Contact Information:
Norman I. (Skip) Lee
Tel: Cell: (520)241-3498
E-Mail: 54wrs@msn.com
Address: 63119 E. Cat Claw Lane
Tucson, AZ 85739-2056

Class News: 1963, Summer 2006

Wasn’t the Falcon Basketball season something to behold? Being selected
for the NCAA Tournament was a real achievement. The game against
Illinois in the first round of the NCAA was a lot closer than it looked
and we have to be really proud of the Team. The 2006 Football season
looks to be a lot of fun with the season opener against Tennessee at
Knoxville, Notre Dame at Falcon Stadium in November and then closing at
TCU. The Tennessee and TCU games are against former major bowl (Cotton
and Sugar) opponents. The Class Mini-Reunion will be at the Navy game
at Falcon Stadium on October 7^th .

*A couple of noteworthy events*: Lloyd *Probst* was recently inducted
into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame. The write up said “Lloyd flew
1,248 airlift missions in Vietnam, earning the Distinguished Flying
Cross and eight air medals. For 20 years he was a Federal Aviation
Administration Accident Prevention Counselor and Pilot Examiner in
Montgomery, logging more than 20,000 hours, including more than 6,000
hours as a flight instructor. He was the FAA’s National Flight
Instructor of the Year in 1991.” Congratulations to Lloyd!

Caroline *Pickens* wrote to say that Ed received two prestigious awards
this spring: The Fairfax County Park Authority gave him the Elly Doyle
Award, the highest award they give, and the McLean Citizens Association
gave him their Duval Environmental Award. She says “Ed has been working
to preserve the stream valleys in our area and to complete the trail
along Pimmit Run. As president of the Fairfax Trails and Streams he is
involved in the 40-mile long Cross-County Trail. Ed organizes about 70
volunteers twice a year for trail and stream cleanup, as well as
spending at least 3 days a week working in the stream and on the trail
and convincing people to allow access across their property for the
trail to be continuous. Mostly this is hard, unseen work. It was
really nice recognition for him.”

When Jim and Judy *Winzell* from Durango, CO and Don and Maggie *Neff*
from Georgetown, TX said they would be in Tucson during the 1^st half of
April Al and Lynda *Adams* organized a day if golf at the 49er Country
Club followed by dinner at their home. Unfortunately Jim and Judy had
to leave early to go to Albuquerque leaving Al, Don and yours truly to
play golf. We had absolutely perfect weather for golf. What else would
you expect in Tucson in April? Don, the expert golfer in the group,
gave the two of us 20 handicappers quite a lot of strokes and Al took
advantage of the situation by winning all the money. Al then capped the
day with a hole-in-one on the par three 18^th Hole. First time I ever
witnessed an ace. After the game we repaired to Al and Lynda’s
home—just a short distance from the 18^th hole—to enjoy a few drinks and
a delicious dinner. A great time was had by all.

                                   

                                              Three intrepid golfers
 

                                    
                                                 Hole-In-One!



Bob *Venkus* sent the following photograph of him and Sam *Westbrook*
taken while they were at RAF Lakenheath. The Venk wrote “Sam and I were
honored to join the veteran aviators who flew the El Dorado Canyon raid
on Libya 20-years ago. The 48th FW at RAF Lakenheath hosted the event
in late April to include a moving memorial service and a memorable
Dining Out. As Commander and Vice respectively in '86, we two Golden
Boys were participants in the first major action of the VERY Long War on
terrorism -- fifteen years before 9/11/2001!”

                               

                                        The Venk and Sam



In a recent e-mail Bill *Flanagan *says he* *is working with L-3 Com as
a Senior VP & GM supporting Hanscom AFB in Mass., Electronic Systems
Center (ESC). He added that the work is more than a full time job and
he “can't seem to escape the USAF connection, but then, I really don't
want to. It is so enjoyable and exciting to still be associated with the
mission and the quality people supporting the warfighter. LOTS of grads
here, both retired and active duty in leadership positions at Hanscom.
They think that us folks from '63 are ancient. We have an active AOG
chapter here and the camaraderie is superb! (I was introduced at a
recent AOG function as the oldest grad in attendance - some honor!). . .
. The latest /Checkpoints /had the obit of one of our classmates and one
of my best friends, Jim *Weaver*. A true loss. He was totally
dedicated to the betterment of USAF. We had some great times over the
years together. A true loss to the team!” (ed. note: similar comments
about Jim can be found in the latest Daedalian Magazine /The/ /Daedalus
Flyer/).

In a recent issue of the Pima Air & Space Museum newsletter,
/Skywriting/, I saw that Joan *Ardern*(Bill) is the Director of
Development and Community Relations for the Arizona Aerospace
Foundation—a superb organization for the preservation of aviation
history. Joan tells me that Bill is the Campus Chair for Undergraduate
Studies in Business for the University of Phoenix.

Here are a few quick updates: Lloyd *Kelley* said that after almost 24
years as federal judge (administrative law) he was planning to retire at
the end of June. Chuck *Bush* wrote that he has a son, two daughters
and six grandsons. He is also the co-founder of a new nonprofit
(www.MaecenasFund.org <http://www.maecenasfund.org/>) organization,
which just awarded four, four-year scholarships to Arizona State Univ.,
to kids attending an underperforming high school in Phoenix. In an
Arizona AOG e-mail flyer sent out earlier this year, Ed and Terry
*Reisdorf* invited members of the AZ AOG down to their resort in Cabo
San Lucas during June 1^st thru the 4^th . I took a look at the
attached URL and the resort is truly spectacular. In case you might
like to see what the place looks like go to:
http://www.golfincabo.com/Home.htm. This may be a little late but I
just recently picked up on the fact that Corwin (Kip) and Josette
*Kippenhan* moved from Colorado Springs to Hickory North Carolina.
Ralph *Wetterhahn* contributed a delightful article to the May 2006 MOAA
magazine, /Military Officer,/ entitled “Dogfight Fun”. And, most of you
might not have heard the Commandant of Cadets when we graduated, Major
General Robert W. Strong Jr., passed away on March 16^th at his home in
Tucson.

To close, please take a look at your calendar for early October and if
possible mark in the annual class *Mini Reunion*. It may sound a little
premature to start talking about the annual Golden Boy gathering during
the service academy game at Falcon Stadium but when you receive this
version of /Checkpoints/ there will be just a little over 3 months to
the Air Force Navy football game on the 7^th of October. I spoke with
Bob *Hayes* who will again act as the Mini-Reunion coordinator. The
current thinking is to have the traditional pre-game tail gate followed
by a gathering for social hour, dinner and cup turning ceremony at the
AOG. Despite the snowy and cold weather during the mini-reunion of
October 2004, the weather for early October at the Academy is
traditionally terrific. If you have any questions or want to let Bob
you are planning on being there please give Bob a call 1-719-481-9693 or
send him an e-mail at bcahayes@adelphia.net
<mailto:bcahayes@adelphia.net>. See you there!