Life's a funny old dog. Here we are writing from Florida--that "4-H Haven" of Heat, High Humidity, Hibiscus and Hurricanes, this virtual Demi-Paradise for seniors--where Walgreens sells more stool softener than Sweetbay stocks green bananas.

Fuller and Judy Atkinson live in Bradenton (they moved from Punta Gorda in 2001, where Fuller had "a boat out the back door, with a short run to the harbor and Gulf, playing golf--tough life--and boating!" That epitomizes life in Florida), there's Mike J. and Emma Clarke (they live in Baker--35 miles north of Fort Walton Beach: "the rear entrance to our hangar is about 50 feet from our back door, and the front of the hangar is setback 50 feet from the edge of the runway--we can walk out of the house and literally be flying in minutes in my red/white/blue Skybolt"), along with Jerry and Marcia Daily (Bonita Springs in the Southwest for eight months, then they go to their home on Lauderdale Lake near Elkhorn, WI: "Marcia hates cold weather, and her test is whether it's warm enough to take a cocktail cruise without a sweater--we don't arrive in WI until it is"), Jon and Brenda Day (Sorrento--northwest of Orlando), Billy Delony (Dunnellon--southwest of Ocala), Jerry and Dotty Farquhar (Indian Hammock 20 miles north of Lake Okeechobee, they also own a condo in Port St. Lucie 80 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale, and spend six months each year on their 48' boat "Watchout" on Little Pipe Cay in the Exuma Islands south of Nassau).

Then there's Bill and Kath Gillis (Panama City, house on the bay, also own a home in Glendale, AZ), Frank and Faye Gorham (Lynn Haven--Panama City area), Syd and Ann Gurley (Orlando), Karl and Mary Ann Jones (Niceville--near Fort Walton Beach), Tony and Loma Jones (Mary Esther--near Fort Walton Beach), Brian and Carol Kaley ("snowbirds" at their Naples condo November through April, then the rest of the year at their remodeled 1815 home in Brookfield, CT), Gary and Diane Karshnick (Melbourne on the east coast: "Maybe we can have a state-wide mini reunion some time!")

Pete and Linda King (Valparaiso address, but "our home is just outside the east gate of Eglin AFB"), Dale and Ida Mayo (Delray Beach--north of Ft. Lauderdale), Oogie and Deloris Prindle (Tallahassee), Marty and Suzanne Richert (Flagler Beach--north of Daytona Beach), Gerry and Hildburg Stack (Sanford--north of Orlando), Don and Joanne Stevens (Destin--Fort Walton Beach area), Ted Stumm (Jacksonville--"don't let out too much of our secret--about Florida--or everyone will want to live here"), Aaron and Millie Thrush (Fort Walton Beach), Bob and Louise Weinaug (Deland--north of Orlando), and now, Rosie and Karen Cler (Sarasota--recently of ABQ, NM)--that makes 23 classmates in the Sunshine State. George and Yvonne Lester used to live in Florida, but moved to Texas; in addition, Ken Alnwick has a condo in Ft. Walton Beach, Terri Lovell, widow of Jim, lives in Ft. Walton Beach, and Marsha Shepard, widow of Dick, resides in Naples.

We Neo-Floridians drink deeply from the troughs of nature's balms from the Sunshine State--that panhandle adjoining a peninsula just 90 short miles from Cuba, and those residing in the remainder of ConUS may rest assured that we 23 here in Florida will go "Down To The Sea In Ships" to stave the quavering Latin monsters should they attack our sunny shores.

