1927

When you read this you will be about to leave for Hanover and the thirty-fifth reunion or will be regretting the fact that you aren't. As I write it, reunion is still a little over a month away, and I am looking forward to seeing all of you. Of course I know that you can't all possibly be there, but I can hope, can't I? For those unfortunates who will not be at reunion, we will attempt to give a complete report in the July issue of the MAGAZINE.

This is the last regular monthly column that I will be writing. At the 35th the Class will elect a new secretary, who will, I hope, do all of the things that I had high hopes of doing when I took over this job ten years ago, but for one reason or another have left undone. It has been a very enjoyable ten years, particularly in the opportunity I have been given to know most of you much better than before, and to play a small part, in cooperation with a great many others, in welding the Class into an even more cohesive unit in the Dartmouth alumni body. There have been frustrating moments, such as right now, when it has been necessary to meet a deadline for these class notes with no news of your activities whatsoever. Perhaps you will spare your new secretary this particular agony by letting him hear from you a little more often.

It might not be amiss at this point, ten years after our 25th reunion, to review some of the things that the Class has accomplished in this ten-year span. In the field of financial support to the College, we contributed over $333,000, the tenth highest of any class to the Capital Gifts Campaign. We have increased our annual giving through the Alumni Fund from $14,000 in 1952 to $32,500 in 1961, and I have every confidence that we will exceed $36,000 this year. The organization of the Class has been revised to correspond to the Plan for Dartmouth Class Organization adopted by the Alumni Council in 1956. Under this plan the Class elects an Executive Committee, which, in turn, elects a Chairman, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. Other officers are appointed by the Chairman, as are all class committees. Adopted at our 30th reunion, this plan of organization has worked very well over the past five years. Our Executive Committee has met regularly, with excellent attendance, and all class business has been kept up to date. Fall reunions, very well attended, have been held annually, beginning in 1957. One of the most significant steps taken by the Class in the past ten years is the establishment of the Class of 1927 Memorial Room at Dick's House, in memory of those members of the Class who are no longer living. The dedication of this memorial at our 35th reunion will provide a fitting climax to the ten years that have passed since our 25th. Members of the Class have continued to make significant contributions to their own communities, to their country, and to the world, in the best Dartmouth tradition. Most of these have been reported in this column, and where they have not been, it is because they have escaped the very imperfect newsgathering facilities of your secretary. It has been a good ten years for 1927, but the next ten should be even better.

Gus Cummings has been appointed General Chairman of the 1962 United Appeal for Baltimore and the surrounding area, which combines the campaigns of the Community Chest and Red Cross. Vice president and general manager of the Metal Products Division of Koppers, Gus is also active in many community activities. He is vice-president of the Community Chest of the Baltimore Area, Inc. and vice-president of Junior Achievement of Metropolitan Baltimore. He serves as a member of the board of Directors Red Cross, Baltimore Chapter, as a director of the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, and of the South Baltimore General Hospital, and is a member of the United Nations Association of Maryland. He was recently appointed by Maryland's Gov. Tawes to the Miles Commission, which studies the problems of metropolitan development, and is a member of the Commission on Government Efficiency and Economy.

The weekend of May 4 and 5 was the occasion of the annual meeting of Class Officers in Hanover. Representing 1927 were Chairman Bob Stevens, Head Agent LarryScammon, Editor Les Battin, Bequest Chairman Lee Greenebaum, Reunion Chairman Shorty Oliver, and your secretary. As usual on these occasions, the program was interesting and inspiring, and challenged your officers to do a better job on your behalf than they have done in the past. If it were only possible for every member of the Class to attend one of these meetings, there is no doubt that each one of you would come away with a much better understanding of the great challenges facing the College, as well as steps that are being taken to meet them. As your officers, it is our job to communicate these things to you, and we all feel that we are not doing it sufficiently well.

One of the areas where we think that we must have been falling down is that of the Alumni Fund. If we had been successful in conveying the whole story, there is no question but that we would be receiving contributions, according to your ability to give, from every member of the Class. If it were possible for Larry Scammon to sit down with each one of you, so that he would have a chance to convey to you his tremendous enthusiasm, and his understanding of the great need for participation in this tremendous effort by every one of you, there is no doubt in my mind that there would be no one who would not give something. Since this is impossible, I hope that all of you will, in this, our thirty-fifth reunion year, determine that you will do your share, and see that we have one hundred percent support.

Thanks to all of you for the help that you have given me over the past ten years, without which my job would have been impossible, but with which it has been a lot of fun. I can't say that I am going to be sorry not to have to meet these monthly deadlines, but I will miss the close contacts that I have had with so many of you, and I only hope that they will not cease altogether. I know that you will give my successor the same help that you have given me, and I am sure that he will repay you with a better job than I have done. So long, and the best of everything to you all.

Secretary, 29150 West River Rd. Perrysburg, Ohio

Class Agent, Massachusetts Automobile Bureau 89 Broad St., Boston 10, Mass.