Reminiscing in the Sunshine State

Written by Doug Goodnough

The Alumni National Tour event in Ft. Myers, Florida, turned into a mini-reunion for the Class of 1967. Four class members attended the gathering on January 15, and each had an interesting story to tell.

First, a somber note. Carol Smith Barbour, ’67, and her husband, William, said Hurricane Ian destroyed their winter home in Ft. Myers Beach. They were able to salvage a few items, and fortunately, they were at their home in Michigan when the storm hit the Florida coast. They are still cleaning up the mess.
However, somber quickly turned into smiles when Carol connected with classmate and former Chi Omega sister Penny Glick Turner, ’67. They said a strong group of Hillsdale Chi-O alumnae in the Ft. Myers/Naples area get together quite often to reminisce. Carol recalled her journey to Hillsdale. A native of nearby Quincy, Michigan, she originally followed her older sister to Michigan State University and joined the Chi Omega sorority at MSU. When she transferred to Hillsdale, she was thrilled there was a Chi-O chapter on campus and quickly connected with her new Hillsdale sisters. After graduating and meeting her eventual husband, she said she lived on Budlong Street in Hillsdale for about 10 years before moving to the Detroit area.
Penny met her husband, Brian, ’67, while at Hillsdale, and they have been together ever since. As I was walking up to the couple, they exclaimed in unison, “Hillsdale was the best four years of our lives!” Penny served as the “moral chairman” for her sorority, although she couldn’t exactly define what that meant. Brian, a Connecticut native, was one of eight children and heard about Hillsdale through a mail catalog. It was ultimately down to Hillsdale and Bucknell for his college choice, but an offer to run cross country from then-coach Dr. Leo Phillips helped bring him to Michigan. Never visiting campus before enrolling, Brian said he took a bus from Connecticut to Michigan, and was dropped off behind a pharmacy in Jonesville, Michigan, then making his way to campus.
For those who viewed the Aliens in the Arb student documentary last year, Brian said he was an “unofficial” witness to the famous 1966 UFO sighting near the Arb. In fact, he was in the backyard of his Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house the night of the sighting. He said he saw lights emanating from The Arb, and said they had a strange glow. The next day, he and a few of his ATO brothers visited the reported “landing site” and said the ground was singed in a nearly perfect circle about 10 feet in diameter. He said there was definitely “something there.” And he should know: Brian was a former U.S. Navy employee who worked at the Pentagon for three years and had security clearance. Fact or Fiction? You decide.
Finally, as the event was closing, the final attendee from the 1967 class, Tom Williams, told his story. The son of legendary former Hillsdale athlete, coach, and Hall-of-Famer Johnny Williams, ’44, Tom shared some stories of his father, who had a long and successful minor league baseball career, including three years in the Pacific Coast League, which was considered to be the “Major Leagues” of the West Coast. His father then served a stint in the U.S. Air Force at the bomber training school in Montgomery, Alabama. After World War II, Tom said his father made his way back to Hillsdale, where he coached football, baseball, and basketball. “He ended up coaching three sports, going from one to the other,” Tom said of his father. “He was pretty good at most everything he did.” Tom was a member of the Hillsdale track and field team for three years as a long jumper. Post-graduation, he has had a successful career as a lawyer and has lived in Florida for more than 27 years.

Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

Published in January 2023