Who are we? Responses to the survey created by John Vogel and Shirley Anderson Brantingham reveal that we’re an interesting bunch. As Shirley, who summarized the results, put it, “Sex, drugs and rock and roll are thought to have heavily influenced the music of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Based on this survey, the long-term music influences on the Carleton Class of ’72 would be better described as Love, Peace and Classic Rock and Folk.” “Bridge over Troubled Water” got 64% of the thumbs ups among the songs listed in the survey, with “Like a Rolling Stone” getting 53%. According to the 140 survey respondents, many of us are still listening to music but more than half do so via streaming services or recordings on computers and smart phones. Volunteers are putting together a class playlist, which will be distributed later this year.
Almost three-fourths of us are retired, working 10 hours per week or less for money; 15% of us have only retired within the last year. While we were working, we tended to stay in one place – only 6% reported that the longest they’d worked for one organization was less than 10 years. As we approached retirement, we worried most (53%) about finding something meaningful to do and then (37%) about having sufficient financial resources.
We’ve been active in our communities – though 18% said they’d never been a board member or active volunteer, 73% said they been involved in 1-4 such organizations, primarily 501(c)3 groups, but also religious or affiliated organizations (40%) and political groups (27%), with 33% reporting that they volunteered 5-10 hours a week in pre-pandemic times.
Some 72% have attended a previous reunion. As we look ahead to the one in 2022, what would we most like to see happen? As Shirley notes and this chart shows, “It’s clear that we value connecting with each other,” especially those whom we were close to during college. Start planning those June 16–19, 2022, get-togethers, folks!