Class of 1936
Your correspondent has just returned from Carnival, which will undoubtedly irritate the five hundred and some odd members of the class who would like to have returned to Hanover but who were unable. However, the only thing I can do is to say that a number of our classmates were in Hanover, and it was a grand Carnival, and that every man I spoke to said, "Be sure to give my regards to any of theboys that you happen to meet." I was struck more than ever by the fact that our class has a peculiar "hanging together" spirit about it, that is evident when we have the opportunity of making friends with someone that we did not know very well in college.
The first person that I happened to contact in Hanover was Don Miller, who came rushing up to me and said, "How aboutmentioning some of us who have droppedback to the class of '37; aren't we goodenough for the column?" I assured him that they were, and will hereby mention those that he told me about. Blake Johnson played an important role in the "Chocolate Soldier," and expects to graduate this year. Harty Beardsley was one of the cabin and trail men in the class of '37 and important in the success of the Carnival. Bob Greene is also one of the group of '36ers in '37.
Bob Ingersoll is going to the Medical School, and is another one of our classmates who assured me that he is working very hard. I talked a few minutes with Harry Courounis, and found that he was in business with his brother in a large cleaning and pressing concern. Business seemed to be excellent, and Harry was very optimistic about the future. Clay Mellor is going to Tuck School, and was seen for a minute at the "Phi Gam" house. Bob Shertz was up for Carnival, but manned to keep pretty well hidden during the week-end. Al Gibney, who was also up, and I spent most of our time trying to locate Shertz. Ed Brooks, another Tuck ooler, was seen crossing the campus unday afternoon, but by that time your correspondent did not have the strength or the voice with which to yell across to him. A visit to the Theta Chi house turned uP Steve Barton, Betsy Wheelock, and clifEngland, all three of whom seemed to have a gay time. Dick Durrance of the Rutland Herald was rushing around and gave the appearance of being a newspaper reporter. One classmate that I was particularly anxious to see was Davis "Stone- wall" Jackson, newly appointed college adviser to fraternities. I extended congratulations to him for all of the class, as I am sure we are all pretty well set up upon having one of our group selected for an important official position with the College.
At the Phi Psi house I had a long visit with Bob Marvin, who is learning the newspaper business on the Beatrice Sun, Beatrice, Neb. Mac Rowell was spotted by one of my news-hawks over at the Beta house, and is also reported to be a very proud father. This is only hearsay, and the class baby award will be made after we have made a further investigation. Our hawks also reported that Phil Gilbert and Nancy Merrick were in town for the weekend at the Psi U house. Another '96er in town was Phil Clark, who is teaching school somewhere in eastern Massachusetts. Pug Goldthwait, who is a graduate assistant in Geology at Brown University, was up for the skating races. I also ran into Jacko Morrison and Bill Hoffman who are at Tuck school. Bill Murray, mentioned for many all-American high school athletic teams was reported to be in town, but unfortunately was nowhere to be found. Al- though I saw Al Montague, who according to records was living in Hanover, I did not have a chance to talk to him.
A recent letter from Bob Fernald tells us that he has a new assignment with Lever Brothers which takes him on a chain store survey all over the country with regard to the Robinson-Patman Act. His letter was written from the "Benjamin Franklin" in Philadelphia, and the only news item that he had gathered was that Bob Shertz was an usher for the President's Birthday Ball in Philadelphia. Rollie Hastings writes from San Francisco that the last classmate he has seen was Bob Morris "with whom Ispent the afternoon of the Yale-Dartmouthclash last fall talking over old times."
"The Commercial" which is probably the best newspaper in the state of Maine has recently been purchased by Mr. MacPherson of the class of 1910. A front-page edit gives us the following interesting news item: "He has brought to Bangor to be associated with him his eldest son, Robert G.MacPherson, and John R. McKernan, bothDartmouth graduates of last June, and theyhave taken up their residence here."
A postal card from Phil Gilbert makes your correspondent hang his head in shame. Phil says, "I am very much ashamedof you for putting any credence in Nielsen's report that Mort Hair is working forthe Northwestern Yeast Company. Mort isa med school pledge, and I understand hehas been doing excellent at Rush in Chicago." Phil also reports that Tom Sinding of class '36 is rising rapidly in Wrigley's, and Sonny Heg, also ex-'36, is trapping mink in Minnesota. El Wanstall would like to have the class secretary send out an SOS for Chuck Barnish, "and tellhim his ex-roommate would like to knowwhat he is doing and where he is keepinghimself." El left home in October to go to California and back by automobile. How- ever, when he hit Palm Beach he liked it so well there that he stayed to work with the Packard Palm Beach Company. Tom Luey writes from Apple ton, Wis., that he is "supposedly learning a few of the finerpoints of the paper industry." He is attending the Institute of Paper Chemistry, and writes that he "spent the vacation inNew York City, where I ran into BobBirchall and John Witzel." Evidently Birch is doing right well in second-year med at Hanover, and Whit is holding his own as assistant in the chemistry department.
