Pirate Class Notes From the Desk of . . . Davey Murdock

Yo-ho me hearties,

Well friends, it seems the cutlass is back in the scabbard and the blood curdling cries are now fading in the Chenango Valley as the Class of 1980 has retreated once again to more placid and sober lives outside of the friendly confines of alma mater. And we have begun the hard work, made easier by e-mail, of trying to maintain the ties that bind us, as we continue to ponder the age old question, "Who is Mora Cronin, and what has she done with my car?"

My deepest appreciation to those who think we need a more personal forum for class news. We shall institute a blog, eh? No editors, no quarantines, no corporate spies, lest you have one of your own. So, we're underway then.

First of all, many thanks and hearty backslaps to Bob Musiker for so diligently recording the proceedings in digital format so we all could share. He made it look so fun and easy. And I guess while we're at it let's go ahead and acknowledge Liz Hartman Musiker for putting up with Bob for all these years in what appears to be a very strong and happy marriage. Bob's 200+ photo album is probably available at some web site, in case you missed it. Bob will have to fill us in.

I have gathered from the torrent of e-mail that some of you are, shall we say, disheartened, shocked, mortified and generally PISSED, that the reunion Dave Alvord attended did not in any way resemble, in its reportage, the reunion that you attended and squashed under your hobnailed boot like the mighty class of '80 scalawags that I know you all to be. Well, let's get representin' as the brothers say.

My first thought is that it's actually a good thing many of us do not live closer together geographically because you are all just too damn much fun to hang out with, reminiscing or not. My next thought is that we should try to find a way to do this more than just every five years as the good Mr. Alvord alluded to in his posting, although not for AARP discounts. They can keep those.

Seriously, this reunion was that good. And the really bizarre quality of "it's like we just left" or whatever that odd time capsule thing is, that is obviously very hard to put into words, may just as well be left unspoken so that the experience can just come to the surface like it always does. Call it Old Faithful.

Good old 151. Haven't lost a step. In fact, they just keep getting better. It's just not fair, that in all things athletic we decline in ability as the years go by and when we try to recapture the speed, or the agility, or the abs, or the muscle tone, most of us realize, it's just not possible. But not 151, no sir, these dudes just show up, trot out their gear, and flat out blow the doors off reunion and steal the show from all the other tents with their blistering rock and roll. Truth be told, these guys were a little worried they might embarrass themselves!! Can you believe that? Seems unthinkable in retrospect.

Kudos to Mike White, Steve Lesniak, Jim Goldenberg, Doug Watt, Dave Case, Mark D'iorio and Tom Aarts for providing the most memorable evening, reunion or not, ever. Plans for the reunion tour tentatively titled "Smell the Tequila" are underway, stay tuned. If anyone wants to reach Dave Case in the meantime, just call Rosie Radigans in Jersey City, (201) 451-5566. Ask for Moe the bartender.

The classmate that no one knew, Dan Benton, coughed up $5 million to Colgate. But in true class of '80 style, that's not enough. He matches everyone else's gift and voila, the largest reunion gift of all time. Raise your hand if you knew it was that easy! That leaves Prez Chopp breathless, and she declares us the "rock and roll class" or "the music class" or something like that and then goes on to detail how this level of giving broke all sorts of records for class gift and 25th reunion gift, etc. Then, in that same speech, I love this part; she has the cajones to ask for more money to get to our "percentage of giving" goal!

Outstanding!! You gotta love that!! She is the man.

A hearty, "nice going" to classmate John Vornle for flipping Prezz Chopp head over heels on the dance floor. Classic. Indescribable. That'll be the last time we see her in our tent. Does anyone have a spare $5 mil so we can get her back? BTW, I don't know who was responsible for getting the pizza delivered to the class dinner, but that too, was a classic. Please take two giant steps forward, whoever you are.

Meanwhile, Carrie Hayes, Nancy Goldstein and the aforementioned Mora Cronin (Missy Houston, don't ask) hosted a lovely wine tasting at their B and B hangout on Maple St. on Thursday evening. What a great idea for future reunions as the booze provided by the university is more appropriate for the class of '08 than the class of '80. Both Carrie and Mora are in the wine biz in Napa and anyone traveling there is welcome to look them up except John Vornle. We are in desperate need of a "booze upgrade." Someone, please get busy on this. Accommodation upgrade would be nice too.

I have several candidates in mind for the "Oh my god, you look exactly the same, award."

Not surprisingly, most of them are women. Shout out to all you gals, holy crap, is it just me or do all the women look even better now than they did in '77-'80?! I do not know some of them, so hopefully this won't be too creepy. The Suzy Leonard, Kaleeny Cannon combo was pretty fierce. Marianne Crosley, Noelle Bullion, Vicki Weisman, Sandy Stewart, Liz Hartman Musiker, Carrie Hayes, Peggy Flanagan, Carolyn Zenk and Liz Nay were all exceptionally well preserved and Drew Schaeffer and Rick Taylor also haven't lost much youth, nor has Jim Goldenberg. But, after much consideration, I think the award has to go to Dave Alvord, I mean, you put an Oneida letter jacket on that guy and its 1977!! In a related note, I am still searching for the name of the award for Maggie Lechter McMullen who actually looks younger and more fit that she did when we were in school. She says her children keep her young. So we'll call it the "My children keep me young, award," or more crassly, "The Hot MOMMY."

Mark Tully was pleased and somewhat relieved to find that several classmates were actually bigger than he is, and that he would not, after all, be receiving the "most spaced-out hippie award." For information on this award winner, please contact Mark directly. In a related note, outgoing university photographer/chronicler and all-around great guy, John Hubbard, told Earth that in his 30+ years at Colgate, Earth is not only the coolest nickname of all time but also the most fitting. Amen.

If there is a way to acknowledge revolutionary thinking, then I have to point out that Mark Mclaughlin has hit upon a great reunion tradition and that is the wine bar, i-pod, hatchback, picnic concept, whereby you park your car as close to the tent as possible, provide great music and wine out of the back of the SUV and hold an impromptu party!! Outstanding thinking, and obviously a man of great skill and experience. Well done. You just may be the man to captain the aforementioned booze upgrade committee.

A word or two about our Class of '80 memorial and The Memorial Service. As you may know, we lost a classmate the week prior to reunion. Margaret Dudley lost a long battle with cancer, and Sandy Schlotzhauer, God bless her, got up in front of the 60 or so of us that had gathered for the memorial service and, through tears and sobbing, barely able to speak, Sandy gave an unbelievably touching tribute to her fallen freshman roommate and godmother to her children. There were several others who spoke, Hart Mecke, Marianne Crosley, Kathy Gow, Sally Campbell DeCock, etc. and forgive me I can’t recall exactly what fallen comrade they were remembering, but the best speech came from Dave DiNardo, who miraculously did not shed a tear, but managed to keep it warm and somewhat fuzzy by recalling lots of good things and by noting how important and amazing it is that we give enough of a damn to do this memorial at all.

Anyway, if you haven't been to a memorial service at reunion, please attend the next one. It is moving beyond description. Fair warning: if you are not comfortable crying in front a large group of people, this service may not be for you.

Finally, I don’t know how many of you made it up to Murray and Sally’s farm, but what a glorious location, overlooking the entire campus. And what an awesome dedicated couple, who have always welcomed us into their home, not just at reunion, but anytime. It’s just hard to imagine living through winter like that year after year, but that house probably takes some of the sting out of it.

That’s all for now.

Davey