The Canoe Club
WITH THE ELECTION of 27 new members at the beginning of the canoeing season, which raised the membership to 65, the Ledyard Canoe Club reached its operating capacity. The facilities of the Canoe Club were turned over to the College in 1943 for wartime recreational use by undergraduates and members of the V-12 Unit. Last spring the organization was returned to its original status, that of a self-sustaining unit. Much of the work and all of the guidance to steer it through its first year came from Syd Bowers '44, the retiring president.
At the annual banquet held April si, Roger Brown '45 was elected president, with Bob Tracy '48 and Al Winslow '49 as secretary and treasurer. Don Streich '49 is the new vice president. The directors at large are John Halstead '45, Roger Sheldon '49 and Nick Nickelson '47, who replace Art Lynn '43, Dick Backus '44 and Conrad Susen '4B. The retiring secretary and treasurer are Rog Sheldon '49 and Dud Wilson '44.
While the ice still gripped the Connecticut above the Ledyard Bridge, four club members left Hanover for some pre-season white water canoeing on the. White River. After weathering the stares of the incredulous populace, the canoes were launched from ice blocks piled on the shore. A fitting finale to the trip was a sudden blizzard which covered them with wet snow.
After spring vacation attempts against the famous "Quarter Mile" on the White River began in earnest. The survivors of previous duckings respected the ledges, boulders and potholes which spelled disaster for the unwary. Perhaps the admiring spectators, lining the shore and the bridges, encouraged a disdain for the rapids which frequently sent shivering canoeists into the hospitable homes of the Vermonters to dry out before continuing the trip.
The highlight of the season was the annual run down the Ammonoosuc River as related by Phil Piereck '48:
"The Ammonoosuc River baptized its toll of canoeists this weekend as eight of us tried our best to keep dry and only four succeeded. Offering some of the best 'horseraces,' a few ledges, and a very swift current, the Ammonoosuc makes an excellent white water trip, especially between Lisbon and Woodsville.
"Sunday Dick Nickelson and Dave Kendall pulled out and met Ross, who took them up the Waits River, where Nick and George Woodwell did a few underwater acrobatics. Kendall, Rog Brown and John Jennings kept pretty dry all weekend, but then there is always someone who thinks the water is too cold for swimming. With the other three canoes we paddled (to the tune of All-a-wetta) against the wind, down the Connecticut to Fairlee where we decided we didn't want too much of a good thing.
"We want to stress the old adage that if you wear heavy wool clothes on canoe trips you will keep warm and dry even though you are cold and wet."
With the annual Johnny Johnson Race and regatta still in the offing, the Canoe Club will soon finish its spring season. Preparations have been made for summer use of the canoes by townspeople and alumni.
NATIONAL ART ACADEMY WINNER BY DARTMOUTH'S ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: "Delirium Is Our Best Deceiver" by Paul Sample '20 recently won a $1000 prize from the National Art Academy. Showing the artist's conception of the mental images of delirious and wounded soldiers, the picture was painted from sketches made while he was convalescing in the Palo Cathedral on Leyte, then used as a field hospital.
