1909

Hats Off to Affable Al

Our esteemed class president, Al Newton, is prominent in areas other than his Dartmouth affiliations. As former president of the Boston "Luncheon Club" and its secretary-treasurer since 1935, he was given a testimonial dinner at the Boston University Club on February 6 when upwards to 200 club members, friends, and business associates were out to pay him homage. Guys who hadn't been regular in attendance at the Luncheon Club quarterly meetings showed up for this affair. Representing '09 were Toe Worthen, Cad Cummings, and ChetBrett. A special edition of the Boston Globe carried a full page devoted to Al and his varied activities, pictures and comments, and the evening's program.

It was a gala affair, everybody wearing black ties and tuxedos. After a reception and a toast to Al, the gang sat down for the feed bag, and what a feast that was! The members are heads or key men in various concerns described as "purveyors." "And," says Joe Worthen, "they certainly knew how to 'purvey' for this dinner. Never have I had a better one. In my years spent in various parts of the country, including three or four years abroad, I know a good dinner when I get it."

The menu included such fancy names as "Fresh Brook Trout Saute Amandine" flown in from Snake River, Idaho; "Cucumbers Doria"; "Breast of Pheasant Imperial"; "Wild Rice Avec Champignons"; "Diploate de la Maison": plus sea food, black {fan soup and all the other trimmings, ending with the usual "demi-tasse."

toe continues: "At one end of the largest dining room in the University Club was a wee screen on which slides were thrown, showing Al from his babyhood to his preset state of relative maturity. The narration by the commentator, Bud Smith, was admirable. Al was given a framed tribute and a beautiful television set on a movable frame' but, most important, was the enthusiastic'testimony of what his associates think of him. And you don't need to be told what that is." Joe was called on to give Dartmouth's angle on Al which he did in his best oratorical style.

In the special edition of the Globe, under a three-column cut of Al, the cutline read: "Our honored guest as he looks today with a facial and a hairdo. We had a hard job setting the numbers off the front and the picture was immediately returned to the FBI files." Other shots showed Al at five months; at the age of three and a half wearing kilts and lace panties, and the comment: "His boots proved one thing. Al always had his buttons"; plus an undergraduation photo off"our hero "

"For real enthusiasm," wrote Cad Cummings, "warm-hearted greetings, and a feeling of being welcome, we three strangers could not have been more impressed, and we were impressed by the esteem in which Al was held by everyone there. It was his night and nobody else's. Over the head table was a big banner with 'Welcome to Al Newton. the Clambake King.' The Brown University double-quartet opened with the Beta Theta Pi theme song, then sang the Hanover Winter Song and some of their own specialties."

"Sometimes," Cad philosophizes, "we take for granted the things people do, without realizing that they may have other talents. We know how much Al has done for the class of '09, but we don't realize what he has done in other associations, or how much other people appreciate his efforts. It was a great night for a great guy, and it was a privilege to be a small part of the evening."

To all these encomiums, so well deserved by Al, his classmates give whole-hearted endorsement.

This month ushers in the 1962 Alumni Fund Campaign. Head Agent Ben Dudley hopes '09ers will also give it their wholehearted endorsement!

Class Notes Editor, 141 Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio

Secretary, Sandwich, Mass.

Class Agent, 66 Lilac Dr., Rochester 20, N. Y.