1939
First, let us take our customary look at the newspaper clippings to get a line on the doings of those who are too modest to tell us about them:
An unidentified Syracuse (N. Y.) newspaper reports that the Advertising and Sales Club of Syracuse sat spellbound one day last March listening to Kenneth Curtis, assistant director of the Industrial Relations Department of National Association of Manufacturers, speaking on "Industry Views the National Labor Policy."
Ken has been associated with NAM since 1949, first with the Employe Benefits Committee, and later with the Employe Health and Safety Committee. He was appointed to his present position in January. Prior to his affiliation with NAM, he was associated with several nationally known firms, including the Mack Manufacturing Co., Colt Manufacturing Co., and Westclox, Inc.
Under the fascinating headline, ALL SAINTS HONOR RECTOR AT ANNIVERSARY RECEPTION, the Bayside Times of Flushing (N. Y.) reports that over 150 of his parishioners gathered at a testimonial to Rev. Robert K. Thomas of All Saints Episcopal Church of Bayside last March to mark the completion of his fifth year at the Church. Among other things, Bob received a purse of money as a token of esteem and appreciation.
Prior to his assignment to Bayside, Bob served as associate Rector at St. John's Church, Waterbury, Conn. He is a former president of the Bayside Council of Churches and Synagogues, and is a member of the Anglican Society, an international society of Anglican churches. After leaving Dartmouth, he took his S.B.T. degree from Berkley Divinity School in New Haven in 1947. He will receive his Masters from N.Y.U. this year and will continue studying at that institution for his Doctorate.
From Bob Elkins we have a note which tells nothing about Bob, but does enclose a clipping from the Springfield (Mass.) Daily News announcing, with picture, that Bun Cotton, of the Tekoa Country Club in Westfield, has been elected president of the Western Mass. Four-Ball Golf League. Other than that, the clipping sheds no light on the current doings of Master Cotton.
And now, let us quote at length from The Secretary's Delight, Moreau Brown. When Mr. Brown writes, he writes:
"I have resigned from my position of Assistant Dean of Admissions at NYU and have accepted a position in the Grants and Services Section of the Educational Relations Services Department of the General Electric Company. My headquarters will be Schenectady and we hope in the near future to dispose of our home in Canton and move to that area. My resignation takes effect June 1 and shortly after that time I shall commence my new duties.
"For the past two years I have probably set a commuting record since I have kept my family in Canton and made the eight hundred mile round trip on an almost regular weekend basis. This I do not recommend. But I have been unable to acquire the city man's taste for the soot and the grime, the hustle and the bustle, even in the relatively quiet reaches of the Bronx, and look forward to living again in the shadows of our Adirondack pines.
"I have promised myself, upon returning next to Hanover, to resurrect from the dust of Baker those Dartmouth files which include a series of then shocking editorials entitled 'The Alumni Circus,' for I wonder if we, too, are now part of the show or if we have managed to avoid that fate. Perhaps the fact that some of our contemporaries have recently tilted with the suggestion of dropping football at Dartmouth indicated that there is something unique about our college generations, something rebellious. Personally, while I shall never grieve that Dartmouth is not a bowl contender, I should hate to think that I might not some day have the opportunity to see my own son or yours play for Dartmouth on a crisp autumn day with a background of Hanover foliage and the Velvet Rocks.
"Reports that come from Hanover about the College through educational channels have been good. Some listeners are apprehensive and describe the changes as tending to make Dartmouth like Haarvaard, and what could possibly be worse? But then, I daresay that had we scratched the surface we could have found something worthwhile about Haarvaard and, on this premise, I am not unduly alarmed....
"I am reminded as I write of the rank censorship of a previous letter to one of our classmates responsible for the circulation of class news. I had the poor taste to refer to an incident which involved a well-considered, carefully contrived plan to drain Orford Pond into the Connecticut River. We were assured by a faculty member one cold fall night that a hose properly primed to create a suction would do the job in a matter of hours, and we set out with the proper equipment to do the job. Unfortunately several unforeseen technical difficulties arose and, as far as I know, the pond and its inhabitants remain undisturbed. My correspondent, you see, was one of us.
"I see our own Charlie Davis occasionally at his NYU bailiwick where he teaches English, but seldom any of our other classmates. My activities have been largely academic. A last course at NYU in the fall of '52 finished the requirements for my M.Ed, from St. Lawrence and I shared the commencement program last June, in a very small way, with Sherman Adams who accepted an honorary doctorate from that institution. My work on a Ph.D. in Public Administration was initiated at NYU last fall and goes on apace. It will be interesting, some day, to brush up for that long dormant German and French to try to pass the language examinations.
"As Parker Merrow usually says, 'I wish some of you coulda been there.' "
A brief note from the Hanover Inn reports that Hank White, the Hingham, Mass., statesman, was a recent sojourner at the Inn. Other visitors to Hanover recently include your Class Agent, your Treasurer, and your Secretary, in town for the annual Alumni Officers Weekend. Since this magazine each month does an excellent job of reporting to you on the state of the College, we shall not presume to. attempt to say more than that the College survived our visit.
The high point of the weekend was a cocktail party at the home of Howie and JanieChivers, who, with their two children, Carol, 5, and Sandra, just about one, are now living out toward the end of East "Wheelock Street, in what your wives would call "the darlingest house you have ever seen." The Chivers are about to conclude their Hanover season and take off for Lake Timagami, Ontario, where, as you may know, Howie is Director of The Keewaydin Camp. If you have a boy who would like to spend a summer paddling his own canoe all over God's country for eight weeks, Bro. Chivers is the man to see (brochure on request).
And finally, the Class of '39 at this writing rests in first place in the Alumni Fund Green Derby! If you haven't already done your part to keep the class up there, now is the time. When you read this, we will be just about 15 years out of college. Let's celebrate the occasion by having 100% participation in the Fund this year!
Chuck Farnham, prominent Peoria, Ill., physician, was one of the team of volunteer physicians administering the polio shots to the first, second and third grades of Peoria's school children in the city's "shooting war" against polio in April and May. Incidentally, Chuck's family home in Peoria has just been sold to another Dartmouth man, Dr. Harold P. Rodes '41, new president of Bradley University.
IN HANOVER for the Class Officers Meetings, John R. Scotford '38, new Class Agent, and his wife enjoyed the spring sunshine.
Secretary, American Bankers Association 200 Madison Ave., New York 16, N. Y.
Class Agent, 1540 Broadway, New York 19, N. Y.
