The 65th ReUnion of the Class of 1941
May 18-21, 2006
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| More photos here! |
Six hardy members of the Class of 1941 showed up on this cold and rainy weekend and had a wonderful time. Al Turchick, Class president,;Larry Schwartz, Vice President and Head Agent; Bob Frelick, Bob Herman, John Senn and Jimmy Ullman. Al, broujght his wife, Dorothy and his daughter, Elizabeth (Cookie); Larry brought his wife, Pearl;, Bob Herman brought his wife, Bea; Jim brought his wife, Shirley; John brought his son, Bruce, who is Senior Systems Manager for the College. Larry traveled from Florida, Bob from Delaware; Jimmy from Pennsylvania. .
The entire weekend was smooth and delightful. The students and college staff treated us like royalty -- there were uniformed students at every intersection to answer questions and direct traffic, golf carts and antique cars to chauffeur everybody who wanted a ride. We were the guests of the college at a huge picnic luncheon under tents on the field outside the old gym, at cocktain parties and at dinner Saturday evening at College Park Hall, the former Ramada Inn.
Our costumes for the Alumni Parade included a gold mortarboard, the kind you wear when you graduate, and a pin that declared we were the PhE's of '41, Doctorates in Excellence and Experience. We also had a series of signs that proclaimed our greatness.
Larry and Bob marched and carried the Class of 1941 banner in the Alumni Parade -- the others rode in an assortment of vintage cars, from convertibles to linousines. We all filed into the Chapel after the parade for a service in which Dr. Stephen Ainlay was introduced as the new president of Union College. It was announced that the Class of 1941 had produced the largest total contributions in their group of classes..
After the picnic we went to Sorum House, one of the seven Minerva residences, for a cocktail party and the official Dedication of the Class of 1941 Den. A large, handsome glass case displayed memorabilia of our days at Union and previous ReUnions, books by and about Class of 1941 members, yearbooks and scrapbooks filled with biographies of our class members and photos of them at Union and in different phases of their careers as well as with members of their families.
The ceremonial ribbon at the entrance to the Den was cut by Paula Ciesinski, mother of Union Board Chairman Stephen Ciesinski, '70 and widow of our late classmate, Adam Ciesinski. Brief speeches were made by class president Al Turchick, Union president Dr. Stephen Ainlay and Board Chairman Stephen Ciesinski.
Dr. Ainlay was presented with the Class of 1941 "You Are Union" award. Mrs. Ciesinski received honorary membership in the Class of 1941. Larry Schwartz received the Class of 1941 Distinguished Achievement Award for conceiving, the Class of 1941 Memorial Den and conducting the campaign that made it a reality.