1918

GOLDEN ROUND-UP JUNE 14, 15, 16, 1968

AI Gottschaldt writes as follows: "We were requested by Monty Mountcastle '22 to see if we couldn't postpone the annual Class of 1918 POW-WOW a bit so as to join with the Gold Coast Alumni on March 27 when the Dartmouth Glee Club will be down in this area. He polled his committee and found that they preferred changing the date to coincide with the Glee Club engagement, accordingly he has contacted the Hotel Sheraton in Fort Lauderdale and they have changed our date for dinner to the night of March 26 and luncheon to March 27. The Glee Club will be there the night of March 27. Please note the change in dates if you are planning to attend the POW-WOW next March."

A nice letter from Ed Butts stating that he has received so many good cards and letters from Classmates that he cannot attempt to answer them individually, so he is asking us to thank you via this column. After about forty years his diabetes caught up with him, stopping all blood circulation in his legs. It was necessary to amputate both legs about three inches above the knees. He was in great pain for a while, but the pain finally ceased and he began to feel much better under the surveillance of a wonderful therapist who taught him how to get in and out of bed, automobile, etc., making him absolutely independent again. He writes: "Have had the use of a wheelchair, of course, and I have learned to use it as my legs. Have developed strong muscles in my arms so I can get along without tiring." In conclusion he writes: "I am healthier than I have been for many a year and love life for all it is worth. Many thanks to all my friends. With all best wishes." Please continue to write him.

You will be interested to know that nineteen Classmates and their wives have signed up for rooms at Brae Burn and the Holiday Inn Motel for the weekend of the Harvard- Dartmouth game; 31 Classmates and wives and friends have signed up so far for cocktails at Brae Burn immediately after the game. In addition the Class of 1919 is planning to run a cocktail party at Brae Burn in conjunction with ours. This promises to be another good time.

A nice letter from Dan Shea which we quote in part: "Each year I seem to appreciate more and more my 1918 Birthday Greeting. What a good job Jake Bingham is doing for the Class. I feel he should get some sort of a special award at the FIFTIETH. How about it? For the third summer in a row I have not gone north to New York City and Long Island. Hope I can make Hanover next June. Gene Markey long since has headed to Lexington and I imagine he is now in France with his wife. HowiePark and I visit quite frequently over the telephone."

A nice long letter from Myron Savage from South Dennis, Mass., reads: "I was pleased to receive the 1918 Birthday Card. Last year I had a severe illness and was unable for months to do much work. After cutting down to one or two days a week in the office I retired completely in May of this year. We have a lovely small retirement home here on Cape Cod. We hope to get to the Fiftieth Reunion next June."

Louie Huntoon writes: "First let me tell you how much appreciated the card sent to me from all of you at the Rump Reunion at Norwich. It is another example of the thoughtfulness and closeness of our Class." Alice writes his letters for him because he is not well enough to write as yet. If you have recently received a letter from Louie you will appreciate the following: "I hope soon to again be able to use my own ballpoint. Did I tell you what Tom Bryant remarked: i.e., 'Betty and I regret your illness but with Alice writing for you we no longer have to employ the services of an Arabian or Ethiopian to find out what you have actually written us.' "

Bill Brewster writes: "Yes, I am in the boys' camp business; just home from the fourth trip from Grand Lake and third to Mt. Katahdin. Busy life but a fine one. My best to all in 1918."

We recently received a long letter from Les Granger from 9 Stephen St., Montclair, N. J. 07042, and which we quote in part:

Jake sent me a card reminding me today is my 71st birthday and that I had moved from the ranks of the elderly into the fumbling, stumbling company of the aged. There is really nothing significant to report, except more of same. Five years after retiring from the National Urban League I retired again .. . from my professorship in sociology, Dillard University in New Orleans. I had retired from the presidency of International Council of Social Welfare and am now one of two Honorary Presidents, but retiring left me doing more of the same thing, currently as a peripatetic distinguished visiting professor, at Morehouse College in Atlanta for the spring semester.

Actually I have not one single complaint that is legitimate. I was one of only a few hundred Negroes to get through Uncle Sam's and President Wilson's Jim Crow Screen to win an officer commission in World War I, A.E.F. I parlayed a seasonal work job into an executive direction of the National Urban League for twenty years. I have been decorated by Jim Forrestal, one of our great public servants and great souls, by Harry Truman, one of our non-great presidents, by Greek King Constantine, and by the largest body of welfare workers in the world. I have traveled in five continents and 52 countries, and driven over a million miles in this country and can still drive 500 miles a day without any undue effects.

Then Les paid one of the most beautiful tributes to his deceased wife that I have ever heard. "You say, no complaint? With Lefty gone? and I say 'No complaint.' For I have found during the past 30 months that there is a lot of comfort in knowing that she enjoyed everything that was important to me, and we had good times around the world; that she is no further away than the next beautiful sunset; the whimsical shapes of drifting clouds, the autumn colors of a forest, or any other of the hundreds the thousands — of moments shared by us together for 42 years. At the end of any marriage what more can be added by a partner who survives?" Les is moving to Denver, Colo., in October.

Secretary. 137 Annawan Rd. Waban, Mass. 02168

Treasurer, Brash Island, Darien, Conn. 06820

Bequest Chairman,