1930

1930 "Man of the Month" is Glenn "Walla"Poorman who, on January 26, was elected a director of Esso Standard Oil Company. Walla joined Esso in 1932 and in these intervening years has held posts in manufacturing, marketing and supply and transportation operations and served as an assistant to the president. At the present time he is general manager of the supply department, which we announced in these columns la.st October. With the outstanding record which Walla made as a graduate student at M.I.T., Walla's achievements might well have been predicted at that time. Walla may be assured that his 1930 classmates take pride in this most recent evidence of his accomplishments.

Under date of January 1, the announcement was made of the formation of J.R. Kennedy & Company, Inc., as members of the New York and American Stock Exchanges, and of Art Behal's election as vice president and treasurer of that new firm, which, with offices at 30 Broad Street, is a successor to Newman, Kennedy & Company.... Russ Sigler sent a most welcome and interesting letter during the early part of January in which he reported that his daughter Judy is a freshman at Beaver College in Jenkintown, Pa., and that his boy, Arnold, is a sophomore at Ridgewood High School where, with Hanover as his goal, he has been applying himself to his studies but not incidentally earned his JV letter as a quarterback on the football team. Russ' letter also included the following concerning two others of our classmates, but the information is so relatively sparse that we hope the two individuals involved will supply further details:

"Last summer while on the Cape I stopped at Wareham to see Arthur Griffin who was recovering at the time from a serious fall he had experienced several weeks before. 'Tess' obviously showed he had been hurt pretty badly, but otherwise he and "is grown family were doing fine. Also should report that Al Schumaker left the Garden State last year for Canada where he has a responsible position with a paper manufacturing company. His address is 64 Greenview Boulevard North, Toronto 18, Ontario."

The Class of 1930 certainly holds a predominant place in the television industry, with NBC claiming a lien on the talents of our two outstanding classmates in that field. A recent feature article in the Boston Traveler by Joseph Levine relative to Pat Weaver, now president of NBC, is worthy of repetition:

"The Big Payoff is small potatoes compared with the way Pat Weaver hit the television jackpot with the early-morning program, Today.

"The program, which celebrates its second birthday on TV tomorrow, is generally associated with its two stars - Dave Garroway and J. Fred Muggs, the chimpanzee.

"But the man behind it all is Sylvester L. (Pat) Weaver, the new president of NBC.

"Weaver dreamed up Today and put it on the air two years ago despite warnings that it would be an expensive fiasco. It was a radical experiment for many 'experts' said that network television could not buck the early-morning competition of radio.

"Their predictions came true - but only for a while. At first, Today lost money. But now it's grossing more than $5,000,000 a year in advertising revenue - more than 5 per cent of NBC's TV total."

The remainder of the article detailed Pat's business career, which all of us have followed with interest, and the article appropriately summarized this career by saying, "Weaver's career has been one of the most fabulous in the fantastic world of television."

One of Pat's leading executives at NBC is Stan Osgood, who is manager of production of NBC's Film Division. An article by Stan in the December 12 issue of Billboard explained the peculiar problems involved in the production of pictures for television use and pointed out the differences between the production of movies for television purposes and for use on the screen. As manager of production of the NBC Film Division, Stan is responsible for coordinating production of the film properties syndicated by the Division, for research on new techniques of film production and for liaison with RCA and the industry on theater TV. Billboard's summary of Stan's business career shows the wide background of experience which contributes to his present position. The article states:

"After graduating from Dartmouth, he went to work for the Big U. film exchange, then served as house manager for one of the Fox Metropolitan theaters in New York. In 1936-'37 Osgood was an assistant cutter for Paramount on short features. He then became veepee, treasurer and general manager of Albert Tarbell Theatrical Productions, became a market analyst for Young & Rubicam and served as a Naval officer during the war. He also produced and directed ordnance-training films for the Navy, and after the war coordinated the production and distribution of the Treasury Department's Victory Loan films. From 1946 to 1948 Osgood supervised the production of short subjects at RKO Pathe in New York. Prior to joining NBC in June, 1950, he served as director of production for CBS-TV and organized a film department for that web."

Lost! We are trying to locate the following Thirtymen whose last addresses aregiven below but from whom we have had noword for a long period of time. Will any ofyou who know of the present whereabouts ofthese men, or any of them, please make a special effort to notify your Secretary. The "lost"individuals are: Richard F. Dennison, I I HighSt., Spencer, Mass.; Fred A. Lange Jr., 9030W. North Ave., Milwaukee 13, Wise.; JamesB. Madison Jr., 301 Virginia St. East, Charleston, W. Va.; and Charles C. MacKechnie,6541 Odessa St., Van Nuys, Calif. Your Secretary will await some clues.

While on the subject of addresses, your Secretary wishes to report that, contrary to questions which have been raised by some of you, he has not changed his business or professional connection, notwithstanding the change of address at the masthead of these notes. Your Secretary continues to be a partner with the law firm of Herrick, Smith, Donald, Farley & Ketchum, with which he has been associated since graduation from law school in 1933. However, the offices of that firm were moved on November 30 last to the address above indicated. A visit from any of you will be most welcome and your news items will be greatly appreciated.

ELECTED DIRECTOR: Glenn W. Poorman '30, who has been with Esso Standard Oil Co. since 1932, has been made a director of the firm. He is general manager of the supply department.

Secretary, 294 Washington St., Boston, Mass

Treasurer, 56 Jennys Lane, Barrington, R.I