The Skirmisher
"RATHER BE THAN SEEM"
P.O. Box 91, Bordentown, New Jersey 08505
Web Page: www.bmicadets.org
E-Mail: bmicadets@hotmail.com
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Tersina DiPietro, Editor
June 2002
Our
2002 Reunion bash on Saturday, October 19, is rapidly approaching, and we each
need to make arrangements for travel and motel accommodations if we are going
to stay ahead of the power curve.
The names, addresses, and telephone
numbers of Bordentown area motels are listed on page 8 of this newsletter and
are also on our Web site at www.bmicadets.org.
Be advised, with the new Alumni Association members we have found since
our last reunion, we anticipate a larger than usual attendance. So book your motel room NOW!
In
a few weeks, we will be mailing a reunion packet with additional information,
forms and other goodies.
If
you haven't had the opportunity to attend a BMI reunion in the past, don't let
this very special occasion pass you by again.
Join us on October 19 and YOU
WILL return over and over again.
For those of you who have experienced the parade down the streets of
Bordentown, the service at the BMI Memorial Statue, and the banquet with
reminiscing, camaraderie, and downright fun of past reunions, get ready to do
it again.
In
the meantime, I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 19.
Semper
Fidelis,
Angelo
V. Candelori
Angelo V. Candelori '56
President
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 – MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW!
YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID
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CLASS NOTES
'37 QUENTIN SANDLER says,
"The best teacher I ever had was at BMI.
His name was Mr. Smith (he wished to be called 'Smitty'). He taught French and other languages."
From BILL NEUBAUER we received a note stating, "It is with sincere
regret that I saw VINCE KRAMER'S
name on the 'In Memoriam' sheet. Vince
and I spent four years at BMI and four years at Rutgers University."
'40 LYNN
CUMMINGS retired in 1975 as a Colonel in
the Air Force. He flew sixty combat
missions in Vietnam and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and two awards
of the Legion of Merit. Lynn says,
"My two years at BMI contributed to my military career."
'43 BOB KENYON wishes he could attend the reunion but says, "It's a long way to go." Bob still works out every day. He states, "I was a jock at BMI and I will never stop…still playing handball. I weigh the same as I did when I was at good old BMI. The only thing that is bothering me is the shrapnel wound that I got in Normandy."
'44 JACK
DOREMUS enlisted in the Navy and served in the SouthWestern Pacific. Jack resides in Tallahassee, FL.
DICK ROCKWELL and his wife have moved
to a retirement community in Naples, FL.
SCOTT
TAYLOR sold the family pharmacy after running it for fifty years. He writes, "Have a motor home which my
wife, Ann, and I use most of the time."
'46 DAVE EMERSON wrote, "I
was one of the 'Roaches' for three years.
I went to Norwich University.
Was wounded during TET in Saigon ('68) and retired as a major. Taught 7th and 8th
grade Social Studies and am retired a second time." Dave wants to hear from other Norwich
graduates.
'47 RUSS LORD attended a BMI mini-reunion
a couple of months ago and learned about the Alumni Association. Russ lives in Marco Island, FL.
'48 Back
in March, we heard from JACK SILBERMAN that there was to be a
mini-reunion in April of several members of the Class of 1948 in Orlando,
FL. (Want
to tell us about it, fellows?)
'49 RUDY
STARK is a
faithful attendee at our reunions. A
note attached to his dues check states, "See you in October."
'50 "Hope
to be on board for the October reunion," writes DICK ENEGREN.
ERNEST
ZELENAK
writes, "As a BMI Class of 1950 graduate, and later as a Chemistry
professor replacing Mr. Treibel, I, along with many other past and loyal
alumni, was indeed disappointed and saddened by the closing of BMI in the
'70s. When I was reminded by my friend,
GEORGE KUDRA '61, that there is an alumni association that was
established a while ago by a handful of former cadets with a vision of bringing
us together again, it seemed like being one of the old boys coming back at
Homecoming Day. I applaud all of you
who are involved with the Skirmisher."
(Thanks!)
'51 PAUL MARTINEK is trying to get as many
former BMI cadets as possible to attend the reunion on October 19.
From LANCE MARSTON we received this
message: "Semper Fi! As a Marine (since there are no ex or former
Marines), I was pleased to see the kind of leadership involved in building a
viable Alumni Association. As a member
of the Class of '51, I am gratified to
read in the Skirmisher that BOB LANDAU is leading the charge for our
class…we missed our 50th and hope we can compensate for that by
having a good turnout in October."
'53 BUDDY RUSSELL was found in a unique way
through the efforts of JOHN KELLY '69.
John was talking to a "nice gentleman" at a Christmas
party. During their conversation, they
discovered they had both graduated from BMI.
