A Memorable 45th for 1904
ON JULY 23, 1948, Cloyd Maynard wrote, "While on a business trip to Concord, New Hampshire, I drove by Lester Ames' farm outside of Bridgton, Maine and stopped off to visit with him. As you know he lost a leg some months ago in a tractor accident.
"On his porch shelling a basket of peas he told me all about the accident. His left leg is gone right to the hip joint, but he has an artificial limb and walked to the end of the porch and back with a cane.
"He has never been back to Hanover and he probably doesn't know or remember many of the class or they him. However I told him that next June if we were both alive and well I wanted to take him to Hanover with me for the '49 reunion."
Thus our 45th reunion was first discussed on a farm piazza in Maine in July, 1948, and picked up enthusiasm which spread to California, and from Billy Mac Keen in Texas to the Magistrate's Court in Port Arthur, Ontario, until 45 men had checked in with a total of 65 on June first—which grew till reunion time, when 58 of the class with guests and family members achieved a total of 90 for the reunion group of our 45th.
The first arrivals came from Boston on Thursday, Pen Mower and Carl Woods, stopping in to see Armen Mangurian at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Manchester, where he had been for many weeks as a result of a hit-andrun accident by an intoxicated unlicensed operator. Robbie, Ike and Squid stopped to renew a June custom of enjoying a lunch with the Edgerlys on the way to reunion, and they, too, visited Armen, then the Austins on Canaan Street, while Ned and Sid had reached Hanover by other routes, to complete plans for the reunion days.
By Friday evening we were pretty well settled in Massachusetts Hall, which took on the 1904 atmosphere of a family reunion which has always made these gatherings notable in the life of the class. With 1903 in South Mass, and 1905 in the North section, there were three years of college companions within the sound of "Oh, Wing!" While enjoying the joint buffet supper with 1905 we were whisked off to 105 Dartmouth for a meeting of the members of the classes who were in College under Dr. Tucker. Jig Leverone did the M.C. stunt; Hoppy was the keynote speaker, followed by Sid Hayward and President Dickey, and the group recommended that the classes who were in the Tucker Generation should accept the responsibility for the auditorium portion of the building, to be called the Tucker Memorial Auditorium. The meeting was adjourned after a short but informative hour, then to the President's reception; later some attended the Alumni Dance in the Commons.
Saturday morning, without regular events, went quickly in greetings in and about our tent near the bleachers, where there was an open season for photographers, both professional and otherwise. The official class group, which in the rare vintages of 40 to 50 years formerly presented a mask sometimes hard to penetrate, was "out in the open," some members with flat and uncovered tops, but with a variety of sunspots focussed and magnified by fifty-odd pairs of lenses—it's a weird effect in facial expressions.
Gathering at the Gymnasium shortly after noon for the luncheon preceeding the Annual Meeting of the General Alumni Association, we were pleased to find the buffet lunch served on the lawn of the Gym, where for the first time our wives joined in the General Alumni Luncheon. It was a new and pleasant occasion, and could become a regular reunion feature with the older classes. Highlighted by the professional touch of a waiter of French extraction, who had also helped protect the citizenry of Boston during the Coolidge administration police strike, it was a reunion hour full of fun.
At the meeting in the gym Robbie represented the classes of our group reunion. His remarks, historical, intimate, and serious, paid high tribute to Dr. Tucker and his concept of the College during the years of his administration—and to the resulting undergraduate life. Throughout, the sentences were spiced by the droll humor and dead-pan expression of this real New Hampshire Yankee whom we love. The text of his highly pleasing speech will be found in this MAGAZINE. Ike asks, "Did I tell you the remark I overheard as I left the meeting where Robbie delivered his masterpiece? An alumnus, an officer of the college, said to another, 'lm pretty well fed up on these speeches, and had almost decided to pass up this meeting, but I'm certainly glad I didn't today, for Robinson's speech was a gem, the best I've heard in years.' Robbie's success was outstanding, and I imagine that many 1904 men had a vicarious sense of pride in the job so well done."
Lett to ourselves till the scheduled evening events much reminiscence flowed over the dam or through the damns, depending on the navigators.
