1900
Christmas mail brought news items from members of the 1900 family. For these items your secretary is most grateful, and feels a surge of hope for his column in the MAGAZINE.
Ethel Woodman, widow of Jim Woodman, reports a delightful Thanksgiving gathering at the home of her daughter in West Medway, Mass. All told, there were sixteen members of the family present which included eight granddaughters and one grandson. Somehow in this fine family the masculine is sadly outnumbered by the feminine. The ninth granddaughter, Persis, who is studying French this year, at the Sorbonne in Paris was able, thanks to modern methods of communication, to chat from Paris with members of her family in West Medway. Christmas was celebrated by the Woodman family at the home of President Everett Woodman under the shadows of Colby Junior College in New London, N. H. Jim Sr. was greatly missed at these gatherings of the family which he used to thoroughly enjoy.
In her annual Christmas letter Olivia Allaway, daughter of George Tong, reports that last June she attended her 20th reunion at Wellesley College and following the reunion visited friends in New York City. Olivia remarks that she returned home from this trip "voiceless but refreshed." In the fall the family moved from Santa Barbara to Goleta, Calif., which is farther out in the Goleta valley. They now live in a spacious house with ample grounds and a splendid view of the mountains. In very truth they have the good fortune "to lift up their eyes unto the hills." The family enjoys the new location and the many new interests resulting from this change of residence.
Ronald Eaton, son of Pa. Eaton, is currently living in Charlottesville, Va. He retired last July after 18 years in hotel management, a four-year stretch in Naval Intelligence, and 18 years in hospital administration. He was instrumental in building up the expanding facilities of the Samaritan Hospital in Troy, N. Y. His eldest daughter, who is a veterinarian, and is married to a veterinarian, lives nearby with their five children. These grandchildren love to take turns in spending a night or an occasional weekend at the home of grandpa. After the throes of moving and getting settled in their new home Ronald went back to Troy for his mother who has lived with him for many years. This good lady is 90 years old and made her very first airplane flight from Troy to Charlottesville. What a thrill that must have been for that elderly lady!
Arthur Roberts in a letter to me tells a story out of his cultural remembrances which bears repeating. A cultural tramp made a pilgrimage to the art centers of Europe. On reaching London she casually sauntered through the art galleries of that city. Later on being interrogated by a friend in regard to a famous painting - perhaps a Rembrandt or Gainsborough - she said: "Well, if it was there I saw it." Apparently she did not really see a thing. Arthur relates this story in connection with the tragic destruction of art treasures in the city of Florence, Italy, resulting from the disastrous floods last fall. In the past Arthur himself has visited many of the cultural centers in Europe, and out of his keen appreciation for painting, sculpture, and other art forms he speaks of his enjoyment of a painting of a dog in one of the galleries in Florence. His reminiscence goes to show that the painting was not only there but he actually saw it and appreciated its artistic merit. So you can see that not all visitors to art centers of Europe or elsewhere are cultural tramps.
Mrs. Ralph Norris, sister of Arthur Wallace, has moved from Belfast, Me., to the Mary Hunt Home in Nashua, N. H. She has long been devoted to 1900, and for many years has been a regular attendant at our reunions. Ina is very happy in her new home and in the fact that other members of her family are nearby. Her room is pleasant, the food is good, other occupants of the home are congenial, and best of all she is free to come and go quite as she pleases. Judging by letters received from members of his family there is, at this writing, no appreciable change in Arthur's condition.
Secretary and Treasurer Box 714, Hanover, N. H.
Bequest Chairman,
