Menlo Class of '64' 60th Reunion

On October 10th and 11th, WE, the Menlo School Class of 1964 celebrated our 60th Reunion at Dinah's Garden Inn in Palo Alto!

Many thanks to Classmate Michael Kenner for all the effort he put into planning and organizing our wonderful reunion - including both the poolside cocktail/hors de ouvres event on Thursday evening and the poolside breakfast on Friday morning!!

Based on the photographs below, it appears that everyone (classmates, classmates' wives, etc.) had a terrific time! And, SPECIAL THANKS to Lulu Williams and Ursula Adler for providing terrific photographs of both events! Ladies, THANK YOU for your willingness to help out and your persistence in getting so many engaging photographs of our celebrations!!

Above: Cullen Coates/Sam Felix/Bruce Benton/Bill Jarrott

Above: Jim and Ursula Adler (Reunion "First Timers"!)

Above: John Zinke/Tom Alexander/Jim Odriozola

Above: Anne Marie & Kim McKellar and Connie Kenner (Anne Marie is, I believe, also a "First Timer")

Above: Doug Williams/Bruce Benton/Mike Kenner

Bill Jarrott/John Zinke

Above: Jon Lawson/Mike Kenner/Jim Adler

Above: Ursula Adler/Jim Adler/John Lawson/Tom and Carolyn Love

Above: Tom Alexander/Sam Felix/Jim Odriozola

Kim & Anne Marie McKellar/Cullen Coates

Above: Connie Kenner/Ursula Adler

Carolyn Love/Sam Felix/Tom Love

Above: Mike Kenner/Doug Williams

Above: Kim & Anne Marie McKellar

Above: Tom Alexander/Cullen Coates

Above: Bill Jarrott/Jon Lawson

Above: Jim Adler/Jim Odriozola

Above: Bill Jarrott/Kim & Anne Maried McKellar

Above: Tom Love/John Zinke/Jim Adler/Jim Odriozola

Above: Mike Kenner/Tom Love

Above: Cullen Coates/Sam Felix/Bruce Benton/Bill Jarrott

Above: Bruce Benton/Bill Jarrott/Jim Adler/Tom Alexander

Above: Cullen Coates/Sam Felix/Bruce Benton

Above: Bruce Benton/Mike Kenner

Above: Mike & Connie Kenner

Above: Friday morning breakfast - you should be recognizing everyone by now!! :-)

Above: Friday morning breakfast #2

Above: Friday morning breakfast #3 Jim Adler/Jim Odriozola.

Last but not least:

Well, Classmates, that concludes the Menlo Class of '64 Reunion "Slide Show!" Thank you, VERY MUCH to all of you who participated! It's wonderful to be celebrating our Menlo Days with so many of you 60 years after our graduation. I don't know about you, but Menlo was a wonderful experience for me (once I got used to being there)!!

Stay tuned to Mike's and my periodic emails and IF your email changes, please let us both know so we can update our mailing list!

BTW, Mike is already talking about having another off-cycle reunion (not on a 5-year interval) in 2026! If you're interested, please let us NOW, so we'll have a feel for whether or not the interest in such a reunion is sufficient to warrant continued planning!

Best regards to you all, Bill

Kenner/Garrett Eddy Memorial

 Special thanks to Michael Kenner who, upon hearing that our classmate, Garrett Eddy, died after being shot down while serving as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) with the USAF in Cambodia, took on the tasks of researching Garrett's fatal flight and coordinating with the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial in San Diego to arrange for a plaque to be added to the Memorial in Garrett's memory.

Since the text on the plaque is difficult to read in this posting, I'm including its text here:

"KIA October 1970

Medals-Ribbons:

Air Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Outstanding Unit "V", National Defense Service, Vietnam Service with 3 Stars, Gallantry Cross with Palm, Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Campaign.

Garrett was flying reconnaissance northwest of Kampong Cham, Cambodia when he was hit by ground fire.

Menlo School Class of 1964 honors your service."

 

Let us all be thankful for Garrett's heroism and his service to our country!

May you rest in eternal peace, Garrett!

A recent observation from an "Eat Your Vegetables" alumnus regarding my recent postings on the class's Almost 60th Reunion:

 

"You weave a rich tapestry from the assorted threads of the unwashed underwear of a group of wild and crazy guys." 

Menlo School Class of 1964's "Almost 60th Reunion"

Welcome Classmates! Earlier this year, some of you probably got tired of receiving e-mails from Mike Kenner and me encouraging you to join us for an "off-cycle" Class of '64 Reunion. 'Sorry about that, but we really thought it was a good idea not to wait all the way until 2024 for our next get-together. 

But, if you missed this one, don't worry - you'll start hearing from us again early in 2024 as we start prepping you to join us for our REAL 60th Reunion sometime in October, 2024.

That said, we DID gather together 10 classmates and 3 wives in Palo Alto to, once again, share our memories of our Menlo experiences back in the 60s!  We would have had 12 classmates, but Bruce Benton's flight out of Tennessee experienced a mechanical issue and had to return to base. After that delay, re-scheduling just wasn't an option for Bruce.  Jon Lawson was also planning to join us, but he was scheduled for surgery the weekend of our reunion and chose not to join us (a GOOD choice, Jon!). We're sure hoping Bruce, Jon, and a BUNCH of you who couldn't join us this year will give serious consideration to joining us in 2024!

Next I'd really like to express my thanks to Mike Kenner for ALL of the work he put into organizing this reunion, from the emails and post cards, to the cool "Eat Your Vegetables" shirts, to making the arrangements with Pezella's Villa Napoli for our dinner AND for arranging for a photographer (Christophe Testi of Creative Shot) to capture wonderful photos of us - ALL at our very BEST!

NOW for the photos:

 John Zinke greeting Keoki Raymond:

Mike greeting me:

And, attending his FIRST Class of '64 Reunion, EVER, Skip Croninger!

Kim McKeller greeting Keoki Raymond (Doug Williams in the background):

Mike Kenner and Guil Gaylord:

Tom Love and Keoki:

Another plug for Pezella's :-):

Connie and Mike Kenner:

Guil Gaylord:

Guil's lovely wife, Karen:

Doug Williams:

Doug's lovely wife, Lulu:

 

And now, on to dinner:

Tom Love:

Skip taking a look at our 1964 Yearbook:

Tom Alexander:

 View 1 of dinner:

And View 2 of dinner:

 

And NOW, the group photos (yes, we are just about to the end)!!

Front Row, L to R: Tom Alexander, Kim McKeller, Mike Kenner, and John Zinke

Back Row, L to R: Keoki Raymond, Tom Love, Guil Gaylord, Skip Croninger, Bill Jarrott and Doug Williams:

Classmates and spouses:

Front Row, L to R:  Tom Alexander, Lulu Williams, Connie Kenner, and Karen Gaylord:

Back Row, L to R Mike Kenner, John Zinke, Keoki Raymond, Tom Love, Guil Gaylord, Skip Croninger, Bill Jarrott, Doug Williams, and Kim McKeller:

Hope you enjoyed the photos!  And Mike and I also hope you'll all consider joining us for our REAL 60th Reunion in October of 2024!  In the meantime, stay safe and well!! Cheers, Bill