By Gregory A. Weiss
First, some important class news: we are about to launch a project that will involve regular class-wide zoom meetings featuring classmates and other speakers discussing topics ranging from those of current interest to those that are merely fascinating. Other classes from the ’60s have implemented similar programs with great success. We are thrilled that Michael Dalby and Jesse Lovejoy have agreed to take the lead on this project, reprising similar roles they handled so well at the last two reunions. If all goes according to plan, you will have received notice of the first session before receiving this issue. What can you do to help Michael and Jesse? Send in to them (michaeldalby@mac.com; jrl@jrlovejoy.com) as many suggestions for speakers and topics as you can think of. The more ideas the better.
Ukraine is obviously dominating the current news. It turns out that we have at least one classmate with Ukrainian background, Kas Kalba. (The family of Don Gastworth, who passed away several years ago, was apparently also Ukrainian.) Interestingly, Kas feels that he was born in five countries: the then-mythological country of Ukraine; Poland, the then-legal country of his birth; Germany, America and France. He has only actually been there a limited number of times but has strong memories: “What I learned in several trips to Kyiv, starting in 1989, is how much Ukraine has evolved in terms of inclusiveness, a huge change from my parents’ generation with its stark ethnic and religious dividing lines. Even Russians were being accepted, to my surprise.
“As for Lviv, where my family is from, I see it’s finally being discovered by the West, especially by the TV journalists who are centered there. It’s a beautiful city. I learned this when I visited Lviv for the first (and only) time about 25 years ago with my parents. ‘Why didn’t you tell me how beautiful it is?’ I remember asking them. They didn’t know how to react to my question.”
Proof that 66’ers don’t just get older, they get better: Day Patterson and Kirk Ressler are to be congratulated for repeating as overall champions of the annual invitational member-guest tournament of the prestigious Colliers Reserve Country Club in Florida. They modestly describe their win as “improbable.”