1938 Enjoys Its 15th
As Prescott Downer so aptly put it on Sunday afternoon, "1938 lost fifteen years of reputation during the course of the Reunion." After a long period of (dis)repute as one of the most disorganized, rowdiest, and unpredictable classes of recent history, the Fifteenth Reunion was marked by winning the Class of 1930 Cup for the greatest number in attendance, a staid yet most enjoyable series of reuning sessions, and the raising of more than one thousand dollars at the Auction.
Jim Briggs and Pete Talbot from the wilds of the Pacific Frontier took the door prize for distance; other door prizes of the usual nature were not awarded due to the failure of the judges to agree. There being no epi- sodes of a firehose nature, a decision would have been difficult to reach.
Whitey Mays and his overworked cohorts provided a varied program which at the same time did not impose the impossible strain of being in two or three different places at once; there was ample time and opportunity for the informal kind of reuning which most of us appreciate the most. Particular credit for the smooth running of the whole program should go to Gil Tan is, who handled the myriad local arrangements; and of course wife Fran must receive bouquets for her tolerance in not seeing Gil practically the whole weekend and for her active work with him on all those trying things which come up before and during the weekend.
Friday afternoon was dominated by checking in; both at the dorm and the beer tent; the usual derisive straw-hat greetings of the veterans of a half hour to the newly-arrived; the splendiferous arrival "en Cadillac" of George Porter, chauffeur and bodyguard; and the first of a succession of costume modellings by Gorman (Brooks must have subsidized the genial Patrick complete to salmon shorts and yellow silk shirt on through seven or eight other ensembles). Despite the explosive propensities of Hook Schneider's infernal beer machine, the creamy fluid managed to flow until a late hour, followed for some by the kind of dorm room get-together that can and does go on until the birds begin interrupting the sage conversation. Some of the faces missing from the Reunion picture can be attributed to recuperative efforts on the part of participants in such intellectual seances.
Class Picture and Business Meeting started Saturday off. From the depths of the secretary's smoke-filled room, the outgoing Executive Committee submitted the following nominations, which were carried through by vote at the meeting: Secretary, the incumbent; Class Agent John Scotford; Treasurer -Bob Harvey; Pace-Setter Bill Ganter; Memorial Fund Chairman Bud Walls. As members of the new Executive Committee, the following were named: Lou Frick, Mallory, Frank Brett, Fran Reilly, John Graham,Jim Briggs, Bob Emlen, Bud Fox, Skip French,Ed Grace, and Jack Scarborough.
The outgoing treasurer, McMurtrie, attempted to account for class funds, with little conviction but some humor, although it does appear that we have some surplus which can be applied to getting started on the TwentyFive-Year Gift. It was decided that dues should be raised for the same purpose, the exact figure to be determined by the new Treasurer and the Memorial Fund Chairman.
The Class Auction at Keene's on Saturday afternoon and evening and the picnic coincident with it were, as expected, the high point of the weekend. In a beautiful setting out in the hillsides of Hanover Center, the Stentorian barking of ace-auctioneer Mays was interrupted only by the opening of beer cans and the sizzling of steaks on the outdoor grill. Valuable commodities went for a song; someone got a two-week vacation in Bavaria (if he could get there); Reno donated the fixing of a traffic ticket in any state of the Union and Puerto Rico or a free divorce; Lyle bought a pine-panelled room; Dave Bradley was the winner of a bolt of "crotch-cloth"; and three kittens went on the livestock market. It appeared that every item in the inventory of either Vick or Vaseline appeared at one time or another. By the end of the afternoon, with the arrival for a brief period of hours of Lou Fortuna from the Deep South, 1938 counted 159 male members present for the festivities this being, as stated earlier, the greatest number of any class that weekend. The safari back to the tent was without incident, and the pace then was set at will according to individual taste.
Professors McKennan, West and Scarlett were special guests, with their wives, of the Class.
In spite of sizzling heat, general debilitation, and the relatively early hour of eleven in the morning, a goodly number of 1937's, 1938's, and 1939's gathered in the Bema for the Memorial Service, to mark our remembrance of classmates no longer with us and to rededicate ourselves to them and the College. Roy Chamberlih Jr. spoke effectively and briefly in his usual forthright, sincere manner, and Cedric Jaggard of 1937 preached the sermon. A copy of the program is being sent to families of former classmates as a token of the remembrance and an indication of the solemn beauty of the service. Of course no description could encompass the setting in the Bema with all the connotations of the surroundings to any graduate of the College.
With the departure on Sunday of the many station-wagons and few Cadillacs, the Reunion gradually closed down, although local report has it that for some, the official ending was much later, just as the beginning for some had been on Thursday night, particularly the Buffalo-St. Louis coalition and a few select New Yorkers.
Just one final note of credit must be given to the effect that 1938 did not lose money on the affair to the embarrassment of the treasury; by very close figuring and guessing, Reunion Treasurer Hitchcock came out with a small surplus. This plus some of the proceeds of the auction will augment the Memorial Fund as it gets started.
Here is the final attendance roll:
Ahern, Ammarells, Averills, Andersons, Bakers (Fred), Bakers (Rog), Barnets, Barrett, Barton, Bayers, Beck, Beckers, Block, Boyles, Bradleys, Briggs, Brinkmanns, Brett (s), Caslers, Chandlers, Chivers's, Coltons, Cooks, Cooneys, Cravens's, Chamberlin, Davenports, Davidsons, Deerys, Downer, Dunlap, Ellis, Egelhoffs, Emersons, Emlens, Farringtons, Fasolos, Feakins's, Feinemans, Flynns, Forgans, Fox's, Francis's, Freses, Fricks, Frenches, Ganters, Gordons, Gorman, Grace, Cutners, Grahams, Halls, Hallocks, Hanley, Harries's, Hartys, Harveys, Hawkes's, Heneages, Herricks, Hitchcocks, Hosmers, Howards, Hulls (Jack), Hunters, Herberts, Jones's (Alex), Kelleys, Keyes's, Kings (Art), Kings (Marty), Koeppels, Kruschwitzs, Kirchs, Kingsburys, Lakes, Lansbergs, Leachs, Lemmons, Linscotts, Lutzs, Lyles, Lynchs, McDuffs, McGoverns, McGraths, McLanes, McLaughlins, McMurtries, Mains (Charley), Mathers, Maynes, Mayos, Mays, Meachems, Merritts, Millers (Jim), Mooneys, Musseys, MacLeod, Mallory, Nassikas, Nelsons, Niebling, Nims's, Olmsteads, Ossens, Ottos, Perkins's, Porter, Rands, Randletts, Rathbuns, Reeves, Reillys, Renos, Roberts's (Tom), Rockwells, Ross's, Russel, Rasmussens, Schaeffers, Schmidt, Schneider, Scotfords, Seavers, Sherwins, Simons's, Smalls, Soules, Southworths (Gus), Stronachs, Stearns, Stoughton, Tanis's, Talbots, Tisdales, Tomlinson, Tompkins's, Tosis, Towers, Townes, Trautners, Urions, vanDenburgs, Vaughns, von Pechmanns, Wales's, Walls, Wards, Watsons, Whites (Ed), Whites (Graham), Wilsons (Don), Wischmanns, Wiswalls, Wolffs (A1).
THE PRIZE FOR THE MOST MEMBERS BACK ON THE SECOND REUNION WEEKEND WENT TO 1938, WHICH TURNED OUT 159 MEN
CLASS SECRETARY
