CyberZahm

As reported by Sobo in the Golden Domer newsletter.

Prelude ... - Andy was the architect of this event. He's provided the below essay, capturing the thought process and planning, leading up to the Surprise! moment:

It started out with a longing I guess.

ND Class of 2074 was having their 50th reunion gathering in South Bend in June.

The Cyberzahm email chatter started to buzz with plans for who was going and who could or would not. I was in the would not crowd. It’s not that it was any kind of protest against the SOBs who decided to un-residence Zahm Hall for the most absurd reasoning, but my ND experience memories are more from the limited cadre of associates and good friends of life and times in that Hall rather than a campus wide experience. But I love the ND campus! Just didn’t feel motivated into that environment enough to commit the time and effort to a grand class reunion.

Still, there was the longing to connect. A connection longing that would be like what the James Earl Jones’ character evokes when he talks about America’s past and how baseball was the thread that held it all together in the “they’ll come, Ray” soliloquy in Field of Dreams.

It was the friendships of our youths bonding through time into our lives as we’ve lived them.

And somewhere the inspiration for an idea came. Why not have a more focused gathering with that circle of friends who had grown out of that experience? It wasn’t a hard leap from there to settle on an east coast/NYC area location, especially since that location had the possibility of having Al being able to join in the gathering with some relatively easy logistical preparations for his mobility and care.

Then came the real brilliance: Let’s make this a surprise enjoyment for Al to be able to see his ND friends – an experience that would come from out of more further regions than Citi Bank’s left field at him. And who doesn’t like to surprise Baberberbert!

And so the surreptitious talks began, hidden from his awareness.

All invited were on-board with the idea but then the business of our other worlds crowded in to our plans. Early August became the default date for availability of the majority but that meant no Mets’ game as originally hoped. Still they came. John Agosta from Oregon, Sobo from Texas, Hans from Illinois, Prep from Minnesota, Dave Devita from Ohio, Andy and Mags from upstate NY, Fox from Philly and Ikey on his freshly planted new knee from Virginia. Unfortunate obstacles kept Gabes (Wisconsin), Terry (Kansas), Jack (Indiana), and Bill Phillips (Missouri) from being able to make this one. When word of what we were doing got out, we were soon joined by Shawn Kelly and Gidge from the greater NYC area.

Lodging was a challenge but we soon found a Carnasie, Brooklyn AirBnb that would accommodate this collective assortment of sojourners and provide a base camp for the camraderie and SCAT action that would soon ensue. Shopping for food staples in the nearby bodegas was a cultural treat but we soon became part of the neighborhood with Prep especially hitting it off with his new friend, Julio, the proprietor of one of those fine establishments. Sobo’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Cab Ride through 5 boroughs of NYC to find the house was an added treat.

Andy, John, Fox, Prep, and Ikey hooked up on Friday and enjoyed some neighborhood pizza and beer, renewing days of past glory, with Hans, Sobo, Mags, Gidge, and Shawn joining the next day at a 100 year old family owned and operated Italian Restaurant in Coney Island, Gargiulos. Brother Guy was his usual exemplary chauffer and guide throughout all.

Dinner was Saturday night. Al’s family was there, as were our newly found CZ poker room buddies, long-time Al friends Charlie and Billy O. And what’s a party without Steve Smith?

Amazingly, Andy and Fox managed not to blow the surprise element of it all as Al thought he was going to be out to dinner with some family and Andy, Fox, and Mags who were in town. The pre-dinner/lunch hosted by Al and Florence brought some tricky conversational trip-ups, but Al didn’t especially notice. The hook was set.

We went through several iterations of how best to spring the trap on Al, but finally settled on having the plotters of this caper sequester in a hidden area of the bar until Al got settled into the room and then have them parade into the room with a “hey, look at who just showed up” announcement for Al. Luckily, Fox caught it all in the video below and a great moment in history is now documented!

There are more stories to be told and we welcome any to share them. For now, enjoy this great moment. Until the next time…

Andy

Surprise! - I (Fox) managed to find a good position, just in time, in order to capture the big surprise. "What the hell! Are you kidding me?!"

Note: I rotated the phone after I started the video - so the orientation of the video is off - so I rotated the whole thing, controls included, on this web page using web command stuff - but now there is a bunch of extra white space - no worries, just click it and you should be able to see it correctly.

Charley's Poem - Apparently we now have our own Cyberzahm Poet Laureate. A very clever poem.

Photos - A scattering of photos ... thank you all who contributed. Everyone feel free to send me (Fox) suggested captions.

Albert's Notes - A few notes from Albert to all, sent the week after the reunion.