1917
For many months we have been waiting for the opportunity to share with you one of the most interesting letters we have received. At our last reunion Harry and Helen Fowler told us some of their unusual experiences traveling around the world. Helen was kind enough to send us the details of their present trip that will take them almost a year. In case you wonder how such fabulous trips are accomplished here are the ingredients: Harry is retired fromthe Army; they plan extensive trips everyother year; they travel by freighter and livefor weeks at a time in unusual spots. The letter from Helen follows:
"Harry and I sailed on May 17 to Goteborg and took the charming Gota Canal trip - two nights and three days through the heart of Sweden. We heartily recommend it to those seeking something 'different.' I attended the International Council of Women conference in Helsinki and met Harry at Hammerfest in Norway - the northernmost city in the world. We went to the North Cape and back down the outer fjords to Molde where we traveled through the inland fjords - utterly beautiful We had no idea that Norway had been so destroyed. One just has to see the damage to grasp it. But, like the Finns, they are gallant. Too close to the Russians for comfort but still gay. 'We have faith in the future.' An object lesson to us Americans.
"Our car was delivered in Copenhagen and we drove through charming Denmark. Are now on our way to Geneva to attend the Economic and Social Council session of UN. We'll take in the Salzburg Festival and drive through 'La Belle France' en route to Zagreb, Jugoslavia, where we are delegates to the World Congress for Child Welfare. Drive on through Greece and Turkey where the car will be shipped home, and we go on to Beirut, Damascus and to Egypt. Down the Red Sea we are stopping at fantastic places - Jedda, Massawa, Port Sudan, Djibouti and Aden en route to Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan before swinging into India. In 1952 we had two months in the northern part. This time we want to see the south and have promised our friends there that we'll spend the month of November. We are hoping to be fortunate enough to see their exquisite Festival of the Lights. In January we shall be the guests of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia attending the fifth anniversary of their independence. On January 24 I go to the Pan Pacific Women's Conference in Manila and Harry visits the U. S. Army in Baquio. Late in February we go to Hong Kong, Formosa and on to Japan from which we sail home via Panama Canal reaching home May 1. As you can see we are combining pleasure with work, —if attending international conferences can be called work. We don't really think so. But the more we see of other countries and other peoples, the more convinced we are that fundamentally people are alike. Governments may differ but the people all want the same things - education, decent homes, jobs and, most of all, security. Taken all in all, people are really wonderful."
Try this trip on your world atlas, as we did, if you want to get a look at faraway places.
From Ernie Early 'l8, we learned that FredLeighton recently was invited to address a group of leading United States and Mexican businessmen at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It was the sixth annual meeting of the group which meets alternately in Mexico and the United States and is known as the Mexico-United States Committee, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Fred's talk, which was about his own experiences in Mexico, is reported to have made a tremendous hit. The remarkable thing about it was that it was prepared and delivered in Spanish, with intervals during which Fred translated his words into English for the benefit of the United States members present. William B. Wright '18 was toastmaster on the occasion.
Art Stout sends us a clipping from the December 6 issue of Headlines, weekly bulletin of NAREB announcing that Hen Sturgess has been elected president of the Georgia Association of Real Estate Boards. Our thanks to Art and congratulations to Hen.
Bill Sewall sends a picture of a lovely, smiling bride, Elizabeth Ann Crisp, who was married to Dr. Edward L. Rea on November 6 inHudson, Ohio. The bride is the daughter ofBill and Jessie Crisp, and Bill (Sewall) goes onto say:
"It was a very pretty wedding and Bill played his part admirably and with an impressive amount of savoir faire, joie de vivre and cul de sac. I wouldn't say my coaching was responsible but it must have helped. After the b & g had departed, the rest of the wedding party plus some of us neighbors gathered at Bill and Jessie's home and had a most enjoyable evening."
In the same letter Bill says there is no prediction yet as to the extent or length of timeneeded for John Sewall's recovery from his attack of polio but he is getting excellent careand his cheerfulness and courage promise thegreatest possible good from his treatments.
From the Springfield (Vt.) Reporter, December l, comes the anouncement that RoyJohnson, of Montpelier, will direct the 1955Cancer Crusade for the Vermont Cancer Society. Roy was elected an officer of the National Life Insurance Co. in 1943 and fiveyears later was named to his present post asassistant vice president and head of the company's Personnel and Purchasing Department.
And from the Springfield (Mass.) Republican of October 16 Ed Smith, English instructor at the Springfield Classical High School,hit the headlines when he spoke on readinghabits at a group meeting of the New EnglandAssociation of Teachers of English. Ed saysmost high school students don't read outsidethe classroom and something like 60 to 65 percent have to take remedial reading when theygo to college. Ed has, for nearly twenty years,been an influence at Classical High School formore reading of the best in literature. Acourse for seniors taught by him encouragesthoughtful, personal evaluation of a widerange of books and stimulates reading outsidethe classroom and is remembered by manywho have taken it as a high spot in their highschool years.
Now for some gleanings from Vic Smith'scorrespondence that he generously shares withthis column. Hank Bomgardner wrote in December from Scottsbluff, Neb.
"I drove your Pa. turnpike from one end to the other about mid-June and spent one night at Washington, Pa. Ever hear of that place? I rattled around in Texas, Louisiana and Florida for several -weeks, then to N. Y. for a couple of weeks, where Mabe and I took off T.W.A. for Paris, landing there Easter Sunday morning. Did eight countries in six weeks and sure had a wonderful time.
"Heading west a few weeks ago, I bumped into a boy from Dartmouth (Class '29). I was playing roulette at Elko, Nev., and this 'kid was sitting next to me. We got to visiting and found out that we had Dartmouth in common. His name, Lee Bronson, and he has just purchased the Rustler Lodge at Alta, Utah. It is a ski resort and he said any time a Dartmouth man shows up it's on the house."
A postscript notes that Hank is president of Scottsbluff Rotary this year with 81 members. From Reg Smith to Vic Smith - this one we like for its reference to ALUM. MAG.
"So at long last a Smith has gone to the top of the old 1917 Class at Dartmouth! As I recall, there were a lot of Smiths in the Class (eight according to the class directory) but I guess we have all been sitting under a bushel or something, or maybe just letting the glamour boys take the front seats while we have all been busy working and earning an honest living. So glad to see your name on a letter even if it asks for $6. I read the ALUMNI MAGAZINE regularly and carefully.
"Somehow, my boys don't make Dartmouth. I have four sons. One is in Ball State in Indiana. Another, just returned from soldier duty in Alaska, is in Michigan State. Another, now in the Army at Aberdeen, is doing some night classes on the side in Johns Hopkins. The last isn't old enough for college - maybe he is my last hope for a Dartmouth man. This is just a fun letter - chance to say Hello to you - and enclose $6, for I would not want to miss the ALUMNI MAGAZINE.
Details about the Base Broadening Plan should be in your hands by this time. Let's all get behind it and help those who have been asked to serve as coordinators in the 27 Class Divisions. A tremendous amount of thoughtful work by Mose Hutchins has gone into this plan for the sole purpose of bringing every member of our class into closer contact with the College and his classmates. The least you can do is to say "Yes" when you are asked to do your bit.
ANNUAL BOSTON ALUMNI DINNERHotel Statler, Feb. 16, 1955
Secretary, 9 Park Terrace, Upper Montclair, N. J.
Treasurer, 315 Oxford Rd., Havertown, Pa.
Bequest Chairman,
