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Typical Winter weather in Delaware brought us just a few 1-2 inch dustings of snow and mainly above-freezing temps. Not bad for my 4-5 weekly 5 mile runs in the park near my house. I’ve been making the 4 hour drive to the Catskills every 3 weeks to see family and particularly my mom with Alzheimer’s. Only because I built her website and mobile app do I know that “Money Coach” Ronda Cobb’s weekly podcast can now be heard on iHeart Radio. Nice job!

Bruce Garrott writes:
Attached is a photo from our Christmas Vacation (note my hat!). We spent 11 days in Tanzania, the highlight being a six day Kilimanjaro Climb, via the Machame Route. We reached the summit on the morning of the 27th, after leaving our 15000 foot camp at 0030. That 4000 climb to the roof of Africa took us six hours and 45 minutes. We also hiked to a waterfall prior to the climb and then enjoyed a day safari to the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area, after the climb.

Brian Foy shares:
Ray…I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Capt. Scott O’Connor. Scott is a St. Johns River (Jax) pilot and he invited me to tag along as he hosted Florida 4th District Congressman John Rutherford as he piloted a vessel into the Port of Jacksonville.The occasion was “Take Your Congressman to Work Day.” Also joining us was fellow Kings Pointer Ben Christian ’07, Tote Shipping. The Master of the ship, who couldn’t be more welcoming, was Capt. Kevin Stith ’96. I have included a few pictures. Always great to catch up with Scott, my Florida neighbor to the north. It was a great experience and a nice break from “piloting” the Halls of Congress!

With not too much news, I felt compelled to include this Facebook posted photo of Art Burns wearing a classy hat.

Also lifted from that platform is the following…
Craig Matteson posts:
“This day I give a HUGE shout out to Joey Gallagher as Deb and I attend the Winter Classic at Notre Dame in South Bend … May 2019 be a good year for us all …!”

Prevent me from trolling social media and pirating content by sending content for next edition, especially if you’ve got news or email address of Jeff Ciampa, Phil Custer, Roger Foster, Mark Hoyle, Ed Napoli, or James Wei, just to mention a few. View color photos at KP83.org.

KP Magazine Online Edition
We need our Legislative Outreach Coordinator Brian Foy to launch our reunion column:
Our 35th Class Reunion was the best one yet. They just seem to get better with age!  It was a blast working with Lisa Fields, Ray Christensen, Al Reeves, Jim Quern, Mickey Cunningahm and of course, our fearless leader Chris Cioni, in planning all the details. It was good to see everyone and catch up. 35 years is a long time…but the friendships we forged while we were at school allow us to pick back up right where we leave off every five years. I hope to stay in contact with many of you (I promise!) and i hope you’ll do the same. Life is moving by way too quickly and our 40th will be here before we know it.  Maybe each one of us can reach out to a classmate we haven’t seen or heard from in years and encourage them to come.  They won’t regret it!

Congratulations once again to Ray for becoming our inaugural Class of ’83 Acta Non Verba awardee.  Well-deserved!  Thanks for all you do in keeping our class connected.

Randy Johnson and Chris Thayer received Outstanding Professional Achievement Awards at the Thursday dinner.

Maureen McKeever also helped out during the weekend and writes:
I had a great time at Homecoming seeing everyone and everyone looked great! We are aging well. I was happy to spend time with my former roommate Lisa Fields as well as the other ladies of ’83, including Cathy (Giguere) Coseno & Lynn (Craddock) Melin in photo. I also enjoyed talking to midshipmen around campus. They are worthy of following in our footsteps.

I am still in Pittsburgh, and am now working for Dollar Bank, doing phone customer service for customers with debit/credit card issues. I really enjoy my job especially when I can help someone and leave them happy. Or at least not too upset!

John Carbone chipped in with a great Homecoming shot in the tailgate area, “back where it all began!”

Mike Curtiss  also supplied a photo, adding “Hi Ray,  great to see you and the rest of the gang at the reunion. Thanks to you for the great work keeping the column going and thanks Chris Cioni and the reunion committee for putting on an awesome event! What a blast to reconnect with everybody!”

A.J. Murphy writes:
It was great to see everyone at the homecoming festivities.  Congrats to everyone who helped plan that event and for all who came from the four corners to catch up with our classmates!  As we were flying to NY, our delayed second grand child, Adalyn was born and we got the news upon landing at LGA.  That made for a good day, despite NY traffic.  Was able to enclose a picture of me and my older brother Jim, a class of 1973 grad (see kp83.org).  It was our first time in 35 years we were on campus at the same time since graduating – since I did not make the 30th and it was his first one to attend.  Also provided a Jim Proce sighting photo as well, since he is so rarely off the island!  It was good to catch up and his daughter Nora came and listened to a lot of us tell stories.  Was able to head to Big Bend National park the week following the homecoming for some good hiking and fresh air.  As we get older, these hiking trips do take a toll.  Who would believe there are almost 7000’ mountains in Texas!  Another fun time was getting my grandson, Aiden (16 months) underway for his first boat ride on Lake Ponchatrain in New Orleans. It was a nice day and he liked the boat and looking around, but did not like wearing the life jacket.  I could sympathize with that.  Just back from New Orleans area again for Thanksgiving and was able to have a nice lunch visit with Jim and Anne Quern.  Always good to see them while in town.  For all of us with loved ones in the service, let’s make sure we keep them in mind, doing jobs that are not always easy.  My oldest son Sean, is on a recall to active duty and is in Kabul, Afghanistan until May of 2019.  In the picture (at kp83.org), he is on the right, along with a technician and an Afghani soldier on a small mountain top camp.  Caught grief from Quern and some others, since I didn’t submit anything last edition, so trying to get back to being a regular provider.

