1939

Once again we start on a sad note. We had just recently heard of the death on October 8 of Frank Yalier. Yesterday Dot and I had a fine visit with Betty Valier and their six handsome children. We all helped write the obituary which appears in the In Memoriam section of this or a subsequent issue. Fuzzy would be very proud of his family.

Let's open all mail from Hawaii first this morning. Here's one from Charlie Osgood, 277 Lanipe Drive, Lanikai, Oahu: "Per request, a report from Hawaii. We're on the beach at Lanikai, not Waikiki (can't stand the tourists). To set the record straight Patty and I are only here for one year. I'm a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii. It is a beautiful university and so is its multi-racial female student population. Psychology is doing fine and as a matter of fact is moving into a well designed new building in January. As to the weather and scenery, when she is good she is very, very good and when she is bad she is horrid. Aloha." It's a helluva note that so many of us Americans are such stinkers as tourists that even the psychologists in that paradise can't stand us, but it's true.

A copy of the Burlington, Vt., Free Press (circ. 34,204) has come to hand. In it we read that Francis Earl Holland has been appointed by the selectmen of the Town of Derby to serve on the board of school directors. Jake is general manager of the Butterfield Division of the Union Twist Drill Company in Derby Line. He has three children, he was at Reunion, and he merits our special praise for being a community leader in the winter up there on the Canadian border.

And the Lynn, Mass., Item provides news that Richard L. Hobbs, a former selectman, has been named a member of the labor-management committee of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Dick is in the law department of United Shoe Machinery Corp. His new extracurricular activities will be to examine employment security laws, workmen's compensation laws, and other proposals affecting labor-management relations.

We've been reading that all-time bestseller, The Alumni Directory of 1960, that the Class sent me for Christmas. It was just what we wanted. We can tell you how many Dartmouth graduates are named Smith (289), how many live in Twist, Arkansas (1), how to spell Fiigon, Gluek, Haartz, Kalaidjian, Kwis, Osoinach, Pyrtek, and Zrtrides (think of the receptionist at that law office.), and how many men indicate they are not interested" in Dartmouth (seriously, there are very, very few). I especially liked a sen tence in the Preface: "Although 87 symbols are used to classify occupations, it is a Procrustes-bed operation to try to fit the widely varied and sometimes indefinable, occupations of 30,000 alumni into the proper categories." Thanks, fellows.

We received a fine letter from Joe Batchelder, together with an Associated Press picture on the Illinois-Michigan State game this fall Joe's son, Bo, is about to tackle the Big Ten halfback for a two point safety. Since the boy is only a sophomore, we join the Batchelder family in being proud of his record and the fact that he started the last three games of the season as defensive end, and, of course, made his varsity letter. He looked a little off his feed in the photo, but actually he is 6'3" and weighs 220 If this growing boy makes it to th Rose Bowl one year, we know some residents of Peoria, Ill., who will be making the trip also. Has he ever tried a little basketball, Joe?

Our family made it to the Orange Bowl game the other night. Joe Namath passed like a dream for Alabama, but Texas was there fustest with the mostest. That town of Miami has a real traffic problem with nightmare parking facilities at the game. It s best to leave your car m Tallahassee. Then, too, there are many interesting characters to observe. One drunk on my left brought along his electric megaphone and used it throughout to cheer for Alabama players who were always at the moment on the bench. He never quite remembered that we were sitting three rows from the top m the upper stands. And did your announcer tell you that it rained hard.several times during the game? Anyway, it's a great life, and Namath is a very great passer.

We hear from Hanover that our John Steele spoke to the seniors in Great Issues on results of the fall political campaign and that local authorities have commended Dartmouth undergraduates for setting a new record with a total of 235 blood donors in the Red Cross program. John, incidentally, is one of our most outstanding classmates, distinguishing himself with cover stories in Time Magazine regularly.

Your Class Officers plan to meet in BertMaeMannis' office on January 19. The mechanics of this magazine are such that we seem always to be a month behind times, but we'll try to keep you all abreast of developments. The College will invite all class officers to Hanover for May 7 and 8, so we are breaking the news early on that one.

A note from our very able predecessor, Bob Davidson, explains, "We were in Cleveland over Thanksgiving with all kids and ran into John Davenport at an After the Hunt Eggnog Party, resplendent in his riding togs besmirched with fox hairs. And very young he was, too! My back aches thinking of it." Please hunt some other parties, Bob, and send in a report soon. This column misses you.

Was pleased to find somebody reads some of these lines. My daughter has received a letter from an undergraduate in Hanover in care of your secretary. It seems the boy was one of those hardy souls who worked for the College at Reunion, and they promised to write. Her mother has taught her not to write first!

If any of you park overtime or otherwise find yourselves in the clutches of the law this winter in Palm Beach, you have a friend. He is Gus Broberg '41, famous basketball star, injured veteran, Town Judge of Palm Beach, and a wonderful guy.

From the same Burlington Free Press we have gleaned the following useful information and pass it along for your consideration. It seems a Dartmouth student decided to spend his vacation hitch-hiking all the way to California. In Cincinnati he aroused suspicion by registering at a motel and carrying only a large gas can. "Where's your luggage?" demanded the desk clerk. The student pried open the can and pulled thererom a clean shirt, underwear, and a toothbrush. He explained that people seeing him trudge along the highway with a can figured him for a motorist without gas, and felt it safe to stop and give him a lift.

And as the sun sets into the west, we leave you. Please give us a lift with a little gas next month . . . please!

Secretary, Box 38, Cashiers, North Carolina

Treasurer, 131 Briar Brae Road, Stamford, Conn.