Bill Zersen once again organized a get-together in West Seattle, WA at "Salty's" on Alki Beach--Bill, Vic Yoakum and Nels Delisanti (see photo) swapped their usual stories (Bill regaled them with background on his Zersen family name, originally the Frank/Saxon Cersne meaning 'bloody brook,' that European stream where Charlemagne slaughtered those who refused to convert to Christianity in 772 in his effort to unite the Franks and Saxons). From there, Bill was off to the balmy climes of Cancun and is shown in the picture celebrating at that Mexican spa with his sister, Doris. (They've both traced their family to the 7th century in Zersen, Germany outside Hanover, and visited there in 2002. Bill says that "Before Charlemagne, the Zersens used to sacrifice white horses on top of the cliffs above the town and then throw them off the cliff, and the altar is still there.") So, if you can trace your ancestral coat of arms back further than 800 A.D., I'll get Bill working on going back to the B.C.E. period--or, you can schedule a Betcha-My-Ancestors-Can-Beatup-Your-Ancestors match with William Frederick Hugo Zersen!

Another in our Class with a famed heritage is Bill Carnegie, who wrote that "Two of my MacPhail cousins are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. When I was growing up in Michigan, Larry MacPhail--who introduced night baseball into the big leagues at the Cincinnati Reds in 1935 and initiated air travel for the big league teams--asked the Tigers' GM to give my mother tickets any time she wanted; so, I got to see Tigers' games free as a young kid in Detroit. Lee MacPhail, Larry's son, was President of the American League of Baseball Clubs and the league's labor negotiator, while also building one of baseball's strongest farm systems for the New York Yankees. Cousin Larry died in 1975, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978; his son Lee was elected to the Hall in 1998; Lee's son is Andy MacPhail, who was General Manager of the Twins and the Cubs, and presently CEO of the Baltimore Orioles." Below is a photograph of Bill and Ann Carnegie in front of a cart in Costa Rica (their son Tom works for the State Department and is stationed in Costa Rica), where Bill and Anne spent an enjoyable two weeks, and the "picture was taken on our Saturday trip up into the mountains." Bill and Anne also visited Williamsburg for ten days, making it to the Yorktown Battle Field for the first time. Bill casually added that "my daughter works in film, and is listed as Karen Carnegie Johnson under the name 'Stacked Animation Laboratory' in the credits of the 'Simpsons' movie."

It was a much ballyhooed performance in his Bali Hai role for "South Pacific" that had Dave Sweigart taking curtain calls as enlisted man "Luther Billis," wearing a grass skirt and revealing coconut bra. The play enthralled audiences at Hill Country Community Theatre in Cottonwood Shores near his Meadow Lakes, TX home September 27-October 14. More than 2,000 lusty locals attending the performances cheered David in his (headed-for-Broadway?) role as a "Seabee wheeler-dealer with schemes to make money and make it to Bali Hai where he could get lots of souvenirs and native girls." The Marble Falls (TX) Northland Express, in their review, stated, simply: "Wow! Just, Wow!"

Liz and Norm Haller visited Colorado for Liz's 50th high school reunion at north Denver's city of Thornton. Liz graduated from Aurora High School's Class of 1957. Liz, her sister Kathy and Norm then went to Jim Glaza's 70th birthday party in Monument on August 19th, where there were four who had birthdays in the same week (in the photo, from left to right, that's Jim; Jim's daughter Shari (40); Shari's son Jory (15); and Jim's mom-in-law Ruth, who was 90). There were two others not shown who also had birthdays that week. In the other photo are Jim and Norm at Glaza's pool, which was fashioned from the rocks behind the pool. Also stopping by for the birthday party was Bob Browning ('59), who lives in nearby Monument.

The DC-60 gentlemen met in July for a "51-Year Luncheon," commemorating being together for that incredible number of years since starting at Lowry II on 9 July 1956. Front row is Tony Burshnick, Tom Burke and George Fries; in the back are Les Querry, Bill Taylor, Ralph Lalime, Leon Goodson, Mike Loh, Mike A. Clarke, Norm Haller, Joe Higgins and Bob Badger.

