UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 27, Page 10
April 13, 1995
Wednesdays at noon; 'The Regulars' meet at the Blue and Gold Club

     We solve all of the world's problems every Wednesday that we
meet, but the rest of the world doesn't know it," Chuck Maass, a
retired UD professor, says with a laugh.
     The statement is followed by unanimous agreement from his five
tablemates, known as "The Regulars."
     Since the 1970's, this informal group of retired College of
Business and Economics faculty has been meeting most Wednesdays for
lunch at the Blue and Gold Club. "The Regulars" meet at the same time,
high noon, at the same corner table of the club.
     "Friendship," all say in unison, is the reason they continue to
meet long after ending their professional associations.
     "I thought it was the food," jokes Blaine Schmidt, who was the
first chairperson of the Department of Business Administration and the
college's M.B.A. program director.
     Schmidt still teaches, but he has switched gears and now offers
oil painting instruction at the University's Academy of Lifelong
Learning in Wilmington.
     Some of "the Regulars" use their talents to better their
communities.
     Tom Charles, the world traveler who has visited every continent,
volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, building houses for the needy.
"From a bean counter to a nail counter," one of his tablemates
observes.
     Maass, who has devoted 51 years to the Boy Scouts of America, is
chairperson of an upcoming meeting at the Dover Air Force Base.
     Richard Merner is involved in church activities, such as renewal
weekends, when he isn't tending his 42 acres in nearby Pennsylvania.
     Albert Dunn is the artistic member of the group, creating
cartoons, sketches and papier-mache figurines.
     Dunn is another traveler who enjoys spending time in London and,
more recently, Yugoslavia.
     Maass and Dunn say they must have two of the largest postcard
collections around, as they send cards to each other whenever they
travel.
     These men share more than their careers at UD. All served in the
armed forces, and they remember the Depression years. All also worked
in corporations before their teaching careers.
     In March, Willard Crichton, a former faculty member in business
and economics and a 10-year member of "the Regulars," died. For the
next several meetings, the group left an empty chair at the table in
his honor.
     "We were all close when we worked at the University," says Maass,
"and we became closer over the last 10 years as we met for lunch. He
was a very good friend, whom we will miss as we continue to meet every
Wednesday.
     "I remember his saying when he was in the hospital in February,
that the only people who called him were the members of this group.
And he said, 'That's what friendship is all about.' That's how he felt
about the group, and the rest of us feel the same way."
     "The Regulars" enjoy a special friendship that has been
cultivated over the years. They enjoy the give and take that only
years together allows.
     "We're all just characters," Charles said.
     With numerous, intriguing conversations ahead, just mark that
corner table in the Blue and Gold "reserved."
                                                        -Cynthia Davis