The Southern California Chapter of the BPA/BCA held a reunion luncheon on October 12, 2022 which was attended by 13 current/former BPA/BCA members, along with 4 spouses, including: Carol Appleton, Francisco “Chico” Chanes, Martin “Miki” (Kathy) Elbogan, RBP, Andy (Maria) Gero, RBP, FBPA, David Freeman, Alan Goldstein, FBPA, Carol Gray, RBP, FBPA, Chuck Griner, Maria Karras, RBP, Tom (Marie) Merrill, FBPA, Frank Park, RBP, Bill Porter, Bob (Betsy) Turner, RBP, FBPA.

Seated left to right: Maria Gero, Andy Gero, Maria Karras, Tom Merrill. Standing left to right: Carol Appleton, Carol Gray, Alan Goldstein, Francisco Chanes, Kathy Elbogan, Martin Elbogan, Bill Porter, Frank Park, Chuck Griner, Bob Turner. Not shown: Dave Freeman, Marie Merrill, Betsy Turner. Photo by Zoe Karras.

The organizers for the event were Bob Turner and Maria Karras who reserved a private room at Towey’s Restaurant in South Pasadena, California. A side table was set-up to display numerous BPA/BCA mementos, cameras, and photographs.

Bob and Maria welcomed everyone and shared e-mail greetings from a number of Chapter Members whom were unable to attend, including: Peter Grattan, Dale Kennedy, Kevin Makowski, Gene McDermott, and Dave Zagorski. Each attendee was invited to introduce themselves and identify where in the field of biomedical photography they had last worked. During the meal lively discussions occurred between everyone, some whom had not seen each other for as long as thirty years!

After the meal, everyone was able to view and comment on all the BPA/BCA mementos and photos that included items dating back to 1974. Also, an extended session took place wherein attendees were offered to address the group and share their personal career path and/or other memorable stories. Numerous remarks were heard regarding how interesting and varied were the personal anecdotal accounts. It was great fun to listen to all the personal recollections.

The meal included desert of a custom-made marble sheet cake decorated with the BCA logo! Each member received a metal ballpoint pen/flashlight with the BCA logo and signature as a memento from our luncheon.

The luncheon was a big success due to all the wonderful camaraderie!

Bob Turner welcomes everyone to the luncheon.

Left: Ando Gero starts-off the Member career sharing session by offering his historical memories starting around 1947. Many others told of their early ventures into the field of biocommunications or their other unique experiences capturing memorable images. Center: Carol Appleton, Maria Karras, and Carol Gray. Right: Tom and Marie Merrill, Betsy and Bob Turner; standing: Francisco Chanes, Kathy and Martin Elbogan. Photo credits: Martin Elbogan and Alan Goldstein.

Top Left: David Freeman and Carol Appleton. Top Right: Carol Gray and Alan Goldstein. Bottom Left: Maria Karras and Bill Porter. Bottom Right: Martin and Kathy Elbogan. Photo credits: Martin Elbogan and Alan Goldstein.

Chuck Griner, Frank Park, Maria and Andy Gero

Photos from chapter meetings in the 70s where folks are engaged in learning about new equipment and the latest techniques. Photos submitted by Alan Goldstein.