Mardi Gras

Whenever I think of Mardi Gras, I remember the trip the Clemson Pershing Rifles drill team took to New Orleans to march in several Mardi Gras parades in the spring of 1962. Based on that trip, I've always maintained that whatever you've heard about Mardi Gras, it is under-rated.

We took a charter bus to the Big Easy, and we packed and left Clemson late Thursday afternoon. Just as we were departing, we got the word that the Clemson basketball team had beaten 3rd seeded NC State 67-46 in the opening round ACC tournament. This was a big upset, and we were a happy group of guys all the way to N. O.

We arrived about noon Friday in New Orleans and rested before we had an open evening in town that evening. As you can imagine from what you may know of the PR's reputation, a good time was had by all. We struggled back to our motel and assembled the next morning to take the bus into the city to march in a parade on Saturday morning. It was then that we heard the results of the semi-final ACC game where Clemson had beaten 2nd seeded Duke 77-72 Friday evening.

On Saturday evening, we marched in a big night parade through downtown NO and the French Quarter. The Clemson football team had barely lost to top-ranked LSU in the Sugar Bowl there only three years before, and all the revelers seemed to remember and respect Clemson. We had an unforgettable evening on the town.

When we gathered on Sunday morning to return to Clemson, we learned Cinderella had lost her shoe. In the ACC finals, the Tigers lost to top-seeded Wake Forest 66-77. It ws a great run for a team with seven sophomore members of our class, Jim Brennan, Nick Milasnovich, Donnie Mahaffey, Woody Morgan, Mike Bohonak, Gary Burnisky, and Manning Privett plus two seniors.

I hope the current Tiger basketball team does as well.

I don't have any pictures from the Mardi Gras trip. There are probably a lot of PR's who are glad. At least that protects the innocent. I did take a picture of LTC Guise who was the faculty advisor for the group and who all the PR's thought was a great guy. (Click to embiggen.)

Bob Wiley's 2004 Pictures

After the 45th reunion, Bob Wiley sent me a number of photos he made on a long walk around the campus. You can see them here. They show some scenes have changed tremendously since 1964 ( like where did D, E, and F halls go?) and other scenes have changed hardly any at all. Take a look. Here are a few more. Click each one to make it bigger.

Looking for a Few Good Men

The current Reunion Committee (Walter Cox, chairman, Doug Richardson, treasurer, John Walker, past-chairman, Frank Gentry, & Preston Earle) is looking for a "few good men" to help drum up interest in re-establishing contacts with our classmembers. If you'd like to help in this effort, leave your name and e-mail in the comments, and we'll do the rest. The pay and benefits for these positions are unbelievable!

Join the Class of 1964 E-mail Network

We have set up an e-mail group (listserv) for Class of '64 members at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CUClassof64 . You can join this group by going to the website and clicking on the "Join this Group" button. It will take you through the process and you will soon be able to communicate easily with other classmembers.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at PEarle@triad.rr.com.

Welcome to the Class of 1964 WebSite

Though we are mostly children of the 20th Century. we are crawling slowly into the 21st.

We have established this blog to communicate and share with classmates, particularly about our upcoming 45th reunion. The reunion is scheduled for June 11-13, so put these dates on your calendar. You'll be getting a letter from the alumni association in early March with more details. Until then we'll have this blog.

Walter Cox is taking the lead role in planning this reunion, so you will be hearing a lot from him.

I've posted some photos from the 35th reunion here and the 40th reunion here.

If you want to stay current with this blog. click here or save this address (http://clemsonclassof64.blogspot.com/) to your favorites and check back regularly.

I look forward to seeing you in June at Clemson.