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CMU has outstanding
alumni outreach

Editor:
I just wanted to say how much I enjoy Centralight and the news about the university. I have completed degrees at three colleges and Central has the best outreach to alumni. I especially enjoyed the article on service learning in the Summer 2007 issue.

Lois McGinley ’71
Clinton Township

A 50-plus year romance started at Central

Editor’s note:
The following letter was sent in by Elaine Ann (Smith) Beach, ’56, in response to the Spring 2007 article about couples meeting at CMU.

Editor:
We were in the same Speech 101 class in the spring of 1953. There wasn’t any casual conversation between us. We just did the work and delivered our speeches.

The following fall, when I was living on the second floor of Sloan Hall, my phone rang. It was Bill Beach, ’55, calling for a date.

In my romantic mind, I assumed that Bill thought about me all summer and couldn’t wait to get back to campus that fall to call me. Alas … not so.

Bill and his roommate leafed through the yearbook looking for girls they recognized. I was the third girl he called. To quote Bill now, “Wasn’t I glad the other two weren’t home?”

We dated and he gave me his Alpha Beta fraternity pin. In 1955, he gave up the opening day of pheasant hunting season to give me an engagement ring. We were married in June of 1956. We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary last year.

We have three children – Cindy, ’80; Curt, who attended CMU from 1978 to 1980; and Craig. Bill and I retired from Grand Haven Public Schools in 1988. Bill was a high school principal for 23 years and I was an elementary school teacher and media specialist.

Elaine Beach, ’56
Gaylord

Write to Centralight

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Be sure to sign your letter with your full name and also include graduation year and degree, address, and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

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Centralight Letters
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Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
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