What could be more exciting than the 49th college reunion for a small group of men who graduated from an engineering school specializing in naval architecture and marine engineering in 1963?  Especially when that special event occurred on an island in the Ohio portion of Lake Erie.  Well, you guessed it; that was another highlight of the summer for me.  As a member of the graduating class of 15 guys (it was not coed in those days), I was very happy to see 9 of us gathering, complete with our partners, once again.  After all, we have known each other and worked together over 53 years; participated in each other’s weddings and other family events; and shared an esprit de corps that comes from surviving intense emotional, intellectual and physical trauma collectively.

I won’t bore you with the details, but here are a few of the photographic highlights:

Full-size replica of Oliver Hazard Perry’s ship, The Niagara (There’s no “V” in the name!)  It’s actually an interesting story.  Most of us don’t know much about the War of 1812, but if it weren’t for Perry and his actions in Lake Erie, we all might be Canadians right now.

Nine of the remaining 14 grads of Class of 1963:

The usual suspects & their better halves:

This was a good warm-up to our 50th, next year.  Hopefully, it will be quite awhile before we all fade into the sunset.