San Diego Mini-Reunion Brings Out Sun and Record Attendance

By Geoff Smith '71, Class Vice President

The rain storms that inundated California were gone and an abundance of sunshine was shared by a record attendance of 55 classmates, spouses and guests at the San Diego Mini Reunion, held on February 4th and 5th, 2023. From the lofty perch of the Smith’s patio with a view of the Pacific Ocean on Saturday afternoon and evening, the group renewed acquaintances, met other classmates for the first time and added the warmth of our shared Princeton experience to the warmth of the day. 16 of the attendees were first time visitors to this event and half of those were inclined to come because they had enjoyed previous class gatherings in New Orleans and Baja California. The others just did not want to go another year without attending this tremendous class party.

Sunday morning, many of the group visited famous Balboa Park to walk its many gardens and museums before sharing a Japanese lunch at the Tea Pavilion. In the afternoon the group was treated to a concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, home to the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world. At the beginning of the concert, a Ukrainian soprano sang the Ukrainian national anthem. A video of her performance is included in the Photo Gallery.

Sunday evening the group was welcomed to Tony’s Jacal Mexican Restaurant, which has been serving traditional margaritas and Mexican food for nearly 80 years and has hosted the final dinner of this mini-reunion for the past 10 of those years. Inside were continued the warm conversations with interesting people that are an integral part of such a gathering.

Attending the mini-reunion were classmates from Ottawa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and of course, California, including: Maggie and Laird Hayes, Susan and John Arigoni, Liza and KP Kirkpatrick, Gail and Scott Alexander, Jill and Jeff Hammond, Bob Kuenzel, Elyse Darko and Rick Ostrow, Hilda and John Drummond, Stu Rickerson, Lois Phillips and Dennis Thompson, Brad O’Brien, Nancy Martin and Tim Tosta, Jack McNab, Susan and Bill Kuntz, Bonnie Hewson ’73 and Chuck Marboe, BruceAnn and Tom Culbertson, Ellen Higgins and John Brower, Mellisa and Larry Kurtz ’72, Ginny McCook and Phil Shinn ’72, Diane Lane and Bill Armiger, Kathy Molony, Dawn McDonald and Brian Langston, Kathleen Newe and Paul Deibel, Sally and Jerry Fish, Faye and Hugh Davies ’70, Duncan Payne, Lee and David Ball, Barbara and Tom Sinclair, Mike Ladra, Skip Beck, Chante Coleman ’09, Ellie and Doug Miller and Julie and Geoff Smith.

See more photos in the Class Photo Gallery here.