John writes, "… we talked the whole night about the school and how
much it had done to help us in life."
'56 STAN
SETO
retired at the end of '01. "It
lasted all of six weeks," writes Stan.
"Now I'm back working for Belcan Corporation, an engineering
support company…I work only twenty hours a week…get up after the sun is above
the horizon, read the paper by natural light and have afternoons free…am
looking at coming to the fall get together."
FRANK GIOVE said
he walks around every day with BMI "in my head." He goes on to say, "Most of my
decisions are based upon the ideas and ideals presented to me from age 14 to
18…I have been blessed by God for Mom and Dad.
They provided the formation and encouraged me when I asked to go to
BMI…and BMI further enhanced my character."
'57 DOM RUGGERIO graduated from Norwich University in 1961. He spent thirty years in the Army, retiring
as a Colonel in 1990. Dom writes,
"I crossed paths with NICK KRAWCIW '54 and CRAIG HAGEN '55 while
on active duty and actually worked for Craig before retiring from the
military." While serving in the
Pentagon, Dom ran across FRANK GIOVE '56
who was serving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
'58 GENE
BONACCI contributed some BMI memorabilia for our archives. Gene writes, "Going through them brought
back many fine memories of old friends and a great school and
faculty." Gene lives in Southern
Pines, NC.
GRANT COLE was found by GEORGE ODELL '57. Grant lives in Stow, MA.
HENRY M. DOBB (was DOBROWITZ at BMI) lives in Coconut Creek, FL.
TONY PINGITORE has retired as Vice
President from Hershey Foods. He will
try to make the reunion in October.
'59 JERRY ALEXANDER was located by WALT GODWIN '44. Jerry resides in Rehoboth Beach, DE.
After a 35-year teaching career, DAVID BELL retired in 1999. He is now an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers
University and Camden County College.
"My son found and sent the BMI
web address to me," writes BERT
KARLMAN. "I had stopped in
Bordentown about ten years ago and seeing an empty lot where the 'Old Main' had
stood was quite a shock." Bert
lives in GA and will try to make the reunion this year. He says he would enjoy hearing from some of
his old classmates. You can reach Bert
via e-mail at BHKarlman@aol.com
ROGER
MARKS is "glad to see that the BMI fire is still burning. All the years of Dean Smith's efforts
deserved better than was given at the end." Roger is in the computer-related services and programming field.
A note received from JIM QUIRK states, "Sorry, but I
will not be able to attend the 10/19 reunion as I am entering my 15th
year as an official in the NFL and will be working a game that weekend."
'60 LARRY ROOT says, "I am so pleased
to find out we still exist, albeit in cyberspace…tried a few times over the
past 40 years to figure out whatever happened to BMI…an old BMI band picture
spurred me on to try harder."
Larry retired in 1995 from Rochester (NY) Telephone and owns a
publishing business printing books on firearms and edged weapons. He and his wife divide their time between WY
and FL.
We heard from RICK SHIPPEN who resides in Fair Haven, NJ.
'61 NORM KIRSCHBAUM writes, "Has been a
great 41 years since I graduated. I,
too, get warm fuzzies every time I think back to my BMI years!"
'62 STEVE GOLDSTEIN writes,
"After 40 years, time to revisit the scene. I wish I had my uniform as it would still fit. I have been in touch with some of my
classmates and hope we can make the Class of '62 show up in force."
BOB
STOKES sent an e-mail stating, "Love the Web page. Brings back lots of memories. Great
work…Marvin B. would be proud!
Will be with you in spirit at the reunion. I am a family physician just north of Kansas City. Am married with a son at RPI." Bob and his wife have a small business with
most Victorian period restoration and design.
'63 Along with his dues, TOM
ASHLEY sent this note: "Look
forward to meeting some alumni in October."
FLOYD
LITTLE tells us he enjoys reading the newsletter. He will try very hard to come to the reunion in October.
JIM
LORING corresponded with WALT GODWIN
'44, our research guru. Jim wrote,
"I only went there for one post-graduate year, but what a great year! The military training certainly helped me
during my four years in the service. I
was sorry to see the demise of BMI."
'65 THOMAS BROWNBACK was married to the former
Linda Mason in Monterey, CA, in October 2001.
He and Linda plan to be at Reunion 2002. (See page 8 for Tom's unique suggestion.)
MICHAEL
ECKSTEIN
writes, "For so many years, whenever friends and family would talk fondly
about their own high school reunions, I would always have an inferiority
complex. Who knew about BMI? Where did all my classmates go? Spending five years of my life at BMI was
for me one of the defining events in shaping my life. I look forward to seeing old friends and classmates at the
reunion this fall."
