1934's Unforgettable 15th
THERE among the lone pines, the chill winds, and the shattered illusions of some of the greying, balding men of '34 is a man holding a stop watch on our (dare we inject such a thought so soon) virgin effort to turn out this column. For that reason, we can only bow swiftly in the direction last taken by the übiquitous Jackson, who has labored mightily through long years in the vineyard, not to mention the brewery and the saloons, following and recording the peregrinations and machinations of probably the finest class ever to depart that academy for Indians just north of Mink Brook.
At this point words are precious, so the more formal aspects of the recent gathering of the clan will be deferred and we shall speed to that notable day when, 216 strong, the Class of 1934 and auxiliaries stormed Hanover.
It didn't take long to discover that this reunion was a smooth operation. With BillGilmore as chairman, and the firm of Jackson and Scherman lending considerable moral support, Bill Wilson, John Lyle, Bob Kolbe,Jake Jacobson, Jerry Danzig and Al Marks saw to it that if you were unfed, unidentified, uninformed, or unhappy it was your own fault.
Friday they can't take away from us. Friday couldn't have been better! The tent provided a cocktail party, buffet supper, and an early opportunity to find out how the years and various sociological experiments such as matrimony had treated the fellow who used to sit beside you in "Smut."
As the evening progressed, selected delegates, chosen for their relative sobriety and the possession of a clean "T" shirt, dropped in at the reception of that young fellow who is trying to run the place up there as well as "Hoppy" did; the Alumni Dance was graced by many for as long as their aging arches could take it; but the main activity, of course, was the Tent. Once Jack Gilbert, Jack Wholey,Hank Rigby, and Bill Scherman, assisted by several obviously left-handed shortstops from the numerically higher but otherwise inferior classes who infested the neighborhood around our home base, warmed up they made the Pied Piper look like a guy with halitosis. We entertained people from far, near and West Lebanon, N. H., until dawn or one of the strings on Scherman's outsize violin broke. It was a memorable evening!
As everyone sprang bright-eyed from his warm sack at the first thunder-clap on Saturday morning, he was confronted with a free sample bottle of Bromo-Seltzer and an item called Tips which an enterprising huckster who shall be nameless had thoughtfully distributed. Bromo-Seltzer is a product which is very good for car sickness; Tips is a very fine product, which if you find a large character lying flat on his face and on turning him you smell only roses where you expect to smell Four Roses, the chances are still good that he has not been hit by a large, blunt instrument but has had the forethought before lying down to place a few drops of Tips on his tongue, as directed.
Saturday morning we gathered in groups variously to get the class business over with, as shall be reported in the fall; to bravely face the camera; and to meet with the alumni group in the Gym.
The afternoon, however, proved the real ability of aforementioned committee.
After almost a full day to look over the ball players of yore and to evaluate the large deposits of lead where once only sliding pads rode so jauntily, it was decided to call off any softball on account of the best prospect in the class seemed to be Merry Lou Metzger (aged 10, approx.).
Then the committee, after consulting, indirectly, Ma Smalley's corns, a former AAF meteorologist, and their own goose pimples wisely decided: (1) to bring indoors all brass monkeys within reach, and (2) to transfer the picnic to the relative confines of the baseball
This move provided the opportunity for the gym team to shame the old ball club when "Ace" Miller, on a hard-packed dirt floor successfully completed that difficult maneuver of two flying revolutions with a half twist which looks awfully tough even when the dervish is 21 and unencumbered by the centrifugal force of two thick steaks and numerous flagons of brew.
Saturday night you'd have bet your Aunt Minnie's red flannels that nobody would have ventured more than ten feet from the nearest jumping radiator, but your Aunt Minnie would have been awfully cold—too! After sufficient preparation, which strained the concrete seams of Hitchcock, and with most of the girls tastefully attired in grey surplus Navy blankets, the party once again moved to the Tent. With the first beat of the band, the night became brighter, the joint started rocking, and the younger but less virile members of '35 and '36 appeared from their respective cracks in the woodwork. To recall, in summation, Walt Keady's famous paraphrase of the scriptures, "Many were cold, but few were frozen."
