1959
We're in our annual Saltmines period now so I can't really season this column with my usual wit and humor. I'll use a good old staccato style here and be done with it.
In response to Alumni Fund requests sent out by Jim Wooster, several men included small tidbits as to why they would not be able to serve as assistant class agents. KirkWalters said he'd be on Polaris patrol for the next six months several fathoms down. Bob Weston will be going to Norfolk, Va., on April 27 for two years on an aircraft carrier. John Bartlett is serving as a doctor on Saigon, Vietnam, and therefore can't help out. Major Jay Butterfield is on his way back to Vietnam for his second tour of duty there. Dave Heine will be in Guatemala, serving as overseas agent for ColgatePalmolive Inc. From a school way up in the wilds of Alaska, Norrie Nims writes that he won't be able to help out because there are no alumni for miles around and no phone, limited mail delivery, and, furthermore, he hasn't seen a classmate for ages. Any openings up there, Norrie? Dr.Bill Boyle is serving as a captain in the Marine Corps and is stationed in Italy just south of Pisa (working on a nutritional solution for some tower that's growing very lean!?). And Dave Foster's wife writes that he, also, is in Vietnam, thus pretty much out of reach at least until August when he returns. Mai Swenson says he can't serve because he's the New Hampshire chairman for the Harvard Business School fund this year - hissss. Steve Gould will be studying in Germany next year, taking a leave from Williston Academy I guess. Still another man in Vietnam - Hank Wirfs' wife writes that he left very recently for a stint over there and will have to wait for another year.
Some men have, very justifiably I think, claimed that their enrollment activities make it impossible for them to help out with the Alumni Fund - Nate Oakes in Cleveland and Chuck Parsons in Syracuse have been doing some great work for us in past months in enrollment and interviewing, and, as many of the rest of you know, it's quite time-consuming. The next few weeks will be one of the most hectic periods when notices are mailed from this office and various alumni follow-up tactics go into effect. We have two Davises joining our other men in Vietnam - Tom Davis, about whom I've already written, and Stan Davis, both are with the armed forces. Stan expects to leave any moment from Fort Knox and Tom is already over there. Alan Hurlbut will be in Denmark for three years and John Baldwin plans to be out of the country, primarily in Germany, April through September. John has also written to me that his Ph.D. students at the University of Illinois are placing well in industry and postgraduate programs. He is quite busy moving into newly constructed facilities, heading up the local Montessori school program and working on his usual volume of research and articles.
Several points become apparent from the aforementioned news: we have a great many more men serving in Vietnam than we probably realized, and we have quite a good number of men spread all over the map doing interesting things. I hope Woos will get support from those who are able to serve and that we won't let down after the great showing we made in the Alumni Fund last year. The men in the Alumni Fund office up here seem to agree that the classes that get off to the fast start are the ones that end up on top in the end. The last-minute struggle is usually quite frantic and should never be counted on. The best efforts are those that begin early. If each guy can give just a few more bucks than he did last year and if each agent can bring in one more man who hasn't contributed recently, we've got it made.
John Burkhardt was recently named Financial Editor in the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company Communications Department down in Allentown, Pa. On January 14, Carol Joy Sroll married Les Larsen. Les is presently a personal representative for David Rockefeller. Sounds good. Must be some interesting travel involved. Pete Paxon has been named assistant district manager of Armstrong's packaging materials division down in Philadelphia. Prior to his promotion, Pete was a sales representative in the Philadelphia office of the company. His wife, Pat, writes that Rob Killgore is now a stockbroker with Reynolds & Co. down in Miami. He took a four-month training program on Wall Street and is now keeping one eye on the Big Board and one eye on the bikinis. John Chilson writes that he's now practicing law in Loveland, Colo., living on a 60-acre farm, with two horses, one dog, and "an undetermined amount of mouse flesh." That makes at least two of us who shovel horse-manure. Max Fischer graduated from B.U. Law School back in '65 and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar soon after that. At the moment he is another of our men in Vietnam. He volunteered to serve an additional three years recently and will be over there in April as a lawyer with the 3rd Marine Division. As I've said before, the play dough and crayons on the rug and the fact that the car is rusting out become insignificant troubles when you think about those some of our classmates are facing.
That's it for now. Into the Mines for a month!
Don't know the name of the game, butparticipants are Lee Ambrose '59 andNoel Sankey '56. Lee's in real estate inthe Denver area; Noel is a urologist.
Secretary, Canaan, N. H. 03741
Class Agent, 46 Alfred Dr., Pittsfield, Mass. 01201