JOHN
SUBLETT ran into EDWIN JESSUP '64 at U-Tapao, Thailand in '73…the
only BMI person he has seen since he left this area. John is an airline captain and might be able to be at Reunion
2002 in October.
LOUIS
IRMISCH plans to attend "Brothers Reunited 2002" unless the
USNavy has other plans for him. Louis
joined the USNR as a flight surgeon, opened a private practice with his wife as
office manager ("she says I need managing"), is medical director at
Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and works as a part-time medical examiner with the
county and as the district school physician.
'66 "Finally stumbled upon the Web site," writes BRUCE ROY. Bruce graduated from the USAF Academy…flew helicopters and jets
on active duty and in the AF Reserves and Air National Guard…retired from USAF
Reserves as a Lt. Col. Presently he
works in telecom and data network sales for Siemens Enterprise Networks in California. Bruce says, "I hope I can get back east
for the October reunion."
'67 ARTHUR MADRAZO saw
photos of Reunion 2000 on BMI's Web site and hopes to be here for Reunion 2002
in October. He lives in Miami, FL, and
works in fleet service with American Airlines.
Arthur is married and has five children ages 16 – 28.
'68 JOE VRABLIK says he
and his partner sold their businesses last year. Joe was going to retire but his wife pointed out that she
"married me for life, not for lunch." As a result, Joe is staying on with the new owner for a while and
is enjoying more "quality time…lots of fly fishing."
'69 In an e-mail message from JOE
BRADLEY, we learned that he hopes to attend our reunion in October. Joe said he would like to "see the
cadets from the '67-'71 classes try to make the reunion, too." Joe resides in Waynesboro, PA.
DOUG
PALMER was overwhelmingly successful in his bid for re-election to a fourth
term as Mayor of Trenton, NJ. (Congratulations, Doug!)
JOHN KELLY met with his old classmate, DOUG PALMER, last spring at a Trenton
Thunder baseball game. "We had a great talk," says John. "He treated me as though I was the
Mayor. He introduced me to so many
people including the Mayor of Boston."
'71 Referring
to the upcoming reunion, HORACE "J"
ORR wrote, "I am surely going to make every attempt to be there this
time as I missed the last one by only three days of contacting
someone." "J" lives in
Lansing, MI.
BERT
BELASCO was listed as "lost" in the last Skirmisher. He has been "found." Bert lives in Naperville, IL, and is Vice
President of Human Resources at Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems (division of Sara
Lee). Bert says he is "looking
forward to our next reunion."
MARK
GREENBERG said he has been able to "track down a few BMI people"
and has also run into a few others over the years having lived in Boston, New
York, Chicago, and now Cincinnati. He
learned that TIM PALMER lives in
Chesapeake, VA.
'73 JOHN CHAPMAN found the
BMI Web site and finds the idea of attending a reunion "very interesting." John was a junior the year BMI closed and
then went to Bordentown Lenox the following year. He remembers that thirteen out of seventeen graduates that year
had gone through high school together starting at BMI. "Since BLS went bankrupt," says John,
"we never got our class rings, yearbooks, etc., but we still have great
memories." After graduation, John
attended Montclair State College and then grad school at UC Davis where he
earned a doctorate in microbiology.
He's with Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals in Mason, OH.
Faculty - George W. Nelson, LTC, USA,
Ret. (PMS&T '56-'59) tells us he will again be present for our
Reunion. We enjoyed his participation
in 2000 and look forward to seeing him in October.
SMALL WORLD
Several years ago, DOM RUGGERIO '57 had the opportunity to
represent Norwich University at the Installation of the President of Elmhurst
College who just happens to be Mr. (now Dr.) Bryant Cureton, former BMI faculty
member ('65-'67) and husband of Morris Smith's daughter, Jeanette. (Some
alumni asked about the mention of Jeanette Smith Cureton in the last issue of
The Skirmisher. This should clear up
any questions.)
I REMEMBER
My favorite teacher was Mr. Burroughs and the best housemaster was Mr.
Feist. In my junior year he was
building a sailboat and on weekends he would drive a few of us to Toms River
and we would sand that damn boat all day!
