Following Weyer! Weyer! Weyer!, Dennis Reeder recorded Ara! Ara! Ara! Here is the audio record of the 1968 Class Dinner in the North Dining Hall, May 31, 2013. Click on the line below:
Also, if you have the means and the heart, make a donation to the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation. You can send your contribution in care of Skip Strzelecki, St. Andrews Products, 500 Mariner Drive, Michigan City, IN 46360.
Class Dinner May 31, 2013
When I saw Ara, whom I had never met before, standing there, available, before our class dinner began, I decided to share with him a memory I have of him and Alan Page appearing for their very first game in the Notre Dame stadium. Very early in the game, Page, I recounted to Ara, forced a fumble, picked up the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. And, I recalled, Ara did something I have never seen a coach do before or since. He ran all the way down the sideline, urging Page toward the end zone. Ara listened patiently — then corrected my memory. “It was a blocked kick”, he said. Oops! I have since Googled and got all the facts straight. Sports Illustrated reported that Kevin Hardy “slammed into the ball” and Page “scooped it up and ran for a touchdown”, a 57 yard runback. “As Page ran”, the report continues, “Paraseghian ran along the sideline with him, shouting and gesturing.” I suspect that 92 year old Ara, ever the gentleman, refrained from also correcting me about Hardy’s role so as not to demonstrate further whose senior memory is more intact.
That will probably be the only picture you ever see of Ara in a hat. I gave him a 68 hat as an honorary class mate.. He donned it it graciously…made a few more remarks..took it off. He knew how great his hair looked. Tom Weyer. The Prez