58 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES to Arlington, Texas, along with his wife, Carlie, who is a veterinarian. I do woodworking and enjoy gardening, camping/hiking, traveling, working on home projects and driving my 1929 Model A Ford around. I was a trail overseer (that means I cleared and kept my section open and blazed) on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia for the better part of 30 years. So, I am retired but not sitting in a rocking chair watching cars drive by.” Guy Powell just released a new book, “The Only Witness: A History of the Shroud of Turin.” It is historical fiction on what is believed to be the authentic burial cloth of Jesus Christ. You can find more about it at guypowell.com John Glanville serves on Lehigh’s College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Council and made it to Bethlehem to celebrate Zoellner’s 25th anniversary. Both of Bill Kovacs’ children, Lauren and Bill, went to Lehigh. They are each married and have houses near the town they grew up in. Bill and his wife, Karen, have three grandchildren and are able to see them a lot. “I frequently see Mitch Simpler and Jim Eshleman, who were roommates of mine at Chi Psi. This spring, along with our wives, of course, we all went on a great cruise together from Rome to Barcelona. The three of us have season football tickets at Lehigh, and we go back to at least three games a year and have serious tailgating before and after the games. We invite any of our classmates to stop by. We are in the reserved parking area in the grass under the trees by Stabler Arena, directly across from the entrance to the stadium.” ’78 Gail D. Reinhart, 215 N. Center St., #1407, San Antonio, TX 78202-2723. ladygailus@ yahoo.com ’79 Lance M. Bell, 952 River Run Dr., Macedonia, OH 44056-2369. (216) 219-3729 (mobile); lanceb344@gmail.com I’m dedicating this column to the memory of Canning C. Kraft Jr., who passed away on Nov. 4, 2023. Canning emailed an update to me on Aug. 14, with a revision on Oct. 22. I was shocked to read his obituary in the Nov. 9 Washington Post. His August update was as follows: “I am recovering from leg surgery on both legs (August 2023) and still have more to go. I hope to coach wrestling at a private school in Alexandria for a third season starting in November 2023. I retired from the U.S. Army after 26 years, spent 10 years as a DOD (Department of Defense) contractor and got involved in coaching quite by accident. Lehigh IM wrestling experience didn’t hurt. Claire and I cruised on the Danube River (December 2022) Christmas Market Tour with stops in Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; Melk, Germany; Passau, Germany; and Nuremberg, Germany. Having deployed to Germany twice, the Gestapo HQ building in Nuremberg was of particular interest to me. Claire and I will be married 40 years in September, and we have resided all that time in Alexandria, Va.” Canning’s October revision was: “I was offered the head coach wrestling position at Hargrave Military Academy, Chatham, Va.” On a final note, Canning’s tagline in his email was “There is nothing finer than a ’79er.” Well said and farewell, Canning! Nick Snyder, one of Canning’s Sigma Nu brothers, shared that he was a great guy and that his fraternity brothers will miss him. Nick organizes an annual Lehigh Sigma Nu reunion. They’ve been meeting annually for the past 20 years. They play golf, enjoy a Friday night dinner and then attend a home football game on Saturday (with a tailgate, of course). They usually have about 20 brothers attending, mostly from graduating classes in the ’70s and ’80s. Some bring spouses and kids. The ’79ers usually attending are Eric Blew, Paul Prosswimmer, Nick Snyder, Hugo Gravenhorst, Joe Albrecht, Perry Appino, Dave Rush and Don Paulus. Canning Kraft (“Krafty”) was able to make a few of the outings. Nick also noted that his Sigma Nu pledge class was a big one of 26 guys. Of those pledges, they’ve lost Canning Kraft, John Cowperthwait and Steve Rabenko. May they rest in peace. I hope that you will be coming to our 45th reunion, June 6-9, 2024. Our reunion committee has been planning a fun weekend of class events. Our committee members are Kal Chany, Lance Bell, Jodi (Smith) Capps, Barry Glickman, Caesar Gorski, Ilene (Schiff) Mason, Sal Mazzeo, Gail Price, Amy (Wenhold) Silva and Lori Southworth. We enjoy planning class events, but what makes a great reunion is your participation! Rekindling friendships, sharing memories and making new friends and memories help make reunions special. Bring a few stories to share with me when you see me at the reunion! ’80 Mark Hembarsky, Mhembarsky1980@gmail.com Ted Bahr finished curating the largest exhibition of Grateful Dead concert posters ever at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass. Ted hung up his corporate hat five years ago and opened the Bahr Gallery in Oyster Bay on Long Island, the only art gallery in the country dedicated to 1960s psychedelic rock poster art—all this with a David Amidon degree in urban studies! Jeff Slayton, David Donovan, Randy Haist and Curt Heverly ’81 (Alpha Sigma Phi brothers) gathered for Randy’s daughter Kelsey’s stunning mountaintop wedding in Colorado last summer and then again for a golf, pickleball, craft beer drinking, barbecue-eating and mountain hiking weekend in Orange County, Calif., in October. Jim Gaston provided his first-ever update to the Bulletin! After graduating from Lehigh (finance/economics double major and minor in government), he graduated from Duquesne University School of Law in 1983. He and Stephanie (Louras) Gaston (finance/marketing double major) married in 1981. Stephanie worked in banking. They have four successful children, including one Lehigh grad, and a 2½-year-old grandchild. Jim has been practicing civil trial personal injury law for 40 years, owning a successful practice with over 100 jury trial verdicts. He served the Newtown, Conn., community as an elected official for over 30 years. He was a selectman when the Sandy Hook shooting occurred and focused his energies on helping the community deal with the impact. Jim is also proud and grateful that Pi Lambda Phi brotherhood’s hard work and testimonials, including his, resulted in the fraternity returning to the Hill. Several Gryphons attended an impromptu reunion at the Georgetown game in October. Fun was had by all, but as the weather got colder with heavy rain, they befriended alumni from the Class of ’87 (Tricia (Morrow) Dwyer, et. al.), who generously invited them under a gorgeous rental tent with sides! Following the game, a dinner was held at Edge restaurant in Bethlehem. In attendance were Tom Anderson ’77, George Archer ’78 and Mary (Weis) Archer,
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