Then he'd buy us two or three huge pizzas as payment (how easy to please
we were!). We would always return after
taps and he would drive up to the back of Durland House and we'd sneak through
a window left open in his apartment and into our rooms! The teacher that I lived in constant fear of
was Col. Benz. Once in his history
class a bee was flying around the room and when it got near me, I ducked. Col. Benz screamed in my face, "How can
a one oz. insect make a 185 pound person duck for cover – stay
still!" He had a point, but I
still get out of the way of a bee when it gets near me. Col. Mikhalevsky showed me how to be a leader
and I still remember taking Mr. Borst's crazy Irish Setter for a walk when I
was on guard duty. - LOUIS
W. IRMISCH III, M.D. '65
It was great seeing (on the Web site) the old dorms/barracks and the
"BMI hedge" in front of the Infirmary. Husker, Hartpence, Borst, and Colby…They were all still at BMI
when I graduated in 1964. I remember
each of them well. I recently pulled
out my old album and noted that I still have a photo that appeared in the Trenton Times taken of Mr. Colby and me
(in the BMI "day uniform") while in Mr. Colby's Spanish Class. I also have the 1964 Commencement
Invitation. – BOB RYAN '64
Bernie Featherman '47 and I were good friends and got into a lot
of trouble. He came down with scarlet fever
(I think the epidemic was in 1944 – about 40 cases). I only saw him one more time after graduation. – DAVE EMERSON '46
* *
* * * * *
* * *
COMPANY STORE
|
Sweatshirt $30 |
Medallion $20 |
|
Old Main
Lithograph $ 5 |
Glee Club
Tape $ 5 |
|
Baseball Cap $10 |
Note Paper $ 8 |
|
Lapel/Tie Pin $ 5 |
Blazer Pocket
Patch $20 |
|
T-Shirts $ 5 |
|
(The
Glee Club Tape has the BMI Alma Mater for those of you who might still remember
it and even for those of you who don't.)
Some of these items are in limited supply so it's on a first-come
first-served basis. To order, send
check or money order (payable to BMI
Alumni Association) to: P. O. Box
91, Bordentown, NJ 08505.
********************
The officers and members of the Executive Board
join with the entire membership of the BMI ALUMNI ASSOCIATION in extending
sincerest sympathy to the families of:
*John Bradman '64
Frederick Cohen '51
Charles F. Giles '58
*Michael Kraft '59
Richard D. McCord '39
Robert E. McCord '39
Lawrence W. Pitt (Faculty)
*Richard Sexton '61
Everett J. Smith '32
George Waldman '53
*
Killed in Vietnam
Although several of the above alumni passed away many years
ago, we have just learned of their passing and believe it appropriate to
include them on this list.
********************
REUNION 2002
If you have
attended Reunions in the past, then you know that TOM BROWNBACK is still able to wear his BMI uniform. He wears it every year at Reunion time. We recently received a letter from Tom which
reads, in part, as follows:
My commitment to stay
in shape so that I can continue to wear my BMI uniform to each reunion is
something that I do for myself as well as for the entire corps of cadets. Since I wear my uniform in honor of all who
attend, I would be pleased to wear any ribbons, medals, or any other aspect of
the BMI uniform which anybody would like to send to me to wear on their behalf. I will carefully catalogue all items that
are sent to me and treat them with great care.
It would be fun for me personally to do this and I would do it to honor
any person who would like to contribute these special parts of their original
uniform. My mailing address is:
1702
W. Walnut Street, Allentown, PA 18104
These ribbons, etc.,
would need to be sent to me by August 2002, in order for me to have them laid
out properly so that I can wear them by the October reunion.
BORDENTOWN AREA MOTELS
|
Days Inn 1073 Route
206 North Bordentown,
NJ 08505 (609)
298-6100 or 1-800-329-7466 |
Best Western Route 206
South Bordentown,
NJ 08505 (609)
298-8000 or 1-800-528-1234 |
|
Ramada Inn Route 206
North Bordentown,
NJ 08505 (609)
298-3200 or 1-800-272-6232 |
The Comfort
Inn 1009 US Highway
#206 Bordentown,
NJ 08505 (609)
298-9111 or 1-800-228-5150 |
N.B.
Detailed reunion information along with reservation form will be sent by
regular mail…NOT E-MAIL. If we do not
have your home address, you will not receive information concerning Reunion
2002. Individual notices have been sent
to those whose addresses are missing but for whom we have e-mail
addresses. So please let us hear from
you.
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT: www.bmicadets.org
E-MAIL US AT: bmicadets@hotmail.com
Attention Please: It would be of great help to
the Editor of this publication if you would ALWAYS include
your BMI class year in any correspondence, dues payments, etc. Thank you!
BORDENTOWN MILITARY INSTITUTE
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
P. O. BOX 91
BORDENTOWN, NEW JERSEY 08505
DUES STATEMENT – 2002
Alumni
Association 2002 Dues…………….. $10.00
Please
Note:
Your dues support the cost of postage,
printing, and other materials needed for your SKIRMISHER, maintaining the
Statue site, and financing biennial Reunions.
Please complete the bottom section of
this statement, enclose it together with your check or money order (payable to BMI Alumni Association) and mail to the
above address.
If you have already paid dues for
2002, no further payment is necessary.
We thank you for your continued
support.
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_____________________________ ____________
Name Class
Year