1916 Has Memorable 35th
THE 34th Reunion o£ 1916 is over and done. If you missed it you can't say we didn't warn you. Live a million years, and you'll never see 1950 again or the 34th Reunion. I estimate we had a crowd of about 150, including women and children, and if time permits (since the editors of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE are working under pressure on this issue) and if I can find the notes I made and which I stowed carefully among various items of underwear, navy shirts, Phillips Milk of Magnesia toothpaste (adv.) and other things I drag to reunions, I shall give you the whole list, and you can send me a postcard to tell me I counted wrong, omitted your wife's name, or said she was there when as a matter of fact she went to her own reunion at Brynsley.
To begin with, our Reunion Committee, whose names I have no list of but which included all those hard-working guys around Boston like Rod Soule, had Jim Coffin for a chairman, and Jim was carefully supervised by Ruth Coffin, chairman of the Committee on Arrangements for Wives. Both committees did a superlative job. Everything went as if the machine had been running for years. The bellboys were on hand to carry bags, the rooms were assigned quickly (except mine, and the College had lost my reservation and check and had never heard of me and were lucky to find a room for Betty and me and one for daughter Janet, but when I got back to Washington I found the reservation for rooms and my check right in my desk in the Pentagon, where I laid it under the stress of fighting the cold war, and is my face red? Excuse, please, Mr, Ingram).
The Class Dispensary for those who don't like Coca Cola was handy, low in price, high in quality, and had plenty of ice. Friday afternoon was spent in encountering familiar faces and getting the names right, all of which is a thrill at every reunion, because there is always some new face you never expected to see again. Dinner was served in our tent, pitched in front of Wheeler (our third reunion in that mellow old dorm) and it was a very good dinner, hot, tasty and plentiful. We ate at tables and there was a lot of merriment, reminiscing and noise. The President's reception was at 8:30, so we had time to do some singing around the piano before going up there. At the reception we lingered on the President's lawn to talk with members of 1914 and 1915, who were having their Robinson Plan reunions, too. Most of these men I had not seen since leaving College, and it was interesting to try to remember their names and to talk to a number of them. Later in the evening we had some more close harmony and more exchanging of reminiscences and small talk.
Saturday morning we awoke to a terrific electric storm and a downpour of Amazonian jungle rain, but by breakfast time, when we went to the 1914 tent, it was only raining hard enough to get you partly soaked, so no one cared. It was a good breakfast, and under the tent we were dry enough. After breakfast we had our Class picture taken on the campus. At noon the ladies drove to Woodstock for luncheon, while the men went to the gym for the annual alumni luncheon as guests of the College. At night we had our Class dinner, at which a special 1916 steak is always served, at the Outing Club, the men in one room and the girls in another. (Let them find their own stories!) Clifford Eleazar Wheelock Bean always sees to it that 1916 is at the Outing Club, but don't mention it to anyone as this is a Class secret. Tuss McLaughry and John dell Isola were guests of honor and Bob Brown was toastmaster. Tuss made a talk that we all liked and which made sense about Dartmouth and the football situation. The story-telling contest was won by Ken Stowell with his story of Mr. Carruthers, although there were plenty of votes for Ed Knight's vivid portrayal of the woes of Riley Wilson's cousin in West Virginia.
Saturday night they turned on steam heat in the dormitories, believe it or not, but Sunday was a clear, sunny, blue-skied day with a breeze slightly off Hudson's Bay. At eleven we had our annual Memorial Service at the stadium, in honor of the men of the Class who have passed on, and especially those who have gone since our last reunion, in 1946. They are: Bill Banton, Dick Coburn, Phil Davis, ArthurEastman, Ralph Fletcher, Don Hird, RayLawrence, Spring Winters, and Karl Zint. As always, this was a moving service, handled with dignity by our past-presidents Cliff Bean,Johnny Pelletier, and Frank Bobst, assisted by our now late president, Alec Jardine.
At noon we repaired to Oak Hill, which YOU find by going out the Lyme Road turning off on the road to Storrs Pond, getting lost and then asking some classmate who is also lost but who has a hunch where it is. The site was sheltered by the hills and big fragrant pines, so we were able to get sunburned at our class meeting. We elected officers as follows: President, William H. McKenzie; Secretary, Stirling Wilson; Treasurer, C. Carlton Coffin; and the following members of the Executive Committee: Eskeline, Ev Parker, Ken Henderson Fenno and Soule. These elections are for the six years till our 40th Reunion in 1956. Bill McKenzie will hold on as Class Agent for one more year, at which time the Executive Committee will appoint a new Class Agent. The same is true of Cliff Bean, chairman of the Class Memorial Fund. Mr. Laurence Whittemore was voted honorary membership in the Class, and will be invited to join. He is President of the Brown Company of New Hampshire.
By late Sunday evening, after a picnic supper at Oak Hill, the Class dispersed, except for a few who remained to steep themselves in the Hanover atmosphere a few days longer.
A worthwhile feature of our Reunion was the exhibit of paintings of New England landscapes by Audrey Soule (Mrs. Rod) in Baker Library. They are truly beautiful pictures, and the Class is honored by Mrs. Soule's connection with it.
Names of those who attended the 34th, copied from notes written on my cuff, (and let's hope the list is correct):
Honey Abraham and two sons, Fletch and Mrs. Andrews, Hobie Baker, Cliff and Peg Bean, Frank and Helene Bobst, Bill and Mrs. Brown, Bob Brown, Charlie, Mrs. Brundage, son and daughter, John Butler, Cap and Mrs. Carey, Pete Cleaves, Jim and Ruth Coffin, Jim Colton, Art, Mrs. Conley and daughter, Ed and Mrs. Craver and son, Jack Curtin, Sam, Llou, Dick and Betsey Cutler, "Kike" Davis, Jib Dingwall, Don Doenecke, Ignatz and Mrs. Eigner, brother and wife, Dick and Violet Ellis, Jess and Sally Fenno and John, Grace, Line and Steve, Jock and Mrs. Fletcher, Gran, Ruth and Howie Fuller, Heinie and Ruth George, John and Ted Gile, Reg Gough, Glenn and Ruth Gould, Chan Green, Bob, Margaret, Alan and Bruce Harvey, Larry and Mrs. Hayward, Alec and Estelle Jardine, Charlie Jones, Ed Knight, George Kreider, Russ Leavitt and son, Duffy and Mrs. Lewis, Carl, Elizabeth, Dick, David, and Don Lincoln, Ed and Dorothy Lindman, Burt and Kay Lowe, Hobie and Mrs. Marble, Jake and Mrs. Mensel, Bill and Mrs. Mott, Bennie Moxon, wife and son, Jawn and Helen McAuliffe, Andy McClary, Bill and Ruth McKenzie, Gene McQuesten, Joe and Selma Newmark, Phil Nordell, George Paine, Cap and Mrs. Palmer, Ralph Parker, Dick and Steve Parkhurst, Chuck and Mrs. Parsons, Frank and Mrs. Pettengill, Jim Shanahan, Karl and Florence Shedd, Freddie and Kay Smith, Rod and Audrey Soule, Max Spelke and son Lee, Phil Stamatiades, John and Elsie Stearns and daughter, Bob and Mrs. Steinert and daughter, Ken Stowell, Gil and Mrs. Tapley, Ken and May Tucker, Stirling, Betty and Janet Wilson.
If I omitted anyone, a thousand pardons.
A CHEERFUL DELEGATION OF WIVES AND CHILDREN ADDED TO THE SUCCESS AND NUMBERS OF 1916'S REUNION
CLASS SECRETARY
