2023

On Saturday January 14, the day of the 38th annual Haswell M. Franklin Gilman Duals, many members of the Class of 1987 gathered in Gilman’s new beautiful fitness center, which is attached to the back of Gilman’s main gym (i.e. the location of the former ‘orange’ and ‘green’ gym rooms of our Gilman days). We gathered for a plaque dedication ceremony for three of our classmates who have passed away in the past six years: Jack Buchanan, Carlos Evans, and Pierre Silva. We also fondly remembered our classmate Trippy Burgunder who passed away a few days before our 35th reunion last spring. The plaque idea and process of honoring Jack, Carlos, and Pierre started well before Trippy passed away.

With heavy hearts and fond memories of these four well-liked classmates, the following Class of ’87 members enjoyed spending time together at Gilman that Saturday: Todd Crandell, Hugh Marbury, Clark Wight, David Clapp, Josh Freeman, Peter Kwiterovich, Louis Angelos, Ty House, Jack Cavanaugh, Andy Cameron, Brooks Matthews, Rich Weinstein, and me, Matt Wyskiel. We would have been joined by classmate Henry Franklin, but he was busy that afternoon as an assistant coach of Gilman’s varsity wrestling team, which had a very successful season as they finished as one of the top ranked local teams. The above members of our class also enjoyed being joined that day by friends in the class of ’88: Eric Bryant and Randy Brown. Many members of the Buchanan family were in attendance, including Bill Buchanan ’85 and older sister Julie, who has a son, Jay, who is currently a ninth grader at Gilman. It was a special day and event for all who attended. If you’re on campus and have time to visit the gym, go to the fitness center, and look for our class’s plaque on the wall.