From Corporate Boston To the Forest Trials of Idaho

Painters and gardeners swept through campus last week, beautifying fair Harvard for returning alumni.

For the University, the investment will yield a substantial return of cash donations. But for the alums themselves, the hydro-seeded grass and freshly painted walls are likely to be just the background for far more important experiences.

For all its academic prestige and extracurricular excitement, returning to Harvard for many in the class of'67 is a chance to see old friends.

Common interests and close living quarters seemed to characterize memorable relationships for most class members contacted last week.

But two classmates say their friendship has grown closer as they grew farther apart.

Twenty-five years ago, they seemed to be the classic college odd couple. William H. Vanderbilt '67 was the jock. John P. Bihldorff '67 was the mathematician. Vanderbilt was captain of several sports teams. Bihldorff was president of the Glee Club. "He couldn't sing a note," Bihldorff laughs about Vanderbilt.

But a closer look at their childhoods, their educations--even their Saturday night dates--shows that perhaps the two friends were not such complete opposites after all. The two met in the fifth grade, attended Milton Academy together and shared a suite in Wigglesworth Hall.

"I think we were very similar," says Bihldorff. "Socially, we had the same tastes in women, the same peer activities."

And both Bihldorff and Vanderbilt arrived at Harvard with a definite set of assumptions about where four years of college would lead them.

"I think I thought, and many people thought, that I would become a lawyer," says Vanderbilt.

But this was not to be.

Vanderbilt is now self-employed in Ketchum, Idaho, developing trail systems for the U.S. Forest Service. In his spare time, he says, "We do a lot of things, like running rivers or climbing mountains."

Bihldorff, too, found himself adjusting his plans at Harvard. He had meant to pursue an academic career in his strongest subject, math.

Well?

"It was a disaster," Bihldorff laughs. "I was not a directed student. All those assumptions were dashed on the rocks of reality," he says.

A year away from Harvard provided Bihldorff with experiences which led him to the health care field. Teaching mentally and emotionally handicapped adolescents at a Philadelphia school exposed him to the consequences of neglecting medical care.

"When I came back [to Harvard] it was very much with a purpose," Bihldorff says. He focused on a career in health administration, and is now the president and chief executive officer of the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass.

After graduation, it became more difficult for Vanderbilt and Bihldorff to keep in close touch.

Vanderbilt's move west created a geographical barrier. And the differences between their occupations and lifestyles proved challenging at times, says Bihldorff.

"There were periods when our lives really did grow apart in terms of geography and the nature of what we were doing," he says.

But the friendship was revived five or six years ago when the Bihldorffs made contact with Vanderbilt and his wife.

"They came out here and skied. The important thing is, they made the effort to get in touch," Vanderbilt says. Since then, the Bihldorffs have come to Idaho to join the Vanderbilts on "a wild river trip."

The Vanderbilts have "spent time in [the Bihldorff's] environment"--the city--as well, says Vanderbilt.

The reunion between families also revived another relationship: that between the Vanderbilts and their goddaughter Jennifer E. Bihldorff'95. "It's a sense of wanting to make sure we don't lose touch," says Bihldorff.

And, as opposed to college buddies who meet to recall the old days, these men say their relationship is based on a more lasting foundation.

"Plain affection," Bihldorff says.

"It's one of the very few friendships formed during those years that has transcended into a genuine friendship based more on who we are now than on memories of the past," says Vanderbilt.

And while their occupational paths have diverged, Bihldorff says that difference actually enriches their friendship.

"When you're young it's often important to be doing the same things as your friends. As you get older, it's almost as much interest and fondness in diversity."

Both men seem to see their relationship as a model for all old friends to follow.

"These kinds of friendships you can resume by picking up the