This Christmas 2009 photograph was taken in Stillwater, MN--on the left is 'Nutty Nutcracker,' Brenda, CT Douglass III; in the back row are sons CTIV and Dax. The Nutcracker is one of seven Brenda has collected, and on Brenda's lap is 'Tango,' CT's shortened name for Tanqueray. "CTIV is in the middle of Artillery School at Fort Sill in Lawton, OK--he finished the field part before Xmas vacation, and returns to academics of artillery until March," says CT III. "He expects to hit Afghanistan next year (2010), probably in convoy escort, but since he is schooled and practiced in civil affairs (in Hit, Iraq with the Marines a couple years ago for seven months), he hopes to be assigned to the Red Bull Division's (MN) civil affairs group. He spent the month of December home on leave."

Ben Furuta said "we're expecting our third grandkid, a girl, in DC in January ('10) and will be traveling east to see her, probably in April. Also, I didn't mention it at the time, but a little over a year ago, I went to the AF Museum at Wright-Pat with my two sons and saw one of the WB-50's that I actually flew, plus a lot of other stuff."

Here's a great photo of Howie Whitfield and his family--Howie's on the right, daughter Dawn is second from the left, and daughter Lynn in the middle--they're both next to their husbands. "The young lady standing next to me in the picture is a 17-year old Norwegian student my daughter Lynn volunteered to host this year," said Howie. "So, I'm overwhelmed by females when I visit them--my two daughters, three granddaughters ages 15, 16, and 17, and, this year the Norwegian student! Lynn, who lives in Moses Lake, WA, hosted the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays this year. After Christmas, we rented a house for three nights in Leavenworth, WA, in the mountains east of the Cascades and west of the Columbia River and Wenatchee; Leavenworth is decorated like a Bavarian town and has nice restaurants and skiing nearby."

Dave and Camille Sweigart's travel during 2009 included "Two trips to Albuquerque, where Camille serves as a board member for Seed and Light, an international ministry providing seed to starving countries for planting food crops, February for the annual board meeting, then in June to honor our pastor and friend Larry Moss in his retirement. We made two trips to Galveston--one in May and another in November. The first was for our great-nephew Sammy's first communion, the second was our annual week in a beach home. Our longest trip was the end of September to mid-October to Charleston, SC on a golf trip, then to PA to visit David's Mom and family. While there, we went to Annapolis to the AFA/Navy game, then Atlantic City with Dawn and Carl, David's sister and brother-in-law. After PA, we went to Cincinnati for a week with Cindy and the kids. There were two unplanned trips in November--David's Mom (94) passed away, and we went back to PA for her services; five days later, Camille's uncle (97) died in Houston, taking us there for his services. We had a major hail storm in Texas during March that heavily damaged nearly every home here in Meadow Lakes, TX, and our damage was over $20,000. We put nearly 15,000 miles on the road in 2009."

Les Hobgood leaves his Corvette running all the time, just so he's ready for his next trip. In August it was to Bowling Green, KY for the 15^th anniversary of the National Corvette Museum; then, in September, he sped (sped, mind you), from San Antonio to Corpus Christi and joined 300+ other Corvettes that got loaded on the flight deck of the Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier in dry dock. We had about 30 'Vettes from our local club that caravanned down to the Gulf Coast," wrote Les. In October, he was in Ruidoso, NM for a golf tourney, then Albuquerque to crew for a Texas pilot in the Balloon Festival. 2009 ended for Leslie Alden Hobgood (Dance Committee 3,2,1, Lacrosse Club 2,1, Ski Club 4,3,2,1) without his usual Practice New Year's Eve Party, and he vowed that: "(1) Mike and Rani (my son and daughter) will join me for the MiniSki in Salt Lake City, (2) I will forego NIOSA (Night In Old San Antonio) this year and compete in the Big Bend Open Road Race that runs from Fort Stockton, Texas to Sanderson, Texas, and, (3) I will miss part of the Balloon Fiesta for the 50^th celebration of the Class of 1960's graduation from the United States Air Force Academy--I left there in 1960 driving a '60 Corvette and will return in a '60 Corvette 50 years later!"

The DC-'60 Group met January 12, 2010: "This one was special, since it was my 73^rd birthday!" wrote Tony Burshnick. "The guys sang 'Happy Birthday' to me, and paid for my lunch. We had 15 classmates there, and absent were Tom Burke, Bill Taylor, Bill Goodyear, and Bob Odenweller. Bill Carnegie has lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy; he's had four treatments, and has two more to go. Mike A. Clarke appears well, and no longer needs a walker or cane. George Fries has recovered from his shoulder replacement. Ralph Lalime is preparing for his oldest son, Chris, on January 23^rd. Ken Alnwick still coaches lacrosse and works with the Naval Ops Research. Bob Fischer underwent a stress test and the docs found a blockage--he's on medication, and works out strenuously. Bob Badger is in great shape, and wife Liliane has overcome problems with her digestive system. Norm Haller still works for the National Academy of Science and the National Science Foundation, and keeps an eye on the Randolph Macon Academy, trying to get it affiliated with USAFA. Al Johnson had laparoscopic surgery for a double hernia, and he and Gale will travel to Florida looking for a winter home. Les Querry has been snowed in at his hilltop home. Leon and Maryn Goodson had a great trip to Israel with their church group; and, their son's wife will have twins in the near future. Jerry de la Cruz told us that Betty's operation for a thyroid problem went well, and they'll be going to MiniSki XX with Ralph, GJC and Al. Bill Hockenberry still works fulltime as a lawyer, and his six grandchildren are doing well. Mike Loh's son is a Commander with the Colorado National Guard, and flies the Boeing 777 for United in his spare time; Mike is after the AF hierarchy to improve buying policies, and is also working on the nuclear arsenal and nuclear delivery systems. Our next luncheon is the 1^st of April, the day we celebrate Founder's Day, 2010." (Photo: Back, left to right: Goodson, de la Cruz, Al Johnson, Hockenberry, Badger, Haller, Lalime, Carnegie, Loh, Fischer, Querry; Front: Fries, Mike A. Clarke, Burshnick, Alnwick).

Bill Zersen sends this: "For you airplane buffs, this is one unbelievable site," wrote Bill. Go to: Virtual Aircraft Museum.

Our 50^th Reunion is 29 September-3 October, 2010. You're going to love being there.