1900
A letter received from Warren Kendall, who lives in Sarasota, Fla., gives considerable information in regard to our classmate. Edmund Jonakowski. "Jonnie" recently suffered a mild shock. The most serious effect is that he finds it difficult to express himself intelligibly. Warren, in attempting to talk with him, found it necessary to anticipate and to assume what "Jonnie" wanted to say. Added to this recent disability is the fact that he is almost totally blind. In spite of these difficult physical handicaps, "Jonnie" maintains a cheerful and courageous outlook on life. There is no bewailing his plight and no evidence of self-pity. This gives proof of a strong and sturdy character. I suspect that he has caught the inner spirit of Richard Hovey's well loved Dartmouth lyric:
Though round the girdled earth they roam, Her spell on them remains; They have still North in their hearts, The hill-winds in their veins, And the granite of New Hampshire In their muscles and their brains.
"Jonnie" fortunately has a pleasant home and a devoted wife who gives him constant and loving care. The class of 1900 extends to him our deep sympathy and our admiration for his quiet courage in the face of heavy physical odds.
It was a pleasure to hear from Betty Emery of Woodstock, Vt., Broc Gilson's daughter. Last fall her husband had to undergo a serious operation, and was hospitalized for a month. At this writing he is much improved in health and is making a good recovery. Betty reports her four children as doing well. Marian's engagement was announced last Thanksgiving and she is to be married in the fall. Dick is a junior at Pratt Institute; Beth graduates from high school this month and expects to enter U.V.M. in the fall; and Gil, the youngest member of the family, is a sophomore at the local high school.
Jim Woodman's wife Ethel has spent most of the winter at her home in Franklin, N. H. However, she has broken the tedium of a fairly rigorous old-fashioned winter by journeying to Longmeadow, Mass., and spending some days with her daughter and family. She reports her children and grandchildren as all getting on nicely and in good health. Evidently there are no worries in that well established family circle.
Harold Hastings is making a good recovery from his operation last fall. He still has to be careful not to overtax himself, and so his most strenuous activity is a daily walk up the path along Tumbling Brook. He is accompanied by his constant companion, "Wooz," a large, woolly dog of a somewhat uncertain ancestry. But a dog's a dog for a'that. Harold performs a few household chores, listens to some of the TV and radio programs, and each day enjoys an hour or more of recorded music from his considerable collection of records.
June 14, 1959 is a very select red-letter day for Fred Smith. On that date Fred and Rowena will celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary. According to all well calculated mathematical computations this is the Golden-Plush anniversary. Fred has had a long and happy married life, although the last few years have been marred by the chronic invalidism of his wife. To have arrived at the sixtieth milestone of marriage is assuredly a memorable event. Heartiest congratulations, Fred and Rowena, from the 1900 survivors and the best of wishes.
Gilbert Balkham's wife Gertrude has moved from her former address to 21 Pine Street, Harwich Port, Mass. Her sister-in-law passed away in April and Gertrude is now keeping house for her brother. She writes that Steve's daughter Barbara, who has been teaching physical education in a California high school, is to be married this month. Her son Bob who lives in Washintgon, D. C., has a brand new daughter. Gertrude now has ten grandchildren that help to enliven her life and bring to her a lot of joy.
Pete Downing's wife Mabel has been doing a bit of globe trotting. She has been so fortunate as to spend two weeks in that Pacific paradise, Hawaii. It is just possible that she may have had a small hand in promoting the claim of those fair islands to statehood. I understand that one of the subtle problems connected therewith is where to place that fiftieth star in "Old Glory." Besides this trip to Hawaii, Mabel has spent much of the winter in various resort areas of Florida. She has had the fun and excitement of watching missiles fired at Cape Canaveral which is only a little way from the place where her son Allan has his winter home. Then too she proudly owns up to the fact that she is a great-grandmother. Allan's daughter Rhoda is the mother of the new baby. Rhoda and her husband and the baby have recently moved to Cocoa Beach, Fla., where Rhoda's husband is employed by Pan American Airways.
Mrs. Mabel F. Swain, Billy Cook's widow, has been spending the long winter months at Coral Gables, Fla., and she says: "Enjoying a most delightful winter. Miami had the warmest February on record, and southern Florida has been perfect." In order to be near her two nieces, she has moved from 2 Berkeley Court, Wellesley Hills, Mass., to 77 Elm Street, Waterville, Me.
Bill Emerson, son of our Natt Emerson, was recently married to a widow with three teen-aged daughters. By this happy arrangement Bill now is pater familias to five lovely girls. Since his marriage he has moved to 715 Via Mentone, Newport Beach, Calif. Bill has a very fine and important position in the potash industry and seems to be well on his way to greater responsibilities and achievements in this industry. Bill's brother John is having a very difficult experience. At the present time he is at the Mary Hitchcock Hospital undergoing surgical treatment.
In this age of tourism your secretary and his wife have hit on a very pleasant and quite inexpensive way to travel. This involves only a comfortable chair, good light, a readable travel book, and a reliable atlas. There is no concern whatsoever about passports, health certificates, inoculations, plane or steamship accommodations going and coming, travelers' checks, and the hundred and one other harrowing details of a trip abroad. All we have to do is to sit comfortably in our apartment and let the countries of the world come to us. With a little imagination, and through the eyes and ears of others, one gets many of the thrills of foreign travel. It's loads of fun and next best to actually taking a trip.
Jim Kimball and Mortie Crowell enjoyed the 1901 reunion so much last June that they are all set for a return engagement this year.
Secretary, 3 Pleasant St., Hanover, N. H.
Class Agent, 34 Carruth St., Dorchester, Mass.
