seemingly half of our class has lost our rings over the years.

Scott O’Connor writes:
I guess that ring wasn’t the one I left in an airplane bathroom. Or the first one that I lost in the grass at Eldridge Pool before we graduated. I’ve never been good with rings so I just wait for someone to give me another one – white gold with black onyx, size 11 by the way. I’m glad Jeff got his ring back -amazing. How did he loose it to begin with?

Glenda and I continue to be active with our Jacksonville alumni chapter. I’ve gone the next step and am now on the Alumni Foundation Board of Directors. I’ll take any and all complaints or suggestions for a deductible donation…. The Jax Chapter is looking forward to hosting the KP Rowing team for their Spring Training the first week of March. BBQ at our house 3/6 if you or anyone is in the area. Glenda and I are keeping up with the current classes at KP with Katie ’13 at sea in the engineroom of
Matson’s Maunawili. She’s having a blast and liking the work. Kyle is permanent 3/m on Crowley’s shuttle tanker Blue Ridge. He abandons his dog on our door step when he leaves.

I spent a week in Seattle at Jon Kjaerulff‘s school, taking BST. Old men should not be putting on fire fighting gear and running into burning vessel mock-ups. Jon and Maria, Syd and Bill Sliker and Darcy and Mark Lund all met up for a great dinner before I left. Thanks to Jon and Bill for their great lodging and hospitality. Bill has got us all lined up for a week in BC in August, fishing and partying.

See previous columns & photos at www.StillConnected.com/kp83. If you’re ever passing through Delaware on I-95, call me and stop by to visit my “Beer Room” like Brian Foy did last year. I’m usually here since I work at home. Stay safe.
—– Ray Christensen

(l to r) Mike Keane, Craig Matteson, John Rhatigan, Jim Goulden, Jeanie Keane

Brian Foy visits Ray Christensen’s “Beer Room” in Sept 2009

Thanks for many great notes!

Pete Lafontaine writes:
We had perfect conditions for the KP 5K on Saturday 7/31 with cool, dry weather. The turnout was great with about 500 finishers. My son Trevor who is entering his senior year in high school took first place in 17:09. The X-Country coaches spent the rest of the day trying to convince him to attend KP, but his first choice is West Point which is currently recruiting him to run Track. I took 6th place in 18:20 (1st in alumni division) and my younger son Connor who is just entering his freshman year in high school finished 45th (1st in the alumni family division).

A.J. Murphy writes:
I met up with John Rhatigan for dinner, while I was briefly in Waltham, MA. Come to find out, this was actually where John grew up, prior to going to K.P. Had a guest dinner, enjoyed the visit and basically cut up quite a bit comparing notes!

Gretchen and I also teamed up at the Kurt Larsen household for a Texas style BBQ. Kurt has a great wife, Lisa (cause she is also from New Orleans like us) and a charming daughter still at home that just started her senior year in high school. They will be empty nesters soon as well.

Heard from Chirs D’Angelo end SEP. One of the few times he shows up in Houston, I was out of town. Sorry we missed a possible get together.

The last item that was just too cool to pass up were photos of some cool stuff on the island of Crete, Italy. Gretchen and were there for a week and stumbled across the “original seafaring people’s” maritime museum there. Being a true K.P’er, just had to get a picture of that. Then the real photo op came along. This is a real sea story… This is no %&@*, this really happened. I am doing my best ot drive this wind up toy of a car, just like the Greek Formula 1 racers around this huge island, and I look over and did a double take. Then I turned around and had to come back to get a picture to prove it. Someone had taken the superstructure of a small ship and permanently drydocked it on their lot! It had bridge windows, and some portholes. The steering wheel was on the gate and the radio DF was mounted over the garage or patio. A prop, spotlight and bell were still mounted on the front of the house. The bridge wing was covered over and a window was added. I got a feeling that some guy sailing was told by his girlfriend/wife that was it with him being gone all the time on a ship and those days were over, so he brought it “home”.

Matt Bucherati writes:
All is well with the Bucherati family. My son, Adam (28) got home from his year tour in Iraq. His daughter, Madison, was born six months into his tour. Thankfully, he was able to be home for the birth. His whole company opted out of those two weeks of leave to make sure he could be home. Three days after returning home, his wife Shannon delivered Madison actually on her due date. Adam was also reunited with his son and my grandson, Matthew. He had been gone for more than half of his life. Photo of my son and his family at their homecoming ceremony was in last column. (If you think my son looks tall in the picture it is because he is 6′-7″ and his wife is a squirt.)

My oldest daughter, Ellie (24) graduated from UNC last year and has been working in NY as a marketing analyst. She also just got engaged to a wonderful young man, Dave, who is completing his last year in medical school. Upon graduation, he will be a doctor and medical officer in the United States Army. They will be married in May 2011. Rosie (22), my youngest, is a senior at UNC Chapel Hill. In May she will graduate from the Keenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC with a BSBA. She is also a serious hang glider pilot.

