David B. Weisman ’57 – January 28, 2012

Good morning, T2:

I have enjoyed the new edition of the Theta Data and congratulate you again on putting out a fine edition. I especially enjoyed the long letter from classmate Tom Stover. We had made contact very shortly before the Theta Data arrived and I learned where Euless, TX really is. We have sent Christmas cards there and received cards from there for many years but never really knew where it was.

We have our reservations for the trip to Dallas for the 9/1/2012 football game against Alabama at Dallas and will spend a day with Tom and Sue b/c as he says, Euless is between Fort Worth (where we will be staying) and Dallas (where the game will be played). We plan to go to the JFK Museum and Dealey Plaza with them. You may be aware that another classmate, Paul Landis, was a secret service agent riding on the running board of the car behind Kennedy at Dallas. Edie and I had a super time at New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. We will be taking our annual trip in late March to visit family on the east coast (missed the trip last year b/c of my surgery and slow recovery), and hope to spend an evening with Beta Earl “Tractor” Winters and his wife, Kay (Earl was in our wedding and he and Kay were at our 50th wedding anniversary party) and maybe we’ll get to see Dan Rich after we leave Rehoboth Beach, DE.

The Theta Data reminded me that he is near there and we are there for a couple of days each year. I must point out an error in your OWU History in the new Theta Data. You indicated that OWU beat Michigan “in the first game in the new stadium.” I thought that conflicted with what I always had heard that OWU had played in that first game. I tried to find OWU records about that game. The Michigan archives show that the first game in the Big House was 10/1/1927 and Michigan beat OWU 33-0. The 17-7 game that you mention was on 10/6/1928 (a year later). They played two other games. The first was a 0-0 tie on 10/9/1897 and the next was a 65-0 Michigan win on 9/30/1905. My research did lead me to one thing I had not known before: Fielding Yost, for whom our Yost Ice Arena is named, coached for a year at OWU before coaching many years, and later being athletic director at U of M. He thus has ties to my two schools (OWU and U of M). I know of two other people with identical ties, Branch Rickey and Dudley Ferguson, both of whom have the same educational background as I do (graduated from OWU and from Michigan Law School). Dudley was a classmate of yours and a friend of ours, and married Nan Haviland, who was a roommate of Edie’s. He just died recently. This note probably is a hell of a lot more information than you really want to know or need but the comment about “the first game” set off a “torrent of unnecessary but interesting research” and I thought you should be the beneficiary of it. I hope you and Jan are both well, and it sounds from the Theta Data that you are. I admire your extensive travels and enjoyed your report. I will give you a call and will try to see you, depending on the amount of time that I have available, when I am in Columbus for the Ohio State game on 11/24/2012.

–kai– Bader

---

Sept. 11, 2012

Good morning. Edie and I had a very interesting and enjoyable visit and day with Tom and Sue Stover at Dallas, TX on 8/31/12 while we were in Texas for the Michigan-Alabama game. The entire trip was great except for the game. Tom and Sue were super hosts and took us to the Texas Book Depository museum and then we went to lunch at a great Italian restaurant where they apparently are regular customers. We had a great time catching up on all of the things that have happened to us since we last saw each other in June of 1957. I attached a couple of pictures taken during our day which you might want to consider for the Theta Data.

–kai– Bader

Editor’s Note—-Yes Bader, you are right about the OWU v UM football wars!! By the way, did any English teacher talk to you about paragraphs breaking up thoughts and ideas????