1920
These notes are written on the eve of the Yale game and, weather permitting, your Secretary and consort will be on hand for what I hope will be a successful day. We flew up to Cambridge last weekend and sat through a howling nor'easter watching the hapless Dartmouths lose out to a fine, fast, hardhitting Harvard team. Actually, we have had the good fortune to see more than our usual quota of Dartmouth games.
Early in October we drove up to Hanover from our Berkshire farm to see the Penn game. I wish my pen were sufficiently facile to describe the wonderful Indian summer weather and the beautiful foliage we enjoyed enroute. We crossed over from Manchester by way of Big Bromley, the famous Vermont ski area with a view unsurpassed in the East. If you haven't traveled that stretch recently, put it down as a must.
Hanover was full of people, mostly pretty girls from nearby schools and colleges. It was indeed a nostalgic occasion. We were house guests of the Ort Hicks '21, than whose hospitality there could be none more pleasant. We sat through the game with the Sherry Baketels, the Dick Kimballs on from California and the Jack Lappins.
The 64th successive Dartmouth Night, observed by many alumni in 110 alumni clubs throughout the country and overseas, was celebrated in Hanover on an especially nice fall evening preceding the game. A large crowd gathered for the traditional outdoor occasion. Floodlights illuminated brightly the white expanse of Dartmouth Hall, Baker chimes, chapel bells, and aerial bombs brought students and dates, visiting alumni and residents to the campus to hear the Glee Club sing, to hear telegrams from near and distant clubs, to listen attentively to the President of the College speak seriously about the unique qualities of the Dartmouth spirit and of the bonds of affection that exist among all who are associated with the College as teachers, officers, students or alumni. Then came a giant football rally with a thoughtful talk by Captain Al Krutsch of Denver. He spoke about the three weeks of day-and-night preparations by the squad and coaches in order to be thoroughly prepared to represent Dartmouth in top style.
Two weeks later we flew back to Hanover where I participated in a day-long committee meeting on Tuck School affairs in which the able and handsome Al Frey also participated.
On Saturday we took in the Holy Cross game. It was a heartbreaker to lose but we all felt very proud of the battle the Dartmouth boys staged in the face of superior forces. In the stands and about town we noted Paul Sample, Al Foley, Harry Sampson; John Amsden, former President of the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital; DickGoddard, Director of the Observatory, who confirms the fact that Shattuck Observatory will have a new dome next spring and that the present antique dome, which rotates on six cannonballs, will be permanently displayed as a central feature in the Smithsonian Institute; George and Hazel Macomber, Charles and Elsa Crathern, and BudWeymouth. George Tully '26, Dartmouth s great end of the Oberlander-Tully-Sage era, brought news of Doc (Erwin) Miller. MelMerritt had expected to be on hand but last minute developments prevented.
Dorothy and I were particularly delighted to encounter Isabel Morse (Bob's widow) and her son Jimmy, a member of the freshman class, walking about the campus Sunday morning. Isabel now makes her home with her sister and her 91-year-old father in Middlebury, Vt. I hope she will take an early occasion to call on classmate Sam Stratton, President of Middlebury College.
We called up Pat and Rita Holbrook and were distressed indeed to learn that Rita has had a serious operation. If that were not bad enough, she had the misfortune later to fall and break her leg. However, both Pat and Rita seem to be on the upbeat so everything is going to be all right.
The big excitement at Hanover was the anticipated ground-breaking ceremony for the new Hopkins Center, scheduled for October 24. From our room in the Inn we could see a very large white frame building, about 200 yards southwest of the Inn, in the process of demolition. It looked to me like Ma Smalley's old place but I could be wrong on that.
As noted above, the weather for the Harvard game was foul, but we enjoyed dinner with George and Madeline Harris 'si, Hank Embree '30, and Mel and Helen Merritt who reported seeing Red Tillson, the Harvard Trust banker, looking fit as a fiddle. CharlieGoodnow was on hand for the game and conveyed the news that Tom Davidson is now the proprietor of a shooting lodge far down in Maine — the landed gentry, you know. Eddie and Virginia Bowen were to have come on from Albany but the weather prevented.
A note from Laddie Myers accounts for Ben Ayres and his son-in-law, Walter Knight. Ben was visiting his oldest daughter in Elmhurst, Ill., and Laddie took advantage of the occasion to invite Ben and Walter to a round of golf at the Hinsdale Country Club. He speaks of Ben as a fine golfer ...a four handicap player in Worcester, Mass....and furthermore it seems that Walter was in top form, too. According to Laddie, they are all looking forward to making an annual occasion of the match when Ben visits his daughter each year.
A very pleasant note from Carroll Swezey who writes that Roger and Marge Pope, Henrietta and he have just returned from a wonderfully enjoyable European holiday. They had so much fun that they called it "laughing our way through Europe." Son, Kim Swezey '50, is associated with his old man in the business. There are five grandchildren, three of them are boys, so undoubtedly Carroll has a department store manager in prospect.
Jim Chilcott stopped in for a visit a few days ago and is now sojourning and soaking up the sun at Sea Island, Ga. We have a tentative dinner date for early December.
The new Dartmouth publication "The Capital" bears the handsome, distinguished features of Lee Hodgkins, the team captain of the Richmond, Va., Special Gifts Committee. You look good there, boy!
The Troy, N. Y., Record of September 16 carries a very interesting article by our own J. Almus Russell, "The Story of Uncle Sam." Almus is a prolific writer, having published more than 225 articles on subjects vital in American literature.
In the September 29 issue of Newsweek appears the following: "Honored: The Rev. F. Philip Frazier, 67, a Sioux Indian who is head of Congregational mission work among the Indians of McLaughlin, S. D.; with the 25th Annual Indian Achievement Award for 'devoting his entire life to the service of his people'; in Chicago, September 26 (Indian Day in Illinois)." I am sure all of us remember affectionately Phil Frazier. I do particularly because he and I worked out together many and many an afternoon on the freshman cross country squad ...a grand guy! It's been a long, long time since I have had any word of Phil and I am delighted to congratulate him for the Class on having led such a useful and satisfying life and on the honors that have come his way.
By way of concluding these notes, let me urge again that any and all of you who have interesting news to convey, drop a note to your Secretary. The degree of interest which these class notes may generate is in large measure determined by the news that you supply.
Secretary, 350 East 57th St. New York 22, N. Y.
Treasurer, Tuck School, Hanover, N. H.
Bequest Chairman,
