1961's 10th
RETIRING CLASS PRESIDENT
June 18, 19, 20 saw about 125 members of the Class of 1961 gather in Hanover to attend our 10th reunion. Our classmates came from near and far, many with their wives and a few with children. Sonja andTom Conger journeyed all the way from Hawaii. From California came Bunny andDave Kehl, Barby and Fred Fields and children, and Fritz Kern. Other long distance travelers were Linda and DickBarr from Albuquerque, Ann and JohnHenry from Dallas, Connie and TerryO'Neil from Nebraska, and from Minneap- olis the King's and the Naegele's. Of course there were others who traveled long distances, but Fred Schwab and family take the award for devotion and courage in that two or three days after reunion they were moving to Europe where Fred will be a visiting professor of geology at a Scottish university.
Whether one came from across the river in Norwich or from hundreds or possibly thousands of miles away, we were all treated to a magnificent weekend. LarryHolden did a superb job in arranging a weekend which was nicely paced with plenty of opportunity for us to pursue leisurely our own interests. Larry deserves plaudits for a job well done. So too does his committee, particularly Hank Eberhardt,Denny Dinan, and Jake Gillespie.
By and large our time was spent in renewing old friendships, discovering classmates with similar interests and concerns, and learning what charming and intelligent wives we had all managed to marry. It was fascinating to see how some of our classmates had changed greatly over the last ten years, and yet others had changed very little. With some, the conversation was not much more than merely trying to catch up on what had been happening over the interlude; at other times the conversation became far more probing and deep.
A few of the highlights are worth mentioning. President Kemeny's talk to the reuning classes was enthusiastically received. Discussions with the undergraduates convinced many of us that Dartmouth is in excellent hands. On Saturday in a lovely grove at Storr's Pond, the Class was treated to a grand clambake. It was interesting to note that after eating few 61'ers attempted to swim out to the float in the middle of the pond. But the highpoint of the weekend was the elegant dinner in the Bema on Saturday night. We dined leisurely by the glow of the evening sun peeping through the pines as we slowly sipped wine with old and new friends. Later that night we returned to our tent where we danced and listened to the "greatest band" in the upper Connecticut valley. It was good to see how so many of our Hanover High School friends there really seemed to turn on with the band's attempt to play some old Chuck Berry tunes of the late '50's and early '60\s.Naegrele entertained us with a on show during one of the intermission, our younger friends could be heard mumbling something to the effect that they would have to hurry and grow up to take over positions of leadership before we had a chance to get into power.
Of course, with reunion there is a slight feeling of sadness. Sadness not because of the passage of time, but regret over the fact that so many of us have done little to keep close relations with former friends 1 hope that we will try just a bit harder to keen in touch with some of those with whom we shared a grand weekend. It is too easy to look upon such a gathering as a brief interlude with little meaning or significance in the long run. Dartmouth has brought us together, but there are now many other things which bind some of us together would be a shame to let such discoveries similar interests and concerns go to was' Reunion can be more than a three- meeting once every five years. Indeed we do not need to attend reunion to strike up a correspondence with a classmate who is doing things which interest us. Anyway, it was a good reunion. Make plans to attend the next one.
Some business was conducted too. As a result of the mail ballot sent to all members of the Class of 1961, the following were elected to the executive committee? Dick Beattie, Dave Blake, Chuck Dayton, Bill Hutton, Art Latimer, Bob Naegele, Terry O'Neil, Alan Orschel, Jack Reno, Alan Rozycki, and Ron Wybranowski. This group met briefly and elected Jack Reno president of the class until the next reunion. Jack will have to rely upon the willingness of many of us to give him a hand.
