With our anticipation there is sorrow still, for the ones who have gone
to their eternal rest: Bill Zura and Clemmie McClain. I am so thankful for
the fun we had with our beloved Clemmie in ’96, ‘98, and 2000. E. K., you miss her
more than we will ever know.

Bill and Barbara were the first couple we met, with June and Jessie Saint,
at our first Reunion. Barbara, we are sorry Bill lost his battle with cancer.
We will sorely miss both of these friends.

We say farewell to winter and welcome spring. We too make new beginnings
with plans for the reunion, among others. Thank you to Clete, Dave, and
the whole committee. We so much appreciate all you are doing for us.

Spring was here yesterday with temps in the 50’s, melting all that snow.
Three inches fell on Monday and another 8 inches on Wednesday.
This morning it was 14 degrees, and windy, with sunshine to make it a bright day.
That’s New England for you and as you may notice, our life is ruled by the weather.

May I share my wonderful winter hiking experiences with you?
I can only tell you the scenery in the mountains has been incredibly beautiful.
It seems every Saturday the sun shone for us climbing up over 4000 feet to summit.
One Wednesday we only reached the Lakes in the Clouds hut before fog completely
closed the trail to Mt. Monroe. We descended on our ascending steps on crampons,
admiring the ice on the Ammonoosuc Ravine.

Tuesday was the last Winter fling, a friend and I hiked up Mt. Garfield
where ice underneath fresh powder surprised us, and landed us on our kiester
before we strapped on the crampons. A lifesaver.

Pristine snow on the trail ahead, snows laden branches and absolute peace
was our reward above 2000 ft. In the higher elevations, as the trees became shorter,
the snow turned into reim ice with intricate designs in leafless trees,
and thick crust on evergreens.

The summit is mostly ledge with krummholz as a border, all in white reim ice.
There was no wind so we enjoyed a short lunch until our sweat turned cold
and we had to get moving again.

The trail signs just stick out of the snowline, which we estimated at 5 ½ feet.
We had a very mild winter, with skiers wishing for more snow.

Now there is going to be some rest and renewal of friendships neglected since January.
The brook crossings are starting to get difficult, the mud’s a pain,
and I need a rest from getting up at 3:45 AM, with short daylight hours to hike in.
We’ll see how long that lasts. I have made some wonderful friends with the
Appalachian Mountain Club and Trail Rites.

What about Norman you ask? Well, he misses me when he’s not enjoying a hockey game.
He’s also the one who bought me a membership in the AMC, so I would not begrudge
him his TV. I am sure there are a few of you who can identify with those sentiments.
There are common interests we nurture as well; vacations and the beach,
and an occasional dinner out. Our little dog though has filled the void of grown children.
After the empty nest syndrome, admitted or not, China. A 12-pound Shih Tzu
inherited from Norman’s sister, is the common love interest. Pets are wonderful.
Unless you can’t find a sitter. With Norman’s retirement in October came one week
of rest before he got bored, I guess while I was hiking in Hawaii.
He started helping a contractor from the next street over. So now my retiree
works harder than he ever has. He enjoys the outdoors and especially Fred’s company.
They banter with Irish humor, making the days pass faster than ever.
I still have not found my niche after retiring from dental assisting last November,
although consulting in-house in all aspects of communication and aesthetics
is what I want to develop. Until now, an occasional day of assisting
was enough to keep me happy.

There are still many projects around the house left undone.

I also enjoy cooking after collecting recipes, enough for several lifetimes.
We tend to come back to the old favorites. And that’s how it is with Friends.

FROM NORMAN AND MARIANNE.
UNTIL WE SEE YOU AGAIN

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Clete's Complaints

Good Morning,

Let me tell you the latest happenings in this newly retired persons daily life.
Just before I retired on December 31st I had a very good friend talk me into joining
a seniors Bowling league and bowl on his team. Well, Tuesday was my first day to bowl
so I ventured out to the local bowling alley for an afternoon of leisure bowling.
I had not bowled on a team in about fifteen years so I bowled my three games and
I didn't do too badly but it could have been better. About nine o'clock that evening
I noticed that I was beginning to get a little stiff in the joints so I took a couple
of Aspirin and thought no more about it..................Until the next morning.
Have you ever wondered what road kill feels like after it has been run over????
The next morning my body was screaming every time that I moved and needless to say
I did not move very much or very fast all day long. But, I'm a slow learner
so come next Tuesday, if I am healed up by then, I will venture out to the Alley
once more and try it again.

Anybody got any Ben-Gay????

Talk to you soon.
Clete

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On to the new letters!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Clete,

Got your message, but have not had a chance to look at it yet. Thanks a lot.
Glenda and I are looking forward to the next reunion and have already found out
that it is 1327 miles from Amarillo. We were kind of apprehensive about going
to this reunion, but after meeting all of you we felt like part of the group.
On the way home we were talking about how everybody was so nice and how much
fun we had. We will be at the next reunion and kind of wish we did not have
to wait for two years to see you all again. We really felt like we made some
new friends and we thank you all very much for that.

We will keep in touch and if there is anything that we can do to help out
with anything do not hesitate to ask, as we are more than willing to what we can.

Thanks for everything,
Don & Glenda

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It was a great reunion!!

I enjoyed visiting with all of the guys.

I was especially happy to see Dick Motlong after lo these many decades.
The auction was a great fund raising idea! The Nutcrackers are on display
guarding our fireplace/hearth.

We are looking forward to 2004, God willing!

Warm regards,
Ed and Barbara (Olivares)

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Thank you so much for putting TOGETHER ANOTHER GREAT REUNION!!!!
You did an excellent job putting this together.
We, just like the rest of us, had a marvelous time. Till next reunion, keep in touch.

Jim and Aurora

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Good morning

we returned safely last night at 8:15.
It was good to see the countryside all the way home change.
And there is definitely a change in the weather.
Cool breeze with 62 degrees and partly cloudy skies.
Another big THANK YOU . We had a wonderful time. In the
hope you too got home without incident, I look forward to hearing from you.

Marianne and Norman.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

We made it home safely.

Thank you for a wonderful reunion as it was very successful and you
plus the committee did a fantastic time for everyone.
We really appreciated all your efforts and Branson was a marvelous place for a reunion.

THANKS AGAIN!!!!! Love, LeRoy and Helen

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

And here's a story about Rollie Quinn.
He was stationed in Grossachsenheim back in 1959 - 1961.
It is reprinted here with permission from the El Paso Times.
The author is Leonard Martinez

Pilot, 75, walks away after small plane crash-lands

Borderland,Thursday, June 20, 2002

"I have a cut lip and a bruised pocketbook"
Rollie Quinn