Remember Freshman Year?

Early in March, Tom McTaggart asked the class about when we last visited or connected with our Freshman Class roommates. Here are the responses he received.

Original Reminiscence from Tom McTaggart

Over the holiday season I was reminiscing about January of 1966, our first "Jan Plan" course. There was a lot of idle time in that month, and my Freshman class roommate in Kendrick Hall, Colin "Pike" John, and I were able to while away our spare time listening to all the new great music we had discovered during our Christmas break. Pike would get out his guitar and dig into unlocking some of that new music. I remember him quickly picking up how to play "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreaming" before they were the big hits they became two months later.

Pike eventually transferred to the University of Michigan. 

Around ten years ago I attempted to find Pike on-line to re-connect, but to no avail. Then a month later during a photography seminar at the PhotoExpo at the Javits Center, the presenter clearly mentions his name in telling an anecdote about his old Vietnam colleagues. Naturally, afterward I inquired about him only to sadly find out he had been deceased for a while. Not being able to ever talk with this kind soul ever again was a big disappointment for me. Reunions and this medium have helped me to re-connect with most of you, but I always wonder what it would have been like to have reconnected with Pike again.

From John Zarecki:

Thanks, Tom, for suggesting this. I have not spoken to Joe Rinaldi since college. He was a great Freshman roommate, putting up with me even though I would not go out for the Freshman football team as I was supposed to. I was not able to go home to Pittsburgh that first Thanksgiving recess, so Joe invited me to his home in New Rochelle. There I met some of his high school friends as well as his family. His Mom fed me extremely well. I am not sure I was a good guest, as I had never stayed at anyone's house who was not related to me. Joe is enshrined in my personal hall of fame.

One roommate I have connected with over the years is Matt Jamin. my Senior year roommate. When I was living near Boston, Matt was at Harvard Law School. I remember helping him move once. When my youngest son, Alexander, began attending graduate school in Seattle, Washington, I learned that Matt was living with his wonderful wife Chris in Seattle. Matt and Chris have been very kind to host Elizabeth, my wife, and I when we have visited our son there. Through Matt, I was also able to connect with Lenny Berkey and his wife Ramona before Lenny passed away. 

From Bill Travis

My freshman roommates were Jim Andrews and Bob Basiggula.  Tom, we caught up with Jim and his wife, Faith at our 50th. Bob was a mountain of a boy from Ohio (orPA)

... a top ranked football player.  He was also one of the smartest (other than Matt Jamin....just next door).  Bob would do homework 1 maybe 2 nights a week.  One night was for pool, one for bowling, one for movies.  He had a big box in the back of our joint closet.  During finals he took it out. It contained an accordion!  He was a master player and had been on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour as a kid!  He could play anything by ear...if you could hum it, he would play it!  As I recall, his parents didn’t let him date and they arranged a date for his high school prom!  The freedom to drink (Jim and Betty’s) and party weekends took a toll, I think.  He joined DKE, played football, became a chemist (I think for Colgate Palmolive) and I never came across him again!

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

From John Rice

Well said Tom! Two of my freshman roommates did not attend any reunions. I tried reaching both and have been in contact with one while the other one I have never heard back. It is sad that the fraternity divided the class with the social life limited for those not in a fraternity. 

 Thanks for helping to keep us connected.

From George Meier

Ah, freshman year stories.

I roomed with Dave “Hondo” Helman (who has become one of my closet friends and who I now see at least once a year), and suitemates, Jack Janes and Jeff Wells (Jeff sadly is deceased).

One afternoon, for some inane and forgettable reason, Jeff and I were irritated with each other and he and I began messing with each other’s belongings, each in turn, and each round getting progressively more offensive—beginning with things such as knocking over something, messing up organized paperwork, and so on. As background, you should know that Jeff was fastidious when it came to his desk. Everything had to be in strict order, and you could often see him paying  close attention to every detail relating to his desk, in the drawers and particularly on the top. With the escalading one-upsmanship, Jeff finally did something that really irked me, and I decided to use the nuclear option. I stood up and walked over to his desk. Jack and Hondo, who had become amused with our ridiculous antics, watched, as did Jeff, as I bent over, grabbed the front legs of Jeff’s desk, lifted, and flipped the desk over. Items previously in organized rest on the desktop were scattered across the floor, and you could hear the rumbling of the items in the drawers rearranging themselves. I walked back and sat down. I think that was too much for Jeff to bear and that put an end to our little dispute. At the time, I was undoubtedly proud of that mischief, but today I confess I’m a little embarrassed about it.

Jack Janes and I made contact by email prior to our 50^th, and we agreed to try and meet there. At the class photo session in front of the chapel, Jack and I met. We exchanged some pleasantries and caught up a bit. Then he asked, “George, I wonder if you remember something from freshman year?” Before he could elaborate, I replied, “The desk!” Jack heartily shook his head yes and we both just laughed together, a laugh that reawakened the common bond we had formed 50 years prior.

Ah, freshman year stories.   

George also adds---Your story about Pike is heartrending and unfortunately too common. Here’s one of mine. I had a wonderful high school football coach, who was new to our school as of my senior year. He seemed to really care not only about the program, but the players. After graduation, I think because of my naive youth and the distractions that accompanied that youth, I didn’t make contact with him. That is a regret. But worse, when I was in my fifties and living near Orlando, Florida, I read on a high school website that coach Bob Frink had just passed away, after residing for the previous eight years in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Thank you for sharing your story and encouraging contacts among our classmates. 

From Art Clark—

Tom, 103 East Andrews was my Freshman room with Rusty Drumm, Tony Santa Croce, Jeff Sawyer and Art Clark. Great group of four very different individuals, but we  bonded quickly. After graduating from Colgate, I have been in touch with Drumm and Santa Croce a number of times. Unfortunately, they have both passed away. Sawyer transferred to Lafayette after Freshman year, so I lost touch with him. But recently we re-connected by phone and are planning a lunch get-together post-Pandemic. Sawyer lives in a suburb of Phillie and currently I’m about one hour away in Maryland. Can’t wait for our reunion.

From Tom Orsi