N O T E S The Sydney Opera House opened in Australia; The United States ended its involvement in Vietnam after signing the Paris Peace Accords; Skylab, America’s frst space station, was launched; The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade; The Yom Kippur War between Israel and an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria was fought, resulting in an oil embargo that caused an energy crisis resulting in long lines at the gas pump; The Trans-Alaskan Oil Pipeline Bill was passed, allowing construction to begin on a pipeline from the north slope of Alaska; TV shows airing were “The Odd Couple,” “M*A*S*H,” “All in the Family,” “Columbo,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Partridge Family,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Waltons”; The Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs was held, with Billy Jean beating Bobby in straight sets. And you thought those were the good old days? Well, maybe they were. Read on … In 1973, the average cost of a new home was $32,500, with apartment rentals averaging $175 per month. Of course, the average income was only $12,900 per year. Even with the gas shortage, the cost of gas was only 39 cents per gallon; the price for a dozen eggs was 78 cents. The sticker price for a 1973 Ford Galaxie 500 was $3,883, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out the year at 850. Oh, and I couldn’t leave these two items out: a pair of men’s paisley slacks sold for $23.49, and a pair of women’s navy and white checked polyester pants sold for $28! OK, so I’ve got you reminiscing, but before you go looking for that pair of paisley slacks or checked polyester pants in your closet, I want you to start thinking about making a plan and then committing to return to Old SouthMountain for our 50th Class Reunion. The Reunion dates are June 8-11, 2023. Class president Bernie Seuss and the Reunion committee would like to see the largest turnout of classmates for a 50th Reunion in Lehigh history! In conjunction with the Alumni Ofce, the Reunion committee has already started working on plans for this momentous event. In addition to Bernie and me, the committee consists of Bob Abadessa, John Dittmeier, Jim Duane, Bob Hoerner, David Morrison, Bruce Smith and Celeste Varricchio. Start your planning process now to attend our 50th Lehigh Class Reunion next June. The Reunion theme is still a closely held secret, but Celeste Varricchio tells me, “We are hoping to win another Petty fag with a topical nostalgic theme, but we can’t accomplish it without you there!” ’74Bill White, 5418 Holiday Drive, Allentown, PA 18104, whitebil1974@gmail.com I’m in the somewhat enviable position of having a serious backlog of class reports to share. If you’ve written to me or seen me over the last several months, please know howmuch I appreciate the information, all of which I promise to use in a future column. If you’re one of those correspondents and something important has changed since we communicated, please send me an update. My priority for this issue, however, was to fnally use the long-promised report onAndy Shmerler. Here’s Andy’s story, extracted in an interview over dinner last year and enhanced by his subsequent revisions and additions: Andy grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y., the eldest child of a very successful, yet strong-willed accountant who basically forced his son to major in accounting at Lehigh, with the hope and expectation that Andy would join (never to happen) the CPA frm controlled by his family. Andy is best remembered as manager of the Marching 97, and he was also a huge railroad buf, a passion he carried into a short post-graduate career working for the Union Pacifc Railroad in Omaha, Neb. Unfortunately, his accounting degree dictated assignment in the accounting department as an internal auditor and preempted a desired transfer to operations and transportation management. Eventually, Andy returned East, where, rather than face temporary unemployment while regrouping, he took a job in an upmarket travel merchandise business. The goods were manufactured in Long Island City or imported fromEurope. Andy was active in selling to the retail trade across America; ultimately, he was responsible for styling the line. Toward the end of the 20th century, the company’s operations having moved south to Texas, Andy got into travel planning, from which he fnally retired. He married his wife, Tina, a British girl whom he met on a blind date in 1996, and 24 years later, their son, Harry, followed in Andy’s footsteps by attending Lehigh. In retirement, Andy enjoys cruising his 35-foot sailboat berthed at the Larchmont Yacht Club on Long Island Sound. Among classmates he sees regularly in the New York area areCraig Lemle, Brad Scheler, Peter Turkell, Matt Zale, Steve Leigh, Donny Most, Mike Moss ’76 (all Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brothers) and Rich Kimmelman, who was student conductor of the Lehigh Band. (I’ll inject here that Andy later sent me a video of his joining performer Donny Most on stage in December 2019 at a restaurant onManhattan’s Upper East Side called the Beach Café, where Andy sang—surprisingly well—the American Songbook standard “I Can’t Get Started.” He told me lots of their fellow Sammies were in attendance.) Andy’s passion for railroading has not faded. When we gathered for an improvised fag presentation in 2020, Andy gave me his well-researched treatise titled “Passenger Trains in Eastern Pennsylvania,” in which he made a convincing case for restoring passenger train service between the Lehigh Valley and New York City. I also heard last fall from Eric Wallace, who told me of an article in AAAWorld that mentioned Taylor Pork Roll, egg and cheese sandwiches at the Summit Diner in Summit, N.J, triggered great memories. He wrote, “Taylor Pork Roll was a menu regular (maybe even a frequent fyer) at Sigma Nu, with the kitchen operating under the care of the elected brother house ofcer ‘steward’ and our wonderful cook, the late Pearl McBride. But the funny thing is, I can’t actually remember very much about Taylor Pork Roll. Did I like it? Was I even fond of it? What did it taste like? What did we serve with it? “I looked it up online, and indeed, it is still around and can even be ordered and delivered (in a larger quantity than a taste test seems to justify). So, you foodies out there, has anyone munched on some ‘TPR’ lately? Am I the only one to tear up over this memory, lost to time and geography? “(I absolutely love our southwest Ohio specialty, Cincinnati chili, thank you very much. Four-way, onion, please.) “Not much exciting to report. I am still working, with many extracurricular activities 5 0 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N
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