Doug and Judy Weil organized a mini-reunion the last week in April in Napa Valley and San Francisco which began with an opening reception buffet dinner at the Silverado Resort where we all stayed. . Classmates, spouses, and others joining were Jim Adler, Ted and Barbara Bromley, Hank and Nancy Bruce, George Daly and June Ball w’58 , Shelby and Gale Davis, Lee and Jan Davisson, Bill Duncan and Ann Jackson, Earl Fogelberg, Jim and Kathleen Gilbert, David and Patricia Grub, Newman Thor Halvorson and Shannon Fairbanks, Jim and Jane Haugh, Doug and Ginger Levick, Bill and Ingrid Marsh, George and Charlotte McLaughlin, Ed and Nancy Metcalf, Richard and Joan Miller, Al and Nancy Muse, Joeand Nancy Papa, Lew and Mary Reid, Andy and Mary Robell, Alan Rodgers, John and Lynn Scott, Gene Shahan and Diane Frohling, Fred and Jane Sillman, and Steve and Eugenie Werbel.
We connected particularly with those on opposite coasts we see too seldom, tasting wine (including a $275 cab) and olive oil at four of the Napa Valley’s 550 wineries and viewing art including that of classmate Frank Stella. Our classmate Lew Reid arranged for us to visit the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, where he has been on the Board for many years and Chairman for several years.
Buck focuses on biology of the brain believing if we can slow aging, we can reduce the impact of chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. We heard a couple of speeches, watched a video, visited two of 28 labs, and looked through microscopes at miniscule worms whose very short lives Buck has already increased 50%.
In San Francisco, we were free to attend the symphony of which San Francisco is justly proud, the recently remodeled Museum of Modern Art with the Fisher Collection including some of Frank Stella’s art, Alcatraz, the number one tourist attraction in San Francisco, family, and other friends.
The last dinner when all together was at an excellent Italian restaurant all to ourselves. It included speeches, thanks to the organizers, and a loud singing of “Old Nassau”.