On May 1, nine members of the Yale College Class of 1972, mostly from Davenport (almost 1% of our original class!), met in Philadelphia for a mini-reunion and to witness the Philadelphia International Cricket Festival, in which Ron Knight served as an umpire. A festive dinner at Victor Café in South Philadelphia — punctuated by operatic arias — started the proceedings. The next day was ad libitum, as participants in the reunion visited Philadelphia markets, museums, and some semifinal cricket matches.  Another elegant dinner, arranged by Kevin Kampschroer, took place at Bistro 7 on Saturday night.

On Sunday, May 3, the group met for brunch at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Afterwards, we watched the final match of the Festival. Ron Knight  explained many of the arcane rules of cricket to a bunch of Yanks, so that everyone was able to understand at least some elements of the game. We were able to see batsmen making runs and being bowled, caught, run out and stumped, and spectators counting overs, seeing no-balls, tallying runs and quaffing alcohol.

After the game, Ron Knight (DC 72), received a well-deserved award as Umpire of the Year from the Festival. In attendance were Pedro Geraldino (DC 72), Kevin Kampschroer (DC 72) and Tacie Yoon (ES 82), Paul Kimmel (DC 72) and Prudence Kline, Bill Packard (JE 72) and Charles Ihlenfeld,  Alan Cohen (DC 72), Grant (DC 72) and Elisa Legg, Barry Ruback (DC 72), and his wife and daughter Jasmin and Miriam, Robert Sellers (DC 72) as well as other guests — Rob Hewell and Debra Bicker. Fil and Miggs Ferrigni (DC 72) had planned to come but were unable to attend – a joyous family occasion had occurred – and were sorely missed — as we were not able to constitute a foosball team! Pedro Geraldino served as our local host, and chief logistician.

We hope to continue this tradition, which started last year, expanding to other members of the Class of 72. For further information about next years’ Cricket mini-reunion, contact Ron Knight (rck@med.unc.edu) or Pedro Geraldino (pgeraldino@hotmail.com) by email.  Bring your blazers!

Paul Kimmel