With the D.O.C.
CLUB LOOKS AHEAD TO A BIG YEAR FEATURED BY FULL-FLEDGED CARNIVAL
THE D.O.C. is IN for a big year. To realize this, it is only necessary to wander into the D.O.C. offices in Robinson Hall any time after nine o'clock in the morning. A horde of students will be seen descending on Kay Stone, our secretary, deluging her with questions such as "Is this where I join the D.0.C.?", "How do I reserve a cabin?", and "Are Carnival posters for sale here?" All the while she is attempting to type correspondence for John Rand '38, Director of the D.0.C., and answer telephone requests for reservations for dinner from people who are under the mistaken impression that the D.O.C. Clubhouse on Occom Pond is located in Robinson Hall.
This hum of activity overflows into 23 Robinson where the D.O.C. exhibit is located and into the room facing Main Street where Dick Backus '44, president of the D.0.C., Dave Kendall '45, chairman of Cabin and Trail, and Merrill McLane '42, Associate Director of the D.0.C., have their desks. The conversations in this room are something like this: "How about reviving the traditional Thanksgiving trip to Mt. Katahdin?" "One of the first things we have to do this fall is bush and mark the trail from Moose Mountain to Cube Mountain." "Last weekend we got the Winter Cabin in swell condition. We painted it inside and outside." As Barry Marks '47, chairman of the Carnival Committee, walks into the room, the conversation shifts to Carnival preparations and the talk is mainly on the size of the Carnival and whether or not to hold an Outdoor Evening. Burt Hicock '44, Director of Trips, joins the group and exclaims, "Do you guys know how many people went on official D.O.C. trips this weekend? Well, there were 60; 20 on a work trip to Moosilauke, bushing the Snapper and Dipper Ski Trails; 20 fellows who went to the College Grant with Ross McKenney shooting grouse and setting up a camp for future hunting parties; 20 others went to Moose Mountain repainting the trail between Hanover and Moose Cabin." Kay, who is on her way to the Inner Sanctum, Room 19, where John Rand has been forced to hole up in order to get any work accomplished, adds her bit to the conversation with "Yes, and every cabin was in use over the weekend."
FRESHMAN TRIP
Another D.O.C. tradition was revived this fall with the running of the annual Freshman Trip to Mt. Moosilauke. A week before the opening of College, 40 members of the Class of 1950, plus 15 old Cabin and Trail men as leaders, embarked from Hanover in three trucks and rode to the Ravine Camp at the foot of Mt. Moosilauke. The next four days were full of action. Every day groups of freshmen left the Ravine Camp and climbed Mt. Moosilauke by the newly cut Gorge Brook Trail or went around to Lost River and hiked up the Beaver Brook Trail or drove to the foot of Lafayette Mountain in Franconia Notch, climbing Mt. Lafayette, traversing along the ridge to Mt. Lincoln, Haystack, Liberty Peak, and descending to the Notch through the Flume. The day's hike was followed by a big supper replete with hot biscuits at the Ravine Camp cooked by Mrs. Whitcher, a native of Warren. After everyone pitched in on washing the dishes, there followed a session in the big living room around the fireplace. Stories by Ross McKenney and songs by the group completed the day's activities until around nine o'clock when everyone was ready for bed.
FALL ACTIVITIES
Fall activities in the D.O.C. are built around the weekend trips both official and unofficial. Every weekend, several official trips are planned to leave Robinson Hall immediately after classes on Saturday for the surrounding country. This fall the D.O.C. is sponsoring two outdoor programs that are accepted by the Physical Education Department for credit. One is the rock-climbing class; and the other, supervised by Ross McKenney and Doug Wade, the College Naturalist, consists of axemanship, fire-fighting, woodcraft, and identification of the flora and fauna around Hanover. These programs will consist of three one-hour sessions each week.
Walter Prager, recently returned from the West, has his ski team running daily on the golf course. The team is captained this year by Phil Puchner '44, one, of the top intercollegiate downhill-slalom skiers, who placed 7th in the downhill-slalom at the Nationals on Cannon Mountain last winter. Walt's and Phil's only comment on the ski team's future is, "We will have a good team against good competition."
NEW D.O.C. CHAIRMAN
Virgil Poling, director of the Student Workshop, has been named chairman of the board of trustees of the Dartmouth Outing Club. Robert A. McKennan '25, Professor of Sociology, has been elected a trustee of the Club, replacing Prof. Charles A. Proctor '00, retired.
