Twenty-Fifth Reunion of the Class of 1906

The twenty-fifth reunion of the Class of 1906 has come and gone, adding many more pleasant memories to the full treasury of recollection of happy days in Hanover that is the cherished possession of all of us. In spite of the hard times that have touched most of us in this year of depression, our reunion was the most successful in every way that we have ever had. Never before have so many members of the class returned simultaneously to the scenes of our undergraduate days, and never before at any of our gatherings has there been exhibited so fine a spirit or unified good fellowship as was evident at this reunion. The program which we followed was a simple one, but there were no dull hours in it and everyone without exception had a good time from the day he arrived until the last goodbyes were said on Tuesday morning. Old cliques were forgotten, but old friendships were renewed and new ones were made; men, women, and children mingled freely like one happy family, recalling joyous days long past and looking forward to future pleasant meetings. Twenty-five years have quite evidently mellowed us and made us more tolerant; they have quite as evidently made us more interesting to and more interested in our fellow classmates.

Not everyone could be present for the entire period of the reunion, some leaving early and others arriving late, but the total number present at some part of the reunion or other was 152 members of the class or of their families and four guests. We did not win the attendance cup, but with fifty percent of our living graduates here, we were a respectable runner-up for it. The complete list of those registered is as follows: Robert and Florence Adriance, Norman Bankart, Ralph and Helen Beetle, Alan Beetle, Mary Helen Beetle, Bill Bell, Bob and Olive Blood, Elizabeth Blood, Noble Bowlby and Mrs. Bowlby, Margaret Bowlby, Jeanette Bowlby, Maynor Brock, Gott and Marguerite Brooks, T. Brown, Neil and Alice Buckbee, Donald Buckbee, Art Burnie, Ray Butterfield, Bob Carpenter and Bob Carpenter, Jr., Arthur Chapin, Con and Grace Chellis, Mary Louise Chellis, Francis and Leila Childs, Albert Cochran, Tom and Elizabeth Connell, Randall Cooke, Ray Cutting, Shorty Davis, Roy and Lura Denison, Count Dondero, Frank and Barbara Eastman, Halsey Edgerton, Mike and Edna Edgerton, Malcolm Edgerton, Jr., Janet Edgerton, Paul Felt, Lymie Frazier, Ned French, Ralph Glaze, Thurlow Gordon, Tubby Gray, Foster and Marie Guyer, Arthur Guyer, Dorothy Guyer, Catherine Guyer, Rosemary Guyer, Dan and Kitty Hatch, Dan Hatch, Jr., Brack Hazen, Ned and Florence Herr, Arthur Holmes, Percy and Louise Holmes, Merrill Holmes, Priscilla Holmes, Dorothy Holmes, Bung Jones, Eric and Katherine Kelly, Henry and Katherine Ladd, Nat and Martha Leverone, Arthur Libby, Zing McGrail, Charlie and Rose Main, Dave Main, Roy and Rachel Merchant, Arthur and Anne Meservey, Ellen Meservey, Edward Meservey, Robert Meservey, Monty Montgomery, Rosa Montgomery, Wilder Montgomery, Jr., 'William and Effie Moore, Ransom and Edith Morse, Mike and Helen O'Brien, Smith O'Brien, Bill Page, John Francis Page, Fred Parker, Harold and Margaret Patten, Cliff and Anne Perry, Cap and Esther Pierce, Walter and Ethel Powers, Langdon Powers, Walter Powers, Jr., Elon Pratt, Bert and Ruth Rainie, Donald Rainie, Robert Rainie, Ned and Laura Redman, Esther Redman, Harold Rugg, Lonny Russ, Louis Russell, Norman Russell, Fred and Carmen Scribner, Muriel Scribner, Fin Sleeper, Eph Smith, Joe and Hallie Smith, Bert and Alice Spencer, Ruth Spencer, Eleanor Spencer, Raymond Spencer, Harold Stanton, Joe Story, George Swasey, Bob Wallace, Carl Warton, Merton and Pauline Webster, Fred and Dora Welch, Dorothy Welch, Wilfred Welch, Warner White, Harvey and Helen Whittemore. In addition to these, Mr. M. E. Clegg, who came on from Chicago with the Leverones, Miss Virginia Bukeley, a friend of Jeanetteßowlby, Jake Smith '05, and Mrs. Clough, wife of Bill Clough '05, had dinner with us on Sunday noon.

