With the D.O.C.

THERE'S a story to be told on this, the day after Dartmouth's 41st Winter Carnival. It's a story of weather, of time, of men. It's a story that is old stuff to quite a few, but one that never seems to reach print; one that can never really be told because it has to be experienced. It is the story behind a Carnival.

It's a story of the endless details of preparing a mighty undertaking: of contacting the ski teams, of setting up courses, of arranging schedules, of planning programs and posters, of arranging for the queen judging, of getting the men out to work on the center-of-campus statue. It's the story of arranging for skaters for the Outdoor Evening show, of getting the ice made during exams, of putting together a set that takes nearly 1500 man-hours of work, of sweating out the last hours before show time.

Carnival, the people say—that's a Hanover Holiday, the unique Mardi Gras of the North. It's all that, but a whole lot more to those who help make Carnival. It's satisfaction; it's pride in something worth the time put into it. There's an opportunity to learn something about fellow students you never knew before. Sure it's good for all those things they say extra-curricular activities are supposed to give a person. Some call it practical experience, others chalk it up to education. But it's more than that; it's a chance to realize the real value of men you otherwise might not have known. Behind the facade of statues, of glittering ice shows, of spectacular ski events, sports events, of fraternity parties, and of the Carnival Ball, is an almost fanatical will to do what has to be done. I don't think anyone who works with the Carnival Committee can really tell you why he does it. He'll hem and haw, he'll say it's fun, he'll tell you he likes the group he works with, that it's a good crew that turns out to lend a hand, but he can't pin it down. The reason he can't is because it's hard to grasp spirit and explain what it's made of.

Last year, we waited until Tuesday. This year it wasn't until Wednesday evening that the warm rain that had been falling changed to snow. Previous to that time there had been only three inches of powder with a thick ice crust. Sunday night a telegram was sent to the Denver ski team telling them not to come, that the prospect of decent snow for Carnival was almost nil. But they came on anyway and brought with them the change of weather that made possible one of the most beautiful Carnivals even seen here (incidentally they won the Carnival ski meet as well). It was a day-and-night proposition from Wednesday through to Friday, but the job was done. The whole College turned out en masse to complete a Carnival that literally had almost been washed out by a drenching 12hour rain. As it was, it was too late to hold the downhill and the slalom on Oak Hill. Those two events were moved to Moosilauke, but otherwise Carnival was held as usual in Hanover and vicinity.

What had been an atmosphere of almost complete disappointment changed in a matter of minutes to one of relief and of energetic preparation. "Alpdudler," the center-of-campus statue depicting an elfish little man blowing a tremendous alphorn, was finished by Thursday night. The Outdoor Evening set was also finished by then; and the ice surface, thanks to ten or twelve tireless and unrelenting men, was finished just in time for the rehearsal on Friday morning. Skiers turned up from everywhere to help repack the jump and set a new cross-country course. The Davis Hockey Rink surface which had been flooded with a mud and water deluge from a clogged drain on Park Street, was swept clean and refrozen in time for Thursday night's game with B.U.

The rest of the story has been already told in the newspapers, magazines, and newsreels. Sub-zero temperatures and three beautiful Northwest days followed, and the end result was an unforgettable snowbedecked Carnival the likes of which is seldom seen. It was an ideal Carnival, one which will be ranked among the best. And part of the reason it was one of the best was because it had to be earned and in a short space of time. That's what makes it worthwhile and what makes it fun. That is the real value of working on such a mammoth project; that is what makes a Dartmouth Carnival great.