1916
On July 19, 1917, the Fifteenth U.S. Regiment of Engineers landed at Liverpool where the then Lord Mayor welcomed them as "the first armed forces of a foreign power to land on English soil since William the Conqueror in 1066." Long since known as the Fifteenth U.S. Engineers, the regimental association celebrated the 50th anniversary of the landing at a dinner, on April 29, 1967 at the Penn-Sheraton Hotel, Pittsburgh, under the presidency of 1916's president Charlie Brundage. Of the thousand or so men in that vanguard, 125 men, accompanied by the wives of forty-five, attended the reunion. They were honored by a telegram from President Johnson, by a letter from the present Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and by the presence of the British Consul General at Cleveland who came over and made one of the addresses. A WAH-HOO-WAH for the Fifteenth Engineers, and an Indian yell for Charlie.
John Stearns' Balmacaan letter for May will report the second and final 1916 dinner of the winter at New York, to be held on May 4.
The fourth season of friendly New England get-togethers opened on Saturday, April 29 when six other couples of the original group were entertained by Herbert andHelen Kimball at their home in Southbridge, Mass. - namely the Coltons, Cravers, Gowards, Marbles, Marsdens, and Parkhursts. Following a long luncheon, the baseball contingent shared by television the Red Sox 9-8 win over the Athletics in fifteen innings, or part of it.
Our winter travelers return home: others go thataway: Dick and Kay Parkhurst's holiday began and ended in Boston snowstorms and snow also blanketed the colors of the Grand Canyon. But the rest of their fortnight in the Southwest was marked by delightful weather, by visits with friends and by a thoughtful pilgrimage to old Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Pete Soutar's stamping ground in World War I. ... Back home in Munich from their usual Christmas-time visits with their young people in Virginia and Texas, Ollie and Jane Fredericksen were struck in retrospect with "the pace, the urban disruption and expensiveness of the States, as contrasted with the quiet things we enjoy in Munich, such as sitting in a coffee-shop or walking in a pleasant park." ... In Tinchebray, Normandy, George Smith in mid-April had just had a week's visit from his eldest daughter and two of her boys - at tennis, riding horseback and tracking down their family tree (on the French side) in nearby towns. Then, pending arrival for the summer of a combination Dartmouth handyman and bridge partner he had commissioned John Stearns to recruit for him, George, with the help of an Aegis and magnifying glass, was trying to identify the 77 men in our reunion picture.... Hiram and Laura McLellan, Hiram writes from Texas, "will probably continue to be peripatetic as long as our health holds out. Last winter we were at Clearwater Beach, Fla., for three weeks - tried to get in touch with Burt Lowe in Sarasota without success. On August 15 we will sail from San Francisco on the 'S.S. Monterey' for a 42-day cruise in the South Seas. It would certainly please us to find some other Sixteeners aboard. The only thing that worries me is that during this period of inactivity, my golf game may deteriorate - but then — it couldn't get much worse." Tut-tut, Hiram, we played with you at Lake Morey.
Among the Florida section reporting their return: Jake and Anita Mensel flew home to Woodbridge about April 20 after two months in Sarasota. Jake had had a letter from Esky, stout fella. ... A highlight of RalphMendall's two weeks with his daughters at Grand Island was the day he and Jeanne drove to Ormond Beach for visits with the Chuck Durgins and Betty Wilson (PrenticeWinchell was not home) and for another pleasant hour with Russ Leavitt, his wife and sister at DeLand. Duff and Betty Lewis also returned in mid-April from doing two months' penance on the sunny golf course and beach at Venice, ready to welcome the sight of a snowball — and doubtless got it. "When the New Hampshire mud season is over, we will be up there and with our neighbor Steve Harvey will see what we can do to put that delightful spot Barnstead on the map." The Cap Palmers and Bill McKenzies of Akron vacationed in Florida too,
Also from Florida: Chet and Efale Drury spent their sixth straight winter at Mount Dora, where life apparently centers around the yacht and lawn bowls clubs. Chet's business career interestingly started with a post-graduation year at cotton manufacturing in his home town of Lowell, Mass., and this led to war-time ordnance service first as an inspector of cotton goods and then on a claims board in Cincinnati. The war over, a two-year turn with the First National Bank of Cincinnati led to 37 years in the paper industry - four with The Brown Paper Company of St. Louis as treasurer, eight with The Security Bag Company of Lockland, Ohio, as vice-president, and 25 as vice-president of The Fox Paper Company of Lockland. He retired in 1959.
Speaking of stout fellas, have you noticed that the eight-man 1916 delegation of Alpha Delta Phi, and the five-man delegation of Phi Kappa Psi, continue intact?
The law firm of Pell, Butler, Curtis & LeViness was terminated on March 21, 1967. From that date the new firm of Butler, Curtis, Bisset, Atkins and O'Neil will practice law at 375 Park Avenue, New York. John Ben Butler will be counsel to the firm.
Come June, Catherene Cleaves is to be a welcome near neighbor in 3-D, in these Swarthmore Apartments.
Until June, Earl Cranston is teaching History at the University of California at Riverside two days a week, and at La Verne College on three other days.
Good news from Esky: Back home nearly two months with a housekeeper, he wrote on April 24 that he had recovered from the events of. the winter, except for the fingers of his right hand.
Hearing that your secretary was planning to spend May 1 in Worcester County, Hollis and Carol Nickerson extended such a warm invitation to stay over with them at Wellfleet that I have just spent two days getting to Worcester by way of Cape Cod and Boston. En route I had good visits at Middleboro with Ralph Mendall and Susanne daCosta. Ralph carries on in the bank, with his lawyer son Trafton keeps bachelor apartments in the old home; his daughter Marguerite and pilot grandson Kenny come over most weekends from Sharon. Susanne is also fortunate in having several of her young folks in the area, especially now when she is recovering from being blown off steps by a recent gale.
Cape Cod could never have been lovelier than it was that brilliant spring afternoon which took me out the Cape to Nickerson Country. Winding lanes with rowboats and pumps to mark forks led through quaint Wellfleet to delightful old Nickerson house. It stands on a bank surrounded by beach plums, locusts, and a fenced-in patch of garden.
The return trip Sunday afternoon via Dennis permitted a full two hours with my old friend and roommate Roy Brahana, in his charming living-room overlooking an inland pond.... At Boston the evening and night went to the recurrent treat of a touchback with Parker Hayden. If you visit Parker just be sure to take along stilts and a scooter. Only one of his visits away this week was to a meeting of the Grenfell Association, of which he is still a director. Followed phone chats with Hobey Marble at Worcester and with Chan Green at West Hartford, and a half-hour at Fieldston with Dorothy and John Butler. A memorable weekend indeed. Our next will be in mid-May at Hanover, at the annual meetings of Class Officers.
Which reminds me: How many of you realize how much the Class owes to men who were privileged to have only a year or two on campus? Such men have served the Class variously as president, as head agent, as members of the executive committee, as the wheel horse of the New York dinner meetings; and in our fiftieth year at least six returned for reunion and some 24 contributed to the Alumni Fund.
Gertrude and Arthur Boggs '15 are enjoyingthe garden of their new home inPortland, Oregon.
Secretary, 2-C Swarthmore Apis. Swarthmore, Pa. 19081
Class Agent, 50 Rugby Rd., Manhasset, L. I., N. Y. 19050
