Update: IES Wien 50th Reunion plans
SAVE THE DATE: Friday, October 21 to Sunday, October 23, Vienna, Austria
Dear IES Abroad Vienna 1960-61 classmates,
Your response to our 50th Reunion planning has been heartwarming! We’re just eight months away from gathering in Vienna for a weekend to reconnect and remember our time abroad.
Here are the people who have said they will definitely attend or will attend if they possibly can:
Philip Arnold
Nancy Bruschke
Anne Brown Donnersberger
Penny Goodwin Kurtz
David Maraist
Kay Kramer McGinnis
John Piccin and his wife
Margaret Robling
Paula Schiedecker Lowe
Patrick Stalnaker
Wayne Thein
George Trask
Judy Tucker Earle and her husband
Gordon Watson
Kathy and Frank Ziegler
Please bring your spouse or significant other so he or she will finally understand why our time in Vienna was so special to us. We want as many of us as possible to get together and celebrate our 50th Reunion.
Please go ahead now and make travel reservations according to your own plans. You may choose to arrive earlier than October 21 and/or depart later than October 23, perhaps for an extended stay in Vienna or to visit other places in Europe. IMPORTANT: Make sure now your passport is current and the expiration date extends at least six months beyond your travel dates this coming October.
The following hotels are all inside the Ring, near one another and near the IES Center. They offer three different price points:
Hotel König von Ungarn (King of Hungary), Schulerstraße 10. This small, cozy, wonderful old-world hotel is one block down the side street from Stafansdom (the cathedral). Rates are 155€ single, 220€ double, website: http://www.kvu.at/en/home, phone: 011-43 1 515 840. I have stayed here a number of times in recent years and can attest to its comfort. In case your German is a bit rusty, they speak excellent English here.
Mercure Wien Zentrum, Fleischmarkt 1a. Rooms range between 115€ and 140€ per night at this mid-priced hotel located several blocks from Stefansdom, website: http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-0781-mercure-wien-zentrum/index.shtml, phone: 011-43 1 534 600.
Pension Neuer Markt, Seilergasse 9, on a quiet side street a few minutes’ walk from the IES Center. This bed-and-breakfast-style hostelry gets good reviews in TripAdvisor at around 90€ per night, website: http://www.hotelpension.at/neuermarkt/english/index.htm, phone: 011-43 1 512 231 6.
Another recommended hotel, located just outside the Ring right across the street from the Konzerthaus and Akademie Theatre, is Hotel Am Konzerthaus, Am Heumarkt 35-37, with 209 rooms. Rates range from 100€ to 150€ a night, website: http://hotel-am-konzerthaus.h-rez.com, toll-free phone: 1-866-332-3590, mention discount offer 220355.
Our plans for the reunion weekend currently look like this:
Friday, October 21:
Day: Meet at the IES Center at Palais Corbelli, located at Johannesgasse 7 just off Kartnerstraße, at 12:30 p.m. for a 1:00 p.m. performance by IES Abroad music students enrolled in the Vienna Music Program. The concert will last about two hours with one intermission and be followed by a reception and tour of the IES Abroad Vienna Center hosted by Vienna Center Director Morton Solvik.
Evening: Dinner together at a location to be determined.
Saturday, October 22:
Day: Walking tour of “Old Vienna” led by a guide. Depending on the level of interest there may be a morning and an afternoon tour.
Evening: Dinner together at a location to be determined.
Sunday, October 23:
Day: Coffee/breakfast together followed by 10:30 a.m. mass with choir and orchestra at the Jesuitkirchen, Dr.-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz, walkable from all the hotels. This magnificent Rococo church is located just in front of the great hall of the old University of Vienna, where Haydn’s oratorio The Creation and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony had their premiers. Not to be missed, the music at this free service rivals a performance by the Vienna Symphony orchestra and chorus.
Whether you plan to attend the reunion or not, please send your story and photos about your time in Vienna and what you have done since then so they can be posted at: http://IESWien.com. This website serves as our reunion album – accessible to everyone in the class. And if you have not already signed up on the site, please do so and you’ll receive a reminder every time new information is posted there.
We have received lots of new contact information for our class and an updated class roster is enclosed. If you have new information on classmates, address, telephone and/or email, please share it so that we can include everyone and send them this letter.
Please, if you are not yet on the ‘thinking about or planning to attend’ list and you are thinking about it, let us know! We look forward to hearing from you.
I am planning to go to Vienna within the next several weeks to meet with the folks at the IES Wien Center so all will be set when we arrive in October. I and everyone planning to attend are looking forward to spending time together. Please let me know you are coming so your name can go on the list!
George Trask
1211 Bay St.
Beaufort, SC 29902
843-278-0140
ggtrask@yahoo.com
Click here to contact us.
Contact at IES Abroad Chicago:
Jennifer Hodge Jerzyk, Nantes ‘81
Alumni Relations Manager
33 N. LaSalle St., 15th fl
Chicago, IL 60602
312-261-5069
jjerzyk@iesabroad.org
IES Wien 
I entered the Western Province of the Community of St. Mary (Episcopal) as a postulant on April 7, 1962. The Convent was then on one side of the Chapel and the high school on the other side but both faced Lake Michigan. Later I was sent to the DeKoven Center in Racine, WI (retreat and conference center). In the summer we held a camp for children.
Now we live on the edge of the Vernon Marsh in Wisconsin and welcome guests who come for rest, recovery and renewal – or just time out!
George: Great to hear from you. It has been a long time but my memories are still sharp. Will try to make it to the Reunion. Getting old really sucks! But what are you going to do? I am still working.
Saw Brian Reilly at a few Villanova reunions. Bill Cercone still lives in Pittsburgh. Brian’s wife died and I know she was a spring semester student. I believe her name was Kathy Lucas.
I heard that my roommate Doug Pfaff died but I am trying without success to find out what happened. He was a great guy. I sure do miss the good old days and would relish one big drunk before they finally plant me.
Keep me posted please and if I can help just let me know.
Hi Friends,
I entered the Episcopal Community of St Mary on April 7, 1962. There are three Provinces: Eastern, Southern and Western. I’m in the Western Province. There are only four of us left, so Letitia, Mary Grace and I will be moving to St John’s Tower in Milwaukee overlooking Lake Michigan. Sister Mary Paula is already there. The good thing is that we are in walking distance to our cathedral.