No. 38
May 2, 2008

By now you should have received your Reunion Registration package from the Alumni Office. If you haven't already reviewed the options and sent in your registration, you can do it easily online at http://reunion.college.columbia.edu. The "Who's Coming" page indicates that, as of today (May 2), 33 of you have registered. They are:

David Alpern
Doug Anderson
Joseph Applebaum
Melvyn Aronoff
Zev bar-Lev
Henry Black
Peter Broido
Stephen Clineburg
Robert Contiguglia
Michael Dilorenzo
William Goebel
Peter Gollon
Alan Jacobs
Conrad Levenson
Gershon Levinson
Michael Lubell
Ira Malter
Donald Margolis
Paul Neshamkin
Thomas O'Connor
Daniel Perl
David Pittinsky
Robert Podell
Gary Rachelefsky
Barry Reiss
Phil Satow
David Saxe
Ralph Schmeltz
Harvey Schneier
Mark Spevack
Walter Stein
Stanley Yancovitz

I have also heard from a good number of you who are coming but have not registered, so I think we will have a great turnout!

Just to review some of the events, we will start with an informal gathering for cocktails and appetizers at the Columbia Club Grill Room on Thursday evening, May 29, after which you may wish to attend one of the several Broadway shows (or the Lincoln Center concert) that the Alumni Office has made reservations for. On Friday evening, we will have what I hope will be the highlight of the weekend -- a Class of 1963 only boat cruise and buffet dinner – a real chance to spend an evening just talking and enjoying each other’s company. On Saturday, there will be a full schedule of events to pick from including the Class of 1963 panel discussion ("Liberty v. Security: Critical Balancing Act"), a class lunch in the Faculty Room at Low Library, and the Class of 1963 banquet in the Kellogg Lounge at SIPA. There will be a Starlight Reception for all classes on Low Plaza with champagne and dancing following the banquet.

We have tried as much as possible to arrange class events so that we can spend a maximum amount of time meeting and reacquainting ourselves with our classmates. I hope to see you all there.

As I mentioned last month, I hope that you all will make an especially generous donation to the Columbia College Annual Fund in honor of our 45th Reunion. We are making good progress towards our goal of $250,000 and have received donations of over $200,000 but so far, we are just over the half way mark to meet our goal of a 45% participation rate. We can not get there without your help.

Please add your gift today.

On a sad note, our classmate Bobb C. Vladeck has died. I just received the following obituary, which will appear in the next issue (July) of Columbia College Today. If any of you knew Bobb, I hope you will share your memories with his family and the class.

Bobb C. Vladeck, M.D., Monroe, NY died Saturday, April 19, 2008. A kind and generous man, a doctor distinguished by his compassionate care, Bobb was Chief of Surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Rockland County, NY, where he practiced since 1974. He graduated Columbia University, trained at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, did his residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital, and was a founding member of the American Association of Breast Surgeons, and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was a loving and beloved husband to Cheryl; father to Andrew, Michael, Naomi (and Eric Putter); grandfather to Sophie and Levi; and brother of Susan C. Vladeck and Amy V. Heinrich. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

If this is your first visit here, I've added a link to an archives page, which in turn, will link you to the past issues of the Class of 1963 eNewsletter. If you haven't seen any of the earlier newsletters, take a look -- there's a lot more news, pictures, and interesting articles than I have been able to include in Columbia College Today.

Next Lunches - Thursday, May 8 and June 12

Every Second Thursday of the Month, 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Columbia College Club - 15 West 43rd Street, NYC

Please join your classmates for an informal lunch at the Columbia Club every second Thursday of the month. It is our hope that these gatherings will renew old friendships and foster improved relationship with our class and the College. I hope you can all join us at the next lunches on Thursday, May 8 nand June 12. Let me know if you will attend so that we can reserve a big enough table; RSVP to Paul Neshamkin (pauln@helpauthors.com).

April lunch attended by six '63ers

We had a terrific turnout for our April 10th lunch with ten classmates attended. Among the regulars pictured below were David Alpern, Steve Barcan, Jerry Dwyer, Doron Gopstein, Bob Heller, Bruce Kaplan, Don Margolis, Paul Neshamkin, Tom O'Connor, and Barry Reiss.

(Seated from left to right) Barry Reiss, Tom, O'Connor, Jerry Dwyer, David Alpern, Bob Heller,Doron Gopstein, Paul Neshamkin, Don Margolis, and Steve Barcan. Bruce Kaplan left early and is missing from the picture.

Some lunch candids

Lunch Archives

If you like to see our previous lunches, click on the dates below:

December 9, 2004	January 12, 2006	January 11, 2007
January 13, 2005	February 9, 2006	February 8, 2007
February 10, 2005	March 9, 2006	March 8, 2007
March 10. 2005	April 20, 2006	April 12, 2007
April 14, 2005	May 11, 2006	May 10, 2007
May 12, 2005	June 8, 2006	June 14, 2007
June 9, 2005	July 13, 2006	July 12, 2007
July 14, 2005	September 14, 2006	September 20, 2007
September 8, 2005	October 12, 2006	November 8, 2007
October 14, 2005	November 9, 2006	February 14, 2008
November 9, 2005	December 14, 2006	March 13, 2008
December 12, 2005

For information and inquiries call Paul Neshamkin at 201-714-4881 or email at pauln@helpauthors.com.

Latest News from the Class of 63

Not much news! I can't believe that you don't have wonderful events in your life that you would like to share with your classmates. Please let me hear from you. Here's all I've got:

Bob Heller sent me a long note about his activities with the Union for Reform Judaism, "My term as chair of the Union for Reform Judaism board of trustees came to an end at the Union’s biennial convention attended by nearly 6,000 people in San Diego last December. Odd that people would want to leave Chicago, Toronto, Boston and the like in the dead of Winter, but they did.

The Union is made up of around 900 congregations in North America with some 1.5 million members. Its board is very much a grass roots organization with over 260 members, approximately 70 of whom serve on the executive committee. The Union is fundamentally a professional services organization and think tank providing vision, leadership, programmatic resources and expertise to its member congregations and, increasingly, in an era of email and web-based learning, to their members.

It was a privilege for me to serve. I worked closely with our professional leadership to effect transformative change – to make the Union a learning organization, driving it to function strategically to better help congregations anticipate and meet the needs of a changing Jewish community. We did that in part by creating a collaborative culture and strengthening the volunteer-professional partnerships that are crucial to the Union’s success. We did much more, strengthening the Union’s financial reporting and transparency, putting it on a firm financial footing and undertaking important programmatic initiatives including a major social justice advocacy initiative, Just Congregations, expanding the Union's camping system, which serves some 10,000 children, and publishing a widely used new curriculum for our religious schools. It was a productive four years for me and I believe for the Union.

On April 30, I was awarded an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Humane Letters, by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion – the Reform Jewish seminary and the academic center of progressive Jewish thought in North America – in recognition of my service to the Reform Movement including my work as chair of the Union."

Congratulations, Bob! The following link has the College's announcement and a photograph -- www.huc.edu/news/08/5/honors/ .

When you send your notes in, please indicate if you would like to share your email address(or web site) with your classmates. Always great to hear from you all.