Class agent and local alumni leader Craig Green ’59 suffered a bad fall last week while trimming some trees at his home.  Diane was able to get Craig to St. Clare Hospital where they took a quick look and decided a move to a major hospital in Indianapolis was the best idea.

That’s where the Wabash world really kicked in.

As it turns out..

1.  Dr John Roberts ’83 is Craig’s doctor here in town.

2.  Dr. Patrick White, son of Wabash president Pat White and first lady Chris, was one of the attending emergency room physicians.

3.  Dr. Trey Holland ’71, classmate and doctor in charge of the Grunge, was also called in for his expertise.

So…with a broken shoulder, broken rib, heavily bruised arm, and a pelvis cracked/broken in five places, Craig is on the mend.  I saw him earlier this week (back at St. Clares now) and he is in great spirits and healing nicely.  Diane has, of course, been the Rock of Gibraltar.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Diane tells me there’s been a steady stream of Wallies coming by to visit Craig and that’s made a big difference in Craig’s outlook and spirits.  I hope I didn’t put too much of a damper on that when I told Craig it would take more than this accident for us to diminish any of his reunion duties.

Here’s to Craig’ full recovery as it’s not long until his 50th Wabash reunion at the Big Bash in early June. 

OK – I probably need to set the record straight – I am NOT in the Class of 1968.  Yep – I have toasted their success a time or three but I am a member of the world famous and highly regarded Class of 1971.  But those 1968 guys – I don’t know what’s in their Wheaties – but I want some!

Those guys, with web guru/holder of four jobs/works 28 hours a day Bruce Gras leading the way, have launched a new web site called Wabash Stories.   It’s cool.  Please go check it out (www.wabashstories.com).  You’ll be impressed and, of course, the next step is to provide a Wabash story of your own.

Kind of like the time Prof. Steve Schmutte nailed me for….

The Super Lawyer list for 2009 is out and no less than four Wabash grads from the law firm of Bingham-McHale are on the list.  Talk about an all star team:

–  Hans Steck ’73 – Bonds and Government Finance

–  Mike Eckerle ’74 – Business and Corporate Litigation

–  Dennis Cantrell ’82 – who specializes in Insurance Coverage

–  Dave McGimpsey ’93 – Utilities 

Congratulations all!

I recently posted a blog entry about the Holiday Inn becoming a Quality Inn.  That’s in response to the new Holiday Inn Express right next door.  This will give you an idea of how close they are.

The Holiday Inn Express will be open in about a month and all of the bugs (no pun intended) should be out well before the Bash.

If your choices lean toward the Hilton chain, we’re also getting a new Hampton Inn right next to the Comfort Inn.  That’s the Comfort Inn in the center of the picture and the Hampton is on the left.

Finally, although it doesn’t appear it will be ready for this summer’s Big Bash, C’ville is getting a Candlewood Suites as well.  It’s very close to the Hampton location.

Your gourmet dining choices on that side of C’ville are limited to McDonalds, Burger King, and the Quality Inn restaurant – alas, Alice’s has closed.  Hopefully the dining options will also expand in the near future. 

That’s it from your local travel reporter. 

Took this photo Friday morning, February 20, 2009, on the way to work.  With the Holiday Inn Express and Suites ready to open, the "old" Holiday Inn is now a Quality Inn.

For those of you returning for the Big Bash this summer, your reservations at the Holiday Inn should magically transition to the Quality Inn.  Having said that, I would give them a week or two and call…just to be safe.

You know what they say about ASSUME?

If you’re thinking basketball game, forget it.  Wabash 68 – Witt 43.  Wabash played great basketball from the start.

No, the classic battle, at halftime, came down to the Sphinx Club Rhyne’s versus the Butler Dance Team.  In a match up like this, there are no losers – everyone wins.  It probably will air on ESPN at some point in the future.

The guys went first – grace, style, flowing moves?  Nope.   Raw talent?   Maybe a weeeeee bit. Magnetic performance and personality?  Yep – over the top!  They almost brought tears to my eyes – they definitely entertained the young ladies from Butler.

The Butler Dance Team took the floor next and the crowd quieted and the students in Chadwick really started concentrating.  Beauty and talent?  You bet.  Athletic moves?  Yep.  Did I mention beauty?  Yep.

Result – Tied and going to overtime!!!

For more pictures, click here.

How’s that for a headline!

OK, so all is not what it seems.  The poll, shown to the right, is absolutely correct – the Top 10 colleges and universities in the Nation for intramural sports. The poll just so happened to be featured in an ESPN story  "In search of sports at America’s worst sports college".

You can read the ESPN story here.

Many thanks to Joe Martin ’06 for alerting me to our top 5 ranking!

I met Bruce Gras ’68 for the first time at the 2008 Big Bash.  He was one of the leaders on the Class of 1968 historic reunion effort where they eclipsed every single reunion attendance record in the entire history of mankind and Roger Maris’ home run record to boot.

As I was driving down this morning from home, I had to ask myself what "dose" of 1968 serum  would it take to get other reunion classes to have the kind of success that 1968 did.  The easy answer was to suggest to self that no one has the time on their hands that the 1968 guys may have had.

However…Bruce shoots that line of thinking to pieces…

Bruce is the managing director of Longevity Consulting.  From the press release "Longevity specializes in helping organizations evaluate their existing IT infrastructure and developing strategies to transform the landscape to better support broader business objectives."

Bruce runs his own venture capital firm, TriRock.  You can find them on the web at www.trirock.com.

Bruce is an active musician, playing in a number of bands in his area.  You may recall Bruce brought the entire sound system last year for the Friday evening, Big Bash entertainment.  

Bruce keeps the Wabash Class of 1968 web site, wabash68.org, up to speed.

So, we’re back to what makes the Class of 1968 so effective?  After all, Bruce Gras, Jim Roper, Jim Millikin and the rest of the group are just as busy as any other group and, since they are all in their early 60s, even more preoccupied with the economy.  

The answer is simple – Jim Collins in his book Good to Great talks of having the right people on the bus as the first step to greatness.  I am pretty sure the class of 1968 has a full bus of exactly the right kind of people.

And I am pretty sure Bruce has a supersonic bus! 

From the press release dated February 4, 2009:

"Primary Colours has named longtime board member Hugh Vandivier as the inaugural executive director of the organization. It’s the first paid staff position for the unique arts nonprofit, formed in 1998. Since joining Primary Colours in 2005, Vandivier has served a primary role in writing grants and developing communications strategies for the organization.

Primary Colours (www.primarycolours.org) is a 501(c)(3) Indianapolis-based nonprofit arts organization devoted to integrating visual artists and the community to create and sustain a thriving environment for the arts."

Congrats Hugh!

Elsewhere on the web site you will see the story of Trustee and class agent Roger Billings’ informational talk on the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.  Roger is an expert on Lincoln.  In fact, he has more books on Lincoln than I own.  (OK, he only needed 7 books, I realize that!)

Roger’s Chapel Talk was a good one, no doubt.  Full of information about an interesting period in our nation’s history.  That’s especially true, I think, given the new President of the United States.

There was a little extra pressure on Roger I think, or at least there would have been if I were in his position.  You see, two legends of the Wabash faculty were in attendance…none other than Vic Powell and Joe O’Rourke, both speech professors of historic stature (photo on right).

Roger passed with flying colors, I’m told!