1932

Home from two months and 10,000 miles of camper travel and work that took us pretty much around the perimeter of the country, we make record of two great places to be that you may have missed. One is Big Bend National Park, down there in southwest Texas where the Rio Grande makes its big bend. The other is the Wallowa Valley, up there in northeast Oregon where the road ends at Joseph.

Trying to do as much of Yellowstone as we could in the mere half day that circumstances permitted us, daughter Deborah and we were quite ready to believe Terry Nitschelm, who does most of the postcarding for the Ade Nitschelms and who had written: "Four days of exploring Yellowstone (lots of hiking!) were not enough. We were forever being amazed at some new and awesome creation of Nature's. Everything out here in the West is so vast and majestic. We've had a marvelous few weeks of wandering and wondering through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and now Montana ..."

Our own transcontinental journey ended on a nice sequence of class notes. Pulling into Toledo at 11 p.m., we rewarded the warm hospitality of John and Irene Keller by keeping them up till 2 with talking. At breakfast time John was taking readings from a black box, in his capacity as a volunteer observer running a check on the ERTS satellite's periodic readings of the Toledo environmental ambiance. Winding up our Toledo interviews, we made a late afternoon dash to Cleveland for dinner and another pleasant night's stay with Pete and Lil Knight. Not long returned from their annual summer migration to Maine, they were pouring libations from the trophy awarded them for winning this year's around-the-island (that would be Deer Isle) race.

"An Albany man, Judge Milton Alpert of the State Court of Claims, is now charged with helping resolve one of the state's most difficult and controversial problems - public pension reform," was the lead in an Albany, N.Y., paper's "Man in the News" feature last summer. Milt had just been selected as chairman of the public pension panel charged with making recommendations to a special session of the New York legislature. Said the paper's capitol reporter: "Those who know him and have worked with him in various top governmental posts for the past 30 years view his selection as a perfect marriage of man and job."

"Childs To Keep Active Despite His Retirement" proclaims another feature clip that has come to hand, from a paper in the environs of Dalton, Mass. Its subject is Al Childs, who retired last February after 37 years with General Electric. Recapping Al's business career and his many-faceted record of service to the Dalton community, the story notes: "Rocking chairs have no place in his plans . . . Any time you see Al Childs sitting in a rocker with his feet on the porch rail, he's either sick or thinking, probably the latter!"

From American Samoa George Blaesi writes that he and Diane have bought a condominium in Sun City, Ariz., and hope to move there in 1974. "I am too much a part of my time and age to reflect dispassionately on the passing scene," says George. "To quote from 'My Fair Lady', why can't the 'now' generation be like us? Personally I think we are really a marvelous bunch. At least we had a sense of humor, which is gone today."

Jim Whiton sends a postcard from the Bahamas covered with notations that we take to have to do with celestial navigation, and appends a note: "This is the kind of skill, largely self-taught, that occupies me now, after three years since scuttling my desk and running away to sea."

From Dr. Cal Fisher, briefing us on fellow Denverites a while back, we learned that CharlieMoritz is retired from his Medical Encyclopedia post but continues to do free lance pieces on medical subjects. And that Eddie Toothaker, likewise retired, was reported setting forth on an extended camper trip. A press release from the Dartmouth Club of Central Vermont informs that Gordon Lane was elected treasurer.

Secretary, Orchard Hill Road Westport, Conn. 06880

Treasurer, 6517 Atwahl Dr. Glendale, Wis. 53209