Memories From Past Reunions

I remember when…

Pauleen (Fath) Houlihan , BSC /69
Receiving my degree from Lester B. Pearson, an ex prime minister and nobel prize winner. Hanging out at Honest John’s, making friendships that still exist 40 years after graduation.

Pat Bonn , BSC /69
Adventures in the Mer Bleu Bog – ecology labs – No buses on campus – we crossed the locks to Prince of Wales

Julia Hibberd , BSC /69
Meeting friends and hanging out at “Honest John’s”. Favourite memory of a prof. – “I am a biologist first, a priest second” (Father Banim, Bio 100). The friendship of four fellow “science women”.

Gord Holder , BJ /84
1) Graduation ceremony – wearing a black (hot) garment on a blistering hot day. When Stuart Adam introduced honourary doctorate recipient Wilf Kesterton, he made reference to Wilf’s renowned obscenity lecture in second year media law. The graduating journalism class erupted in laughter, sparking looks of concern and wonderment from our parents and fellow grads. 2) The other memory involves a 1982 trip to New Brunswick with Professor Joe Scanlon’s emergency communications research unit. We were trying to find an apple seller in New Brunswick in January. We never did. To this day, I’m still skeptical that the supposed apple seller actually existed, but Joe Scanlon and I still debate the issue.

Rodger Lee , BA /56
I remember when class size was 30 and one student, Frank Laverty, took the chalk out of Prof. Main’s hand to make a change on the board. Most students were returning service men who only wanted to get an education; no hazing or hell week. Speaking of Prof. Beatty I remember when we were studying “come gather rosebuds while ye may”. The prof. said it could be summed up with “a young lady should grasp economic security while she is biologically equipped to obtain it”.

Paul M. Brown , BA /89
Regarding classes: Ken Hatt, Brian Little, Hymie Anisman, etc. FANTASTIC and WONDERFUL!!! Regarding residence: 5th Glen, need I say more!! Regarding Carleton: THANK YOU!! For giving me the privilege and opportunity to succeed in life now.

Herta Okonkwo , BA /59
I entered Carleton University on a spur of the moment. Carleton has given me a good start in life, being a daughter of immigrant parents. I stayed with a Jewish family for room and board and a weekly “salary” of $12.00 in return for babysitting and household chores. My husband and I have raised a successful family of four children, two of whom are medical doctors.

Joe Pelisek , BA/59 / BJ/60
Thoroughly enjoyed my time at Carleton, student Council, COTE (Army), etc. My degrees certainly helped me in later years.

Lorraine Travers Zinni , BA/69 / BSCHON/70
Whatever happened to Honest John’s? It was a great meeting place! I treasure the friends I met at Carleton. We’ve kept in touch for 40 years. I loved the small campus of the 60’s but proud of the beautiful campus that exists now.

Darrell Tsen , BA /63
It would be wonderful to be together again after so many years. Unfortunately it is impossible for me to be there with you all, I am thousands of miles from you…. I wish you all the best.

Surendra Verma , Meng /69
Thank you so much for this invitation. I graduated ( master’s ) in 1969. Your invitation brought all the great memories I have of my two years there. I loved the University ( God knows it was tough). I loved its beautiful location. And the tunnel connecting all the buildings was not only a shelter from the elements but an endless amount of canvas on which the painters painted, the poets wrote their poems, the ones with the new age conscience wrote the new age messages, and the humorists wrote funny messages. If I was not the sole caretaker of my 91 year old mother I would not miss it for anything. To all the participants, have a great time!

Ryan Ward , BA /99
I was in the Charlatan office after class and someone came in to say Dunton Tower was on fire. I turned to the news editor Mario Carlucci and said “I want this.” He told me to get out there and get a story. Within an hour I got comments from onlookers, an interview with the head of Buildings and Grounds and photo’s (sic) to run with the article. This all happened a few hours before the paper was going to bed. It was the first time I felt like a real reporter, going out like any reporter in the field to get the scoop. I was able to write about 200 articles for three Carleton publications and this was one of my favourites for sure.

