1894
One of the highly important services which the Alumni Office in Crosby Hall renders to us columnists is the perusal of newspapers and the sending to us of anything they find in those newspapers about Dartmouth men. For example, this writer has in front of him an extract from the Sun Herald of Winter Park, Florida, which tells about Eddie Graver's 90th birthday on June 4. Space limitations seem only to allow for the inclusion here of what is said about what may be called Eddie's extracurricular activities.
"In cooperation with Mr. John H. Connery, a former Rollins student, Dr. Grover originated the Mead Botanical Garden, now one of the beauty spots in Winter Park, and for ten years he spent his spare time in developing the trails, designing and planting the amphitheater, building the Lodge and the greenhouses. He imported orchids and other rare plants from half a dozen foreign countries.
"Interracial work in the community has been another of Dr. Grover's interests. He served for about ten years as President of Hannibal Square Associates, Inc., which built the Hannibal Square Library on West New England Avenue, and the Community Center next door. Later the Associates also assisted in the building of the Mary DePugh Nursing Home on West Morse Boulevard."
Eddie is our second living nonagenarian. This is being written away from the secretary's archives. However, if memory serves, Bar Cassin and Billy Ames are the only other '94 men who have attained this distinction. If the memory is incorrect, see next issue.
Now that we are no longer a baseball nine, nor correspond to the "Nine Old Men" of the U.S. Supreme Court, we have become a crew of eight, and Kent Knowlton (who celebrated his 88th birthday August 14) has been designated as stroke.
The death of Mrs. Herman S. Lovejoy last December 11, after a long struggle with arteriosclerosis, reminds this writer of the frequent visits he used to make on Herman as he went to and fro from New York. It was good to find Herman with such good companionship. It has also been a pleasure to keep in touch with Mrs. Lovejoy, since Herman went, through occasional calls at their attractive home in New Haven.
August brought word of the death of Mrs. Dwight Hall, on July 16. This is a hard blow for Dwight, following his ten happy years with Almie. Here, too, there was always a hearty welcome for this '94 representative. Be sure, Dwight, that your classmates have you much in mind during these days.
Since the last word of the preceding paragraph was typed the Merrill duo has seen Dwight Hall in his office and found him characteristically carrying on. He goes to his office every day, and stays into the afternoon. On the same trip a call was made on NettieAmes. She reported that her daughter, Natalie Prentice, and her family had moved to Florida to live in the same house in Vero Beach that Will and Nettie Ames found so attractive for so many years. Earlier in the secretary's summer itinerary Arthur andAnne Stone were called on and Anne was found to have recovered in large degree her usual locomotion.
Further research by the authorities in Crosby Hall may change the present indication that John Leverett Merrill Jr. is the only '94 grandson in the Class of 1964. It may here be noted that not only have this young man's father ('32) and grandfather but likewise his great-grandfather (the original John Leverett Merrill '56) and his great-great-grandfather Abel Kimball Merrill ('28 non graduate) have been in the Dartmouth tradition.
Later word from Eddie Grover reveals that in honor of his ninetieth birthday he has printed a "little volume of 'Memories' which records some of the unforgettable experiences and places whose beauty haunts him still." The volume concludes with this "Postscript":
Ho, the wind upon the mountains! Blowing wide and blowing free. Ho, the wind among the treetops! Pulling hard the roots of me, As for ninety years I've welcomed Every breeze that wandered by, They have pushed and pulled their hardest, But I'm Master till I die!
Ho, the wind upon the mountains! Racing every cloud in sight. Ho, the wind upon the mountains! Making black the fearsome night. You may blow the wrath of Neptune, Blowing clean the hills that lie; But my roots are in the mountain, And my head is in the sky.
Secretary, 74 Kirkland St. Cambridge 38, Mass.
Acting Treasurer, 76 Washington St., Hudson, Mass.