Interesting to our class family are these comments: Bray ton in a letter June 10, '4B, "The 45th reunion I feel about as a neighbor did in the gay nineties, when milk was a cent a quart and hogs dressed $3.00 per CWT. John said, 'I am going to that horse race if I have to sell my bull calf!' " Seems like the calf was sold!
From Ike Charron: "One impression of our reunion was the remarkable physical wellbeing that is apparently enjoyed by the men and the wives of the men in our class. With the stand where classes were herded together for photographs located in our front yard, it was interesting to compare members of the different reuning classes with ours, and the result was always decidedly encouraging for 1904. Of course we couldn't, or didn't, exhibit any of those dangerous strapless half-strip gowns that drew rather pathetic wolf-calls from some of our bolder members, but I wager that even with the handicap of our decades some of the fair 1904 ladies could match the best of some of the younger groups."
The class cheer was complete, with Fling passing to Wing tor a touchdown the first time in 49 years that they were on the campus together Fling, Hardy, Ames, all attended their first reunion, and Safford had only one off-year reunion credit till now. Additions to the class group were Mrs. Gale and Mrs. Safford, who were most cordially received The 19th Hole (not mentioning the 18 smaller ones) was the favorite rallying point, but there was one just complaint: it was mid-afternoon Saturday before Matt could get a glass of gingerale—the committee's out was that it wasn't put up in individual bottles any more.
Hat Hardy was the long-distance winner, with Billy Mac Keen, Brayton, the Magistrate from the Dominion, and the southern gentleman from Chattanooga as popular runners-up.
Not many reports from fraternity reunions came in. Geo. Scales and Squid started out at 4:45 with the newly-acquired Cup. When challenged as to the destination, the reply was, "We are going to our corporation meeting." But there was no Theta Delta Chi kick in the cup on their return Ike's fraternity trip in his own language was all right till he was pushed off his chair: Here's his story: "45 years is really a long period, but none of us, I'm sure, during the reunion period cared to give much thought to that fact. I did get a bad jolt at a fraternity cocktail party when I sat between two charming young ladies, and with unbounded conceit (and the stimulation of a nontemperance drink) felt that for one so unaccustomed to entertaining such beauties I was doing very well. One of the fair gals looked at my reunion ribbon and said, 'Oh, 1904. Why that is the year my mother was born!' The bubble gum popped then!"
The International Blubber contest was one for the bench sitters, fanny riders, and bulge shadow casters, best enjoyed by this Charron account: "I can still get a real chuckle over the international contest, not scheduled on our program, when Judges Walter and Gene strutted their respective judicial equators. No micrometer scale was needed to declare the Canadian jurist the winner. Gene, however, claimed that he could select from the 1904 family a representative who could unquestionably bring back the championship to the United States, but as the contest had been limited to one round, the International Exposure committee said, Enough."
Saturday evening at 7 we opened with two shows—23 wives and daughters at the Inn and 57 men with two guests, Edward Hamblin and Tuss McLaughry at the D.O.C.
The Inn dinner had small favors tor those present, which were appreciated .... "more than a sleepy husband, more reunion tired in two days than in any six-months business period, yet sleeping well and occasionally laughing audibly." The general comment from the distaff side of the family was one of real pleasure in the three occasions provided for them. The Dartmouth Players at 9:30 entertained many of the "wives group."
When Charron arrived at the D.0.C., still smarting from his fraternity reunion experience, he saw other hearts in the assayers' hands—but here's his story: "That experience was the reason why I tried to save Hay from a similar embarrassment when he and Pen kidnapped two fair ladies of a reunion class who were having a consolation dinner at the Outing Clubhouse. To divert their attention I collected and introduced every other good looking old man I could find, but Hay's charm and persistence outlasted my efforts. Pen did give up, but Hay held on to such length that when he joined us for dinner all available seats were taken and a single seat at a small table in an obscure corner was his penalty. Only a conical cap was lacking to make a picture of an old-time school punishment complete.
"Of course I am well aware that I am no one to criticize Hay's attention to the fairer sex. Bless 'em, they are my weakness as I try to dodge the tentacles of senility. I'm envious of his continued success. Do you remember how Hay always had to telephone whenever we gathered for a class party in Boston? Well, even in remote Hanover I saw him at the telephone in the Outing Club when we first arrived for our class dinner. No, he didn't then make the date just described."
