Rich Trentman
Reunion
Sports
Pictures
AOG
Lots of “stuff” happening since the last article. AF basketball is a force to be reckoned with nationally and wrapping up a tough conference schedule. Clune Arena had a record number of sellouts this year and the noise can be deafening there. It is unbelievable!! Falcon basketball is the thing to do in Colorado Springs. Excitement is growing over the young, new football staff. The football coaching staff is heavily loaded with grads who really tell the recruits what to expect at our great school and provide a great energy to the recruiting schedule. All I want is to “Beat Navy”!
Our reunion is approaching (October 4-8), so make your travel plans. The Embassy Suites near the South gate (same one we used for our 20th) is our reunion hotel. A mailing should be going out this Spring with more details, but make sure to mark your calendars. I am getting a lot of emails from the class saying they are coming.
On to class news: Leona Flores sent me a long email update (asking for the 81 Ladies Tea answer key – Leona did very well – B+). She also asked me whether plans were being made for our 30th….sick, sick woman, please let it go for awhile. I told her that the class reunion committee meets with the AOG about a year out give or take to select a date, review actions, select a hotel, and assign initial tasks. For us, it will probably mean a meeting in September/October of 2010 for initial planning for our 30th. Leona missed the 25th because she was visiting her parents in Texas that weekend. She said the 25th seemed to come too soon following the 20th, but what we all must realize is that we are aging, so we must see each other more often (at least while I still have some hair). Leona is doing well selling homes in the Orlando area. Mike (Bloomer) Bloomfield emailed that he, like many, has been following Falcon basketball listening via the web and reading the Gazette. Mike is excited about the football team and got to chat with a couple of Troy Calhoun’s new assistants at the Texan Bowl. He did remind me of the memorable Andy Bark play/call (pass interference) our firstie year that led to the only win over Navy during our four years at USAFA. Bloomer is doing well with NASA in Houston. Tim McClain emailed that Jan Wiley was ordained an Episcopalian priest in January at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston. Congrats, Jan! Michelle Johnson is keeping busy as super mom, general, and all around great lady! Karen (Boniewicz) and Ray Torres drove from McGuire AFB to attend Michelle’s pin-on ceremony. It was a family affair with Michelle’s twin sons helping her husband and sister pin on her rank! The Secretary of the Air Force presided. Silvi (Kiisk) Steigerwald had lunch with Janice Gunnoe and Amy Markert recently. Amy was not on travel with Cisco for a change and Janice and her husband, Don, were back in the states soaking up the cold (errr…global warming) on break from their work in Kolkata, India. Oh, Silvi said Bob struggled with identifying our classmates in the 81 Ladies Tea picture. (Leona, you did way better than Bob who only recognized 5). Silvi was fortunate to have a business trip to Colorado this Winter and got to spend time with her fourthclass (2010) son, Robert. Joan Cunningham sent a great picture of some ageless 81er colonels at a recent Commanders Conference. Joan said the group also got to visit Mike Leigh who flies for Delta. Believe it or not, they all also went skiing…Joan said you would think it was 25+ years ago. Scott Suhr sent me a couple more great reunion photos (see picture #2.) (keep them coming) I’m NOT going to lookup everyone’s names. The 81 Ladies picture was my last shot at that! Thanks, Scott. Steve Baker sent me a great picture with him, Rex Kiziah (Physics Dept head), and, of course, Marty France (Astro Dept head). I would have included it, but I still hold Marty responsible for AF’s loss to SDSU in basketball in February. (Marty was the tutor on the trip). Come on, Marty, the team needs at least 1 hour of sleep. BGen Greg Biscone emailed that he will be speaking to the cadets this week, so we’re going to try to get together. Greg and I sat by each other in 4th grade at St John Vianney in Orlando, FL and went trick or treating together in 1968….yikes!! Small world. BGen Jake Polumbo emailed from Beale AFB, CA. Jake is the wing commander there and recently finished his checkout in the graceful, but demanding U-2. Jake’s also checking out in flying those giant model airplanes – Global Hawks. I watched the Super Bowl at Lauri Cross’s beautiful home in Black Forest. Of course, my good friend, Marty France was there, too. We have 81 get-togethers every couple months at one of our homes.
