1909
It's a beautiful spring day in Aurora, that well known Garden Spot where the "sun shines on both sides of the street," as Billy Van used to say of his beloved Newport, N. H. If Billy were alive, I'm sure it'd be the kind of day he'd enjoy. Yep, the signs of spring are here. Lana, the glamor girl puss, has got herself a couple young snakes. The purple grackles are nosing their way around the yard looking for a feed bag. The spring flowers are up about six inches, and if they don't get nipped by late frost, we'll be having blooms on the dining room table before long.
With spring come baseball, golf, high school class plays, mating seasons—and the Alumni Fund campaign. I attended that free feed put on in Cleveland on March 27 by the powers from Hanover. I was looking for Class Agent Ralph Byron Clement to be in there from Dayton, but he didn't show. Maybe he was sick. They had a rousing meeting. Everybody got charged with enthusiasm and it looked like the Fund deal would be getting off to a good start. Let's hope that '09 will catch fire and come through with a good record.
Bertie French, our sedulous secretary and treasurer, reports that class dues collected so far this year amount to 116, as against 112 last year. "For two years," says Bertie, "we have tried sending the MAGAZINE to all the class. It doesn't show results here, but it may in the Alumni Fund. There are not enough paying members to take advantage of the class rate."
Collectionwise, Bertie, you aren't doing too bad. There are only 204 grads and non-grads in the land of the living, and of this number five are reported as missing. A number of the non-grads went to other colleges and no longer consider themselves affiliated with Dartmouth. You have increased your collections over the preceding year, despite the fact that seven of our classmates died during 1951. Take heart, son. You're doing a good job, and maybe when some of the delinquents read this they'll discharge their duty to the class.
A Collection of Items
Bertie calls attention to the marriage of Henry Emile Erhard, son of Henry, our class, and nephew of Emile, to Sallie Hope Brown, post-debutante daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Brown of Salem, Mass. It must have been a pretty fancy wedding because the bride wore a wedding dress of ivory satin brocade brought from China by her great-grandfather, Capt. Francis Brown, of Salem. Her picture in full regalia appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe.
Sympathy goes to Dick Lord whose wife Phyllis died in March. Reports of her death were received from Bob Holmes, BertieFrench and Al Newton. The latter said that he had a chance to talk with Dick and learned that hers was a hopeless case and a blessing that she was taken. She is survived by Dick and their son Jerry. Remember Jerry and his wife at our 40th reunion? A couple of swell kids.
The other day I was talking to one of the Cleveland Dartmouths who vacations in Florida where Louise Hawley, Jess' widow, hangs out. He told me that she has remarried, but he didn't recall the name of her present spouse. You'll remember the bad accident that young Jess had while stunting at water skiing, when he rammed head on into a bank and became completely paralyzed? He is just about the same, although he can move one hand just a little. He has to lie flat on his back. It's a tough break for one in the prime of life.
Curt Sheldon, back at his desk at New Britain (Conn.) National Bank after a bout with sickness, was again on the ballot for reelection as City Treasurer. So far he's been elected for 16 consecutive terms of two years each. Why, that's a better record than Roosevelt's.
Beryl (that's Curt's wife) is no slouch in getting mixed up in various activities. She is Connecticut State Chairman of the Needlecraft Guild of America, a charity that helps all charities. She was scheduled to attend their national convention in Kansas City on April 29. Then she's vice president of the Connecticut Association for Mental Health, and some of her time is devoted to making handmade jewelry which she sells under her own name. She ought to compare notes with Hazel French (Bertie's wife) who's a skilled craftsman in her own right.
Word comes through that Ed and MargaretChappelear and their daughter Joan took a vacation in Florida after Joan had her appendix cut out.
Speaking of Beryl and Margaret, they were two of the snappiest dames at our 40th reunion.
Herb Hawes didn't have it too good this winter. He was laid up at home for a month. Then he had a three-weeks session in the hospital with pneumonia.
Elizabeth Poor Middleton (Box 359, Lenox,Mass.) is getting plum discouraged about thoseanecdotes relating to her father, the late Prof.John M. Poor.
"It is amazing how often in the past," she writes, "before I ever thought to undertake this project, wherever I went if I met a Dartmouth man, he had stories to tell of my father, even if he personally had never had a course with him. It is even true of men who attend college long after my father died. . . . That is why I am disappointed that at least a few men haven't come forth with something other than 'it's a fine idea. I wish you luck.' "
How about it, youse guys? Are you going tolet the poor girl down, or are you going torouse yourselves from your recumbent position and send some tales in her direction? Inour class, so far, Frank Austin is the onlyguy who's come through with any kind ofresponse.
This brings us to the end of another episode. And that's all from Jack Childs inAurora.
Class Notes Editor, Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio Secretary and Treasurer, Sandwich, Mass. Class Agent, 18 Spirea Dr., Dayton 9, Ohio
