Reminder: Please remember when you change your email address to let us know so we can keep in touch. Also when you change your home address or phone number please let Billie or Margie know. You can send them an email from the ‘registered alumni’ page’. ‘Bits & Bytes’ don’t forget to send me some stuff about what is happing to you and the family. Digital Atlantic City a Photographic Essay is now posted. This site is 'A work in Progress' which means I will be adding new pictures occasionally. The link is below.                           click on this link to view digital Atlantic City, a Photographic Essay. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Two from your Webmaster....Barry Barry Rich *** Copy of an email Mary Ann sent to some of our friends this past May*** This email comes with a story. Barry’s 75th birthday arriving this month is an event that happens only once, of course. Myself, Stuart and Brian and their families decided to surprise Barry with his own bench in AC. He has always kidded the boys that some day maybe he would get a bench; well, that day has come. A surprise was planned and we did it this past weekend in Atlantic City with Stuart, Brian and the boys from NY. Hope you enjoy the pictures …..   click on this link to view the Bench Slide Show Mary Ann -------------------------------------------- Our Antarctic Expedition, December 13 to 29, 2009 We have been thinking about how to sum up our adventure in Antarctica since we arrived home in late December. If we had to use only one or two words to describe our adventure, it would be a life changing extraordinary experience. The trip was filled with astounding sights in the Antarctic of ice bergs and colonies of Penguins we encountered on our landings. After doing our research before departing we thought we were well prepared as to what we would see and do. Our research only covered a small part of what we encountered on our ship and the daily landings. Aside from the wonderful crew of the MS Fram we were accompanied by an expedition team of scientists who guided us through our landings in the Antarctic. These guys and one gal walked us through the freezing water to the safety of the shore on each landing and briefed us on each landing. They even dove into the freezing water to rescue a member of our expedition who was overcome by a small tsunami which occurred very suddenly. Later in the evening the expedition team offered lectures on the Antarctic and its environs. The expedition team consisted of lecturers from various fields and backgrounds: Ornithologists, mammalogists, historians, and geologists, ready to tackle all our questions. Together with the crew onboard they made our time in the Antarctic quite an adventure. To sum up our experience in a few words is very difficult. The beauty of the Antarctica is truly awesome and inspiring. It really makes you stop and think about climate change and our environment. It is so pristine and peaceful. I don’t think there is any place else in the world like it or that we have yet seen. To have experienced this was truly life changing. Mary Ann & Barry Click on this link to view our Antarctic Adventure Slide Shows -------------------------------------------- Edward Greenberg 4/11/2010 Hi Barry, Ed Greenberg here. Just went into class web, I haven't been there for a long time to catch up on things. I see the last Bits and Bytes was in 2008, have you given up on the web? I got real sick in March 2006 and almost didn't make now I'm on oxygen 24/7 but you can't keep a good man down. I do get out and drive but our over seas vacations are over. Thank goodness Ellen did most of our world travel before. I still want to get together but when I have a bad day I don't go out so its hard to make plans. I have your phone number so I'll give you a buzz and we can talk travel or give me a buzz. Hope all is well. Ed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sandy Freed Caplan 5/20/2010 Hi Barry, I still marvel at your website for our class.Thanks for all you do. Phil and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. We had lots of little adventures including zip lining atop the rain forest. Saw beautiful birds, flowers, butterflies, and even an erupting volcano. Still enjoying our retirement in Florida. Summer is here and the heat and humidity are back but that doesn't keep us from playing tennis. If you ever get to Boynton Beach please let me know. Best regards, Sandy Freed Caplan -------------------------------------------------------------------- George, Steinhauer 5/12/10 Dear Barry: I am still going strong in Vegas and am heading down to The Florida Keys in July and August. In September back to Jersey again to look around at my old haunts. George -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ron Green & Bruce Gardner 4/30/2009 Ron Green Bruce gardner 4/25/2010 Hi guys...Here's a pic from dinner tonight at the best seafood restaurant in Sarasota. ( Walt's Fish Market...they say 'the fish we ate tonight were swimming in the Gulf this morning'). Joining us were my lifelong friend from Atlantic City, Bruce Gardner and his wife Sara. He's here in Sarasota for 2 weeks. Ron -------------------------------------------------------------------- Al Carlin 4/14/2010 Hi Barry: Good to hear from you and to hear that Bits and Bytes is still going. The Carlin are doing well, lots of kid and grandkid stuff to brag about, but I'll spare folks most of that. Peter's book about Paul Cartney was published on November of '09 and he working on a Bruce Springsteen bio now as well as writing for the Oregonian. Greg, our older boy is getting married in Hawaii this June. I can't resist attaching a recent picture taken this summer on Martha's Vineyard. Best wishes -------------------------------------------------------------------- Arnold Adams 4/14/2010 Dear Barry, Thanks for your email I am expecting to go to Columbia and Dubai next month on business also I will celebrate. my 75th birthday with family and friends at Joes Stone Crab Restaurant near my home in Miami Beach Florida Best Regards, Arnold -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dick LeChard 4/14/2010 Hi Barry, While I missed the Bits & Bytes you have stewarded for the past many years, I was more concerned about your well being, having not heard from you. I am relieved to see you are still enjoying an active life and continue to document your travels. To catch you up on my status, after a very "rocky" 2007 which found me trying to recover from complications after open heart surgery, I am happy to say that I have fully recovered and am now more healthy and active than I have been in the last 20 years. We have resumed our travels and just returned from Thailand and Cambodia. While in Thailand, I had several telephone conversations with our classmate Don Beckerman and we set up a meeting in Bangkok which necessitated his driving up from Pattaya; however, Anne & I got a 48 hour intestinal bug which caused us to cancel the visit. Coincidentally, we were to meet on the day the "Red Shirt" protestors marched on Bangkok and hand grenades were fired in the neighborhood where Don maintains a condo in Bangkok. He is doing well and is enjoying a happy and relaxed life in Pattaya. He has retired from his bed & breakfast ventures and lives on the top 2 floors of the 2nd tallest building in Thailand, overlooking The Gulf of Thailand. Don said that he would like to be able to attend one of our ACHS reunions, but the trip has just become too tiring and uncomfortable, with which I can attest and agree. In August we are traveling to Paris, Cannes, Florence, Rome, and Capri with Anne's sister Joan and husband Sam. For my 75th birthday in late March, Anne threw a surprise party with friends from each era of my life. The biggest surprise was Billie Jane and Lew's attendance, representing my Atlantic City days, and as you can see from the attached picture, we had a lot of good laughs. The other couple in the picture is Anne's sister Joan and husband Sam from Houston, TX. That pretty much sums up my activity for the past year and I look forward to our next ACHS gathering, be it a formal or informal affair. Best regards to all our classmates and wishing you a happy and healthful year ahead. Dick -------------------------------------------------------------------- The following alumni have recently passed away: Richard Leonard May 15, 2010 Jeanelle Wells April 2010 --------------------------------------------------------------------