Old Boy Gathering in San Francisco

On February 6, the San Francisco winter rain let up just in time for Old Boys and friends to clamor up the hills of Pacific Heights for a gathering at the home of Ramsey Walker ’78 and his family.  Greeted in the foyer with champagne by Elise Rose, director of Old Boys, we walked the set of stairs to the main floor and down a long hallway, on one wall of which hung a magnificent thirty foot vertical cross-section of a California redwood.  Once in the living room we were greeted by an impressive crowd of Old Boys:  James Beldock ’89, Olivier Belzile ’94, Robert Devens ’86, Larry Gelb ’65, Nick Hsu ’98, Neil Menzies ’89, Alex Paine ’83, Scott Tracy ’84, Peter Weltchek ’80, their lovely girlfriends and wives, and of course our host Ramsey Walker.

True to San Francisco—where “local” is the famously mandatory prefix when it comes to food—the spread of cheeses and wines came from farms and vineyards not much more than an hour’s drive from the party itself.  Cinnamon, the Walker family’s irresistibly adorable King Charles spaniel, provided the entertainment, luring each guest one after the other out of conversation and down to ground-level to admire her and play for a minute.

With a nod to nearby Silicon Valley, the country’s cradle of technological innovation, we bridged the gap between West and East coasts using two iPads to bring the video-image of headmaster Mr. Johnson into the room.  Mr. Johnson took roll call of the Old Boys in the room, heralding us back to our experience as boys at the school, as each Old Boy reported back “Here, Sir!”  Having been officially checked in, we were left to enjoy another great evening with St. Bernard’s.