Sad news first. Tony LOVELL died April 2, 1999 from heart failure. Rick KINGMAN informed Jock at the AOG that Clifton Cameron incurred a severe concussion from a fall and died following three weeks in the Ft. Walton Beach (FL) hospital. Condolences may be sent to Tony's former wife, Terri, at 40 Tenth Ave., Shalimar FL 32579. Mike MdCALL's wife, Ruby, died May 29th after con­tracting pneumonia in Kearney, NE while traveling to the Midwest from their home in California. Ruby was diagnosed several years ago with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease effecting her lungs.

By the time you read this, AFAs football season will probably have started and we may have beaten Villanova and Washington. Tailgate guru Jim GLAZA purchased an Isuzu "Port-A-Bar" delivery truck (in "truckese" it's a two-ton light-duty forward-control cabover model NP-R) for our tailgates before and after games, emblazoned with Falcons, lightning bolts, Class/AFA flags.

Jim Glaza's "FalconMobile"

For you '60 guys and dolls coming from outside the Springs, join him/us at the northwest corner of parking lot two (look for the flags), and feel free to bring beer or soft drinks--Jim graciously furnishes the cocktails and meat dish while locals bring other tasty morsels. Dubbed the "FalconMobile," this high-visibility mani­festation of class and school pride attracted so much attention at the '98 Army ­AFA game that FOX interviewed Jim and photographed his vehicle for a nation­ally-televised sports show which aired in multiples last Fall (R: I rode in Jim's ve­hicle to the Tulsa-AFA game last Fall and we actually set foot in Ponca on the way. Yes, Virginia, there really is a Ponca City!) Next to our tailgate is Jim WILHELM's ('61) beautiful bus conversion which he brings to home games for '61-gaters. We occasionally mingle (being careful not to cross-breed) and even share a few jokes (we talk real slow if the audience includes Charlie NEEL, Earl SAUNDERS, or Charlie TAYLOR). That mutual party area for the '60 and '61 classes will soon be chris­tened "Jurassic Park"--feeding ground for the old dinosaurs.

Houston, We Got a Problem! I'm talking, of course, about that nickname con­test announced in the Winter '98 issue. This thing is really gettin' UGLY! My mailbags have been overflowing, I've had to add staff, and UPS has added another shift just to keep up with my "hasty mail." Seems like a lot of guys are really lusting to go to Ponca City (the prize, you'll recall). So, here are the correct answers--for those wishing to get their hip-cards punched (remember: the "nicks" must signify those which could run, crawl, swim, or ignite upon impact): Gnome-Gerald Hunter GAMMILL; Roach--John Michael LOH; Rat--Grant Reed WAUGH; Whale--John Peter GONSKY; Dolphin--James Alexander KERR, Jr.; Duck--James Edward WADDLE; Hawk--Andrew William BIANCUR; Bear--Neal Taylor REAVELY, and Howard Franklin BRONSON III (who claims he got this sobriquet whilst sleeping on those buses the football team rode to D.U. Stadium back in our early years); Pig--Willard Richard MACFARLANE; Seal--who else but John Henry HUHN? Flea--Thomas Ralph LALIME, although some would argue that his real cognomen was the Gnat; Wedge--Bert Charles CROFT; Mole--sealed, by court order. Panda--Kenneth Philip WERRELL; Snake--it's a secret, so don't even ask; Fish--Derry Allan ADAMSON; Goose--Gary Gunnar GULBRANSEN; Shep--Richard Bayley SHEPARD; Chik-Donald Duane STEVENS; and Itch--George M. COLLIER.

The Most Original Nickname Award goes to George Emerson ELSEA, who class­mates quixotically dubbed "George." Other unmentionables sent in by a few ex­traordinarily-alert column-readers: derWick, Slik, Bojo, Rebel, Sabo, Pug, Krash, Salty Able, Corny, Oogie, Stud Horse, LEM, REM, Chum, Cask, Buck, Nebs, Gar, GJC, Tadashi-San, Good Will, Shiv, Charlie Brown, Slats, and Expletive Deleted. Sadly, I was the only one to get ALL the nicknames correct, so I gotta go to Ponca! Drats. (And me the only one without a nickname)!

Karen and I spent five delightful days in San Antonio the first week in May stay­ing on the River Walk and "Remembering the Maine." (R: Did I get that right?) While there I called Dale THOMPSON, who was still unpacking from his move from Oklahoma to north of San Antonio into Fair Oaks Ranch with help from Ina Roland, the bride he married in Dallas April 18th (he dated Ina back in 1952 but hadn't seen her in 47 years). They selected San Antonio because of their five chil­dren and nine grandchildren in Texas, and Dale's son-in-law, Lt. Col. Grosvenor, is flying F-15 Strike Eagles over Kosovo and will soon be assigned to Randolph AFB. Dale's new address: 8907 Enchanted Elm, Boerne TX 78015, (830) 981-5193.

George and Diana PUPICH flew to San Antonio, picked up Dale and Ina and drove to Corpus Christi for son Alex PUPICH's (AFA, '97) "winging" on May 20th. Alex has been assigned to Yokota AB flying C-130s, took some leave, and showed his cadet-smarts by snatching George's "free flying pass" on Delta and rapidly de­parting for San Antonio, Atlanta, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, L.A., Denver, and God Only Knows Where Else--George'll be paying for his OWN flights for over the next year!

