Wrap up 1999    It was back to Mettak Lodge at First Conneticut lake in 1999 for our fourth retreat. It was the usual group of seven (Tim, Bob, Ed, Dennis, Matt, Steve, and Kevin) who welcomed Dave Darche to his first Bayley Guys Retreat. In a first for the New Hampshire venue, Den, Matt and Steve drove up rather than flying.    This year basketball was on the sports agenda. The principal of Pittsburg School was kind enough to allow us the use of their gym. The Assumption All Stars (Dennis, Dave, Ed and Kevin) squared off against the Morris County All Stars (Steve, Bob, Matt and Tim). Assumption was victorious in a best of three competition, which took almost one and a half hours to play. The boys worked hard to work off the bad taste of last year’s shopping excursion in downtown Lake Placid. A a video of the weekend was made by Kevin and distributed to all, including those who couldn’t make it..    In a pre-game warmup, Dennis broke some kind of record by making 27 consecutive foul shots. Or was it 28? The record produced a skeptical reaction from at least one absent viewer, Bill Wolfe, who questioned whether some kind of trick photography might have been involved. Bill grounded his skepticism in the fact that he had played basketball with Den for many years in their youth. To these accusations Den wisely replied: “Hey, there are a lot of things that I do better today than I did thirty years ago.” There’s some wisdom there.    In April 2000 the emails were flying in preparation for our next retreat. Tony, Mr. Budweiser, has graciously invited us to St-Louis in September to celebrate our 5th reunion.    More good news, Mike Milde will soon be mobilising his Morris County team in preparation for our 30th Class Reunion. Mike is tentatively proposing Thanksgiving weekend 2000.        Finally, a word on this year’s retreat. I think a subtle shift in the group dynamic took place this year. In the past conversation was oriented towards remembering stories and people from  our Bayley and college years. Sort of bringing the past into the present (or the present into the past). This being our fourth reunion, I  had the feeling that we have begun to grow our relationships in present time. Even though we only meet for one weekend a year, these gatherings have begun to create their own memories, renewed friendships to celebrate and remember.