Noted athlete George Pupich--who couldn't recognize entropy from enthalpy but certainly does know his football--told us 'How I Spent My Summer Vacation': "We have been doing a bit of traveling this summer, including a week in Alaska with John and Deanne McCullough at their lodge on Kodiak Island. It was both fabulous and tremendously enjoyable--although I'm not a fisherman, I caught a seventy-plus pound halibut!" (R: No photos were available, placing this into that long compendium of "fish stories" we periodically receive, without a wall-mounted piscine and signed Certificate of Authenticity).

Ralph Lalime gave the following account of the tailgate around the AFA-Navy game in D.C. on September 27th: "Attending were Tom & Mary Burke, George Pupich and friend Craig, Bill Goodyear and four Navy friends who also attended two years ago( nice chaps ), Mike A. and Nancy Clarke ( Mike and Nancy always provide a bigger honey baked ham every year; this is the first year we didn't finish it, but I think this was big enough to have been the Oklahoma mascot!), Ken and Judy Alnwick, Jim & Jeanette Glaza, Les Querry, Joe Burshnick(Tony's son), my son Chris Lalime et moi! When Pupich arrived, Chris, who had spent a year in Bosnia, greeted George in Serbian and gave him a glass of Slivovitz (Serbian plum brandy). George proposed the traditional Serbian toast and they jabbered on in Serbian with a lot of laughter." (By the way, Navy won 31-20).

Dr. Ken Werrell has won the Air Force Historical Foundation's Best Book Award in 2006 for Sabres over MIG Alley. "Dr. Werrell's book is an exceptionally well-documented work," stated the judges, and they praised its readability. And should you go to The Air Force, published by the Air Force Historical Foundation (2002), pages 132-151, you can read "The Air Force in the Korean War", by Kenneth P. Werrell, Ph. D. (R: In that same book, you'll also read the contribution of General Ronald W. Yates, pages 288-297, entitled "Research, Development, Acquisition & Logistics"). Other books written by Ken include: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air Defense, Blankets of Fire: U.S. Bombers over Japan During World War II, Chasing the Silver Bullet: U.S. Air Force Weapons Development from Vietnam to Desert Storm, Eighth Air Force Bibliography: An Extended Essay and Listing of Published and Unpublished Materials, and The Evolution of the Cruise Missiles. (Note: You've got to remember that Ken's been Military Defense Analyst and Professor at the Air Power Research Institute at Maxwell AFB, and Professor of History at Radford University).

And now for another "personal biography," this from a classmate whose yearbook stated that he was from Phoenix, Arizona--Frank David Mayberry: "I was born in Pratt, Kansas, 7 Jan 1936, and went through high school there. Upon graduation I received an Academic Scholarship to Arizona State College at Tempe (now Arizona State University). It was there, in ROTC class that I learned about the US Air Force Academy. I quit school after my third semester and went to Texas where I went to work for Convair on the B-58 program. While there, I completed my tests for the Academy. I received my appointment from the State of Arizona, one of two, the other recipient being Johnnie Townsend. We went to Denver the day before we were to check in and stayed at the YMCA. Johnny had two weapons with him, a .45 automatic and a tear gas pen. He lent me the gun, and we went our separate ways looking for girls to pick up. We both found nice looking girls to spend the evening with. While he was walking his date he was accosted by a group of youths who sullied the reputation of his girl. She was offended and asked him to tell the boys to stop. They of course laughed and asked him what he was going to do about it. He whipped out the tear gas pen and suggested that it would do just fine. They apologized. As far as I know neither of us ever saw those girls again. When I got to the Academy I was dressed in a powder blue sport coat, white collared Tee with thin red vertical stripes, navy blue slacks, and blue suede shoes. My hair was done in a duck tail. After the initial introduction, which I found amusing, I changed into my uniform. I had no black shoes, so I wore the blue suedes. As I raced across the quadrangle I was stopped by Major Enos who questioned me about the blue suedes. I told him they were the only shoes I had. He asked me if I had received a letter telling me to get black shoes. I replied that the letter merely suggested that we get black shoes. He made it clear to me that when the Air Force suggests one do something one should do it. All the time he was talking to me he was kicking my beautiful blue-suede shoes. Then he had the audacity to ask me if I knew who he was. I replied, 'Yes, sir! You're Major Anus.' I spent several interesting moments receiving a correction. On my way to the Cadet Store to get my new black shoes I took a glance at my 'blue' suedes--they had become a dirty brown!

