N O T E S Long Beach, CA 90814. robertpaternoster@yahoo.com It seems that COVID-19 was an acceptable burden to Ken Weaver, who secluded himself with his family in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. “We spent lots of time on the back deck,” he reports, “gazing at our lovely, wooded backyard.” Two of his four children visited and stayed awhile, “together with their cats and dogs.” Too bad he and his wife had to cancel their 2021 tour of Italy (Amalfi Coast, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Como and Milan), but hopefully they got to do it early in 2022. Harvey Skolnick also enjoyed special time with his family during the pandemic, especially on his 80th birthday. Enith (his “better half”) coordinated several outstanding events, including a drive-by of their home by 50 couples from the Hunters Run community in Boynton Beach, Fla. Next was a catered TexMex dinner attended by daughter Amy and husband fromTexas, who presented him with a video including over 700 pictures fromhis birth to the present. A catered steak dinner with eight of their closest friends followed, and the grand finale was attendance at the Honda golf classic where they followed Phil Mickelson, “who still wears the KPMG hat where I resided for 46 years!” Here’s a COVID-19 chuckle from Joe Bartish: We need to practice social distancing—from the refrigerator! I received a life history from KA brother Fred Monson, who admits that his academic performance as a Lehigh undergraduate was less than stellar. Nevertheless, after a three-year stint in theMarine Corps, he returned for anM.S. in biology in 1967, and a Ph.D. in biology in 1971. He went on to a series of university professorships andmedical research appointments in the Philadelphia area, and currently serves as technical director of theMicroanalysis and Imaging Research and Training Center at West Chester University. He also admits that, although “I knew nothing about women” during his four undergraduate years, “God brought me a gem.” He and Sharon have beenmarried 56 years and have four children and six grandchildren. Thanks to Roy Martins for lettingme know that a newpark inBethlehembetween theHill to Hill andNewStreet bridges was named theMayor Ken Smith RecreationComplex on Sand Island. Congratulations toKen, who asmayor was instrumental in developing the land into a park. Myron Olstein is still doing a little consulting, but found time to be an Alumni Volunteer in Admissions, where he interviewed high school seniors applying for admission to Lehigh. He strongly recommends that others from our class sign up to be AVAs. Class President Paul Smith reports that all is going well in planning for our 60th Reunion on June 9 through 12. Don Ritter was among Paul’s many pre-reunion contacts, revealing that Don had suffered a fall last Christmas while stringing lights on his farm in Virginia, about an hour fromD.C. He suffered “tons of muscle damage” from the 8-foot fall, but no broken bones. His rehab will be complete in time for him to return to campus for the reunion. I expect a large turnout from the Class of ’61 in June. As of November, we had 35 confirmed attendees. I look forward to seeing all of you there! ’62Philip J. Kinzel, 808 South Drive, Brick, NJ 08724. (732) 295.2106(H); (973) 226.1430(W); (973) 464.8282 (cell); pkinzel@kinzelco.com (e-mail) The Lehigh-Lafayetteweekend, nowsometimes calledLe-Laf, was a real hoot. Eleanor and Phil Kinzel attended the Friday night reception introducing our new president JoeHelble ’82. Saturday before the gamewe attended the Lehigh-LafayetteAlumni Tailgate andKinzel received his 50-GameClubPin in a tent outsideGoodman Stadium. Of course, the 17-10Lehigh victory was the icing on the cake. In the rather chilly stadium I did manage to see Norman Goldberg and Fritz Mueller attending his 63rd consecutive Lehigh-Lafayette game. After the game we were invited to a venison chili dinner at the 100-plus-year-old farmhouse of Harold Milton ’63 in Quakertown. At the table were several members of the 1961 Lambert Cup-winning team, including the Engineers team captain Mike Semcheski. There was lots of reminiscing, including about “The Kick” when Andy Larko ’63 kicked a 20-yard field goal, the first in his life, that barely cleared the crossbar, with six seconds to play as Lehigh overcame a battling Lafayette, 17-14. Semcheski, named Little All-American and drafted by the American Football League’s Dallas Texans, became a prominent collegiate football official. Mike and Penny recently sold their home in Ocean City, N.J., and are relocating to Pennsylvania to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Jeff Cox lives in Kenwood, Calif., Sonoma County. Last fall, Jeff provided this report of “the return of peace and happiness.” Jeff reports, “Up until a couple of days ago (October 2021), although nights were chilly enough, we couldn’t build a fire in our woodstove because everything around us and throughout northernCaliforniawas achingly dry and ready for the least little spark to set it ablaze. Imagine living in a huge tub full of oilsoaked crumplednewspaper, the place hungwith electrical wires that could sway and tear apart in a stiffbreeze, setting it all onfire. Imagine going to sleep every night with the anxiety of waking to the frantic alarmof the telephone, ordering you to get out immediately, seeing fire approaching over the hill, driving furiouslywith whatever you salvaged, the pets, through burning forests, clouds of red sparks billowing high into the air, setting newfires all around you. This happened to us in2017 and 2019, forcing our family to live in our friends’ children’s bedroomfor eight days, not knowing whether our house survived. And driving past burned houses as we returned home full of fear. “Well, two days ago (October 2021), all that came to a quick end. Over the past two days, we got seven inches of rain. We could have blasted the vegetation with a flame thrower and nothing would have burned. The anxiety ended in a 48-hour downpour. “The first day, the three inches of rain didn’t even make the creek rise because the dry earth just inhaled the water. By the end of the second day, the torrential rains made our winter creek run with water, the year-round creek down in the village flush with water, and the entire world of vegetation heave a sigh of relief. But not as much of a sigh of relief by our family as we built the season’s first woodstove fire, our old cat took up his warm position in front of the stove, and the rain pounded steadily and happily on our roof.” Jeff is one of the most knowledgeable writers in America on the topics of organic food and wine. To honor our fallen classmates, our class established in 2014 the Class of ’62 Vietnam Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund was initially funded with more than $750,000 thanks to two prominent class members and a group of others. 4 8 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N
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