UNB Engineering News

Back row: Steve Whitenect, Rob Clark, Don MacCallum, Doug Johnson, John MacGougan, Ron Freeman, Alan Brown, Brian Burrell, Brian McKinney, Dave Beattie

Middle row: Darrel McLean, Ashley Cummings, George Haines, Ron Steeves, Ivan Shaw, Wayne Mulock, Steve Black, Williard D’Eon, George Duguay

Seated: Phil Ngui, Paul Morrison, Bev Gallagher

Missing: Glen Wilson

The Class of ’74 Civil Engineers have reunited every five years since they graduated from UNB. They’ve traveled from Ottawa and all over the Maritimes, and in past years, some have even come from as far as Chicago and Texas to join together again on campus.  This year, they met on a July weekend in Fredericton for three days of activities.

Classmates recalled that they essentially had a “homeroom” for the final three years of the 5-year program when they attended UNB. They’d gather there for one or two classes plus lunch and rec times, when they had table hockey and crib tournaments.

Together they formed an intramural hockey team (two years of which was coached by structural professor Dale Eyre). The class worked hard to sustain the traditions of those before them including the Engineering Smoker and Engineering Week. They ran social events for the EUS for three years and arranged the first joint engineering-nursing pubs, packing the SUB three or four times a year and bringing in high-profile bands. “Needless to say, we also produced the campus champion beer chugging team!” 

Many other stories like this give the class lots of great material to reminisce over every five years. A number of classmates who couldn’t make it this year have indicated they’ll make a strong effort to attend “the big 50” in five years’ time.

During their weekend of events, the class planted a tree to commemorate classmates lost since the last reunion five years ago. Families of lost classmates are invited to participate. “It’s a special anchor event,” said the organizing committee, and was the 5^th such ceremony since graduation.

This year they also had three of their former profs join them for the kick-off reception, and they had the pleasure of meeting their first Civil Class of ’74 Scholarship recipient – 4^th-year civil student Trevor Tabor.