Ann (Abraham) Pepper , BA /57
Back in the days on First Avenue, if you needed to speak to a professor about some problem, or exam mark, all you had to do was hover outside the prof’s door until he appeared. With a full-time day enrolment of 350, everybody knew everybody – either personally, or by reputation – and the profs knew you by name. We may not have had the technical advantages of today, but we had something irreplaceable – the personal touch!!

Rosemary (Heenan) Gosselin , BJ
Metaphor resonating in my being as Michael Hornyansky (perched cross-legged on his desk) introduced me to T.S. Eliot. Bliss! Dr. H further encouraged a small group of us (incl. Chase Henderson & Jon Bruwhieler (sp?)) to write & publish our own poetry. Exciting times! Loved the intimacy of 1st Ave., dialoging in the cafeteria with the profs. Interviewing Claude Bissell as my 1st assignment for The Carleton.

Berta Aboud , BAHon /53
My brother Gordon Armstrong (EngCert/51) was in a class with Marilyn Silvers. The bigger engineering students, we remembered, held her outside the fourth floor window by the heels. My brother afterwards said he was ashamed not to have done anything, but he was the youngest and smallest in the class.

Gina Blair-Dickson , BA /88
Intramurals – Law Society – Residence – Parliament Visit – Seminar

Ron Bujold , BA /89
The tunnels a) walkway, b) meeting place, c) artwork, d) social commentary. Social gatherings at various pubs. Amazing history profs.

Evelyn Greenberg , BCom /58
Carl Wolff and I were both pianists and in the Carletones Choir. He was a tenor, I was an alto. It annoyed me that Dr. Karam made me play the piano and let Carl sing. “We need tenors more than we need altos!!” GRRRR!

Bev Hargrove , BA /52
Freshman went to Glebe graduation with all our freshman hats. We made quite a stir.

Karen Hegmann , BCom /85
I remember the bands. Some great bands came through Carleton – Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Doug and the Slugs, The Spoons. It was a great way to meet people and get rid of some of the stress from exams! Great fun!

Debora Kelly , BJ /83
Orientation week ’79: I lived on 2nd Grenville for two years. I’ll never forget the water fight between Grenville & Russell houses – the water was literally flowing down the central stairway & glass. Standing outside- where I eventually retreated, admitting defeat – it looked like a fountain! How much fun is this going to be, I thought!

Else (Liisa) Kuittinen-Peer , BAHon, MA
Remember when there was a wonderful little bar in residence called the Bree’s Inn.? The guys from 3rd Russell and the girls from 2nd Grenville used to be regular fixtures on Thursday nights dancing on the tables to the music of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The late ‘70s and the early ‘80s were a great time to live in Rez! Especially when draft was a mere 75 cents! The glory days of residence are now long behind us, but for those of us who were lucky enough to have been there, the memories are as clear as ever!

Ann Lazear , BA /49
I have joyous memories of enlightened, dynamic professors. Working with dedicated students on the ’49 yearbook. Dr. MacOdrum – happy times!

Robert J. (Bob) Mott , BSc /58
As I graduated in 1958, my memories revolve around the First Avenue campus. What a difference with the present. I remember the geology lab often followed the biology lab and the room always reeked with the smell of formaldehyde. A petrology class I took was held in the professors’ office, a 10’x10’ room, with a microscope on the small table next to a desk. However, there was a great feeling of camaraderie among the students.

Linda Narozanski , BA /88
2nd year geography field trip to the Eastern townships. I got to meet many people who became close friends throughout my two remaining Carleton years and some after graduation.

Roy Seeley , BCom /63
In 1959 I remember the one and only outside parking lot which was unpaved and muddy as hell so that many cars had to be pushed out by students after class.

Allyne Thomson , BA
I was a cheerleader who was part of a group going to Waterloo with the Ravens football team. We were all kidnapped by the Waterloo team, and did not return to the game till the very end. However, were treated like queens and weren’t certain we wanted to return to the cold and rainy game to “cheer”. However, we were returned unharmed and had spent a lovely afternoon with our captors.