During his Freshman year (1962-1963) at Roberts Wesleyan College in North Chili, New York, Dave Thatcher started to think about something cool to do during the coming Summer of 1963. He always has been a dreamer. His Dad had been assigned to Fort Monroe, Virginia in January 1963, and his parents bought their very first house in Hampton, Virginia. A lot of his classmates from OHS were already in the USA doing their first year of college, and a lot of his sister's friends would be coming back to the USA by that Summer. So, he talked his parents into hosting a reunion at their new home. His wish was granted. He then put out a blanket invitation for one and all to stop by during August, 1963, and stay as long as they could. The garage was turned into a bunkhouse for the guys, courtesy of bunk beds from Fort Monroe, and the house was turned into a dorm for the girls. Some stayed for a week or more, some just for a few days. Maybe 20-25 in all. Somewhere Dave has a list of those who came, and if he can find it, he'll post it on this webpage. In the meantime, here are some photos that Vince Santurbane took, and a copy of the newspaper article that ran in the Newport News Times Herald.
It is now 5 January 2011, and during my project for this winter of converting my father's 35mm slides to disc, I came across a carousel from 1963 that contains more photos of this reunion. Here they are:
