2012: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Winning the Dad Vail in 1962

I’d like to thank you all for allowing Kathleen and me to take part in your celebration on Saturday night. It was a truly remarkable evening and an honor and a privilege to be among you. I came away with two seemingly opposite but actually quite consistent impressions. Your memories of your time at Georgetown and on the Potomac are enduringly grounded in a remarkable moment in history – JFK and John John, JBJ and Vietnam -- very different from my years in the early 80s and a world away from Georgetown today. And yet there were not only reminders of your time on the Hilltop during my era (I raced freshman year in “The Cadle;” “The Lurk" was still in the boathouse and we couldn’t figure that name out) but many of the tales you told on Saturday are strikingly similar to the ones I and my mates tell. We rowed past bodies, not cows, floating in the Potomac, as this was Marion Barry’s Washington, but the travel to and from races always held its own enjoyments and challenges, while on the river, coxswains could hit anything in sight! I came away more certain than ever of the unbroken thread that is Georgetown Crew and the pivotal role it can play in the lives of those who give themselves over to it.

I thank you for your invitation and great thanks to all of you who worked so hard to pull this all together and particularly to Jack and Linda. And finally thanks for being, truly, the founding fathers of a program that has meant so much to so many. You have been a guiding light for generations, even if we didn’t always know who’s stern light we were following in the dark and dusky Potomac morning.

Never Row

Neil Lane,

President of GRA

Thank you for your tremendous efforts in making this last weekend an unparallel-able experience for everyone who showed and for those of us most decidedly present in spirit, and living the fun through Ben's pictures!

I so appreciate your keeping me in the loop, for those crew friendships of nearly fifty years ago number among the most treasured memories of being at the hilltop. This year I needed to be present at our (St. Thomas University's) Baccalaureate Mass and Commencement on May 11 and May 12, but I am hoping that circumstances will allow for joining all of you in 2014!

Jack's "Never Row" testimony to Mr. Cadle is perfect...Black Velvet and Welsh Rarebit in the upper room at the 1789, truly awesome...

Thanks to all - and especially to Linda and Jack for their organizational efforts - for making Friday and Saturday the most memorable 24 hours in many years.

Great to see all of you again and trade stories.

Ben, thanks for the pictures. We need a historian - a retired guy like Russ - to gather stories , lies and facts into one great document.

What a wonderful '62 Dad Vail reunion weekend you and Jack planned and fulfilled for all attendees and wanna-be's this past weekend. Thank you so much for including me with such a diversified and fun-loving cast of characters. I look forward to keeping in touch and seeing/hearing more of the recorded and photographed record of any and all activities. In the words and spirit of Bob Hope's theme song, "Thanks for the memories."

Never row,

JJ

Dear Jack & Linda -

Just a quick note to let you two know we had a fantastic weekend!~ Sooo very glad you continued the search for the elusive #5 Reyburn.

You two really put alot of thought & most especially heart into the illustrious 50th reunion. Please know that we are forever grateful for this effort & will continue to count you in the BFF (Best Friends Forever) category.

Have a wonderful summer & know that we certainly are so happy Peter attended 'the Univ. of Rowing' so we could celebrate 'the 50th' in good & charming company.

Later....fondly, P&H

I am just coming out of my post part-em party depression after that weekend of recognition, that bordered on adoration at times, in an environment of pampered privilege not enjoyed by yours truly for many a year. Everything that was done for us was over the moon and I thought first rate. Thank you all for making this so special. It is hard to believe we will be doing this again - but we will, God willing.

My only real task was to steer a perfect new boat down one half of an empty race course (less than a couple hundred strokes) to the cheers of thousands without hitting anything."HOLD ALL!" was not on my list of anticipated commands, much less "LEAN STARBOARD!". Mary captured a series of nineshots of the Valiant Victorious Eight of Yesteryear swerving around the altercation in lane one. We didn't kill anyone.

Thank you for a very special weekend in Philadelphia! Start to finish, everything fell into place.... Seemingly small thinks like place settings at the two dinners, and, at that, different seating (each time), gave us an opportunity to know each other a little better. You kept things moving both day and night, and thanks to your expert choreography, there was time for everything from the first night up through Sunday morning.

Vespoli also came through like gangbusters. Boat, oars, and special empathy for creeky old oarsmen.... We are an able (somewhat) and enthusiastic lot, and I hope we're able to keep this up forever!...

Fondly,

Vicky and Rick Reynolds

It was truly a great reunion.Thanks for arranging our stay at the Union League. It worked out perfectly....

Hopefully we will see everyone before 2 years at a shell dedication.

Never row,

Pat