1927's Tremendous 20th
THE RUBBLE AND rumblings have all but gone from those three interlocked dormitories Gile, Streeter and Lord—on this the second day after the curtain was officially pulled down on our Class' Twentieth Reunion, but the 112 men, the 64 wives and the 15 offspring who had come back to the placid plain of Hanover to make this week-end a memorable one have carried away with them something indelible—memories of renewed fellowship, of college and class allegiance, and of a week-end that was not entirely lost.
Activities did not officially start until Friday the 20th, but a vanguard of 'ayers, apparently thirsting for knowledge, had already arrived at the beginning of the week. Art Lyman, Jack McQuade, HowieMullin, Dick Stoioe, and Paul O'Connell, accompanied by their respective wives, camped themselves at the Hanover Inn and took in the Hanover Holiday lectures. Paul confidentially admitted to your scribe later that his voluntary exposure to those highly intellectual discussions was mainly responsible for his frequent manipulation of the beer keg handle.
Thursday evening found a small contingent already parked in the basement of Streeter, and judging from the names of those there (Arnold, Cummings, Josh Davis, Funkhouser, Mills, Ross Lyon, Ross Nichols, John Tanzi) one could assume that they had arrived early for business reasons. Perhaps they had, but they must have had an awful lot of business to transact, for the session lasted until the wee hours.
They must have done their business well. For, from early the next morning until late Sunday afternoon when VanIngham was finally pried loose from the tentpost, everything ran as though carefully planned. (This, for the benefit of those who were not there!) As no organized activities were scheduled until Friday evening, most of the morning and afternoon were well spent by greeting new arrivals, chatting under the tent, and visiting old haunts. Under the able supervision of John Tanzi, the beer began to flow early in the day into specially made tin cups conceived and decorated by John himself. Indeed they were so attractive that of the 175 that were originally available only a very small number were seen in circulation by Saturday morning, and those few had lost their intended function. These were, by that time, tied to the belts of the few visible possessors who shrewdly had discovered another use and a new source of revenue by playing blind.
At 6.30 Friday evening the men of the class went over to the Hanover Inn dining room for the class banquet while the wives betook themselves to the DOC House to engage in similar activities. Immediately following the dinner, the class attended President and Mrs. Dickey's reception which, due to inclement weather, had been shifted from the lawn of their home to Baker Library. The majority of the men (mostly those who had brought their wives) then went to the alumni dance which was held in College Hall. Many others, however, gathered in the tent to exercise their lungs to the accompaniment of the best impromptu band to hit the campus this year. Nobody could find out how Nat Morey succeeded in recruiting such talent as was attracted to our tent that evening. Some cynic remarked that it was the beer.
A surprisingly large number appeared at the class meeting which was held Saturday morning in Carpenter. Outstanding event of the meeting was election of the following officers for the next five years: Bob Williamson, Chairman of the Executive Committee; Gus Cummings, Treasurer, and Director of the Twenty-five Year Gift; Doane Arnold, Secretary; RossNichols, Executive Committee—New York and Chairman of the 25th Reunion; CugDaley, Executive Committee—Chicago; Frank Coulter, Executive CommitteeWest Coast; Nelson O'Rourke, Executive Committee.
At the conclusion of the business end of the meeting, class movies from our 5th, 10th and 15th reunions were shown. You had to see Josh Davis during this Reunion to appreciate the remark made by an anonymous class wag "at least Josh Davis hasn't changed" when the 10th reunion picture showed Josh wrestling with that log that he wanted signed by everyone attending the picnic. At the adjournment of the meeting, the class walked up to Dick's House to greet Mrs. Hall and pose with her for our traditional class picture. There was an added pleasure this year, for during Commencement Dartmouth had bestowed upon Mrs. Hall the honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters.
After the luncheon of the General Association of the Alumni in Thayer Hall, the class began to prepare for the excursion to Moose Mt. Lodge where preparations had been made for an afternoon of outdoor activities. The weather by this time had cleared and Hanover and its vicinity were enjoying one of those typical New England days when the fresh green of the mountainside and the clear blue of the sky conspire to mislead the human senses and create illusions of indescribable natural beauty.
Whether in deference to our aging limbs or to our feminine companions, a regular truck service had been installed, carrying the picnickers from the base of the mountain all the way up to the Lodge. Among other advantages, it nullified—or at least suspended for the time beingthat old law of the survival of the fittest, as practically the whole group of reuners was able to be on the spot when the ground was opened and the clams, the fish, and the lobsters were offered to hungry eyes, and hungrier stomachs. A keg of beer installed under a tree nearby became a second point of concentration, and soon the singing began. It was an afternoon of leisurely eating, drinking, and relaxing; of song and friendly chat, and at times of solitary contemplation as one's eye caught that superb broad sweep of the New Hampshire and Vermont hills.
The sun seemed to sink faster as we started on our downward trek, and we reached Hanover as the long, cool shadows of the stately elms and the college buildings were melting into the darkness of the descending night.
Shortly after, most of the crowd found itself seated in Webster Hall viewing a presentation of "At Yale." Some gathered under the tent; others visited the tents of other reuning classes. It was after theatre time that the hum in the tent became a continuous roar once again, not to subside until the early hours of Sunday morning. A buffet lunch, served at the tent Sunday noon, closed the official program, and the classmates began to depart carrying with them precious memories of three happy days. For it was a grand reunion; made so by the indefatigable efforts of Ross Nichols, Dow Mills, Bob Funkhouser, Gus Cummings and John Tanzi, and the fine comradeship of those who were able to attend it.