"Well, I graduated and went on to a twenty year AF career as a Communications-Electronics Engineer. After that I worked another 16 years as a Satellite Engineer. Now I'm a professional Recreational Research Consultant (a sexy way to say I'm retired)." Frank neglected to mention that he is easily the most traveled of our classmates, and "Seldom are they heard," except for brief visits, at their home.

"Father (Very Reverend) Peter L. Zalewski, V.F., Pastor of our Catholic St. Dominic's Church, baptized our two children, Sebastian and Cecelia, recently, and also did their 1st Reconciliation (Confession) and 1st Communion. Not only did he graduate from the USAF Academy (Class of 1988), but he goes there every summer as an AF Reservist!" This submitted by Kath Gillis, writing for husband Bill (busy enjoying their waterfront home and boat dock in Panama City), just to demonstrate that AFA grads' influence now spreads into all areas and many occupations in the Free World.

Friendly Fire. George Elliott Luck and wife Carolyn just had their first grandchild--River Wallace Luck, who's now one year old (as of Sep 07). River is named after his great-grandfather, who was a glider pilot with the 82nd Airborne flying into Normandy and Holland in WWII (see photo of George and Carolyn in their 1957 H35 Beechcraft Bonanza, certainly not a glider) ... The I-40/I-25 interchange, once again, was the confluence for many--Gordy Flygare stayed with us in ABQ for a couple of days when he rode in on his BMW-R1150RT cycle for the Sandia Cycle Classic September 14-16th and Phil Meinhardt and Veronica stopped while driving through from Houston after Phil completed his proton therapy for prostate cancer (Phil and I lunched), then went on to Santa Fe and Taos ... As we age, our modes of transport change, like Bill Goodyear and wife Linda of 23 years: Bill going from near-sonic B52s to taking a train from Fullerton, CA, then Amtrak's "Coastline Starlight" for 35 hours from Los Angeles to Seattle. Bill helped old friends celebrate 50 years of marriage, then enjoyed ten days with his newly-born granddaughter, Lucinder Camille Purty, who is Bill's oldest daughter Lorelei's child.

USAFA DC '60 had their 4th annual Falcon Roosting at Les and Marty Querry's home on 27 October: Left to right in the back row are Goodson, Fischer, Badger, Hales, Lalime, Becky and George Fries, Marty Hiatt Querry, Mike A. Clarke, Al Johnson, de la Cruz, Alnwick, Querry; Middle row: Barbara Hales, Tom and Mary Ellen Burke, Burshnick; Front row sitting: Maryn Goodson, Lutzi Fischer, Nancy Clarke, Liliane Badger, Karen Burshnick, Judy Alnwick, Betty de la Cruz.

And a not-so-much-of-a-surprise-party was Ken Alnwick's celebration, with Ken having his "Still Alive at 70" event on the 20th of October in the Inn at Cedar Knoll, overlooking the Potomac River in Alexandria, VA. In attendance were Karen & Tony Burshnick, Tom and Mary Burke, Jerry & Betty de la Cruz, Norm & Liz Haller and granddaughter, Ralph Lalime, and Les and Marty Querry.

