1942

The big event of February was the Hopkins Memorial Dinner held in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, an occasion which found many '42s in attendance. Pre-dinner festivities included a get-together in a fourth floor suite with the classes of '40 and '41. Arriving at the party about six o'clock, Dot and I, along with Bert and Jean Englert, found several classmates already present. Phil Moon, in from Detroit a few days early to attend the Alumni Council meetings, was just inside the doorway comparing notes with Jim Dietrich, who came up from Philadelphia. At first I thought they were a semi-official reception committee until it became apparent that it was the most advantageous location to snare a waiter for liquid refreshments. That must have been the reason for Pete and Skeeter Geisler having settled themselves at the first table by the door.

It wasn't long before Frank and Pat Bartlett, Bob and Pat Buckalew, Bob and Jeekers Rodgers, Roy and Mary Carruthers and Bob and Ginny Grimm arrived and '42 was assured of a good evening. About this time, John and Bobbie Brewer put in an appearance and I noticed "Birdlegs" Nehring's head bobbing above the crowd. A familiar face turned out to be Brad Bowman in from Minneapolis, combining a business trip with pleasure. (If you have some tax dollars for investment, it would be worthwhile to listen to Brad's story and his program for investment in semi-proven oil acreage. As you know, Brad is associated with the investment counsel firm of Decker, Barrows & Co.) Dick Craw arrived well before the Waldorf's bell ringers started their curfew calls to the various class suites.

There still seemed to be several people missing but it wasn't long before they appeared. On the long stroll from the suite to our class location in the balcony (this was an excellent site from which to view all activities) we picked up Chuck Gibbons and his guest, Helen Martin. They had just arrived and were a bit confused by all the commotion to say nothing of the lack of pre-dinner conditioning. Arriving in the second balcony, we found Bud and Ruth Hummel who had been with a Long Island group earlier since Bud is president of the Island's Alumni Association. And here was reunion chairman emeritus Al Britton in town with Bobbie for a couple of days from Norwich, Vt. Concurrent with arrival of the first course at the tables came Rollie Tremble and Joe Wilder, rounding out the '42 representation except for Dick and Anne Remsen and Al and Nancy Dingwall. They were seated at main floor tables with their parents, representing the classes of '12 and '16 respectively.

For the connoisseurs interested, the menu was strictly attuned to the occasion and featured such Hanoverian dishes as Long Island Duckling Dartmouth, Salad Chief Occom and Dessert Surprise Eleazar. The entertainment, skillfully woven into the formal program, included music by the Barbary Coast and several renditions by the Glee Club, the highlight of which, to me, was a parody on Eleazar prepared for "Hoppy" All in all, it was an affair to be remembered and I'm sure everyone present was glad he came. The big thrill of the evening was in seeing and hearing "Hoppy" again. And now for other news.

After four years as assistant U.S. attorney in Albany, N.Y., Dick Bolton has resigned from the government post in order to enter private law practice in partnership with Morris Zweig, Albany and Rensselaer County attorney. Following graduation from Albany Law School and a term in the Air Force during the war, Dick spent five years as assistant district attorney for Rensselaer County in Troy, as well as having a private practice for a few years in the same city before appointment to the government position. In accepting Dick's resignation, the U. S. Attorney for the Northern District or New York had this to say of his work, "You have represented the United States and its officers in a large and varied number of cases of major importance. Your record reflects professional competence and a dedication to the protection of the best interests of the government."

Planning on a trip to Hawaii? See Dick King, recently named by Pacific Far East Line, Inc., to the post of Vice President for Passenger Traffic and handed the job of promoting Hawaiian Steamship Company's Leilani" which sails between the West Coast and Hawaii and for which PFEL is Agent. Dick has been a barn-storming merchandiser of Hawaii's glamour to tourists and a key figure behind the Islands' growing tourist business. Following the war, during which he served with the Navy as an aviation logistics officer with the 3rd and 5th Fleets, he took up residence in Hawaii and established Trans Air Hawaii, an air cargo carrier, which he headed as President and General Manager until joining Aloha Air Line in 1949 as Vice President in charge of sales. Although his new work brings Dick, Winnie and their six children to San Francisco, we suspect the Islands will continue as their first love, and there they will someday return.

Following a brief tenure as head grocery buyer with American Stores at Johnston, Pa., C. Dickinson French was promoted and transferred last fall to Kearny, N.J., where he will be in the capacity of head grocery buyer for the northern New Jersey zone for Acme Stores. As reported a year ago, Dick's affiliation with American Stores followed some seven years as assistant head grocery buyer for the Buffalo-Syracuse area of the A & P chain. Dick and Helen with the three Bs, Bruce, Barbara and Betsy, recently moved to Mountainside, N.J., where they live on the lower slopes of the Watchung Range overlooking some of his new territory. Roy Carruthers' career has been devoted to marketing, sales and distribution with several companies since 1946 when he was associated with Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. in their sales management training program. Following a short period with Johnson & Johnson, doing drug merchandising and advertising, Roy spent six years in the marketing consulting field with two management consultant organizations. As of February, he is back in industry with the marketing services division of American Machine and Foundry, a highly diversified industrial operation, making, among other things, automatic pinspotters, baking equipment, rubber goods and atomic reactors. Roy is very pleased with his new association and looking forward to his activities in marketing, distribution, etc., and the challenging problems A.M.F.'s broad operation poses in this field toward the development and maintenance of profitable growth.

Recent visitors to Hanover included two Westchester families, Dr. Gene and MargeryHoch from Rye, along with Ed and JoyceFinn from Scarsdale. Gene has his private practice as a physician while Ed is VicePresident of Gibson-Thomsen Co., N.Y.C. Their year-end visit was followed by the appearance of Charlie Brown in the middle of January. Charlie is very active in the enrollment program which, together with his class officer duties, calls for numerous visits to Hanover in the course of the year.

For the second time in a little over a year, I regret to inform you of the death of another classmate. Robert T. Highfield Jr. died January 22, 1958 in Washington, D. C. At the time of his death, Bob was assistant to the president of Mount Vernon Mortgage Corp.

Secretary, 209 Beech St., Cranford, N.J.

Treasurer, 34 Thaxter Rd., Newtonville 60, Mass.