Sara, my dear bride, and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary tomorrow. I am also about to celebrate my 25th year at Pepsi. Overall, life is good and I have been blessed with a wonderful and growing family. I wish the very best for all of my KP classmates as well.

Art Burns sent a photo:
It’s Robert Starks and me aboard a launch going ashore in Malaga, Spain. Our ship, USNS SISLER is in the background.

Congrats to Stephen Galati, Esq., of the Philadelphia law firm of Mattioni, Ltd. for being elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Chilean and American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia (CACCGP). He has also been re-elected to the Board of Directors of the International Refrigerated Transportation Association (IRTA). Steve’s practice is in the areas of admiralty and maritime law and in business transaction matters, including representing those involved in the importation, transportation and storage of perishable commodities.

As far as your humble class correspondent, I can’t come close to the blazing speed of Pete Lafontaine, but can still knock down the miles, running my 18th marathon in October. I’m webmaster for over 100 sites & my online empire includes selling travel, posters, supplements, drugs, and even a couple eBooks. See previous columns & photos at our website.
—– Ray Christensen

Pete LaFontaine with sons Trevor & Connor at KP

Trevor LaFontaine wins Alumni 5K

 
Art Burns & Robert Starks                 Stephen Galati

 
A.J. Murphy in Greece

Thanks for many great notes!

Matthew Bucherati writes:
My son Adam just returned from Iraq two weeks ago safe and sound after being gone 416 days. We met him at the airport with his wife, Shannon, this two year old son, Matthew, and his six month old daughter, Madison. It was a wonderful homecoming. He is now settled in back at his home in Winston-Salem and is assimilating back into civilian life again. We are all thankful for his safe return.

A.J. Murphy writes:
Found out a fellow classmate Kurt Larsen was here in Houston since AUG of 2009. Got together this past weekend to visit with my wife and daughter along with his wife and daughter. Had a really nice outing on the boat on Lake Conroe. It was good to catch up with him. Kurt works for ABS nearby and we only live about 20 minutes from each other.

John Prien writes:
Cindy and I are keeping very busy with our 4 “tax deductions” – Maddie (almost 10), Ben (8), Zach (4) and Grayson (2) – and our newest addition to the family – a 23′ deck boat with a 350 HP inboard / outboard we keep out on Lake Allatoona. Between the family, Clorox and the Navy I’ve been keeping quite busy – in fact I was called up by the Navy to support the Deepwater Horizon spill as US Fleet Forces Command Liaison Officer to Unified Area Command for the spill . On the morning of April 30th the headline on the front page of the Wall Street Journal was “Navy Joins the Fight” – and by 6 PM that evening I was on my way down to the Gulf (needless to say it was a very interesting deployment).

Brian Foy writes:
Ray…I don’t think I have “sounded off” since our 25th so I am due. The past year has been quite hectic but the Foy’s have finally settled down in Pawling, NY. I am working again for the Westchester County Medical Society in White Plains (since 9-09) and we spent the last year living with my mother-in-law (no comment) in Port Chester until we sold our Oklahoma home. My two oldest (Melissa, 26 and Vincent, 23) remain in Oklahoma building their lives and my two youngest (James, 17 and Connor, 13) are with Karen and I here in NY. We really like Pawling but I have a feeling I will be in dire need of a snowblower in the near future!

I am enjoying a quiet summer thus far. The Foy siblings and their families are all gathering in Destin, FL later this month (July) to celebrate my parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary. Turns out we are getting a huge refund from the owners of the house we are renting due to the oil spill. BP at work, I suspect. I am planning to get to a KP football game or two this Fall and I am about 30 minutes from West Point and may try to get to an Army game. Speaking of KP, my son (gasp) has expressed some interest so we are going to an orientation session in August for the would-be Class of 2015.

I haven’t had much contact lately with fellow ’83ers. My cell remains 405-850-8367 and email is . I have contacted the Mid-Hudson Chapter of USMMAAA and plan to join soon. I would welcome contact from classmates and especially those passing through the Hudson Valley area.

How’s the Marathon Man these days? I’ll let you know when I am next in the DC area so we can celebrate one more year since we stepped off the brow of the navy’s most infamous Tuna Boat!

Fair winds…

Thanks Brian. Marathon Man is fine (although my car recently got totaled in a 4 car collision). No big injuries and even getting some “medical massage” from a cute young lady. I’m now president of my running club (www.pcvrc.com) and race director of www.NunRun5K.org. I’ll run Rock’n’Roll half marathon in VA Beach, with concerts the nights before and after on the beach. Then in early October I’ll run my 18th marathon in Corning, NY, with www.RebelRunners.com buddies. That just leaves enough time to build websites for actual paying customers here and there.
See previous columns & photos at our website. Drive safely – land, sea, and air!
—– Ray Christensen

Ray Christensen after marathon with Chris Cioni in Sacramento Dec’09

 


Matthew Bucherati’s son home from Iraq tour – – Grandson