Dan & Carrie Rohde add:
And a good time was had by all.!!  Great catching up with some many great people, looking forward to our 40th. Carrie and I took some heat for having some of our CGA Family at the reunion so I enclosed a picture of us up at the CGA sailing building (Jacobs Rock) with “our colors” flying proudly. 

 
Pete Lafontaine writes:
Judi and I will not be able to attend the reunion this year as we will just be returning from a Cape Cod vacation that weekend. It’s been a busy few months with a college graduation and a wedding.  Our son youngest Connor graduated from Norwich University and is now an Army Second Lieutenant.  (see photo from graduation).  His older brother Trevor who is a First Lieutenant administered the oath of office at the commissioning ceremony the next day.  Not long after that, Trevor and his new wife Sami were married.  (second photo)  So Judi and I are now taking a late season vacation to the Cape before things get busy again in October.

Both our sons are continuing their post-college running careers.  We’ll be heading to Washington, DC in early October to watch Connor race at the Army 10 Miler where he’ll represent the Army team from Fort Lee, Virginia.  Then in late October Trevor will be running the Marine Corps Marathon in DC again – a race that he won in 2015.  Trevor recently finished fourth at the Redmond, WA half marathon with a time of 1 hr 9 min.  The three guys who beat him – including his training partner who finished third – had all previously met the Olympic Marathon qualifying time.

On a more somber note, Judi and I were sad to hear that Coach Bill Olmeltchenko passed away.  He coached Cross Country and Track all four years when I ran at Kings Point and had a distinguished coaching a career that spanned many years. We were also sad to hear of the passing of Peter Rackett ’61 who more recently was very instrumental with the success of the KP Cross Country and Track team. Peter and then head Track coach Greg Lott actively recruited both of our sons to run for KP, but alas Trevor went to West Point and Connor choose the military college at Norwich University.

Bob Bennett provided a few nice Homecoming photos. (including a great retro shot at our website)

 
Steve Keating writes:
I continue to work in the Office of General Counsel for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency where I work on international maritime law issues such as the South China Sea and the Arctic.  My work on the South China Sea was recently published in Volume 9.3 of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, and I recently participated in an international, multidisciplinary working group to develop policy recommendations for the Arctic.  My wife, Cynthia, and I live in Alexandria, Virginia.  I enjoy kayaking, sailing, and playing Celtic music.

Joe Bishop writes:
I’m out working on the Great Lakes; sailing 2nd Assistant aboard the Philip R. Clarke, a bulk carrier hauling iron ore, limestone and coal for the steel industry. I’m still regretting missing the reunion this year and I’m doubly determined not to miss the 40th. Here’s a couple of pics. John Diegoli stopped by back in March on his way to Charleston from South Florida and we spent some time catching up and having a few brews at my favorite pub. I think we’ve become the graybeards everyone warned us about. The other is one of my current hobbies: a 2002 Harley Davidson Road King (Police model) that I hope to start restoring and customizing in the upcoming year.

At the reunion, class artist Susan Pawlukiewicz distributed a number of very cool custom sew-on / iron-on patches she created for our class (see photo).  She’s offering to mail one or more to anyone who’d like, so email her at .

Thanks everyone for again coming through and giving me plenty of content for this column. Visit our website for full color versions of the photos and to put a smile on your face as necessary.

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From your reunion committee:
Fellow ’83 Classmates and Shipmates…by the time you read this, we are hoping that nearly 100 of you are fondly remembering the activities at our 35th Reunion and and have renewed friendships bonded nearly 40 years ago. THAT’s what it’s all about! It is always amazing to us that more than 35 years later, we can pick up exactly where we left off. And it all started on July 17, 1979…

A special THANK YOU again to our sponsors! Your generous donations made this Reunion special for so many classmates and guests! Here are the 35th Reunion Sponsors:
Sean Connaughton, Jim Goulden, Craig Matteson, Joe Walsh, John Carbone, James Quern, Richard Boudiette, Art Burns, Scott Brueggeman, John Carbone, Chris Cioni, Mickey C, Bill Dunbar, Brian Foy, Tom Heberle, Mike Keane, Del Lewis, Scott O’Connor, Al Reeves, John Rhatigan, Doug Waldman, Lisa Fields plus corporate sponsors Adams and Reese LLP (Frank Liantonio), Lukoil Oil Company (Randy Johnson), Attraction Web Design (Ray Christensen).

