1923

Retirement apparently holds no charms for Bill Blood. High School teaching assignments in Pepperell, Mass., and Nashua and Milford, N. H., ended in 1968 and Bill promptly took on a new job in "Project Transition" at Fort Devens. This is an intensive, voluntary educational program for enlisted men who never achieved a high school diploma and who are about to leave the service. Bill started out teaching both math and science but his classes grew so large they had to be divided and he now confines himself to math only.

Ed Pratt announces his retirement as principal of the North Kingstown, R. I., Senior High School. Ed left college at the end of freshman year and after a number of earlier teaching assignments was appointed in 1930 to the position from which he is now retiring. During his teaching career he studied at the Rhode Island College of Education, the University of Rhode Island and Brown and Boston Universities. He has been very active in the New England Secondary Schools and Colleges Association and chairmanned their board of accreditation on several occasions.

Bill Kimball with 17 grandchildren has, as you might expect, taken the lead in the great-grandchild derby. Bill and Dot announce the births of twin girls to their grandson and Mary Beth Krippene on April 3 at New Canaan, Conn. All four generations are doing well.

My inadvertent crack in the March issue about the Hollis Riddles' town of Absarokee, Mont., has brought varied reactions. George Buffett's son Roger sent the clipping to one of the Absarokee pastors and the Riddles hastened to provide me with Chamber of Commerce brochures, maps, and picture postcards. I hasten to make amends. Absarokee is quite a town as witness - 600 population, several churches, water system, sewers, dude ranches, a theatre, and as near as I can identify them from their names, five (5) bars. We can't begin to match these accommodations in Francestown, N. H., with an exactly equal number of inhabitants. But then that's the great West for you.

Jack Lee's son, John H. Jr., has recently- been appointed head coach of the Harvard wrestling team. John Jr. attended Harvard and later became national A.A.U. champion in the 125 lb. class.

Jack and Doris Myers' son, John, joined the Navy following his graduation from the University of Tennessee. For the past two years he has been on the "U.S.S. Constellation" and had two tours of duty in the Gulf of Tonkin. He was discharged last February, took off on a European vacation, will return to the States before the travel influx starts, and will begin his business career this summer. The senior Myers drove to San Diego in January to see the boy and stayed nearly two months. Had a nice get-together with Larry Eager in San Francisco and attended the Dartmouth luncheon there.

The Connecticut Senate and House of Representatives recently confirmed the reappointment of Howie Alcorn to the State Supreme Court. Howie was first appointed to the high court on October 7, 1961 following eighteen years' service as justice and Chief Justice of the State Superior Court. Previous to this he had served three terms in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate. Speaker of the House in 1931 he became Senate Republican floor leader in the 1933 session. Altogether Howie's distinguished service to the State of Connecticut, in the legislature and on the bench, adds up to close to forty years.

The March issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE announced that Jim McCabe had writ- ten an article for the 1969 winter edition of Vermont history titled "Early Ledgers and Account Books - a Source for Local Vermont History." I have written Jim asking for more details and hope I'll be able to fill you in soon. There seems to be a number of blossoming 1923 authors at this late date. I would like to hear from them.

Talked recently with Ed Flindell. He and Kay are enjoying retirement in the neighboring village of Hancock, N. H. Ed, whose sister Lee is Karl Klaren's wife sold his insurance business in 1960 and moved up here from Summit, N. J.

A couple of odds and ends of Metzeliana to clear up. Early in the year Truman sent me the class secretarial understatement of all time in the form of a quote from the Whittier (Calif.) College alumni magazine to the effect that Richard M. Nixon '34 had re-entered government service and would move shortly to his new address at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D. C. I also wish to acknowledge receipt of a color snapshot of a bas-relief plaster sculpture, self-executed, of our peerless fund-raiser. This is the most recent, but by no means the only, form of art Truman has been experimenting with. He's real good at it - so good in fact it looks like the work of a professional sculptor. And finally from Mazatlan, Mexico a postcard signed jointly by Bixby and Metzel, ex-secretaries, extolling the virtues of the local shrimp and planter's punch.

Jules Rippel recently received the Second Annual Hospital Achievement Award of the New Jersey Hospital Association "for his exceptional activities and contributions to the hospital field." Active in the hospital field for many years, he had served as a trustee of Morristown Memorial Hospital. His wife Carol is currently serving as a trustee. Jules also received the 1969 Heart Award of the New York Cardiological Society. As trustee and president, he has guided the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation for sixteen years since its inception.

As I put these notes together we have just returned from the annual Hanover assembly of class officers. This two-day session includes a series of work periods for the various officer groups, reports from the college administration, individual class officer meetings and a pleasant interspersion of social events. This year 240 men and 165 wives attended. Irish will fill you in on the excellent program and on the conviction we all carried away that the college is being run by able, aware, and hard-working men. This year's session had special interest for 1923. Truman Metzel received a distinguished alumni citation and award and BabeMiner was elevated to the presidency of the class treasurers association. In addition I had a few moments with Charlie Zimmerman who with one of the other trustees was participating in a campus conference which included students, townspeople, faculty, and college administrators. One or the other of us will fill you in later on the details of this latter dialogue.

And finally - this is the last issue of the 1968-69 season. For me, it completes two years of duty as your class secretary. They have been most rewarding years in many ways - particularly in the new and renewed friendships this job has made possible.

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

Class Agent, Dogford Rd., Etna, N. H. 03750