2010 Mini-Class
Reunion
At Chapel Hill,
NC
Well, it has come
and gone, our mini-class reunion in Chapel Hill, NC
and points west graciously hosted by Gerald Miwa. Here is a glimpse at what
those of us who were able to attend experienced between our arrival
on October 15th and when some of us headed for home on October 20th. The
weather was absolutely perfect with the fall colors in their early stages.
Our group was
small, but this allowed us to reconnect as a group and individually. I needed a
wider angle lens for the group picture below, but at least everyone is smiling.
There are better ones I’m sure in Richard’s camera, which he always had with
him.
From left to right
around the table is Richard Liebig, Gerald, Gerald’s wife Barbara, Gail Liebig
(Fisher), Donna McLaughlin, Harry Nieves, Harry’s wife Elaine, and Margaret
Hollins (Emig). I’m out of view behind the camera.
Below is a somewhat
better picture of Donna, Margaret, and Richard.
Gerald had planned
several sightseeing activities for our visit. Saturday after breakfast, which
we all helped prepare, we headed off to visit
the Rose Garden at Duke University. Duke was playing Miami in football, which
allowed us to take a leisurely walk from our cars to the old part of Duke and
the garden.
Sunday morning we
headed off on a scenic, four hour drive to Ashville and a tour of its Biltmore
House. It was opened in 1895 by George W. Vanderbilt, and to this day remains
the largest privately owned estate in the country. It was opened to the public
in 1930.
After our tour, we
enjoyed a relaxing dinner at the Bistro 1895 in downtown Asheville. After
dinner we continued on to Bryson City for the night. Monday was certainly the
most exciting day. It started off with a train ride up the Nantahala River
Gorge along the foothills of the Smokey Mountains.
Midway through the
train ride, about half of us left the train for our 8-mile raft trip down the
Nantahala River. The weather was cool and overcast for our raft trip down the
river. The water temperature was in the mid-fifties, although it felt ten
degrees colder. Most people do their rafting in the summer months, but not our
hardy group. The picture below shows us as we navigated through the roughest
rapid. In this picture, we realize that we have conquered the river without
being thrown overboard.
Gail, Richard, me,
Barbara, and Gerald were the rafters in our group. For me a late afternoon hot
shower and a nap back at our Bryson City hotel capped off the day. That evening
we enjoyed wine and dinner at a local Italian restaurant in Bryson City.
On Tuesday morning,
we headed back to Chapel Hill, but started our journey with a brunch at the
exclusive Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa. It is huge and truly breathtaking with
a spectacular view of the countryside.
Well, this is a
quick rundown on what could not have been a better reunion. The weather was perfect, our activities were superbly planned and
coordinated well before we arrived, all by Gerald.
In between the
meals we enjoyed at various restaurants, we were treated to gourmet dishes
prepared by head chef, Gerald, his talented assistant, Barbara, and his band of
dicers and choppers, us. As it turns out, among his many talents, Gerald is
also an excellent cook, ready for his own show on the Food Channel.
On Wednesday, some
of us reluctantly returned home. Margaret and Donna stayed an extra day.
Margaret had an appointment with Gerald’s realtor – who knows Margaret may very
well retire to the Chapel Hill area at some point. Richard and Gail travelled
on to do some sightseeing in Virginia.
Well, there you
have it. Look for more photos on our web site coming soon.
As our stay was
winding down, we could not help but think about our 50th Reunion coming up in
2013. We talked about possible locations etc. It’s about two and a half years
away, but that time will certainly fly by. About half of our class is
still on the Missing List. Hopefully we will find many of them before our 50th.
In the meantime, don’t accidently become a member of the list. Please let us know
if you relocate and/or change email addresses.
Check out another
rafting picture posted by Gerald on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5542435&id=662149911
I was not the only
one who took photos. Here is a link to some that Richard and Gail took.