Sunday morning dawned bright and clearit is reported by Mr. Mahoney, proprietor of Mac's, who, having spent these many years in Hanover, eventually learned to go to bed at a reasonable hour. 1934 broke the close ties of the weekend regretfully and with gentle shakings of the hand and head—gentle because a head which falls off your shoulders and rolls in the gutter is a spectacle too horrible to coniemplale.
Everyone was (1) sorry to leave, (2) going to the Michigan game and (3) coming back in 1951 (and Sylvia, that instrument may have been notarized by Sam McCray but it's not valid because it seems there are only six of those pine panelled suites in Butterfield, the rest of the place is as bare as).
If you could linger, though, if you were a "bitter ender" you could wander through the still afternoon over the campus. You could look at the plaques dedicated to those three fine men, Hillman, Tesreau, and Kaney and, if you're a sentimentalist you would maybe choke a little on the inscription to Big Jeff, "All he ever asked was his share of the close ones."
In fact, no matter what you should be looking for at your age, chum, it was there. Better be with us next timel These are the folks who know:
Bob and Mar] Allabough, Stew and Bunny Alexander, Dave and Winnie Beasley, Pret and Kay Belknap with Susan, Nancy; Bob and Sue Brown, Walt and Ada Blood, Bob and Julie Balgley, Bam and Is Brennon, Stu Barber, Jim and Eleanor Bayles, Harry and Peggy Brague, Bill Barrett, Walt and Ellie Crandell, George and Marge Copp, Oscar Cohn with Mary Parker, Bill and Louise Clough, Chuck Cotsworth, Dave and Virginia Callaway, Dick and Helen Campen with Dick, Denny, Bill Craig, Jerry Danzig, Breck and Claire Deßiemer with Chick; Marty and Joy Dwyer, Peanuts and Helen Davies, Orv and Marian Dryfoos, Em Day with Tad, Bob, Nancy; Sey Dunn, Bob and Mary Engleman, Bill and Sylvia Emerson, Jake Edwards, Sam Fishman, Ted and Marian Flemming, Moe and Lois Frankel, John and Mary Foley, Dick Fowle, Bill and Norma Gilmore with Bill, Tom, Kev; Mel and Lois Gunst, Bob Griffin, Gillie Gilmore, Jack and Jane Gilbert, Dick and Mary Gruen, Chuck and Alice Hirschey, Dick Houck, Jack Hinsman, Chuck and Guggie Henry, Ward and Lynette Harvey, Leonard Harrison, Russ and Bish Ireland, Jeff Jackson, Mike and Marion Joseph, Bill and Maggie Judd, Jake and Boots Jacobson, Nels and Ann Krogslund, George and Nan Kimball, Bob and Nona Kolbe.
John and Frannie Lyle, Dick and Flossie Loughry, A] and Katherine Levenson with Meryl, Don and Bunnie Legro with Nancy, Skippy; Sy and Bunny Lewis with Larry, Ace and Helen Miller, John and Midge Murphy, Art and Ruth Moebius, Harry and Mil McCann with Barb, Joe; Mac and Mir Magrath, Wil Maynard, Al and Joan Marks, Mac and Gert McClary, Sam McCray, John and Marion Metzger with Merry Lou, Marilu Howlett. Pete Mitchell, Dave and Lillian Mitchell, Roge and Sammie Manternach, Ike and Ruth Newman, Bob and Mary Palmer, Frank Parmelee, Hank and Betty Peirce, Art and Loretta Reinherz with Teddie, Harold; Bill and Harriet Rench, Chuck and Julie Anne Rolfe, Les and Alice Reeve, Joe and Korky Robinson, Gail Raphael, Hank and Bunny Rigby, Howie and Shirley Rosenblum, Fred Robbe, Stan and Barbara Smoyer, Sig and Louise Stern, Ollie and Kay Sargent, Kirk and Ellie Spitler, Bob and Edie Smith, Bill and Beth Scherman, Don Sandy, Irv and Sel Silverman, Stan Silverman, Herm and Gerry Spitzer, Ray and Ev Snow, Bill and Bunny Sheffeld, Jocko Stangle, Sid and Melba Wisch, Bill and Jo Wilson, Harry and Kay Wallace, Jack and Kay Wholey, Jim and Billie Walter, Jim and Bernice Wendell, Dick Wells, Art and Ardis Ward, Win and Syl Watts, Frank and Doti Wardwell with Dodo, and Nick Xanthaky.
CLASS SECRETARY
