1921
A lot of goings on of interest and concern to, and of, the class are scheduled for the coming month - that is the month ahead between the filing of this column and the actual publication of it. The long planned post-trigentaquinquennial class reunion and meeting over the Holy Cross game weekend of October 19-20; the after-the-Harvard-game class dinner, followed by a get-together at Chan and Lorna Symmes' house in Winchester on October 27th; the decision as to whether it will be Ike or Adlai for the next four years - all of these will be past history by the time you read this, so we will stick out the editorial neck by stating these events were all carried out as scheduled and planned, and with great success. Detailed reports will, of course, appear in the next issue and/or via the Smoker.
And now Charlie and Dorothy Gilson are sure they lead the field in their thirty-fourth annual resolution - "let's get our Christmas cards in the mail at least a week before Christmas."
Most of you have probably heard, by now, that Ellis Briggs is now the United States Ambassador to Brazil, having been appointed earlier in the summer from his former post in Peru. Ellis, in a recent newspaper article commenting enthusiastically on a New York Herald Tribune annual Brazilian supplement, recalled that the United States was the first country to acknowledge Brazilian independence in 1822, thus 'laying the cornerstone' of a lasting close association. He speaks of Brazil's great potentialities, and its future position in world affairs. The people have a tremendous pioneering drive, and a devotion to democratic processes. Brazil's remarkable growth and advancement parallels that of our own country in the nineteenth century. For instance, in Sao Paulo it is said that a new building is being completed every seven minutes, which could well establish that community as the fastest growing city in the world.
Speaking of international, national and political matters, apparently a good many of our classmates took in one or both of the political conventions. Kent McKinley was a delegate to the Republican Convention in San Francisco, where he ran into Bob Burroughs who, according to Kent, was head of one of the committees.
Abe Weld writes with great enthusiasm over the way the brothers have responded to his recent class dues billet doux. I£ there are still any who, for one reason or another, may not yet have sent in their dues (with their personal news reports), how about getting on the bandwagon? We can't run the risk of letting Abe's first grateful enthusiasm be watered down. And, of course, we want to be sure the class is kept solvent.
Doug Storer, so goes the headlines, made a trip to Colombia last year and found a man who is claimed to be the oldest living human being. This latest find is certainly a "Believe It or Not." The man, one Javier Pereira, is said to have been born a hundred and sixtyseven years ago, the year in which George Washington was inaugurated President of the United States. Doug's little friend - weight a little over eighty pounds, height four feet four - came to New York under Doug's sponsorship and is creating considerable comment. In a recent press interview it was reported that Doug explained that his double-octoge-narian friend "loves everybody and everything," even though during the course of the inter view the 'young' oldster landed a short right jab onto Doug's jaw, punched a young woman in the nose, and took a swing at a photographer with a flash of energy worthy of a six year old. Javier has been studied and examined by various medical and geriatric scientists and the fact that he is of great age cannot be denied.
Your reporter has commented so many times, especially over the past few years - "people are wonderful." He says it again, and particularly with reference to a note (amongst the first to come in) from Ted Sonnenfeld's wife, Celia. At Ted's request she mailed in a check for his dues - "so he'd still be a '21-er in good standing." She expressed Ted's appreci- ation of the telegram the class sent him during the June reunion, and says he is still in the sanatorium but making good progress. Ted, your old 'Uncle Charlie' knows he speaks for every last man of 1921 when he says your standing in the class will always be on top of the top man.
Ken and Vivian Bean have moved from Manchester to Dunbarton, N. H. (new address R.F.D. # 1, Goffstown, N. H.), to a fifty acre farm. So Ken says "I may be a farmer again if I ever retire." Ken has probably established a record which we defy anyone to even equal. You know he is a school teacher, headmaster, in fact, of Manchester High West, and he will be commuting from his new home. But here's the record. This fall Ken is starting his 35th YEAR IN THE SAME SCHOOL BUILDING! If any classmate can equal that, your secretary will personally confer the 'Ken-Bean-RecordIs-Broken' Medal.
The Leon Batemans have moved to Fitzwilliam, N. H., where Bate seems to think he is going to slow down a bit. He says he'll put in two or three days a week at the store in Lexington, but son Frank will be carrying on most o£ the details of the business. It's a bit inconceivable to picture Bate slowing down, and even though he will be cutting down his time at the store, he'll continue to keep on the move, his usual twenty-six hours a day.
Van Shaffer (president of the Guaranty Bank and Trust of Cedar Rapids, Iowa) writes of his four grandsons, and one granddaughter, children of his two daughters both of whom are graduates of Radcliffe. Two of his grandsons are already entered at Dartmouth, class of circa 1971. That would be quite a fiftieth reunion for Van. He says that in addition to still being in banking, he's "still Republican, still solvent."
Just as we were finishing up this column for mailing, we received word of the death of another 1921 stalwart, George Forman. George died on September 22 in his home town of Lexington, Ky. They don't come any finer than George. All of us who were at reunion last June are grateful for the opportunity that brought us together again. We will all agree that George is one of the 'greats' of our class, and the privilege of having known him, and of having, by association with him, shared in the brilliance of his personality, will always be cherished by each one of us. Needless to say, we all join in our sincere sympathy to Katrina and their daughters. We probably will not be able to get the formal notice of George's death into this issue of the magazine, and if not, it will appear in the next one.
Have yourselves - all of you, and yours- a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may it be a day of really, deeply heartfelt thankfulness.
Secretary, 276 Gano St., Providence 6, R. I.
Treasurer, Rm. 1200, 195 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.
Bequest Chairman,