Seen or Heard—
Dick Stowe looking over the hills from Moose Mountain Lodge and remarking: "No one could think a single evil thought if exposed to such a view once in a while." .... Pal and Phil Fowler appearing at the picnic grounds wearing flashy red shirts from Honolulu that must have become by now the talk of every bull in the vicinity. .... Roy Dreher giving an imitation at the tent of a beautiful blonde with all the trimmings—well, practically all Russakoff completing his "jail-break" successfully and arriving at the Lodge starved, after every morsel of food had been consumed. .... Josh Davis wearing a horseshoe around his neck and looking for the fellow who up till then was leisurely passing his time pitching horseshoes Gus Cunmings with a fine chap called Pete, alias Harrington, alias Harry, alias Gus Jr. who is entering Dartmouth come next fall Bill Cusack trying to get the name of a charming young guest, and never getting further than the first syllable CliffRandall majestically driving a freshly painted surrey to the front of Streeter Sunday noon only to have the whole thing collapse as he came to a stop Betty Cusack rushing to the scene with a movie camera and concentrating on the horse as the one least disturbed Rudy Preuss at the picnic using up a full roll of film before discovering that he had taken someone else's camera by mistake A young Harvard grad interested in the theatre being pushed back toward the goal posts relentlessly by Catherine Ballantyne's crushing dissertation on the modern theatre. .... The Bartletts leading a procession across the campus just before midnight Saturday to pay a social call on Mrs. Smalley.
Seen and Heard—
A Bunch of dark conspirators meeting in the basement of Streeter and' plotting to set up a new Dartmouth just across the river whose student body would be recruited exclusively from those sons of alumni "too dumb" to be accepted by Dartmouth Josh Davis' sudden consternation that in a few years "they'd beat the hell out of us in football and every other sport." .... PhilFowler's quick, consoling remark: "They'll never be able to beat us in chess!"
Seen and Never Heard—
A big base drum carried on the truck up to the Lodge, and down again in the evening.
P.S. This is only a fractional report as I didn't know I would be pinch-hitting for Doane until Sunday afternoon. At that time Doane had to rush to a Boston hospital as his time for becoming a father had arrived once again. Before leaving, he extracted a promise from me to write my impressions. He further empowered me to tell the class that as soon as he is on his feet again he will complete the picture of our memorable Twentieth. So, for additional news and slants, look to the next issue.
1927's Reunion Roster: Jerry Allis and wife, Jack Andrews, Tommy Anglem, Doane Arnold, Fred Auer and wife, Ken Ballantyne and wife, Charlie Bartlett and wife, Ed Batchelder and wife, Ben Bell and wife, Ben Benson and wife and child, Seth Besse, Roy Blanchard and wife, Guy Bostwick, Walt Bowlby, Rog Braman and wife, Coggy Broer and wife, Chuck Burwell and wife, Rog Bury and wife.
Howie Camph, Al Chabot and wife, Mike Choukas and wife, Red Cleaveland and wife, Cam Clokey, wife and two children, Gordon Colby, Abe Cohen and wife, Spence Cook, wife and two children, Henry Copeland and wife, Bill Crane, Joe Creamer, Gus Cummings and wife and son, Bill Cusack and wife and two boys, Cug Daley, Jock Davis, Josh Davis, Roy Dreher and wife, Larry Duncan.
Bill Elliott, Slim Ensinger and wife, Phil Fowler and wife, Bob Funkhouser and wife, Dinty Gardner and wife, Charlie Gibson, Tom Gillespie and wife, Lee Gore and wife, Jack Greener, wife and two children, Hale Ham, Sykes Hardy and wife, Charlie Haynes, Bob Hazelton and wife, Tom Hession, Hitch Hitchcock, Fred Holden, Ed Holdsworth, Bill Hollands and wife, George Howell, Rollie Howes, Van Ingham.
Art Kelleher and wife, Wib Kennedy, Mike Ketz, Les Kilmarx, Fritz Kortlucke, wife and two children, Don Lacoss and wife, Al Lagacy and wife, Urb Lauber, wife and two children, Bob Long and wife, Dick Lougee, Art Lyman and wife, Ross Lyon and wife, Lev Lyons and wife.
Bill Macauley, Sam Martin and wife, Ralph McAnulty and wife, Don McCall and wife, Hughie McGrath and wife, Jack McQuade, Ed Mahoney, Dow Mills and wife, Dutch Minnich, Nat Morey, Howie Mullin and wife, Ken Murray and wife, Warren Murray, wife and son, Ross Nichols.
Paul O'Connell and wife, Don O'Hara, wife and son, Shorty Oliver, Hank Orth, Charlie Paddock, Bob Page, Bill Pelton and wife, Monty Phillips and wife, Bill Prescott, Rudy Preuss and wife, Cliff Randall and son, Andy Rankin, Ray Reed and wife, Jack Roe and wife, Joe RussakofF.
Rog Salinger and wife, Jack Sheldon and wife, Bunny Smith and wife, Bill St. Amant, Dick Stowe, wife and son, Norm Swift and wife, John Tanzi, Charlie Townsend and wife, Reg Vincent and wife, Sid Voice and wife, Ed Watkins, Bob Williamson, Sam Wormser.
HE MADE IT THE HARD WAY. Joe Russakoff '27 claims that he had to break out of jail to make the Big Twentieth and brought along pictorial proof of the fact that not even iron bars could stop him.
IN FRONT OF DICK'S HOUSE, MEMORIAL TO CLASSMATE DICK HALL, 1927 HAS ITS OFFICIAL 20TH REUNION PICTURE TAKEN.
