1931
Few, if any, experiences compare to that of Freshman Fathers Weekend in Hanover. The event starts with attending classes on Friday, an opportunity well worth while for all alumni. It was especially inspiring to hear my old professor W. Benfield Pressey lecturing on "Paradise Lost" and to hear the freshmen responding to his prodding for meaning, comprehension, enunciation... to hear the Freshman Glee Club... in a matter of 24 hours to see hockey, swimming, championship collegiate skiing, basketball, including our victory over Penn for the Ivy League Championship... to hear "Skip" Dickerson '30 telling about his weekend as a freshman father... to see "Minnie" Crosby, Herb West, Al Frey... and best of all to see that '61 seems to be as much "of Dartmouth" as '31, at least so far as the sons of these '31ers who were there: Bill Wendell, Ed Hanauer, Pete Boynton, Dick Holbrook, Forsha Russell, Dan Denham, and myself. The snow was beautiful, especially at Ralph Hunter's on Balch Hill where Jack and I spent a most enjoyable half hour with Ralph and Ann. I had hoped to see Went Eldridge, but missed him. John Benson was in town, too.
Others were in Hanover in January, February and early March, too: Charles and Catherine Sullivan, Frank and Eleanor Clarkson, Jim and Harriett Lyall, Henry and Alice Johnson, and Cubby and Josephine Miller. These were registered at the Inn and there were likely many others, for winter sports have been tops in the Hanover area this winter and spring.
A digest of newspaper clippings recently forwarded to me gives us some information on Al Beisel. Al is professor of constitutional law at Boston University Law School and has been doing some public lecturing. He has been at B.U. for 12 years. He authored "Control Over Illegal Enforcement of Criminal Law - Role of the Supreme Court," and is a member of the executive board of the Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union. Al majored in English at Dartmouth and was manager of varsity Lacrosse. Also it was interesting to read that Frank Hodson was elected vice president of the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange, Inc. Frank is president of Eppens, Smith Company, coffee roasters, and has several other fine professional honors. Bill Seney recently addressed the annual conference of the Controller's Institute of America at White Sulphur Springs, Va. He is Senior Consultant for McKinsey and Co., Inc., management consultants.
Cervi's Rocky Mountain Journal of Wednesday, February 19, carried a full page article and picture of our Bill Grant. It was a terrific tribute to his talent for "king-making;" "a profile in depth of a forceful personality reluctant to bestir himself." Jim Frame will give you much of the article's details before or about the time this reaches you. Bill, I'm extremely impressed, and delighted.
Here is the latest in hand of address changes: Fred Burkhardt has left one sunny spot, California, for another. He is now at 725 Bay Shore Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Frank McKnight is in the same city, Box 4561 Sunrise Branch. Hope you two get to- gether. Ed Flynn's business address is 1740 E. 12th St., Cleveland 14, Ohio. Jack Gilmore (still with the Bureau of Internal Revenue?) is now in Wilmette, 111., at 1042 Greenwood. Ed Stokes, still in Beverly, Mass., is at 9 Union St. Henry Russell is Management Engineer for Anderson-Nichols & Co., 150 Causeway St., Boston, Mass., and lives at 9 Germain St., Worcester 2, Mass. Dave Hovey, although still in Rockford, Ill., has made a change of firms and is now with Werckle Construction Co., P.O. Box 452. Tell us about your two boys, Dave. Bill Marsh reports a new Atlanta business location: Room 104, 3131 Piedmont Road, NE, Atlanta, Ga., and Ralph Maynard has a Rural Route address, #1, out of York, Pa., where he works for S. Morgan Smith & Co. Sam Omasta gets his mail at R5, Box 91 DM, Vienna, Va., and John R. (Dick) Johnson is busy as an optometrist at 48 W. Chippewa St., Buffalo 2, N. Y., living at 747 Alt Blvd., Grand Island, N. Y. Many of these moves will have interesting information connected with them that your classmates want to know. Send me a letter about yourself and why you moved, and I'll see that Fred Slaughter gets it for his early fall issues of this column.
On the way to Hanover in late February, I made three phone calls in Chicago, and just to prove that '3l moves around only one was in town. I got Hart Walters, our most sturdy bachelor, and was informed of a pending reunion on the east end of the Indiana Turnpike with Willard Matteson, and perhaps other 'giers. Slaughter was in California and had just phoned Ruth (wife) with whom I had a nice visit as I did with Betty Goodwillie, as John was somewhere in Michigan for his Dole Valve Co. Not too long after that Alice and I went to Kansas City to see our local college basketball team play in the finals of the NAIA, and while there had a short visit with Forsha Russell. He has just taken on some big responsibility in Missouri and Kansas for helping raise funds for Dartmouth's 200th year Development Program. A good many of you saw Bob Ryan '32 (but he's more '31 than '32) on the "Oscar Awards program.
This Palm Sunday brought Bill ana Ruth Waterman (with daughters Beth and Day) to Macomb and this news. They had a skiing holiday at Mont Tremblant, Que., in December. While skiing, amid little snow, on Rocky Sissy Schuss, Bill twisted his ankle, but only after several other skiing ventures near his home town of Davenport, did he find that he had pulled tendons which required a hospital trip and a cast. He is to be "hatched" on April 1.
The time, May 1931: Paul Crehan was the youngest and John M. Cornstock 77, the oldest to address the 26th Annual Secretaries meeting. Hank Richmond's engagement to Wellesley-ite France Anderson announced, and Picken and Harvey each scored in Dartmouth's 2-1 victory over Harvard on the diamond. "With competition from 26 colleges, Rex Fall took second prize in black and white linoleum cuts held by College of Arts Assoc. of N. Y. Epstein and Wolff also competed, and later Baker Library had a display of their several works of art.
On May 7, our class constitution was ratified, and two days later we experienced our last undergraduate House Party with 654 dates in attendance. Not that the party was the cause, but three suns later found Hart Gilchrist, Sandy McLean and Mac McDonald '31's Dick's House residents. Mac had a nasty tumble from the top floor of Topliff. Jack Warwick's first report to our class as secretary had nothing to do with it, but on May 13, the Church of Christ (Old White Church) burned to the ground, after serving the College for 136 years, and having been the scene of commencement from 1795 to 1908. When the track team beat Harvard on May 17 in Cambridge, George Stevens was the only double winner. In the College Fencing Meet, Harry Townsend outpointed all comers.
What '31er will ever forget "Old Timers Day" held a short half mile from old Ledyard Bridge, and committeed by Gray Magee and Charley Sullivan? Thirty-one wore their caps and gowns as a group for the first time on the 23rd at the annual Senior Singout. Earle Morawski, retiring president of the Math Club, gave an address on the theory of relativity and Einstein's part in its development. Papers of the 25th carried the sad announcement of the death of Tommy Longnecker '30 (auto accident near Toledo, Ohio). Tommy was the unfortunate substitute at quarterback who threw the pass "Hoot" Ellis of Yale intercepted in the closing minutes of the 1929 game to beat Dartmouth 16-12. Bux Buxbaum and Bill Fenton placed one, two in the Mandel prize for Thoreau Essay. The climaxing event of May for all of us was "Wet Down" held at the Old Pine on the 28th, at which Dean Laycock presided and awarded the Barrett Cup to Shep Wolff.
C'est tout, and I'll be sounding-off and signing-off next month.
Secretary,345 West Murray, Macomb, Ill.
Class Agent,225 Jefferson Rd., Princeton, N.J.
