Scott O’Connor gets us underway:
A few weeks ago Chris Hart reached out. He and Colleen were traveling to Jekyll Island to firm up plans for their daughter’s destination wedding. (Great destination!). We met for dinner in Jacksonville where they were flying in and out. It was great catching up one-on-one since, like many, the conversations at homecomings is usually all too short. There has been a lot of water under the bridge on both our accounts. As is typical on my account, I never remember a photo op so no photos are attached.
Not long after was a brief but very enjoyable meet up with Cindy and John Prien. We were all at Kings Point attending the Flying Bridge Club meetings and the dedication of the new Mariner Memorial on the Academy grounds,by the Museum. John had an amazing 36-year career with the Clorox Corporation and 28-year one with the Navy Reserve. The latter included a 10-month tour of duty in Iraq. That certainly nailed him an 0-6 retirement. All the while he and Cindy raised 4.
Traveling is great. Glenda and I were in the Egyptian Valley of the Queens (think Nefertiti, not otherwise) when the bombs starting falling on Tehran. That scrubbed the tour to Jordan. Viking did a great job of extricating their customers from there and refunded 110% for those who were slated to travel later. Next up for us: Aranui 5 to and around the Marquesas, in search of Gauguin.
Brian Foy notes that “The Class of ‘83 was well-represented at the annual Maritime Industry “Sail-In” on Capitol Hill, held on April 22.”
Rick Boudiette makes up for Scott’s lack of photos:
Keeping busy following my move to Northern California and our last news roundup. I visited a former colleague for his 95th birthday and a few friends in Thailand, including John Wright. John’s doing well in retirement and playing lots of golf.
Baseball season started and Chris Cioni and I took in an A’s game on their home opener weekend (a giveaway day – retirement is a lot like work, all about the giveaways 😊).
I’ve been fostering a dog since the beginning of the year. A 7-yr old Australian shepherd mix named Leo. Here’s a pic of Leo and me walking the American River Parkway on Easter. Life is good.
Rex Gundle shares:
Having survived my first (average) winter up in MN (which feels like it only ended last month), Kim and I are fully embracing the current good weather, which has allowed visits with folks I haven’t seen in awhile. Many of you have seen Willie Barrere around the country, and his recent visit was great, as was a person that Mike Booth and I had not seen in a bit over 40 years, Terry Patterson. I have been really blessed to reconnect with old friends / classmates since retirement. I hope to see several more in November for the Secretary’s Cup, and more during our planned road trips in the next upcoming months. Keep smiling!
Keep the rubber side down, and smile until you reach the horizon!
Bruce Garrott can’t stop scanning vintage photos. Here’s one of Dave Carlson’s birthday, first class year. 7th co tradition was to escort you to the shower on your birthday, regardless of what you were wearing.
Bumper Kunkle is always on the move:
I got to meet up with Bill and Sydney Sliker in Nashville at the end of March. They were on their way to a wedding in Memphis. Bill hasn’t changed except for some great hair. Sydney is as pretty as ever. John Ayres, KP ’88 came down to Tennessee for a visit and to go on a baseball stadium tour in June. We went with my son, Jimmy, and got to make a stop at the Football Hall of Fame. We even managed a few rounds of golf.
Joe Bishop reports:
Here are a few pics from a recent gathering in Las Vegas for the final weekend of May 2026.
In attendance were Pete Brennan, Tom Heberle, George Toma, Al Reeves, Craig Ellixson, Scott McCauley, Stu Mill, and yours truly. Third Company was well represented this trip!
This is the first one of these that I have attended, and I assure you it won’t be the last. We took a pontoon boat out on the Colorado River, toured Red Rock Canyon National Park and hit up several local restaurants for some of best meals I’ve had in quite some time.
It was almost as though we’d just seen each other weeks ago instead of (in some cases) 43 years. We’re already in the planning stages for next year’s event.!
I hope all is well with you, and I’m making every effort to attend Homecoming for our 45th Class Reunion.
