1949
The wettest summer in thirty years here in the Northeast may have ended the celebrated water shortage and permitted restaurateurs to give us drinking water with our meals once again but it did nothing for our summer except to encourage our lawns to grow at such a fantastic rate that our mowers were grossly overwhelmed. Time has flown by so quickly, and here we are into another school year with another bumper crop of pea green freshmen already burning the midnight oil behind desks which may even have belonged to some of us fifteen transactions ago.
The big news out of Hanover since our last column was undoubtedly the great record set by the 53rd Alumni Fund which exceeded the first two million dollar goal in history with a total of $2,101,560. An anonymous gift by one of our classmates of $325 on the final day of the drive made Forty-Nine achieve its dollar objective even with ten less contributors than last year and set a new class dollar record of $20,471 with an average gift of over $54. We continue to drag in class participation with only 71.5% contributing which places us 58th out of a total of 70 alumni classes. Fifty more contributors would put us in 45th place, a decided improvement which really shouldn't be too difficult to gain.
Once again this year I was pleased to attend the Class Officers' Weekend in the late spring along with Bob Alden, ElliotBaritz, and Dick Bandfield. This is an annual occasion to be anticipated not only for the obvious personal associations but as well for the thought-provoking panel discussions and speeches on the various aspects of alumni affairs. We were even favored with some favorite North Country humor by Prof. Al Foley. Both Dean Thad Seymour and President Dickey delved into the Governor Wallace incident which they pointed out was far more difficult to unravel than all those writing letters to the college might have ever realized. Mr. Dickey stated that if society can be likened to the moon that moves the oceans so the campus is the very battleground of dissent and defiance. This of course means that the problem is universal and Dartmouth is far from being alone in her embarrassment regarding a campus incident. An infrequent incident is our assumed burden if we are to continue to honor our commitments, maintain our respect for a free intuition, and preserve its very existence.
On the back of an envelope I managed to jot down some news about classmates including the fact that Ort Hicks and his wife Jan were blessed with their fourth child, Robert Orton in May. Also, Dick Commons and his wife were blessed with a daughter, Catherine Grace, about the same time. Jimand Joyce Braunworth were slated to attend the Alumni College in Hanover during August. And lastly, I was told by DickBandiield that daughter Diana has finally outgrown the Thomas playwear which she received at the reunion raffle in a swap with Harv Nolan. Harv figured he had enough marked down merchandise of his own for his Woonsocket emporium without adding raffle prizes into the assortment, so he swapped prizes with Dick. By the way, I had lunch with Harvey a couple of months ago and saw some stunning photographs of the brand new McCarthy's Department Store, a solid one-store operation which relinquished its time honored location in downtown Woonsocket, R. I., in favor of a new one in a brand new shopping center a short way from the city complex. Early sales indicators marked this as a wise business move. We certainly hope so. The colossal task of moving an entire department store from one location to another with only a week of closed doors has played havoc with a tranquil home life.
To strike a more serious note for a moment, I did discover an especially important fact during the Hanover meetings. If our class widows ever felt the slightest reticence about joining in on class activities or visiting Hanover at any time, these feelings can now be emphatically dispelled once and for all. I know that I speak for the entire class when I remind them once again of the sense of importance which we attach to their keeping in touch with and playing an active part in all our class functions. This is an integral of our hard fought for and hard won class unity in overcoming a post-war class disjointedness. Now on the part of the College comes welcome word that Miss Nancy Elliott, Director of Alumni Records, with offices in Crosby Hall, is Dartmouth's official hostess to all class widows. This means that any of you women should feel free to contact Nancy when you know that you'll be in the Hanover area so that she can help you plan your activities.
There is a good bit to report which will run over into several columns as material has been filtering in throughout the summer. Phyllis and Bob Swift happily report the birth of Doreen Louise, their fifth child, on May 17. Tom Huggins and Ginny wrote in late July to tell us of the birth of Mary Katherine on June 27. Tom says that we should all be pleased to know that having a baby in your forties is great. The Hugginses will be moving shortly to Charlotte where Tom will be in charge of Markem Machinery Company's Southeast sales office. He sent a detailed description and wants to know if anyone wants a 1772 colonial home in Swanzey Center, N. H., but warns not to inquire if you simply want a homogenized, simple box you can ignore.
I had been talking up the idea at the meeting of class secretaries of phoning longlost classmates in order to chase down much sought after news. Putting my telephone bill where my mouth was, I made a few calls over the summer to some of you.
Sum Arneson and Nonie have been living at 34 Shannon Road in Harwich Center on Cape Cod for several years. Sum recently was invited to sit in with his trumpet at a local jam session and reports that he still can play a reasonably cool horn. Unable to work on a full-time basis due to a debilitating long-term bout with epilepsy, Sum still manages to stay in excellent spirits and would welcome a call or visit from any of his old friends.
I caught Art Wallace but missed the New York air shuttle by doing so on a sticky night in August. Art still lives in Milton, Mass., and is with the United Parcel Service as New England Personnel Manager. Art and Betty have five boys and a girl, and they live a lot closer to Dartmouth than lots of us do. Wouldn't it be great to see them and a host of other classmates and their wives surprise the expected regulars by joining us for the 1949 Annual Fall Weekend on October 13-14? It could happen.
Secretary, 15 Twin Oak Rd. Short Hills, N. J. 07078
Treasurer, 530 East 86th St., New York, N. Y. 10028
