Pres: LCDR Dennis Sullivan, USN (Ret.)
Sec'y: CAPT Thomas G. Kiefaber, USN (Ret.)
11814 Triple Crown Rd., Reston, VA 20191
h: 703-758-1077; e: KIEF55@aol.com
http://www.usna.com/classes/1955

    The Annual Dark Ages Party was held Saturday evening, 3 March, at the Hidden Creek Country Club in Reston, VA. It was one of the more enjoyable Class parties in recent memory with 52 attendees, including Luz and Todd Meloy, Dick Peterson, Marlene and Al Dawson, Nancy and Bob Hinton, Sharon and Kirk Rowe, Nancy and Don Kellerman, Cyd and Fred Tolleson, Beryl and Dan Ebert, Sabra and Bill Smith, Sally and Hartley Holte, Eileen and Fred Koester, Julia and Tom Lapham, Bernice and Jim Powers, Peggy and Otto Zipf, Denny Sullivan, Ursula and Tom Kiefaber, Sheila and Cal Weaver, Debbie and John Adams, Pat and Kent Drummond, Delphine and Charlie Senn, Elizabeth and Bob Fountain, Jean and Norm Harper, Martha and Tony Bracken, Tom McIsaac and Joan Connolly, Marg and Tom Stallman, Pat and Bobby Freeman and the host, Ray Hine and Virginia Wyman. As usual for Hidden Creek, the fare was absolutely fantastic! Pat and Kent Drummond were present for their first dark ages party in some time having arrived recently in the area from Texas. Sabra and Bill Smith and Jean and Norm Harper came down from Pennsylvania, and Sharon and Kirk Rowe and Betsey and Bob Fountain came up from the Northern Neck of Virginia. The lone representatives from the Annapolis area were Sally and Hartley Holte. Denny Sullivan brought everyone up to date on recent happenings and a discussion ensued about the difficulty of getting everyone together more often due to all the traveling that we are doing individually and, in the case of our cruise bunch, collectively. It was generally agreed, however, that we should continue to have our dark ages party during the first Saturday in March, and that we should continue to have our luncheons in the Washington metro area with the same frequency that we have enjoyed these past number of years—about every six weeks.

    The party also provided the opportunity to put the finishing touches on the 2001 D.C. golf schedule. Ray Hine always waits until midway thru the cocktail hour to lean on Classmates to volunteer in hosting a monthly event. The schedule as it now stands, subject to last minute tweaking, is as follows: Joe Chmelik hosted the 17 April outing at Worthington Manor in Maryland followed by dinner at his wonderful home. 15 May is the Class challenge with the Class of 1957 at Fawn Lake in Virginia just north of Fredericksburg. On 19 June, Denny Sullivan will host at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington; Don Kellerman at the Bell Haven Country Club on 17 July; Tony Bracken at the Fairfax Club on 21 August; Tom Schultz at Mount Vernon Country Club on 18 September, and the last function is the Awards Outing at the Hidden Creek Country Club on 16 October, which everyone is invited to attend, whether you are a golfer or not. It is always a lot of fun with many toasts, good stories and the best food in town.

    Pat Taylor attended this year's '55 JO Leadership Award presentation and filed this report:

    Don Loosley sent in a picture of the 7th Company reunioners at the 45th. They include Donna and Don Loosley, Chris and Fred Wilhelm, Genie and Joe Walter, Amanda and Roy Paul, and Beverly and Ken McCally. Don took up playing the trumpet last September, after a 49-year lapse. He is a featured performer with the 40-piece Brunswick County Concert Band.

    I received information about Francis Leonard "Chico" Castillo from Oakah L. Jones Jr. '53, who sent along a clipping out of the Albuquerque Journal. He owns and operates the Castillo Ready Mix Concrete Company in Belen, NM, with his wife, Gina, and son, Richard. The newspaper article highlights the company's involvement in a highway renovation project in Albuquerque building a stabilized-earth wall that will be the second largest of its kind in the world. After his AF stint, Chico became involved in construction-type work in Belen where he grew up, and started Ready Mix Concrete in 1984.

    The darlings of the Cruise Bunch, Pat and Paul Sutherland have stepped off the boat with a glowing report about their latest excursion:

   Taps

    It is sad to report that Classmate Gerald D. Dickey (6th Company) passed away on Christmas Day 1999 in Sacramento, CA. I hope soon to have further particulars to pass along. Also, deepest sympathy goes out to Phil Monahan who lost his wife, Terry, on 6 March of this year, following a long and courageous bout with cancer.

    The accompanying group pictures from our 45th Reunion are: Our USMC Classmates and Companies 4, 5, and 6. I will continue to include these until all group shots have been shown.