Our always cheerful, class vice president, Randy Worrall took a relaxing 7 day sailing vacation in the British Virgin Islands. Randy has been very busy working through all of Delta’s issues. Randy had Ben Swinford in the jump seat on a flight. I also heard from our class president, Tony Lorusso! Tony was enjoying the Christmas lull. Tony is the Director of the Minnesota Trade office and works the governor’s international trade trips. Tony had dinner with Danny Crews. Tony says Danny is as mellow, if not more, than ever and doing well. I received a very nice email form Dave Hunter. Dave, Tony, Randy, and I were in the same doolie squadron. Dave works for Boeing and has what sounds like a very nice place on the Kitsap peninsula in Washington. Dave and his wife have 2 daughters that they home schooled. His oldest is 17 and starting college with #2 not far behind.
81 Ladies picture answer key: After posting the 81 Ladies Tea picture last article, I received several requests for the “answer key”. Here it is: Top Row - Amy Russell, Jan Peterson, Joan Cunningham, Jamie Klemme, Sandra Yope, Missy Mraz, Karen Boniewicz, Silvi Kiisk, Vicki Bilek Bottom Row - Amy Markert, Linda McCullers, Mimi Crane, Deb Lumpkins, Jan Wiley, Mary Pat Ehrhard, Pam McGinty, Kathy Lemieux, Michelle Cicchini
Class Senate update: As your Class Senator (and loyal scribe…unless there are volunteers?) I attended the kickoff Class Advisory Senate (CAS) meeting on January 18th. The Senate’s initial tasking was to get organized, draft our own by-laws and we also discussed what we perceived our initial role to be as a voice and sounding board (but NOT a hindrance) between the AOG Board and the graduate community at large. We set a goal to aggressively recruit representatives for classes without senators and elected Dick Sextant ’60 to be our interim CAS President. We’ll present our final draft by-laws to the May AOG Board meeting for approval. Please send me your thoughts, questions, concerns, and ideas as we get this group going. Rick Martin emailed expressing interest in being our Class Senator, so I may be end up being a one termer and live a life of luxury soon. Allright, Rick!
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you Guy Payne, CS-03, died on Dec 16th. I don’t have any details, but please keep Guy and his wife, Kay, in your thoughts and prayers.
I’ve gone a bit long in this article, but I want to thank all of you for your emails and support! I love hearing from you and despite my teasing – thoroughly enjoy serving as your scribe. Go AF!
Our reunion is approaching (October 4-8), so make your travel plans. The Embassy Suites near the South gate (same one we used for our 20th) is our reunion hotel. A mailing should be going out this Spring with more details, but make sure to mark your calendars. I am getting a lot of emails from the class saying they are coming.
On to class news: Leona Flores sent me a long email update (asking for the 81 Ladies Tea answer key – Leona did very well – B+). She also asked me whether plans were being made for our 30th….sick, sick woman, please let it go for awhile. I told her that the class reunion committee meets with the AOG about a year out give or take to select a date, review actions, select a hotel, and assign initial tasks. For us, it will probably mean a meeting in September/October of 2010 for initial planning for our 30th. Leona missed the 25th because she was visiting her parents in Texas that weekend. She said the 25th seemed to come too soon following the 20th, but what we all must realize is that we are aging, so we must see each other more often (at least while I still have some hair). Leona is doing well selling homes in the Orlando area. Mike (Bloomer) Bloomfield emailed that he, like many, has been following Falcon basketball listening via the web and reading the Gazette. Mike is excited about the football team and got to chat with a couple of Troy Calhoun’s new assistants at the Texan Bowl. He did remind me of the memorable Andy Bark play/call (pass interference) our firstie year that led to the only win over Navy during our four years at USAFA. Bloomer is doing well with NASA in Houston. Tim McClain emailed that Jan Wiley was ordained an Episcopalian priest in January at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston. Congrats, Jan! Michelle Johnson is keeping busy as super mom, general, and all around great lady! Karen (Boniewicz) and Ray Torres drove from McGuire AFB to attend Michelle’s pin-on ceremony. It was a family affair with Michelle’s twin sons helping her husband and sister pin on her rank! The Secretary of the Air Force