1931
Before getting down to what I would like to think of as the purpose of this particular month's column, maybe I should pass along to you one of the pleasanter surprises that has come my way in quite a spell. Somehow or other, the Prodigal Son always gets an especially warm welcome, and this month's "fatted calf" is served up to welcome home Rog Burrill. Rog, like so many others, has been inactive in '31 affairs for many years. These things do happen ... generally not by any intention, but simply as a kind of habit pattern. I am told by those who have been strenuously active in '31 goings-on much longer than I that there comes a time when a man feels as though he's had it, and he seeks restful respite from post-school responsibilities and activities. Others just never do get started. They can't find time or they simply don't want to join in class gatherings, big or small.
Nobody has the right to say that they are wrong. It could very well be they didn't enjoy Dartmouth and do not now feel particularly close to anybody in the class. They feel they went through four years of college and that's all they want.
Rog was a real talented guy in school. He and Joe Linz wrote a couple of Carnival Shows; he had an orchestra of his own; he worked like a dog and paid a substantial part of his college expenses, and he had a fine brain. But after graduation the class lost touch with him.
Now a long, warm letter from Rog makes me feel so good, I'd like to yell in print. He's in the air-conditioning business; he and his lovely wife Dorothy have a big farmhouse on 25 acres where they raise and market herbs and share their rustic surroundings with a dog, three cats, seven geese, four hens, a couple dozen pheasants and an occasional deer. His letter sounds vibrant and cheerful and winds up saying, "For my part, I fully intend to be more active in class affairs." He has been a member of his town's board of selectmen for three years, secretary of the committee on new school construction ... and, all in all, a good example of that class of Dartmouth men who constitute an effective part of the working force of many successful communities throughout the country. Now that Rog Burrill is back with us, the class is going to be a lot better off for it.
Incidentally, Rog reports that Ken Sampson has been re-elected vice chairman of the Brockton, Mass., school committee, on which he has been an important functionary for a great many years. Also he sees Bob Tonis occasionally and describes him as "mature, business-like and full of FBI poise."
A card from the Hanover Inn indicates that Fred Tetzlaff, wife and son were in Hanover the first part of January. The last I heard of Fred, he was in England ... so maybe if he can find time to drop me a line, there's probably a story here some place. Featured prominently among the recent executive appointments listed in the United States Review is a picture of an apparently very satisfied CharlieHubbard, who has just been named regional supervisor of group pensions in Philadelphia by the Travelers Insurance Company.
The financial page of the January 2 NewYork Times shows Bob Wallace beaming proudly about his recent elevation to Veepeedom by the Federal Paper Board Company. Bob has been secretary of the company since '48 and will continue in that post, so his newly-acquired VP is a normal outgrowth of having been a VIP.
It happens to everybody soonor or later... the long-confirmed bachelor, Sid Rubin, finally talked Edith Deborah Greenberg into sharing some orange blossoms (the floral type) with him. The wedding announcement carried a cryptic but soulfully-expressed note, "After all these years, I finally did it." FrankNichols writes from Coral Gables, Fla., that all the rest of us who continue to subject ourselves to the vagaries and vicissitudes of northern temperatures should take one of two courses (a) see a psychiatrist or (b) come visit him. While there, Frank might persuade you to do a little investment counseling.
That last plug was simply a devious and artful way for me to get into a little investment counseling of my own. A note from Spence Miller says, "At the Chicago meeting of the Alumni Council, representatives of the Class of '31 were quite badly shamed by the intrinsically poor showing in respect of class gifts which is also very bad compared with classes on either side of it." In my business we are accustomed to getting the needle but the one in Spence's letter could be used to hemstitch a Percheron's harness. It's true that '31 has been, to put it casually, slightly remiss in its response to Charlie McAllister's pleas for the Memorial Fund. Before you read this column, Charlie and I will have met with Spence, Red Rolfe and Bob Oelman here in New York to discuss the whole situation. We've got a reunion coming up in a couple of years and, at that time, we are supposed to make our class gift to the College ... and most of the classes have given fairly substantial amounts. A lot of us feel that 1931 should be no less responsive. We recognize, at the same time, that very few of us can afford a sizable lump sum. On the other hand, most of us can afford a few bucks at reasonably frequent intervals — once we set our minds to it. I'm not going to take space at this time to give you all the reasons why it's so vitally important that you invest in Dartmouth's future. A moment's reflection on your part would be much more persuasive than volumes written by me. It is the hope and intention of your class officers that we can find the way to relax those puckered muscles around the mouth of your wallet. Nothing could be more ill-timed than this notice, since you will be reading it concurrent with that annual tussle with the infernal revenue boys. We'll be talking about it again, however.
C'mon, straighten up ...you're still '31. See you next month.
Secretary, Lambert & Feasley, Inc. 60 E. 42nd St., New York 17, N.Y.
Treasurer, 1512 Spruce St., Philadelphia 2, Pa.
