Two extraordinary writs on the immediate docket...the Court will come to order.  HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS to Rear Admiral Select CHARLIE WURSTER.  Spoke with CHARLIE the day the message crossed my desk and he admitted he was still overwhelmed with the honor. SUTTER FOX did me one better!  Not sure why he was passing through Alameda, but SUTTER was our first Classmate to congratulate CHARLIE in person.  And SUTTER gets extra points...he got a picture with our Class' newest Flag Officer!  BRAVO ZULU CHARLIE!

The second writ is very sad news...news very hard to swallow. There's no easy way to tell this, but as you read this HUGHIE's is closed.  PETE BARRETT sent along the following newspaper account: "The New London Development Corporation (NLDC) has made a final offer to take a local landmark restaurant by eminent domain after two years of negotiating with owner Hugh Devlin.  The offer, which was not disclosed by the NLDC, would compensate Devlin for the cost of his property at 221 Howard Street where Hughie's Restaurant and Lounge has been for nearly 40 years.  The NLDC filed legal papers in May to take the property by eminent domain.  They offered Devlin $708,000 for his land.  The city has appraised the property at $141,190.  The appraisal does not include the cost of the business.  "The NLDC recognizes the special place Hughie's has in the hearts of the greater New London community and we have tried to support this public sentiment," NLDC president Claire Gaudiani said in a prepared statement.  During the past few months, the NLDC has offered to buy the property at fair market value, offered to relocate the business to another site, and move the restaurant back 150 feet from the existing site, she said. "We have not been able to reach and agreement," Gaudiani wrote.  "Throughout the process, we have grown in the belief that Mr. Devlin wants to retire.  We therefore, reluctantly, have made a final offer, arrived at through a review appraisal process, which is the maximum amount of money the state will allow us to pay."  The NLCD is acquiring properties along Howard Street as part of the city's municipal development plan to provide road improvements near Pfizer Inc.'s new global research center and for other development in the Fort Trumbull area.  After filing the eminent domain papers, the NLDC became the legal owners of the property.  Hughie's has been allowed to continue to operate during negotiations. "  After the Boston Vespers service on August 27th, STEVE DECESARE, MARY JANE, Kurt and I enjoyed a final lunch at Hughie's and confirmed that the final day of operations was scheduled to be August 13th.  Love salads still amazing...and did you catch that "hard to swallow?" Wasn't thirty years ago!

Sweds, did you say you were on the East Coast?  Sure did. MARY JANE is working on a distance Masters program through St. Joseph's College outside Portland, ME. and had a couple of weeks of required residency courses to complete.  Number Two son Kurt and I joined her for a couple days touring in Maine and Quebec.  We then had a great visit with STEVE & BETTY ANN DECESARE in Sharon, Ma.  STEVE's President of the Sharon Co-Operative Bank. That's right STEVE PLOSZAJ, your bank when you were living in Sharon.

TIM FLANAGAN sent in a note on a June meeting of Classmate Consultants. "CHARLIE HARRIS, PHIL VOLK and I met up at CG AIRSTA Sacramento as part of a Deepwater Project Industry Team Day information gathering session. CHARLIE and I had spent the previous two days at CG Island in Alameda doing the same with the MLCPAC, PACAREA, and other assorted commands in the vicinity. Our class has four members employed by the three industry teams (Avondale Alliance, Lockheed-Martin, and Scientific Applications International Corporation) competing for the right to impact the entire Coast Guard big-time for the next 40 years.   PHIL consults with Boeing (part of Avondale's team);  CHARLIE is employed with Litton PRC, part of Lockheed-Martin's team; and JIM BROKENIK and I work with the eventual winner, SAIC (a member of Soza & Co, LTD).  BROK was previously engaged in other team stuff and missed the west coast trip.  Not too much to report about what was said among us cutthroat competitors (once good friends, now bitter enemies, as VOLK put it!)...can't give away too many super secrets, so when Industry team rep's get together, it's mostly sports and the weather that frame conversations."  Suspect PHIL and CHARLIE might dispute that "eventual winner" line!

TIM's note provided an E-mail address for JIM BROKENIK, our 100th on-line Classmate.  BROK provided this update: "Life is good.  Upon retirement from Headquarters in '93, I (we) decided to stay in the DC area.  We live in Springfield, VA at about the 6 o'clock position just outside the Beltway and work in Tysons Corner at the 9 o'clock position.  My wife, JANE, was well established in her job and didn't want to move AGAIN, can't blame her for that, and it also allowed my daughter, Trish, to stay in the same school with her friends.  She's now a sophomore at George Mason University majoring in biology.  I previously worked for a small consulting firm, HJ Ford Associates Inc., in Northern Virginia for six years supporting among others, the CGHQ Office of Acquisition, some Air Force and Navy contracts, and finally some Foreign Military Sales work. Around the first of the year SAIC advertised for an aviator with Coast Guard, Deepwater and Matrix Product Team experience to work on their Deepwater Team.  I interviewed for the job and was lucky enough to start work here at the end of February along with TIM FLANAGAN and a few other ex-Coasties not fortunate enough to be from '71." Both TIM and JIM talked about SAIC so I had to ask..."Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500 company, is the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the nation. We provide information technology and systems integration solutions worldwide.  We have about 40,000 employees total with something like 13,000 in the DC area."