All class officers were reelected. The assurance of solvency by Tom, our reliable treasurer, now travelling by plane: guarantees by the medicine man of the class who feeds the mind with a few scraps of undergraduate lore and keeps us up to—or OVER—our quota for the Fund. The unanimous request that Tuss accept honorary membership in 1904 gave us a new member of whom we are very proud. John Fletcher called the plays in his pleasing southern manner with a delightfully disarming drawl.
The film of the impressive offensive plays of the 1948 team completed the program. Joe Sullivan and Armstrong are names representing great accomplishment to the present football world.
The class picture man took eighty pictures supplemented by many others. These will soon make a pictorial story of the reunion. After 49 years it was discovered that one of the assets overlooked by the impresarios was the piano-playing ability of Lew Fling which we hope to headline at the off-year reunion in 1950—before then will occur the evening before Harvard at the Engineers Club in Boston—Oct. 81, '49—1904 Round-up evening of Boston Alumni Association in February, '5O, and Five Class reunion, April, '5O.
Comment was made that if Pen took any bridge money from the rifflers it was "done on the quiet"—he's that kind of operator. Bridge and golf were inoffensive factors in our reunion lives and it is rumored that under cover of early morning bridge more than the dummy slept comfortably.
The initiation of our new class member was concluded with the Eleazar Wheelock ceremonies in the traditional "Roll Call" manner at midnight, participated in by the largest attendance since our 25th in 1929.
On Sunday morning at 9:30 the usual memorial service was conducted in St. Thomas' Episcopal church with a congregation o£ 65. Charlie Tubbs was in charge, assisted by Professor Longhurst as organist. Matt Bullock as on all former similar occasions, sang "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go," just as beautifully as ever. Besides Charlie's good sermon there were prayers and the remembrance of those who had died since the last reunion. The offering, amounting to nearly $5O, was given to the church for work among Dartmouth students.
About noon we headed up the beautiful White River Valley 17 miles to Sharon, Vermont, where our happy family group of 80 persons enjoyed a picnic lobster luncheon at Terrace Lodge before saying goodbyes. Our mood was heightened by the knowledge that Saturday noon at the General Alumni Meeting we had been awarded the 1894 Cup for the highest percentage of graduates in attendance that weekend.
After lunch Tom and Anna Uniac returned through Manchester to carry the reunion news to Armen at the hospital.
Ike speaks for all of us when he says, "For me our 45th was great fun. From the time Robbie, Squid and I started, to the finale at that hot spot, Terrace Lodge, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The 'mother-was-born-in- 1904' incident and my difficulty in convincing certain ladies that, like my ancient ancestor, Charon, I prefer ferry boats and similar large craft to. hand-to-balance canoes were only minor checks. Like the advertising slogan, 'The flavor lasts.' "
The attendance roster: Ames, Austin,* Bartlett, Blanchard, Bolster, Bowles. Brayton, Brotherhood, Bullock, Budjett * Charron, Davis, Doonan, Drew,* Edgerly,* Fletcher,* Fling, Gale,* Hamblin, Hardy, Hastings Hinman,* Hobbs,* Johnson,* Kirker,* Lampee,* Leverone, Lewis, Mac Keen, Maguire, Manning'* Maynard, Mower, Muchemore,* Phelps,* Robinson, Roby, Rolfe, Rollins,* Russell,* Safford,* Sanderson, Scales,* Sewall, Sexton, Slayton, Streeter, Terrien, Tubbs, Uniac,* Walker," Watson, Webster,* Willard, Wing, Witham,* Woods.
Other reunion guests included Betty Bowles, Nancy and Deborah Austin, John Bartlett, Barbara Drew, Frank Hamblin's son Edward, the sister-inlaw of Pete Maguire and her husband, a woman guest of Mrs. Phelps, Mrs. Barbara Lowell, daughter of Charlie Tubbs and Mrs. Ruth Foster Spinney, niece of Mrs. Russell.
* Indicate that a classmate was accompanied by his wife.
CLASS SECRETARY
THESE MEMBERS OF THE 1904 FAMILY WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE BACK FOR THE FORTY-FIFTH
