1923

This will reach you quite late for making plans, but Jerry Riley will again open his house for a 1923 get-together following the Brown game on October 18. Two years ago Jerry sponsored a similar affair for some sixty classmates and wives. He has a beautiful place. The food and cocktails are beyond compare and he hopes to have you all there this year. Jim Broe will again mastermind the evening. You will have heard from him long before you read these notes.

Jean and Charlie Rice's son Ted '52 chairmanned the Bi-Centennial commemoration program of Moors Charity School last May 17 in Columbia, Conn. Recognized officially as the birthplace of Dartmouth College and featuring the original homestead of Eleazar Wheelock the ancient Indian School buildings and grounds are now under the aegis of the Columbia Historical Society. All but six Dartmouth classes from 1906 to 1972 were represented at the affair with 1923 taking the attendance honors. President Dickey shared the lectern with Charlie Zimmerman who had a prominent part in the program. Howard and Beta Alcorn, Bill and Elsie Catlin, Ed and Madelyn Lyle, Clarence and Priscilla Goss, Bill and Peg Corrigan, Al and Bessie Hovey, Bill and Dorothy Blake, Charlie and Jean Rice, and Jim Hennessey represented the class.

June was the month for 1919 high school classes to celebrate their 50th reunions. I have word in particular of the Asbury Park, N. J., and Manchester, N. H., affairs. JoeMillar, reunion chairman, and Lou Wilcox seemed to have shared the honors at Asbury Park with Lou, being proclaimed the one who had travelled the furthest to be there. My own Newton, Mass., High School was either too scattered or too decimated to organize a reunion so I was very happy when Elinor and Ivan Martin invited me to attend theirs at the Manchester Country Club. Connie and I sort of made a back door entrance by virtue of my having been a grade school and/or Dartmouth classmate of many of the Manchester High School graduates. In addition to the Martins, Charlie and Ruth Chadbourne, Al and Doris Taylor, and Bus and Ethel Dodge graced the affair. Al Taylor was in great form as toastmaster.

Under the headline "Know Your Merchant," the Salem, Mass., local paper recently featured a three-column story about Fred Clark. Accompanying the article is a fine picture of Fred, posed beside some of his merchandise, and looking very youthful and smart in a cross hatched sports coat. Fred's father started the business - men's apparel — in 1898. After working for several other clothing firms Fred became head of the store in 1926 and sole owner in 1949 when his father passed away. Fred has been active in the Salem Chamber of Commerce for many years and when he is not busy at the store does a lot of gardening. Says he has no idea of retiring for at least another five years.

Win Wadleigh was recently elected treasurer of the American Civil Liberties Union. This is the first time a New Hampshire resident has held national office in ACLU, which this year celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. ACLU is only one of many civic responsibilities Win has undertaken over the years - combining these good works with a continuing active practice as senior partner in his Manchester law firm.

Word comes to us - with no immediate details - of the elevation of Carlos Sanchez to the rank of Monsignor.

Colin Stewart's widow, Elaine, announced the marriage during the summer of her daughter Janet to Arthur H. Bill of Raleigh, N. C. Janet, a graduate of the University of Vermont, has been a nurse at the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Her husband is an attorney with the SEC in Washington.

In the June issue I reported the reappointment of Howie Alcorn to the Connecticut Supreme Court bench. Too late for that issue came the news of Howie's nomination and confirmation as the Court's Chief Justice.

Also in the June issue I told you of JimMcCabe's literary endeavors. Jim has written me one of the most interesting and inspiring letters I have had in my two years as class secretary. I'd like to share the following extracts from it with all of you:

Twenty-four years ago we arrived in West Arlington with two young boys, a dog, and a small trailer loaded with clothing, bedding and minimum household equipment. It was snowing and our new home was 21 rooms - bare of all furniture, unheated and just barely "plumbed." We also owned four assorted types of barns, two broken-down tenant cottages, 360 acres of land fronting on the Battenkill and damn little capital. Twenty-four years later we have three kids through college (two Masters), eleven grandchildren, one of the cottages rebuilt, 225 acres of land, no job, emphysema and damn little capital - and not one single solitary regret. Our kids are happy, and prosperous and successful parents. On top of this I am blessed by being able to spend my days working at my beloved avocation - volunteer curator of a notable collection of Vermontiana. My physical energy has been whittled down to a nubbin but within my narrowing but accepted limits I enjoy a pretty full life. My wife has an absorbing and creative hobby of her own and we both have become avid bird watchers - something I can do from a chair or a car.

As far as money is concerned we escaped the very real danger of raising kids with too much of it. When they graduated from college and my lung trouble set in I had to quit raising Angus cattle and a commercial hay business and literally fell into Uncle Sam's lap as postmaster in this lovely little town. I enjoyed that high office thoroughly and got to know everybody in town. Had to quit last October with a miniscule but very welcome pension. What with having worked as an electrician's helper in my spare time for ten years, sat on half a dozen boards, and been postmaster there is little I don't know about the people and happenings hereabouts. So I have become almost the "oldest" inhabitant from the point of view of local and historical knowledge of Arlington - a truly lofty eminence and one I enjoy to the full. So this is a paean of contentment from a very lucky guy.

Most of us have enjoyed at least adequate good health. Some of us have acquired modest fortunes. Jim lays claim to neither. It occurs to me however that by a true measure of success he has just about reached the top.

By this time most of you know that 1923 contributed $45,672 to the 1969 Alumni Fund Drive - $2,312 over our quota. Along in June when the drive seemed to be lagging a bit Lou Wilcox sent out an appeal for help that more or less laid it on the line re the issue of alumni giving as related to campus turmoil. Lou has sent me a dozen or so of the letters from classmates which he received in reaction to his message. Almost without exception they applauded both his appeal and the stance of the college administration.

Secretary, Box 2, Francestown, N. H. 03043

Treasurer, 960 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow, Mass. 01106