Our committee navigated a number of challenges, including hotels who bumped us for better gigs, high prices to weed through, and just trying to make it as enjoyable as possible. Full recap in next edition. For those of you not able to make it this year…we MISSED you and hope you will plan on being at our 40th. PLEASE make sure that Ray has your current email address so we can keep you up to speed. You can reach him at . See reunion photos at our amazing class website at http://www.kp83.org. Ray does a magnificent job with this and welcomes your input. Please help us reach ALL our classmates!
On behalf of the 35th Reunion Team, we thank you for making the 5-year pilgrimage back to “the Point” and look forward to seeing you in 2023 if not sooner!
Chris Cioni, Chair
Lisa (Barcus) Fields
Ray Christensen
Brian Foy
Al Reeves
James Quern
Mickey Cunnigham

We’ve gotten many emails of regrets for those who weren’t able to attend. And here now the news…

Greetings from Ed Fairbairn. Mary and I still living in Prince William County, VA for the last 15 years. Hard to believe I retired from USN 12-1/2 years ago and been steadily employed at CACI, Inc since then. Been supporting MSC for the last 5 years. See some familiar faces at MSC such as Erin Gantt, Mike Palmer there from our class.
I just wanted to report that 2 years ago, Mark Faller and 6 partners, including Rex Gundle opened a brewery called: 6 Bears and a Goat in Fredericksburg, VA. We have wanted to make it down there and finally had a great experience and was able to connect with Mark this past weekend. If you are ever in Northern VA, it is a few miles off I-95, exit 133 and the website is 6bgbrewingco.com. I would recommend it. Maybe a great place for a KP Alumni event.

A little unfortunate, I won’t make the 5 year reunion for the first time in a while. We were invited with some family for dive vacation in Grand Cayman. I love you all, but hope you understand.

Another note is that Mary and I had dinner in Arlington with Brian Krenzien back in February. He has been doing weekly stints in DC, coming down from Atlantic City, each week. He has not aged a bit. Sorry, I don’t have a picture to prove it.

Cathy Giguere Coseno “had a great time with my dear friend Ailan Chubb on a recent business trip. I haven’t seen her since I got married 20 years ago. She looks great and is doing good work making this world a better place.”

Mark Smith shares his experience umpiring at the Little League World Series:
I umpired in 12 of the 32 games. I was behind the plate for the International semi-final between Japan vs. Puerto Rico. I was one of the 6 umpires chosen from 16 volunteer umpires from around the world to umpire the Championship game. I had 3rd base for the World Championship game in which Hawaii beat South Korea. The picture is my grandson rooting me on during the Championship game.

Rex Gundle weighs in:
Looking forward to the reunion and seeing many people I haven’t seen for the last 20 or more years. With only a small 2 year break living in the USA, I continue the global nomad life, living in country #8 since 1997, now in the old Soviet Union satellite country of Georgia. Working in Poti Sea Port, rarely do I cross paths with our fellow citizens, but was lucky this past week with the visit of USNS Carson City. Not only did I get to get a good fill of accents from all over the US, I was able to meet with a number of Kings Pointers that were on the ship in a logistics capacity or ship’s crew. Here is a picture from last week, which includes 4 Midshipmen (3 Engine / 1 Deck all class of 2020) Garrick Colorado, Jackson Misner, Justin McGaffigan and Brandon Gyron; 1st Engineer Chris Johnson ’06, and VP of NETLOG Logistics Jason Cook ’00, and yours truly. In addition to those pictured, Kings Pointers were also employed as Chief Mate, 2nd Mate and 3rd Mate. All serving our country proudly and professionally.

Don Towne writes:
Unfortunately I will not be able to attend our reunion. I built, own, and operate a high speed indoor kart track and family entertainment center in Mooresville, NC outside of Charlotte and my weekends lately have been take up managing it. We’ve been in business almost 11 years. I’ve had a few classmates stop in and you’re welcome to spread the word to anyone going this way that if they let me know when they’ll be here I’ll make sure they get a free race!
I look forward to reading about the reunion (with envy).

From Tom Collipi:
Unfortunately I will not be attending. The reunion is less than a week from my retirement from Northrop Grumman, where I have been working for the past 30 years.

Jeff Hoffman originally noted that “This is the first time in many years that I have been home from sea to attend. Looking forward to it!” But 3 weeks before homecoming, his update was “Unfortunately, I received a call from Crowley they are transferring me to a new ship and will be unable to attend.”

Doug Ullman laments:
I was hoping to figure a way to make it for Homecoming, but that is not in the cards.
I am on an extended contract to Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ. I am there 3-4 weeks at a time before spending a week working remotely from home in Wisconsin. On top of that, I need to visit my 88-year-old Mom in NC the weekend before Homecoming, and my wife’s 40-year High School reunion in New Jersey in October. I hope you all have a great time. Sorry I won’t be there.

Even if we missed you at our party weekend, it’s been great hearing from so many!

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