Charles River
THE ANNUAL Spring meeting of the Charles River Dartmouth Club was held at the Maugus Club in Wellesley Hills on Thursday evening, May 6, 1948.
A new type of program, quite different from anything held in the past, brought forth a very enthusiastic response from close to ninety members who attended, many of whom brought with them their sons and other young men who are interested in Dartmouth. °
The evening began with a beer party which ran from about 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. During this time, as well as throughout the evening, the party was enlivened by music from a local alumni BarbaryCoast aggregation under the leadership of Bill Perry '2l, through whose kind cooperation the services of this orchestra were obtained. The instrumentalists were Bob Hight '22, Wally Lord '23, Barney Tucker '23, Count Arsenault '24, Ed Lilley '28, and Don Childs '29, with Bill Perry at the drums. Alumni in the Greater Boston area will have a chance to hear this band, and also an alumni glee club, by attending the evening hum and picnic to be held on the grounds of the Noble and Greenough school on June 5 under the joint sponsorship of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Boston and the Charles River Dartmouth Club.
The group seated itself about 8:00 p.m. for dinner which was preceded by a drawing (conducted by Herb Austin '14) for several door prizes which had been donated by members. Crowning point took place when Herb drew Dick Muzzy's number for a box of candy which Dick himself had donated. Dick gracefully declined.
After an excellent meal, a few minutes were spent on business matters, the most important of which was the enthusiastic and unanimous approval of the group on the matter of including the Newtons within the area embraced by the Club. Alumni living in the Newtons will soon receive a notice to this effect and it is hoped that they will take an active part in the Club's affairs.
The Nominating Committee, consisting of Herb Austin '14, Buster Moore '20, and Dick Morton '36, then presented its slate of officers for the coming year. President Dick Litchfield '22, Treasurer Norm Erlandson '33, and Secretary Jack Lutz '38 are to serve again, assisted by an executive committee made up of the following: from WellesleyDick Morton '36, Vin Wentworth '36, and Gordon Plummer '44; from Needham—Howard Sherman '23, and Hal Putnam '37; from Weston—George Newman '25; from Natick—Morg Marshall '38. After it was voted to include the Newtons in the Club, Bill Perry '2l and Bill Bullen '22 were nominated and elected to the executive committee as representatives from their areas.
The highlight of the evening took place when Dick Litchfield introduced BaptisteThibodeau in the person of Ross McKenney. If you have never heard Ross' skit on the broken-English-speaking back woodsman with his fish and bull (moose) stories, you're missing something! Ross rambled on for about a half-hour with a string of stories that kept the audience howling before he finally sat down and then was re-introduced as himself. We don't know how many of the boys he fooled, but the gag was none the less effective. Ross then talked for a while on DOC activities and showed some of his own excellent color movies on hunting, fishing, and camping. That every minute of his talk was thoroughly enjoyed was evidenced by the number of questions asked of him by the group at the conclusion of his remarks. Ross certainly has a wealth of interesting and unusual experiences to draw on and his manner of presentation would make a hit anywhere.
At the conclusion of the movies, Herb Austin took over again on a drawing for another group of prizes for which chances had been sold during the evening. Phil Bird '19 must have had a rabbit's foot in his pocket that night as after having won the first door prize, he also walked off with the first prize on the raffle and went home richer to the extent of a case of canned goods donated by Cliff Johnson '33 and a cocktail set donated by Dick Litchfield.
It was very gratifying to the officers and committee of the Club to see the enthusiastic response and approval with which this program met, and we hope to have more of the same for you during the coming season. We are certainly looking forward to having the Newtonites with us, and we feel quite sure that throughout the year we will be able to offer a number of Dartmouth evenings which you will all enjoy.