Deke and Sally of the Boise JOHNSONs were houseguests of Al and Gale of the Virginia JOHNSONs in April, which gave Al an excuse for a party (R: And what an excuse of a party it was)! Al and Deke must have started with aperitifs earlier in the day, since they drove at warp speed to one of the D.C. airports to collect George and Diana PUPICH (keep in mind, for purposes which will soon become appar­ent, that Deke got his navigator's wings in June 1960, while Al's a master navigator), and got lost, in part due to Deke's mandatory survival stops for food; but, they did manage to see the very worst parts of Northern Virginia--some still without roads! At his soiree, Al served cheap booze bottled that very morning by the West Virginia Moonshiners to guests Mike CLARKE, Joe HIGGINS, George PUPICH, Norm HALLER, Bills TAYLOR and GOODYEAR, Jerry DE LA CRUZ, Leon GOODSON, DK JOHNSON, Ralph LALIME, John MACARTNEY Richard HEAD, Ken ALNWICK, and sundry wives. One ranking classmate reportedly drank so much shine he had to hold his head back to keep it from spilling. And, ah the food: milk duds, cheez-its, and a greenish substance which had guests perplexed--was it a very new cheese or extremely old baloney! (R: I'm making part of this up!). Deke--described by intimates as being taut, wily, and witty--later provided this bromide regarding his incessant proselytizing for the VFW: "Signed up most of the guys in the picture--my goal is to get all eligible from the Classes of '59, '60, and '61.”

Back Row: Mike, Joe, George, Norm, Bill, Bill, Jerry, and Al. Front Row: Leon, Deke, Mac, Ralph, Richard, and Ken.

The What I Am Famous For Award for this quarter goes to bon vivant Phil MEINHARDT (Pistol 4) who is the only living member of this exclusive club in our class: "The TYEE Club was established in 1924 to understand and appreciate the benefits of preserving a healthy run of Chinook salmon to the Campbell River in British Columbia, and the earliest reports of TYEE fishing were published in Lon­don in 1896. After months of rigorous training in the study of the deadly salmon's habits on Oregon's Willamette River, I flew to British Columbia on a float plane and landed on the wildly raging Campbell River, following which we caught about a dozen salmon for practice designed to prepare us for the rigors of our ultimate test (to qualify, one must catch a salmon of over 30 pounds using an artificial lure on a 20-pound test line and perform this feat unassisted from a small rowboat--last year only 10 members qualified, and it took one local 56 years to qualify). I hooked my 38-1/2-pounder at 2130 hours, and it took over three hours to land it, including two numbingly long runs made by the struggling fish as he went through his final death throes. One run seemed to be over a mile as the ferocious Chinook shot above the raging water, over and over again, struggling to loose himself from the grasp of my intractable hook as I used all my strength to pull him in. Near the end, I was totally exhausted and literally drenched with sweat, and my hands were bleeding through my gloves." (Shades of Old Man and the Sea?)

Phil with slippery and stealthy friend from the deep

Goose GULBRANSEN is enamored about the advantages of donating his class ring to our old school (P 20, Feb'99 Checkpoints): "I have a copy of this with my will that advises my wife to, just before the casket closes, take off the class ring (I won't need it) and send it in for a tax deduction based on gold content. $300 sounds about right." GGG and wife, Susan, spent the month of May in Europe where he picked up their new Mercedes in Stuttgart and drove to Milan where their two daugh­ters met them, then on to Italy and France, shipping the MB home from Paris. Pat and Earl VAN INWEGEN(Choir 4) vacationed in Portugal last March, and Van sent me this photo of my recently-opened mens' boutique in Lisbon (R: And I was trying to keep this entrepreneurial entrance "under wraps," Van).

Van in Lisbon--about to buy some fancier duds!

Potpourri. AOG board member for several terms, Andi BIANCUR, attended his last meeting 22 May 1999. Andi served well, and we all owe him a heartfelt salute for his efforts ... Phil MEINHARDT and Grace Cervin spent five days in early May enduring the food of Brussels and London ... Gordy FLYGARE writes that he hopes we're all traveling on Boeings, since he and his company need the business. He apologizes to all those 28,000 people they had to lay off because HE couldn't help keep them on ... George FRIES writes: "I've finished the academics of MS in Middle School Education from Old Dominion U. Passed the N.T.E." ... Dean BRISTOW did get his MBA from Duke, and is still in Alaska ... P 55, Checkpoints, Feb '99--Who's the ATO? Cadet? '59er Jon Grant SHAFFER called from Groveland, CA and was positive the ATO was Lt. John Pedjoe and cadet '59er Roger Edwin SCHEMENAUR. I wrote Lt.Col. Pedjoe, and he was unsure but still trying to find his old logbooks. Then this from George LESTER: "The cadet in the picture sure looks like my first roommate, Jim O'," and added he's retired from United and enjoying it immensely in Corpus Christi. From Lew PRICE: "Are you sure it isn’t PUPICH?" ... Roy JOLLY sent the 3/18/99 "Desert Valley Times" which informed us the "run­ning of the bulls" WILL again occur in Roy's pueblo of Mesquite, NV

REUNION 2000: Our 40th is scheduled for 4-8 October around the Navy game, guest hotel is the Radisson Inn (North) in Colorado Springs ($73/night, including breakfast--that ain't bad, sirs). Dinner Friday night at Doolittle Hall. (Note: if you're spending more time reading the Mayo Clinic Newsletter or Modern Matu­rity or the Tufts' Universiry Medical Newsletter than you are reading Playboy, you're getting so old that this could very well be your LAST CHANCE to attend a reunion.)

Next Issue: Our Presidential Ticket for the year 2000.