A few weeks ago, Dick Spencer dropped in on me here in Williamstown, and as usual was beaming with optimism and enthusiasm. He reported that Bill Wyman was working for Aetna Casualty in Worcester, and that Jim Boeckel had located in Boston. John Marsh is in Bridgeport, and Bob Murphy is working for the Wiremold Corporation. Chuck Venrick is working for the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Schenectady, and Dick Morton's new address is 1093 Park Ave., Bridgeport, Conn. He writes, "I have heard from or seen no'36er since my arrival, save Ray Builter,who oddly enough is working in the sameoffice building, up one flight. He tells mehis title is junior statistician."
Charlie Aaron is working at the Higbee Company in Cleveland. He writes, "I amthe major domo of our borax ski slide andthe one who 'knows all about waxes' andall the other stuff we get from John Piane."
A letter from Emil Hokanson says, "TellStewis Stroud to quit beefing; that guynever worked a day in his life." Emil is himself an embryonic lawyer, having located in a law school in Madison, Wis.
Roy Bergengren is now in Europe, after having entered his dad's co-operative banking business. Since graduation, he has been jaunting around the country learning how to save money, and has recently been in Labrador.
LETTER OF THE MONTH
"Hello Tread: "Managed to get into the D-H hockey game about a week ago to see the Indians taken for a 2-0 ride. But it wasn't because the class of '36 rooters were absent. The place fairly recked of us. Holding up one of the sides of the beer concession was none other than Spong, breathing merrily through a crust of foam. It seems that Law School doesn't seem particularly difficult for him, even though I understand he is doing exceptionally well—how that can be determined is beyond me, since they get back no graded reports or quizzes, etc., until June. According to his testimony I found to my amazement that there were about as many '36 squires in the Law division of this merry institution as there are over here. Dick Ruby—who also later turned up in the front row of the Boston Garden in the same clothes that I think I remember seeing him in at convocation in 1932—Walker Lewis, Phil Gilbert, and John Schulz (who oddly enough are rooming together off-campus and presumably are covered with bruises from stumbling over the cases of law . recordings which have made it impossible for any of them to correspond with the others except by radio), Len Hoefler, Art Levin .... well, I thought there were some others, but off- hand I can't think of them.
"But on to the hockey game .... between the periods I spotted Chuck Williams across the ice and wended my way through a bevy of beer bottles to his seat. Seems that he had thought of going into the teaching game, but was not able to contact the type of job he wanted and started looking around for another. At the present time he is with the Riverside Press with some big publishing house, and landed the job by breezing past the secretaries in the outer office who told him the boss was busy, and after interrogating that fine gentleman for the period of about an hour and a half found that he had a job in their training course with all sorts of possibilities ahead. In the struggle back to the hockey game on the other side of the rink I ran plumb into Vinnie Fitzpatrick, who is working with the Kendall Company but who feels that the situation is a bit stagnant. Amongst a group of Phil Conothan and Red O'Hare (Red is another in the Law School) I found Ted Olson, who proceeded to tell Dug Porter and myself the woes of the big baseball circuit. It seems that he was really on the go this summer and missed very little of the country, playing ball in the extremes of weather. A great picture was painted of Kansas City heat, and though not exactly in accordance with my own inklings for that city (which you recall run in the feminine direction as the result of this summer also) I was quite interested in the town's potentialities!
"The Business School delegation is carrying on merrily. Outside of two unfortunate happenings (Art Lynch's having to leave permanently at Christmas time because of illness, and Roge Morse's getting laid up about six weeks ago with scarlet fever) we're managing to keep our heads above the gravel.
"Myron Clark of lowa, after limping here and there with pink-eye for a while after his trip to New Hampshire over the Christmas recess, has returned to normal and to report writing, along with Jack Sawyer (who as far as I know holds the great record here of being the only person to have obtained an apology from Professor Hosmer after a rather hasty rebuke in answer to a question in accounting by Jack).
"Jayne and Al Williams have been touring the more tasty spots of Boston—including the periodic operas and aristocratic restaurants. Ted Whitmore is still piling up the high marks; Courtney Catron and Roy Adams keep themselves somewhat in the dark (though it's probably only because I don't get into the light very much myself); Vass is seen only about once a month, but the rumor is that he's well on the way to a scholarship next semester; Bob Brenner is duty bound by the 'factory' routine.
"Al Gibney."
COURAGE, MON AMI
Under this heading we are publishing an unofficial report that John Witzel is engaged to Mabel Sheldon of Smith. We hope this is correct, because we are sure that John and Mabel will take our editorial head off if it is not.
Bill Klingaman has now become officially engaged to our old friend Ada, and we have also heard that Seymour Sims and Fred Hackett are engaged.
Since the last issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, Budd Schulberg has married Virginia Ray, and I have been commissioned by a number of the class to send out the very best of congratulations.
POETS' CORNER I have Sam Morse's permission to use the following song from his long narrativelyric, "The Seasonal Man," which is about one-fourth done.
Song From "The Seasonal Man" Slow, brilliant thrust of flake piled higher, higher on the former flake, until the drift is packed and stiff, until the ice has cracked along the surface of the pond (this naked grass will break the bond a blizzard meant to seal- no amount of frost will heal this cut—the sun dissolves such filigree while it revolves).
Samuel French Morse
Secretary, Williamstown, Mass.
