1920's 50th
Recalling James Russell Lowell's leading question "And what is so rare as a day in June?" a poetess has written: "When the Class of '20 came to re-une, The days were all golden; each night had a moon. Top honors ours. All our world was in tune - this June of 1970!"
Top honors were ours, indeed. Received with acclaim was Governor Sherm Adams' deeply thoughtful, beautifully expressed Fifty-Year address; the award (temporary) of two silver cups to the Class: the 1894 Cup for the presence of the largest percentage of living graduates; the 1930 Cup for the largest number of members present for the Commencement Weekend reunions; and the addition of yet another 1920 to the Dartmouth Alumni Award list.
Our world was in tune! "Pike" and Marguerite Emory came from Hawaii via Europe; the South was represented by a large contingent; the mid-West had a fine delegation; some winged their way in from the West Coast; and, of course, the New England-Atlantic Seaboard region had many on hand. Al Foley promises a full listing of all attendees in a mid-summer issue of TWENTY. Many messages came from those who could not come, including a warm greeting from President-emeritus John Dickey and Chris from the upper reaches of Lake Champlain.
The. area tour was a success. Two buses with scarcely a vacant seat toured various portions of Hanover and Norwich. Parts of Hanover's lovely residential area (much of it field and pasture in our student days) were viewed; the beautiful Storrs Pond recreational area at the foot of Oak Hill; the rapidly expanded medical school-hospital complex; the restored Daniel Webster House now the home of the Hanover Historical Society; the very modern and functional Kiewit Computation Center; the Thayer School-Tuck School facilities on the Tuck Mall; - all were seen and, in some instances, visited. Crossing Ledyard Bridge into Vermont, we glimpsed some of the fine old New England homes on Main Street, including the charming Norwich Inn; the newer residences on the Turnpike and Beaver Meadow Roads; the old and the new houses on Mechanic and Elm Streets, some with fine views of the Hanover Plain and more distant New Hampshire hills and mountains. Returning to Hanover we drove up West Wheelock Street to the Hanover Inn, passing several of Hanover's historical landmarks, including Eleazar Wheelock's third residence in Hanover, now the location of the fine Howe Library in which all Hanoverians take great pride. With two 1920 area residents as guides, classmates not only knew where they were going but they also knew where they had been!
The Dartmouth Dining Association and the Hanover Inn took good care of us. The food was excellent; the service efficient; the dining quarters pleasing to the eye. Our Inn host, Jim McFate, exercising both imagination and generosity supplied an addition to Sunday morning's breakfast at the tent creamed codfish, much to the delight of many. The closing luncheon at the D.O.C. House was superb and the cooling pre-luncheon liquid "inner unction" — to borrow a Sherm Adams' phrase - relieved those who had found the Commencement exercises uncommonly long this year. Happily, however, those exercises were without unwelcome incidents and one has the feeling that hotheads are cooling and a more careful weighing of basic values is being undertaken.
Jovial "Prexy" McGoughran guided our class meeting skillfully, mixing business with humor so deftly that our outgoing and incoming secretaries may have omitted taking detailed notes of the business transacted. The officer slate for the next five years remains the same, except for the election of a new secretary to replace retiring veteran, George Macomber. The Executive Committee has six new members to fill the vacancies caused by deaths.
The Class cited and gave gifts to two classmates: retiring secretary, George Macomber, and Head Class Agent, Jack Mayer, who is doing an outstanding job in this golden anniversary year. The citations will be printed in the class newsletter.
The Reunion weekend was a period of joy and rejuvenation but it was not without touches of deep sadness. At a simple and beautiful service in Rollins Chapel we prayerfully honored those classmates no longer with us, including Arthur F. Gooding, whose so recent passing precluded placing his name on the Memorial Service program. The service began with the late President Hopkins' "Layman's Prayer" and ended with playing of "Dartmouth Undying," the words and music of which so poignantly express Dartmouth men's feelings toward their college and their deceased classmates. We are greatly indebted to the Memorial Service Committee for the program and to Reverend Edward H. MacBurney '49, who officiated. At some future time the widows of deceased classmates will each receive a copy of the program.
Blue sky, white clouds, warm sunshine every day; a bright moon, a multitude of twinkling stars every night - and a pleasant coolness throughout - just as in June 1920, the Hanover Plain was at its best during our glorious Golden Anniversary. We enjoyed every minute of it; vowed we'd return soon - but we did miss those who for various reasons were unable to attend.
Many could not resist the lure of a postreunion rendezvous. Some visited the Battels Stone House in nearby Canaan; others proceeded to Sherm Adams' Loon Mountain Lodge to spend another day (or longer). At the Loon Mountain summit on June 15 we saw the full splendor of the White Mountain region. Good fellowship; good weather; good food; good "close harmony" under the leadership of Ted Marden, Jim Reber, and Charlie Sargent prevailed at an unforgettable closing luncheon session. Sherm and Rachael's well planned bus tour; entertainer John Winn's songs with guitar accompaniment; Sherm's reading of poetry; and Al Foley's wit, humor, and wisdom provoked many a plan for future off-year, informal reunions.
Well, there it is, friends - our 50th, so long in coming; so quickly passing. Much more could be said and perhaps more will slip into the ALUMNI MAGAZINE and TWENTY columns in the future. We close by urging you to return to the Hanover Plain more often for future events, wearing your green berets - the identification of returning 19205, whatever the occasion. And the Princeton Game next autumn is a very good time to start, rendezvousing in the northwest corner of the Leverone Field House!
Adios, amigos, 'til we meet again.
Both cups for the Commencement reunion period are received by reunion co-chairmen Horace Dalrymple and BillCarter.
Honored among the classes reuning last month was the 50-Year Class of 1920.
CLASS SECRETARY
