Turkeys for Dartmouth
THE life of a turkey is normally directed to no altruistic end, other than the feeding of the hungry, but thousands of birds on the Wah Hoo Wah Turkey Farm, in nearby Lebanon, N. H., are giving their all for Dartmouth College.
How this came about is an interesting story, which goes like this:
About ten years ago, Harold B. Naramore, who is chairman of the board of Bridgeport Fabrics, Inc., bought a farm on the Newport road, on the outskirts of Lebanon, and settled down to be a "gentleman farmer." After fussing around with chickens for a couple of years, he decided to switch to turkeys, because someone told him they were hard to raise.
Mr. Naramore started with two hundred turkey poults, and when they had grown to eating size his friends and neighbors sent in so many orders that he couldn't meet the demand. The next year he doubled his output with the same results, so he again increased production. This went on steadily to the point where the Wah Hoo Wah Farm produced nearly five thousand birds last year. The business grew so large that Mr. Naramore turned the turkey portion of his farm over to Miss Arlene Mason, a young University of New Hampshire graduate, on a rental basis.
During the pre-Thanksgiving rush last year Miss Mason decided that it was too big a job for her to handle alone, and the next step in the farm's unusual growth became a question. Then at 4 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning Mr. Naramore had an inspiration. As soon as he thought it was time for Mart Remsen '14 to be out of bed he rushed over to Etna to present his idea to his classmate (Mr. Naramore is an adopted member of the Class of 1914).
His idea was to form a partnership with Mart Remsen and turn all the profits over to Dartmouth College. Not only an adopted alumnus of the College, Mr. Naramore is also the father of two Dartmouth graduates, H. Burling Naramore '33 and Robert W. Naramore '35, and the welfare of the College has long been close to his heart. Mr. Remsen, who demonstrates a remarkable devotion to Dartmouth himself, thought the idea was wonderful, but as a retired lawyer he was anxious that the enterprise be set up so as to produce the greatest benefit for the College.
Legal advice was clearly called for, so Messrs. Naramore and Remsen set off for Concord, N. H., to consult John R. McLane Jr. '38. The result was the formation on January 1, 1955, of a non-profit corporation known as the Wah Hoo Wah Turkey Farm, Inc., formed under the laws of New Hampshire. The five trustees of the corporation are Mr. Naramore, president; Mr. Remsen, treasurer; Mrs. Naramore and Mrs. Remsen; and J. Ross Gamble, Director of Development at Dartmouth. Mr. McLane, who handled the legal side of the incorporation, is clerk of the board. All these officers are serving without compensation. Under the new organization, Miss Mason will continue to manage the business, with necessary help.
The Class of 1914 is strongly represented in the enterprise, and this is further increased by the contributions of Walter Beach Humphrey '14, the artist, who has designed a new trademark for the Wah Hoo Wah Turkey Farm (reproduced with this article), as well as other drawings and printed material to be used by the corporation. Mr. Humphrey painted the Eleazar Wheelock murals in the Richard Hovey Grill of Thayer Hall.
Net profits from the operations of the Wah Hoo Wah Turkey Farm will go to Dartmouth College for scholarship aid or some other worthy purpose approved by the corporation's trustees. The only income not turned over to the College will be that needed for current operating expenses and depreciation and maintenance of the farm's equipment. The articles of incorporation specify that upon dissolution of the corporation the assets will go to Dartmouth College.
Mr. Naramore becomes enthusiastic when he talks about the possible future growth of the Wah Hoo Wah Farm's business, especially since thousands of Dartmouth alumni, interested in helping to increase the College's scholarship funds, are now added to the potential market of the new corporation. "There is no reason why Dartmouth men can't all become turkey boosters," says Mr. Naramore, "and get their own families, their friends and their companies to buy turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas - or any other time of the year — from the Wah Hoo Wah Turkey Farm." A large part of the business is in multiple orders from business firms, with which the farm's special baskets containing a turkey and all the fixings are popular.
The turkeys sold by the Wah Hoo Wah Farm are all frozen and vacuum packed. On page 13 of this issue the new corporation is running its first ALUMNI MAGAZINE advertisement, at the bottom of which is a reservation form for indicating whether turkeys are desired for Thanksgiving, Christmas or some other time. These orders, which include the right of cancellation, will help the Wah Hoo Wah Farm to know by July 1 how many turkeys to raise.
THE WAH HOO WAH TURKEY FARM, LOCATED IN LEBANON, N. H.
Trademark drawn by Walter B. Humphrey '14
