Update 4-11-06

Hey,

A handful of notes, a little business, some holiday wishes, some address changes, and the beginning of the seasonal filler.
   
    First, a death overstated, from Booker Gibson:  To one and all, a correction.  This Tuesday afternoon, at about 3:30 PM, I had a "lively" conversation with Bob Leist.  Whoever got other information is very wrong, so PLEASE check all your sources.
        This same adventure happened to me one time while I was still teaching.  The South principal at that time called my house and nearly fainted when he heard my voice.  Bye for now.
   
    [Rich -- Welcome back, Robert Leist.  Fortunately, we barely knew you were gone.]
   
    Related, from From Tom McPartland:  I can check out the comment about Fred Hempling.  The family is related to Alex McLeod, and I am in communication with Joan Endicott, Carolyn’s sister.
   
    [Rich -- And I take it that's the correct spelling of Joseph and Fred's last name, not Hempfling as written last week.  Sorry.]
   
    A nice compliment to all of us from Amy Miller '63:  I envy the general sense that your classmates have kept up with each other in a way the members of the class of 1963 haven't.  I haven't yet figured out if there are any sociological reasons for this.  For now, I will plug away at finding my lost classmates.
   
    [Rich -- Thanks, of course, from us all.  And good luck.]
   
    An off-the-record comment from Robert Fiveson, that I asked to be put on the record, though he was concerned about offending people:  As time goes by, we may want to shift the reunion idea to a small group tour of the final resting places of everyone.  Also, I think a precision walker team would be very popular and entertaining.
   
    Next, the money for this year's Vince Tampio award is pledged and almost deposited.  I'm just waiting for a few more checks to drift in.  As mentioned already, the money for this year's Booker Gibson award is already in the bank.  No more fund raising till next spring.  Thanks to all.
   
    And Happy Palm Sunday, Happy Passover, Happy Easter, and happy anything else I'm supposed to wish people well on so I seem like a good person.
   
    Those address changes:
   
    From Allan Bendel:  My new e-mail address is:  ancbendel@bellsouth.net
   
    From John (Jack) Foster:  Please change my e-mail address to:  bluspks@comcast.net.   I moved to Florida right after Hurricane Charlie, and I miss the updates.   It's always good to keep a heads-up on things.  Thanks.
   
    From Amy Lieberman:  Please change my e-mail address to:  AMYJL51@PACBELL.NET  Thanks.
   
    Finally, it's a few weeks into spring and people's attention is beginning to drift to summer, when the last thing they want to do is sit at the computer and write old friends without access to lakes, oceans, or pools.  I'm hoping to get the alumni association Memory Book one of these days from Emily Kleinman Schreiber, so I can mine that for more topical filler.  But until then, you're at the mercy of anything that happens to crawl to my attention.  Some specimens this week:
   
    From The New York Times, April 9, 2006, written by Steven McElroy:  A New Bunch of von Trapps, as Alpine as Sushi and Apple Pie
        In The Sound of Music, when the young von Trapps weren't playing practical jokes on their governess, they were bicycling around Salzburg singing "Do Re Mi" and entertaining at fancy parties. Now a new generation -- the great-grandchildren of Baron and Maria von Trapp — is running up and down scales for an audience. Sofia, 17; Melanie, 15; Amanda, 14; and Justin, 11; perform professionally together, sometimes going so far as to don lederhosen onstage.
        Indeed, it seems as if the von Trapp Children, as they are known, are leading 21st-century versions of their predecessors' careers. They may have their own Web site, but just like their forebears, including their grandfather Werner (called Kurt in the musical), they travel extensively giving concerts and have recorded albums of folk melodies, Christmas classics and songs from the musical. They'll even play themselves in a movie next year. From a hotel in Arizona, one stop on a tour that includes their New York debut this month at the Lamb's Theater, the children spoke by phone about the von Trapp life. Herewith, excerpts from the conversation:
        QUESTION:  It has to be asked: What are a few of your favorite things?
        Sofia: Sushi, classic rock, pumpkin pie and my computer (a Mac iBook). ... I'm a huge rock fan: Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix.
        Melanie: Reading, my family, trying new things. And bungee jumping.
        Amanda: Movies, reading, soccer, playing in the mud.
        Justin: Animals and plants. And food.
       QUESTION:  Your great-grandparents and their children fled Austria for Italy. Have you ever wanted to escape Montana?
        Sofia: No, I love Montana. I lead two really different lifestyles. And I love to ski.
        QUESTION:  When you performed in the stage version of "The Sound of Music," how did other actors react to the real von Trapps?
        Melanie: I think at first they didn't really know what we'd be like, but we made so many friends. We made friends with the Nazis in the cast. They were really fun.
       QUESTION:  What do you really think of "The Lonely Goatherd"?
        Sofia: Its got a cool melody and I like to yodel. Even though that sounds kind of dumb.
   
    And from AOL Online News:  Palm Springs, California, April 10 -- Cheeta the chimp, star of a dozen Tarzan movies in the 1930s and 1940s, celebrated his 74th birthday with sugar-free cake.  Although healthy and active, Cheeta is diabetic.  "He had a good time. The party went real good," said keeper Dan Westfall, operator of the primate sanctuary Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes -- or CHEETA.  Representatives from a Spanish film festival also showed up for Sunday's party to present Cheeta with the first award of his career -- an International Comedy Film Festival of Peniscola prize.  Cheeta has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest chimp.  Chimps rarely live past the age of 40 in the wild, but can reach 60 in captivity.  The graying, 150-pound Cheeta, one of six primates at the desert sanctuary 110 miles east of Los Angeles, is very active and "He still has every tooth in his head," Westfall said Monday.  Asked about his typical day, Westfall said one of Cheeta's favorite activities is riding around with him in the car.  He also likes to paint what Westfall calls "ape-stract" pieces that are sold to raise money for the nonprofit sanctuary.  Westfall adopted Cheeta in 1992 from his uncle Tony Gentry, an animal trainer who worked in Hollywood and obtained Cheeta from Africa in the 1930s.