presided. Silvi (Kiisk) Steigerwald had lunch with Janice Gunnoe and Amy Markert recently. Amy was not on travel with Cisco for a change and Janice and her husband, Don, were back in the states soaking up the cold (errr…global warming) on break from their work in Kolkata, India. Oh, Silvi said Bob struggled with identifying our classmates in the 81 Ladies Tea picture. (Leona, you did way better than Bob who only recognized 5). Silvi was fortunate to have a business trip to Colorado this Winter and got to spend time with her fourthclass (2010) son, Robert. Joan Cunningham sent a great picture of some ageless 81er colonels at a recent Commanders Conference. Joan said the group also got to visit Mike Leigh who flies for Delta. Believe it or not, they all also went skiing…Joan said you would think it was 25+ years ago. Scott Suhr sent me a couple more great reunion photos (see picture #2.) (keep them coming) I’m NOT going to lookup everyone’s names. The 81 Ladies picture was my last shot at that! Thanks, Scott. Steve Baker sent me a great picture with him, Rex Kiziah (Physics Dept head), and, of course, Marty France (Astro Dept head). I would have included it, but I still hold Marty responsible for AF’s loss to SDSU in basketball in February. (Marty was the tutor on the trip). Come on, Marty, the team needs at least 1 hour of sleep. BGen Greg Biscone emailed that he will be speaking to the cadets this week, so we’re going to try to get together. Greg and I sat by each other in 4th grade at St John Vianney in Orlando, FL and went trick or treating together in 1968….yikes!! Small world. BGen Jake Polumbo emailed from Beale AFB, CA. Jake is the wing commander there and recently finished his checkout in the graceful, but demanding U-2. Jake’s also checking out in flying those giant model airplanes – Global Hawks. I watched the Super Bowl at Lauri Cross’s beautiful home in Black Forest. Of course, my good friend, Marty France was there, too. We have 81 get-togethers every couple months at one of our homes.
Our always cheerful, class vice president, Randy Worrall took a relaxing 7 day sailing vacation in the British Virgin Islands. Randy has been very busy working through all of Delta’s issues. Randy had Ben Swinford in the jump seat on a flight. I also heard from our class president, Tony Lorusso! Tony was enjoying the Christmas lull. Tony is the Director of the Minnesota Trade office and works the governor’s international trade trips. Tony had dinner with Danny Crews. Tony says Danny is as mellow, if not more, than ever and doing well. I received a very nice email form Dave Hunter. Dave, Tony, Randy, and I were in the same doolie squadron. Dave works for Boeing and has what sounds like a very nice place on the Kitsap peninsula in Washington. Dave and his wife have 2 daughters that they home schooled. His oldest is 17 and starting college with #2 not far behind.
81 Ladies picture answer key: After posting the 81 Ladies Tea picture last article, I received several requests for the “answer key”. Here it is: Top Row - Amy Russell, Jan Peterson, Joan Cunningham, Jamie Klemme, Sandra Yope, Missy Mraz, Karen Boniewicz, Silvi Kiisk, Vicki Bilek Bottom Row - Amy Markert, Linda McCullers, Mimi Crane, Deb Lumpkins, Jan Wiley, Mary Pat Ehrhard, Pam McGinty, Kathy Lemieux, Michelle Cicchini
Class Senate update: As your Class Senator (and loyal scribe…unless there are volunteers?) I attended the kickoff Class Advisory Senate (CAS) meeting on January 18th. The Senate’s initial tasking was to get organized, draft our own by-laws and we also discussed what we perceived our initial role to be as a voice and sounding board (but NOT a hindrance) between the AOG Board and the graduate community at large. We set a goal to aggressively recruit representatives for classes without senators and elected Dick Sextant ’60 to be our interim CAS President. We’ll present our final draft by-laws to the May AOG Board meeting for approval. Please send me your thoughts, questions, concerns, and ideas as we get this group going. Rick Martin emailed expressing interest in being our Class Senator, so I may be end up being a one termer and live a life of luxury soon. Allright, Rick!
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you Guy Payne, CS-03, died on Dec 16th. I don’t have any details, but please keep Guy and his wife, Kay, in your thoughts and prayers.
I’ve gone a bit long in this article, but I want to thank all of you for your emails and support! I love hearing from you and despite my teasing – thoroughly enjoy serving as your scribe. Go AF!
Please send me any news or just say "HI" 81 Class Scribe
81 Second to None!
