Big Bash Is Almost Here…we’re scrambling with the last minute details of things like piano rentals, hanging plaques, last minute slide shows, and VERY late RSVPs…

We can control all of that, just can’t control the weather…

Hope to see you this weekend!

Saw this "zamboni" being driven around the Mall on one of my walks around campus…the only place I recall seeing them was on hockey rinks. In fact, that’s my dream retirement job – zamboni pilot. I’ve picked out the locale and now all I need is the job posting!!!

OK…so it’s a small street sweeper and our Campus Services team is pulling out all the stops to prepare the campus for Big Bash weekend. Looks like it’ll surpass last year’s attendance and be our biggest reunion weekend ever. Stay tuned for details…

If you’re traveling to campus for the reunion, please travel safe.

Construction continues in earnest on the old TKE house/College Hall. The TKEs, whose studies indicated they needed a new house, will break ground on their new 40-man house (site of the old Sigma Chi house) over Big Bash weekend.

Meanwhile, their old house (pictured) is receiving a face lift as it goes from a shared residence (TKEs and independent men) to only independent housing.

With luck, the TKEs will be in the new digs at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.

It’s Memorial Day weekend. Let’s take just a minute to not think about the politics of the war, the politics of politics, whether or not the Attorney General should step down, why gas prices are so high, and who will win the Indy 500.

Let’s spend just a minute thinking about our young men and women fighting the War on Terrorism, especially those who have fallen in the pursuit of freedom.

I helped bury Major Fernando (Nando) Ribas and Captain Paul Lorence in April 1986. I worked with them. I flew with them. They were my friends.

They were killed on the Libya raid. One Monday morning they woke up, put on their flight suits, kissed their wives goodbye and went off to a "base exercise". Neither one told their spouses they were going into combat on what would be, and still is, the longest fighter mission ever.

They never came home. Twenty four hours later, at a little before 6:00 AM, Carol and I were knocking on Diana Lorence’s front door – the toughest mission I ever had.

However, Libya never raised its terrorist head again.

So, take a moment this weekend to think about the Nandos and Pauls you knew. Say a prayer for their families. Say another prayer, if you will, that we have young men and women who lay their life on the line for this country and our safety.

Ask the Big Guy, whoever your Big Guy is, to keep them safe.

Picture: Wabash Mall, May 2007.

On one of my strolls around campus, I passed by the FIJI house and noted an interesting approach to watering…something.

I couldn’t decide if they had were trying to "grow" a larger front porch or if this was some symbolic watering in hopes of a big pledge class in the fall. Of course, they also may have been trying to keep the owls cool in the heat…

Bonus Feature – Tommy’s Aftermath – Click here

That’s Bob Hobson ’57 with his grandson Nicholas. That’s one proud grandfather, for sure.

Bob’s definitely going to be here for the 2007 edition of the Big Bash. He’ll join over 40 of his classmates as they celebrate their 50th reunion.

On a personal note, as you can see, Bob is already recruiting Nicholas – Dean of Admissions Steve Klein would be proud. Strong family tradition of CAL though, so we’ll have to keep the effort up for a number of years.

Don’t forget to make sure your sons, grandsons, and nephews are on the Admissions radar. all it takes is a referral to Admissions and they take care of the rest.  Refer here.

The Class of 1967 has 63 registered for their 40th reunion coming up at the 2007 Big Bash. If that number holds, and they all sign into the Alumni Registry, that will be a new world’s record…ahh…OK, a new Wabash record.

Many thanks go to Clark Dickerson, their reunion chairman, who has been a leader without equal. Clark’s non-stop drive to get guys back has really made the difference.

Thanks Clark – your class should have a great time at the Bash…

Now, about that class that has seven guys coming back…

Detchon Hall…Yandes Library…one and the same.

I’m not sure how many alumni see Detchon/Yandes from the east, but the doorway to the Arboretum still carries the Yandes name.

The 2007 Big Bash will welcome the Class of 1962 back to campus for their 45th reunion. At their last reunion, the class reenacted their part in moving all of the volumes of books from Yandes to the new Lilly Library. Of course, they used empty boxes instead of boxes full of books.

This year the plan is probably to have a brew and remember moving the books – that should be good enough!

Goodrich Hall first floor classroom…the only lights are the from the sun shinning outside the building…the only noise is an occasional trip down the hall by a faculty member…the chairs are too organized and I didn’t see a copy of a month-old Bachelor anywhere…

We’re in that space of time between Commencement and the Big Bash when everything seems almost deserted…

However, rest assured we’re all working hard, getting prepared for the Big Bash…should be a fun weekend…

The Big Bash is a great time – classmates, pledge brothers, plenty of brews.

It’s also a great time for reflection. Like the professor who changed your life forever, the pledge brother who saved you one night after too many, and the teammate who made the catch/basket/goal/home run to beat DePauw.

It’s also about you personally. It might be just a few moments in the Chapel with your spouse/family/significant other/partner. It might be a glance in that Center Hall classroom when no one else is around. It might be that same walkway from the house to the first morning class. It’s the connections that count. Your personal, professional, social connections. Wabash is a part of that…all of that.

Hope to see you there…