On my way to the Old Oak Tap in Chicago, IL on August 24, the skies opened up and it started absolutely pouring out. All I could imagine was that people would opt not to come out due to the weather. Fortunately, the clouds parted and it turned into a rather nice evening. Brett Berlin ’08 had suggested the Old Oak Tap Room, which is located in an up-and-coming portion of Chicago. The establishment set aside a portion of their facility for us and provided us with our own waitress, Whitney. They offered a nice selection of beers as well as some wines. Their flatbread pizzas were outstanding!
We had 19 alumni at the event and, once again, it was a great mix of years—ranging from John Kemper ’55 all the way up to Tony Alvarez ’11. John attended with his wife Margaret. John loved the pint glasses so much that he called me to see if he could purchase an additional glass.
Bill Anthony ’66 and his wife Carolyn were also in attendance. Carolyn is traveling to Taipei later this year so we chatted a bit about the Taipei Museum of Art and Taipei 101. Bill was involved with the German exchange program while at Williston and has been lobbying for a reunion of sorts either back in Easthampton or over in Germany. I told him about trying to organize something in Europe for the 175th Celebration. Bill volunteered to help out in any way possible.