1909
When this publication reaches the light of day we'll be in the middle of the Alumni Fund campaign and only about a month away from reunion time. Let's hope that both of them will be a smashing success in the '09 department. Wholehearted cooperation'll turn the trick.
Reggie Colley, writing from his home in Maplewood, N. J., was wondering about the reunion dates. The opening date is Monday, June 13, and the reunion runs through Wednesday, June 15, as per the schedule published in last month's ALUMNI MAG. Some gang'll be turning up in Hanover at that time! In addition to '10 and '11, the classes were teaming up with, '07 and 'OB, will be having their annual informal reunions. So if you want to meet up with guys that you haven't seen in a long time, make it a point to be there.
That man Colley is far from being retired. In fact he seems to be busier than ever. Take a gander at his itinerary. On March 15 he gave a paper on wood preservatives. Between March 24 and 29 he was in Montgomery, Ala., Jacksonville, Fla., and Charleston, S. C., inspecting test plot specimens. Then he's due to be in St. Louis on April 15, in Roanoke, Va., in late May and at Wrightsville Beach, N. C., June 13-17. Better change those last dates, Reggie, if you want to take in the reunion.
"I never did turn out so much work before," says Reggie. "I am technical director at Bell Laboratories on creosote and wood preservation. It will soon be three years since I reached my scheduled retirement time." Reggie reports ten grandchildren, and another one due next July. He would like to know how he stands in competition with other high ranking '09ers. I do know that Ben Burpee is up there with about the same number. What's the score with some of you other birds?
WORD ABOUT SCHILDMILLER ... Our boy friend, Dutch Schilclmiller, isn't much of a letter writer, but the other day I got a letter from his loving wife Leila, who gave me the latest dope on this well-known member of our class. Here 'tis:
After twenty years with Gulf Oil, the Dutchman retired last December. As this is being written, he was in Miami looking around for a little home where he could spend the winters. Leila says he's as active as ever, that she can't remember that he's ever had a pain of any kind, not even a headache. He plays golf, fishes and swims. That's mighty good for a guy who turned 73 last January. As to the kids, Dolly McCarthy (Mrs.), the youngest, is a well-known golfer in Ohio. She has a son, 8, and was divorced at the time of his birth. Gretchen, the older girl, has a son 6 months old, runs a bridge club in Cincinnati, the official Schildmiller residence, and plays in all national tournaments. Bill, the only son, was killed ten years ago in the Battle of the Bulge, a severe blow to Dutch and Leila.
OK, Schildmiller, now that we've got track of you, suppose you make your plans right now to take in the reunion next June, so's I can have the pleasure of calling you a S.O.B. as in the old college days, when we were roommates for three years. I don't know of any member of the class who has had so many inquiries.
My two women folks, at this writing, are off on a trip to New Orleans, then into Florida and back home byway of Atlanta. So Lana, the glamour puss, and I are holding the fort at Hitching Post Manor. Saturday night I figured I'd better check on my old friend Charlie Truman in his hideaway on East Wheelock St. I got the old boy on the phone and while he listened, I tore off a few of the old numbers on the banjo: Oh, How I Miss You Tonight, I Had a Dream, Dear, Carolina Moon, and Till We Meet Again. Charlie was what is known as a captive audience. He said he was all set for the June meeting and that Dusty Godfrey, the accordionist, and Big Chief Black Bear, the imaginative violinist, would be on hand. He also reported that Joe Berwick, the sandwich man, was in the hospital and not in very good condition. His heart. Joe was 82 last January. I was hoping he'd be around next June so's we could give him a little serenade like we did last June. Music and singing have been a big part of Joe's life. When he arrives on the other side, no doubt, he'll join up with the Celestial Choir, and I'll bet that tenor voice of his will be heard above all of 'em.
A card from Ed Chappelear gives word that he and his charming little woman Margaret were vacationing for four weeks in the Dominican Republic, dividing their time between Ciudad Trujillo and Port au Prince. They expect to be in Hanover come June.
From the Zanesville (Ohio) Signal comes a clipping of a news story reporting that Ed Chappelear, who was born in Zanesville in 1886, celebrated his 69th birthday on January 12. Then it went on to outline the career of one of its distinguished former residents who had gone out into the cold world and had made good in a big way; graduate of Dartmouth and the Harvard Business School; his rise in the Bankers Trust Company of New York - auditor, comptroller, and vice president; member of the board of the Credit-American Corp., American Cotton Supply Corp., and West African Constructors, Ltd.; American treasurer of the Newcomen Society of England, and active in the affairs of the Pilgrim Society. Glad to know you, Ed.
LITTLE KNOWN FACTS DEPARTMENT This concerns one of our classmates, B. Matthew Scully, who, in his younger days, was haled into court on an assault and battery charge. "Why did you strike this man?" asked the judge.
"It was this way, your honor," answered B. Matthew. "He told me he was Irish by descent, and I couldn't stand there and let any man say he had come down to be Irish." Case dismissed.
A card from Bertie French, '09's activated secretary, states that he and the Mrs. did take that vacation in Florida. The postmark was a place called Dania, which evidently is in the vicinity of Ft. Lauderdale. The Frenches needed a rest and they got it.
Did you know that Wallie Ross and Pop Chesley '08 were on the board of trustees of Cushing Academy? I didn't either, until Johnnie Shambow '10 wised me up.
So now it's farewell. See you next month in Hanover.
Class Notes Editor, Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio
Class Agent, 18 Spirea Dr., Dayton 9, Ohio