The long distance record this year was made by the Welches, who drove in on Saturday forenoon fresh and smiling after making 5465 miles from Pullman, Wash., in exactly ten days and one hour. Dave Main from Denver and Maynor Brock from Kansas City were the only other attendants from west of the Mississippi.

Friday evening saw the arrival of nearlyhalf of the group, and most of the rest arrived on Saturday forenoon. Talk—endless talk about everything under the sun—handshaking, laughter, inside the rooms of Hitchcock Hall where we were domiciled and outside on the sidewalk and lawns, made the early hours of the reunion pass rapidly. Saturday had been left free of scheduled events in order that everyone might have a chance to wander about the college, look over the buildings, play golf or cards, or drive about the countryside, and no one seemed to lack entertainment. A few took in the class day exercises in the afternoon and the play in the evening, and nearly everyone listened to the band concert in the late evening. We wore no elaborate reunion costumes, but our neat armbands of green with "1906" in white and our green toy balloons served to identify us wherever we appeared.

Sunday was a perfect bright June day, and 141 of us went to Shanty Shane on Lake Fairlee for our class picnic. Since more of us were together there, with no outsiders to interrupt, that day marked the high point of the reunion. The children wandered in the woods, played ball, and swam in the lake, while their elders sat about on the spacious verandas of the main building of Shanty Shane and "visited" in a good old-fashioned way. The dinner was excellent, served in the large dining hall of the camp, and was enlivened by impromptu entertainment. Fat Pratt was prevailed upon to give us "The Face on the Barroom Floor" once more and all agreed that Fat's elocutionary ability improves with the years. Paul Felt renewed old memories with his usual skill at the piano, and Bert Rainie led us in choral singing.

We returned to Hanover in the late afternoon and that evening a large number attended the garden party given by President and Mrs. Hopkins at their lovely home. Later everyone went to the Nugget Theatre where for two hours we were amused by the vaudeville acts and talkies put on by the classes of 1911 and 1916. We here extend our formal thanks to both those classes for their kindness in including us as their guests.

Monday morning was scheduled for the class picture, but it proved impossible to get enough of the class together at one time to make a picture feasible. That was the only slip-up in our whole program, and the committee of arrangements offers its apology here and promises to see that the picture at our next reunion is taken on the picnic day. Some fifty of the class attended the ball game with Boston College and stayed until driven in by the rain during the last inning. Since fair weather had smiled on us until all of our outdoor events were over, no complaints were heard. At noon all of the men of the class attended the Alumni Luncheon in the Gymnasium, while the ladies of 1906 had a delightful luncheon of their own at the Green Lantern Inn. In the afternoon the ladies were the guests of the Hanover 1906 wives at a bridge party at Anne Meservey's, which according to all reports was a grand success. The prize-winners were Marguerite Brooks, Martha Leverone, Pauline Webster, and Hallie Smith.

Monday evening at nine came the class dinner at the Hanover Inn. Several members of the class had been obliged to leave early, but fifty-nine men sat down to the excellent dinner which the Inn provided. A brief class meeting was held at this time, at which the officers gave their reports. Our treasury shows a healthy condition, with all bills paid and a good balance left over. The present board of officers was unanimously reelected: President, Nathaniel Leverone; Vice-President, Charles R. Main; Secretary, Francis L. Childs; Treasurer, Norman Russell; Member of the Executive Committee at Large, Charles T. Gray. Nat Leverone acted as toastmaster and called for short remarks from some of the class who have never been at a reunion before, including Welch, Pierce, Stanton, Brock, Merchant, and Montgomery. Nat also read an interesting letter from Bucky Kraft who was prevented at the last minute from coming to Hanover, and a telegram from Bug Gardiner in Seattle. He then introduced Professor Charles R. Lingley, acting dean of freshmen in the College, who gave a most interesting address on "The Raw Material of the College."

Early Tuesday morning the exodus began, although a few remained to attend the commencement exercises. The chief interest of 1906 in this year's commencement lay in the fact that Monty's son, Wilder P. Montgomery, Jr., of Washington, D. C., received his bachelor's degree with honors.

And so the Twenty-fifth Reunion of the Class of 1906 passed into history. Our eyes now turn towards our Thirtieth in 1936.