Done any leisurely bike riding recently?  DAN SHOTWELL issued the following Press Release:  "[July 4th, Medina, Ohio, USA] Shotwell powers to 12th or 13th place in the 50 to 59 year old age group in the 2000 Medina Twin Sizzler.With a personal best time of 1 hour 15 minutes for the grueling 27 mile course, DAN SHOTWELL, (AKA The Maroon Buffoon) bettered his previous time by 11 minutes at an average speed of 21.6 mph.  SHOTWELL credited his success to specialized weight training he had done for two months prior to the race, which consisted of adding weights to his bike to compensate for the 17 pounds he had lost during training and to working big hills with even more added weight.  Asked if there were any other secrets he could divulge, DAN admitted, "Yeah, I sucked a lot of rear wheel.  I also had another form of "weight" training which consisted of cupping my hands on the sides of my mouth to form a megaphone and yelling "Wait, Wait!" I practiced that a lot." About his plans for the future he said, "I plan to continue training and loose another 10 pounds for next year's race, which would put me at about 163 pounds and hopefully make me more competitive in this event.  I also plan to get a more powerful battery for my pacemaker and take my false teeth out during the race to improve my breathing."  DAN...wouldn't it be easier to put a motor on the bicycle?

A solemn Vespers Service was held in Boston the 27th of July.  PETE BARRETT, STEVE DECESARE, CHUCK BECK, JIM SYLVESTER, MIKE LEONE, and CARL SWEDBERG raised a glass or two and observed a moment of silence in tribute to the passing of that historic landmark, HUGHIE's. MOONERS sent in regrets as he was in Philadelphia attending the annual Division I football officials clinic. PETE TEBEAU also sent regrets...'bout the time we were toasting HUGHIE's, he was flying back from St. Paul.

BARNEY also couldn't make it...had the duty at the Town of Benton.  But he sent along a photo of he and Allison, grand daughter Number Two, taken at a family picnic at his uncle's camp (a retired USCG CWO!) at the lake in China, Maine.  BARNEY said, "She's got that "get-a-life-Grampy" look on her face."  Maybe turn her right side up?

BOB CAMUCCIO sent in an update from Key Largo.  "I'm living alone in Key Largo, Florida, and am teaching the Coast Guard JROTC program at the MAST(Maritime and Science Technology) Academy in Miami.  One heck of a drive every day, but, I love Key Largo, and it is great working with the 180 teenagers in the ONLY CGJROTC program.  I have a retired CWO and YN1 working with me. Very challenging and very rewarding.  This last school year we had two seniors accepted at the Academy.  One is there now and the other changed his mind at the last minute.  We also have one senior enlisting in the CG. I get to see THADMIRAL ALLEN every so often.  My JROTC cadets did a Pass in Review for him.  He has been a great supporter of the program!  Saw some classmates at THAD's place last month, JAY TAYLOR, SKIP PREZLOMSKI. JIM ARMSTRONG, and RON SILVA.  Great stories were told.  My son, Nick, graduated from U. of Florida School of Law and is preparing for the Bar exam.  Oh, he asked if he could live with me for the next year, until he gets married in July 2001.  (Yes, they never seem to leave!)  My daughter, Jennifer and her husband, Sal will be making me a grandfather for the THIRD time.  I keep telling Jennifer "they know what causes this".  They visit me in the Keys and I take the oldest grand child, Kevin, fishing for pin fish...it's a grandfather thing. Nichol, the little one, isn't quite old enough to have my great fishing wisdom imparted to her yet...ie.,fishing does not equal catching."  BOB, sounds like you and BARNEY should be comparing notes!

Another very proud day to report for the Swedberg family. Number One Son, Carl, graduated on 10 June from Western Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Science.  Although I haven't quite figured out that Arts in Science part, it's a pre-Physical Therapy major. Carl temporarily moved back home and is currently working as an exercise trainer at a local fitness club in Bellevue. [BOB...understand that "not leaving" part!]

Just before adjourning I posted two more Classmates to our on-line roster.  JON WALDRON forwarded DAN WHICKER's and DAVE ISBELL checked in after having lunch with AL GRACEWSKI.  Look for WHICKER and ISBELL updates in December.  If you haven't done it already, check our Classmates page and send CONGRATULATIONS to Charlie!  We're adjourned!