1916
At this writing the Alumni Fund has gotten under way, and 1916 is off with a rush, due partly to our lack of rush in getting some of our contributions in last year, which makes them hold over till this year.
I cannot find that I ever passed on the news of the engagement of Margaret Parkhurst, daughter of Dick and Mrs. Parkhurst, to David Franklin Sykes, of Philadelphia. Miss Parkhurst is a graduate of Smith and Mr. Sykes graduated from Princeton in 1951. The best wishes of the Class go to this young couple.
A letter from Ernie Earley, distinguished conductor of a neighboring column, says: "At the 'Old Goats' party at the Dartmouth Club of New York on March 5, we had the pleasure of having dinner with Stanley Jones and Leigh Rogers, and I gather that long into the night Leigh does his best work on his novel which he is fast putting into shape. He looks fine. His moustache looks 20 years younger, and my authority., Stan Jones, says that is invariably true, that the moustache is 20 years younger. Leigh is always delightful company." From another source we learn that Leigh's moustache has been described as the "Irish brush model, fashioned after the Irish police captain of the early 20th century."
Ken Henderson, already very busy on his assignment as Chairman of the Alumni Fund drive, wrote me a friendly note of greeting upon my retirement from the Navy, which I appreciated. Sorry to say I have since retired from my retirement and am working for the National Production Authority, whatever that is, although I don't know how long I can take these long bus rides down from the rolling country of Montgomery County, Md., to the hectic confines of the capital of our country, just now a mass of blooming trees and flowers.
"Stew" Paul was in town yesterday for a hearing before the Congressional committee considering the Hoover plan for reorganizing the Government departments. "Stew" looked fine, was sunburned and lean, and says he has lost about 30 pounds since he went to Florida, working around his little orange grove, fishing off his private dock, etc. He reports also that Mrs. Paul is doing fine after a spell of illness and is making a fine recovery, which is a welcome bit of news to all who have met the congenial Mrs. Paul. He gave me the news that Alec Jardine and Estelle had been sighted in the environs of Tallahassee, working their way north with machete and camera. They should be in Washington by the time the wrens arrive, lending their cheerful chirp to enliven our summer days (the wrens, not the Jardines).
In reply to my observation that the town of Olympia, Wash., was one of the most desirable places to live in which I had seen in my travels, Hank Blaney writes, "I thoroughlyagree with you in your choice of Olympia asa highly desirable place in the Northwest inwhich to retire. I think that we would havepicked it ourselves if it weren't that it is sofar from our daughter Eunice and her fatniiy."
"Bub" Brundage writes from the EasternShore:
"I am living down at Bozman, McL, on a farm which I have had for about ten years. I have had to retire from the practice of law in New Jersey. The doctors say I have early hardening of the arteries due to my war experience and overwork. If you should ever get over this way I wish you would stop in to see me. Another classmate of ours lives near me, Prentice Winchell. He lives at St. Michaels, about eight miles from my place. I like it down here very much."
In case you do not know about the "Eastern Sho'," I will say that it is widely celebrated among all sorts and conditions of men as one of the world's garden spots, where the soil is black as ink and very fertile, the climate mild and salty, and where there is plenty of opportunity for some of the finest dining room athletics in the country. It is common knowledge that if an umbrella is stuck in the ground before a rain, it will grow leaves within 24 hours. Just driving through there a couple of years ago gave me the idea for the song "Diggin' sweet potatoes on the Eastern Shore," for which Mark Bowsher, my lead singer, wrote a nitty melody. If ever I get near Bozman I promise myself a long talk with Bub Brundage, and another with my old New York roommate of postcollege days, Prentice Winchell, long lost on my record of addresses.
A card from Roger Evans, back in New York, after reading my quote from JohnAmes, who worked in the same building with Roger in Tokyo: "Yes, it was nice to have John Ames only two doors away at the Imperial in Tokyo. Then I completed the circuit via Formosa, the Philippines, Hongkong, Bangkok, Djakarta, Singapore, Colombo and London without sighting another from Balmacaan. So it's doubly warming to get home to your green letters and the Bulletins from Hanover."
March guests at the Hanover Inn included Mr. and Mrs. Phil Lewis from Swampscott, Mass., and Ed Carey from Providence. If all the '16ers who have been at the Hanover Inn in the last four years come back to the next reunion we will break the attendance records. Mrs. Phil (Verda) Davis is leaving (early April) to spend some time in her home town of Magnolia, Ark. Ev Kiley is still in Chevy Chase, Md., and Mrs. Helen Coburn is still in Texas so far as we know, or she may be back in her Richmond Hill home on Long Island. We have lost track of Mrs. Bill Banton, and if anyone knows where she is we want to know too.
No addresses are known for James M.Burke, last address White Plains, N. Y„ BillCostello, Roscoe B. Goodwin, Robert B. Gray,Burton F. Haas, James R. Mclaughlin Jr.,Lawrence C. May, Rudolph Mertin Jr.,Charles A. Richardson, and Leo E. Riley. If you know where any of them is, please tell us.
Jack Childs, the very cooperative and able editor of the Newsletter of the Class of 1909, the Dartmouth Diddings, was kind enough to send me some news items about classmates, under date of March 28, as follows:
"At the Alumni Fund dinner in Cleveland last night, there were three of your classmates, KenHenderson, Bill McKenzie and John Alden Belletier, who is now located in Ashtabula, O. Ken, I think, will do a good job as Fund Chairman. RubyMcFalls was at the Dartmouth lunch this noon. Last week his son Dick '49 was in town from Oregon where he's been with the New England Mutual. His brother John '48 is also out there. It seems that Dick, or Red, as they call him, lined up a girl friend, but when John arrived out there he moved in and married the girl. Red has been called back into the Navy and is now in officer training at Norfolk. Another son of one of your classmates, Ralph G. Tyler (Bud), is a frequent attendant at the Dartmouth lunches in Cleveland. He's in the class of '45—a swell young fella who's doing well with Bethlehem Steel. Fletch Andrews has been performing again, his latest stunt being with Nisi Prius, a local lawyers' shindig similar to the Gridiron Club of Washington—where they put everybody on the pan. Fletch's wife recently sold her Cadillac to her brother Norm Jeavons '19. Why? Because she got a new one."
Where but in the Dartmouth family will you find a man from another class taking so much trouble to help out the secretary of a different class? Many thanks, Jack Childs.
Bill McKenzie also wrote me about the Cleveland dinner and commented on the fine presentation by Ken Henderson. Bill, Ken and Johnnie Pell had a small reunion after the dinner.... A card from Alec Jardine to Bill says: "It's a tie, California and Florida on rain." He wrote from Dunedin, heading North.
Secretary, Dartmouth House 8606 Broad Brook Dr., Bethesda 14, Md Treasurer, 27 Concord St., Nashua, N. H. Class Agent, 97 Mayfield Ave., Akron 3, O.
