Some Reunion History

Posted Feb 1, 2006

By Steve Millman:

At Hope's request I would like to share with you how we (in recent years) began our yearly regimen of reunions around the country.

To start, I was in the Seventh Army Soldiers Chorus (the progenitor of the present-day USAREUR chorus) from 1973-1975.  Our unit was assigned to USAREUR HQ company and were stationed at Patton Barracks, Heidelberg.  Our Admin Clerk was Wayne P. Drake.

Wayne is key to this story because Wayne was the heart of our Chorus.  He (along with John Callihan, Baritone Section Leader) extended their time in service in order to remain in the Chorus.  They were needed. 

Wayne had a Masters Degree in Music.  He was a High School Music teacher who taught classes, directed choruses and musicals, and thoroughly enjoyed music and being of service to those in need.   During my time on the risers Wayne would step in when a conductor or accompanist was needed or when we were short handed on the risers.  But mostly he kept behind the scenes and ran the Chorus office like a Swiss clock.

After Wayne ETS'd he still maintained his connection with the chorus, putting together newsletters (which he would mimeograph in school..  remember the old smelly, blue mimeograph copies??) keeping us informed as to the goings on of our Chorus brethren all around the world.   Denny is starring in a new musical and is hilarious.. Rocky is getting married in Chicago.. Ken is singing at weddings..  etc.    Wayne kept us in touch with our buddies even after we were separated by thousands of miles.

Wayne stayed in touch with everyone.. and he kept everyone else informed of the latest news.    How we looked forward to his newsletters.

In 1976, the year of the Bicentennial, Wayne had a reunion at his home in Essex, Massachusetts (near Boston).  A dozen or two of our "alumni" who had recently ETS'd, including many spouses, attended this spectacular party.   Wayne, organized as ever, had a piano, music, risers, a rehearsal room, etc. and when the time came, we marched on to the stage (as we had in Germany) and sang a full hours concert to friends, family and neighbors Wayne invited to the "event".   

[an aside, that weekend we were so having fun with each others company, the music, the fellowship.. that we were unaware of the Raid on Entebbe.. which occurred that weekend. When I saw the movie, years later, I had no idea it occurred.. and was a bit taken by the comment that it was the true story of the Israeli rescue of hijacked citizens over the weekend of July 4th 1976]

Anyway, time went on..  Wayne's newsletters continued.. and others, including Ken Noble, our XO and accompanist, and Mark Brunnemer, Super Tenor, held reunions at their homes.

Then as we all got busy in our lives, the newsletters slowed down..  and became annual Christmas Letters/Newsletters from Wayne.

One year I got an odd letter from Wayne, asking me to take over his newsletters should he ever pass away.   But the newsletters continued, and I forgot all about the request.

Then one day the newsletters seemed to stop.. and then in 1995 the phone call..  My roommate Rocky Johnson called me to tell me of Wayne's passing.. and he, I, Ken Hallberg (former 2nd Tenor Section Leader), John Callihan (former Baritone Section Leader) and Dave Hughes (former 1st Tenor Soloist and Chorus Activist) went to Boston for our last goodbyes to Wayne.

Wayne, organized to the end, had arranged his funeral.  He selected the music, the chorus, the organist.. all people he had taught or been taught by.. and had asked his family to contact his chorus friends.   His chorus picture was in prominence on the piano in his appt and his parents said that it was always there and that he spoke of his chorus friends throughout his life.  He was 47 when he died.

Wayne's parents, both descendants of the Mayflower Pilgrims churched at one of the two original Pilgrim churches in Boston.  It was there, where Wayne had been the organist, that he had his service.  And we said our goodbyes, singing the songs he had requested.. remembering his life of love.. and music.

It was at that most unfortunate event that we 5 pledged not to let years go by and fall out of touch as we had.. ever again.   We began looking through phone books, rosters, writing letters trying to find our old friends.   You see, had we known where folks had gone to.. we would have had an easier time tracking people down for the funeral.

Our "new roster grew" from the 6 or so we knew.. to 10, 12. and more.  We kept trying.  

The next year we had located several others.. and our dear (newly refound) friend, Jim Terhune (and his lovely wife Jodi) rushed to our aid.. and offered their home as a reunion site for our group.   That summer (1996) a dozen or so of us (including the 5 who had attended Wayne's funeral, the Terhunes, Ken and Janice Noble (and family), Dan and Kathleen Odum (and a friend), Denny and Maureen Kish (and family) , Dave Wilson (and family) attended a spectacular party at Jim Terhunes in North Western NY State (near Rochester).   We sang and drank and drank and sang for 3 days.. Then we gave a series of concerts for Jim's church crowd.. and carried our music to the streets, singing on a street corner during a local festival.   It was great and felt great (and according to the tapes, sounded great) 20 full years after we left the chorus.  Wow!

During that weekend we had all sorts of folks call and wish they were with us.  One, Mark Brunnemer, announced he would have the next years reunion in Indianapolis.. and it was so.

Then Nick Gold, who was unable to attend OUR reunions due to health issues, hosted one in Salt Lake City with his lovely bride Sabine, who many of us knew when we were in Germany.   Nick and Sabine were our "foster parents" in the service as they took the unmarried chorus people into their home and shared with them their family, food and love of people..  

Dan Murray hosted in Greensville, SC in 1999.

Steve and Kerry Millman (me and my wife) hosted in Minneapolis in 2000. 

A little needs to be said about this reunion as it marked a new chapter in our reunions.   Prior to this period our roster only contained information about men who served in the chorus in the early to mid 70s.  But in 2000, we affiliated with the current day chorus in Germany and they sent us information on people from other time periods, and we expanded the roster beyond the scope of our own acquaintances.  That year we also combined rosters with Larry Potts group, who maintained listings for chorus members prior to the period we maintained.   Suddenly, our roster of 20 or 30 grew to hundreds.    And then it snowballed as the internet gave us access to dozens of chorus members around the globe.

At our reunion that summer (originally planned to be hosted by Steve Grimm, the Branson entertainer..) we invited (for the first time) using email.. and also called those who lived locally, to join us.   As a result, our reunion brought the first Chorus females to our reunion.. a group of women spanning decades of chorus history.  Heidi Kelly, Isora Henkel, Kathy Carlson (original Chorus women from the mid 70s) and Hope Kurtz (Soprano section leader from the mid 80s) were our first female attendees.  In addition Roger Ezell and Dave Wentworth (from the late 60s) were in attendance.  

During this reunion John Schmitt, former Enlisted Director during our period, was located, drafted and put to work.  Since that date John has adeptly conducted our group).  

Denny and Maureen Kish hosted in Parma, Ohio in 2001.

This reunion was the largest turnout ever!  Once the word was out that the chorus was "in business" folks started contracting their friends and our roster grew to almost 500 names.

At the Kish's reunion we had nearly 40 members present, men and women, from all periods.  Notably the first Commander of the Chorus, Dave Klick, joined us, with others from their time period.

Diane and Steve Smith hosted in Green Bay, WI in 2002.

John and Gerri Schmitt hosted in Evansville, Indiana in 2003.

Ken and Janice Noble hosted in Phoenix, Arizona in 2004.

Steve and Kerry Millman hosted in Minneapolis in 2005.

2006 plans..  Atlanta, GA. hosted by several people from the mid 80s era.

This can be a rare time for you to join others who shared your experiences, rekindle old friendships and/or make new ones.