On Saturday, September 22, more than 60 people gathered to celebrate Bob Fischer's 70th birthday at his childhood home near Philadelphia (son, Mark, now owns the house and also lives there). Attendees came from Maine, Florida, Colorado, and all points in between (one childhood friend from Texas even wore a disguise to make sure that Bob wouldn't recognize him if they crossed paths in the small town prior to the surprise party). "Les and Marty Querry made the trip from Virginia to represent Nullis Secundus, and with lots of messages from Dad's classmates in the Class of 1960, we were able to gather many 'lost' photos from the academy, Vietnam, and lighter moments w/ friends over the last 50 years," wrote son Kevin Fischer. "These photos were digitally scanned and became part of a 'This Is Your Life' show for my father, highlighting his childhood, his love of old cars, military service, and family."

"Kay & I celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary by taking a cruise to Alaska," writes Paul Vallerie. "We lucked out and got a 'repositioning cruise' on a ship going from Vancouver, BC to San Diego. Sailed September 19th to Alaska (Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan), then Vancouver, Victoria, Astoria, Oregon and San Diego October 1st. Side excursions included a beer at the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau, train ride up the Gold Rush trail out of Skagway, cruising among glaciers in Glacier Bay and a boat ride up the Misty Fiords in Ketchikan."

Our Mini-Reunion November 1-3 in Colorado Springs around the AFA-Army Football Game started with cocktails Thursday night at Jack and Elaine Brush' hillside home, dinner Friday at the Embassy Suites, Saturday morning's GlazaGate and then a 20-point victory over Army followed by an evening buffet at the Embassy. In the photo, front row: Sexton, Kaley, Glaza, Yoakum, Farquhar, Mosier; back rows: Seebode, Querry, Schwank, Porter, Kendall, Bilello, Schehr, Bujalski, McClure, Stumm, Pupich, Fries, Biancur, Meinhardt, Luck, Waddle, Yates. (Not in the photo, but attending the weekend's events, were John McCullough and Jack Brush).

Pat and I spent a week in Naples, Italy, and then three weeks in Sicily - just got back a week ago," writes Dave Reed. "Heading for New Zealand for the usual six months starting 5 November, so please extend an invite for any classmates interested in New Zealand--we have a spare bedroom and can come to Auckland to meet them." (Dave's also got a great deal on "meds," you could buy them while you're there from his pharmacy buddy, just contact Dave at Neptune@ecentral.com. R: What a deal--trip to balmy New Zealand during our winters, a place to stay, and cheap prescription drugs!)

Going back to his roots, Doug Rekenthaler moved from his 90-acre farm in West Virginia to Sioux City, IA. "I'll continue this place as my 21-acre hobby farm, while someone else does make a few acres of hay. I left Sioux City when I was 18 to go to Iowa State, then to the Academy. This place has the same population, most of the same houses, but the changes have been in the density of the crops--corn four inches between stalks, where it was a foot when I was a kid. No longer 'knee-high by the 4th of July,' it's now head-high or more by that date. We'll have the largest corn crop in history, largely due to the demand for ethanol. It's Midwest living at its best: steak, potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, too much of everything. And, my 'earthquake prediction methodology' resulted in the US patent office approving my application, so I am now officially an 'inventor.' I'm scouting for $2.5M to set up a commercial prediction system."

Do NOT forget our Mini-Ski XVIII in Utah March 1-8, 2008--contact Andi Biancur.

I was in Denver for the World Series between the Red Sox and Rockies, and Denis Walsh offered a bed and use of his Acura. I was up early Sunday morning and went outside to breathe that refreshingly crisp Colorado air just as Denis was putting on a helmet and bicycling off to Sunday Mass at a church two miles distant. What a compelling sight--here was a man who'd reached the upper levels of his chosen profession in the military and ridden the Winds of War, lost his beloved wife Liz in February 2005 and still grieved her death, a gentleman now traveling by simple means mostly forgotten and to a refuge where he would get down on his knees and pray. I will retain that image in my mind, and those thoughts of this well-anchored gentleman remain with me throughout this holiday season. Have a very Happy Christmas, and especially to you, Denis.

Final Roll Call. Sandra O'Keefe, wife of Dennis O'Keefe, died October 26, 2007 near Seattle, WA.