Well the summer heat hasn't hit Central Florida yet; the weather is still enjoyable. I haven't received any, repeat, any letters from you, my beloved Retag(SIC) brethren. So here I am scrambling at the last minute to find newsworthy events to place in my column. I started with the change-of-address cards that I received from the AOG.

I called Bill HAUGEN at his new home in Newton Square, PA. Bill was working on his income taxes and gave me an idea of the degree of difficulty he was encountering. He retired last year, has three state income taxes to compute, has moving reimbursements which he received from his new employer which are taxable; new house, etc, etc; good luck. He lives southwest of Philadelphia and has a job with Boeing Helicopter. He is in new product development for the civilian version of the V-22, Osprey. The V-22 is a tilt-rotor airplane that doesn't need airports. Boeing is teamed with Bell on this new technology. The plane can go from Wall Street to Capitol Hill in less than an hour. Bill is excited about it and asked that you all write your congressmen to plug it. Since retirement 10 months ago, Suzie has been busy setting up house.

The Haugens are proud grandparents-daughter Linda is married to Capt.??? Vickery who is in contracting at Wright-Pat. Grandchild is named Amanda. Second daughter, Cindy, after two years of modeling in New York and Paris, is a sophomore at American Univ., majoring in broadcast journalism. And son Michael is a freshman at Cornell, majoring in chemical engineering

I next called Chet GRIFFIN to see how his transition to civilian life is going it seems that the Haugens and Griffins had gotten together the past weekend for Suzie's birthday. Bill and Chet were roommates in third class year and have been good friends since. Chet had retired in Sept. and gone to work for Systems Engineering and Management, Associates, a small but rapidly growing firm. They are based in Washington, DC. The business has grown from 25 to 160 people. Chet loves it because of its size. He manages a Navy Foreign Military Sales Contract, but spends a lot of time writing proposals in the quest for new contracts. His oldest daughter, Layna, is an accountant with Peat Marwick in Washington. His other daughter, Holly, works as a designer in a design studio in Houston. And son Brett is on a baseball scholarship at North Carolina State. Their record is excellent; they should be a contender for the World Series of College Baseball.

I next called Don HALLAGER. Don retired last year and got a position with United Airlines as a flight engineer on 727s. He's been with them since July and hopes to upgrade to right seat by the Fall. He gets about 12 days off a month during which he plays golf and does some free-lancing. Wife Ginny works in a fabric store and is involved in several Bible study groups. Daughter Kathy (24) is an assistant manager at the Star Gate Restaurant at Disneyworld near Orlando. His son Mike (22) just graduated from James Madison Univ. with a degree in business and is selling timeshares at Massanuttin Mountain Resort in Vermont. (I hope I got it all correct.) Don occasionally sees Fred GERKEN at Tyson's Corner, where he works for a defense contractor. Don also gets in a round of golf with Chris BROWN. I didn't hear any words about anybody's handicap.

I then called my old compadre, Don EGAN, to see how things were going. Don is still plugging away with his investment company, waiting for some good developments in the depressed real estate market in that part of the country. Wife Mary Kay works a couple of hours a week monitoring physicians with a drinking problem. Todd, my Godson, is a junior at Trinity in San Antonio, majoring in computer science. His goal after graduation is a job with NASA. Daughter Erin is attending Denver Univ., has a 4.0 average and is leaning toward med. school. And Becky is a sophomore in high school. It was good reminiscing with Don and discussing my diets.

Next I tried to talk to Fred FIEDLER but he was out on a dinner engagement. I called Peter ROBINSON but got no answer. I next tried to call Len WRIGHT and Joe ZALESKI but got no listing. Later I discovered that I had an out-of-date Grad's Register. So I'll try them again next time. I did manage to contact Clifton WOODWORTH in nearby Orlando. He was having a little family gathering in preparation for his son's wedding on March 31st in FL Lauderdale. Woody is flying for Pan Am out of Berlin. He's been doing it for four years now. He manages to get home for 8-10 days a month. His wife, Dodie, is a manufacturer's rep for an electrical firm. Woody says she's a computer expert and office manager. Son Kevin (22) is the one getting married in a few days. His bride-to-be is Eileen Cunnane. Kevin is a mechanic for Delta Airlines. Matthew, 19, is a student at Seminole Community College and a coop employee of Firestone in Winter Springs. Woody and I talked about setting up a party for the Redtags in central Florida some day soon. Hope we have the magush to do it,

After failing to reach Dave WESTHORP in Nashville, I tried Rich JOHNSON in Hollywood, FL. Success! For the past six years he has been the airfield operations manager at Broward County-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. He was divorced five years ago but he and his former wife are dating again. They have twin daughters, 23, both graduates of Florida Atlantic Univ. Diana did well in psychology and is now a police services aid for the Plantation Police Dept. Roxanne majored in accounting and has an accountant's job in Sunrise, FL. However, she is trying to get into OTS and get a commission in the Air Force. Rich doesn't get to travel much and hasn't seen a Redtag since the 25th reunion. (Everyone send pictures... Couldn't resist that, Rich.)