1923
This issue of the Alumni Magazine will probably reach most of you a few days after our 50th Reunion festivities. Inevitably therefore these notes will be an anti-climax for some of you. Your class officers will have held their usual Hanover meeting in May. Reunion and perhaps even Post-Reunion will be a happy memory; we will have chosen a new slate of class officers, mourned the passing of the watering trough, and paid due tribute to the memory of the Model T Ford. The July issue which is reserved in part for reports from the reunioning classes will however bring all of you a full account of these doings.
My listing in the April issue of the names of 15 allegedly "lost" members of the class has brought some gratifying returns. From Ort Hicks '21 who flatters the Class and me by admitting that he reads this column quite regularly, has been particularly helpful. Ort researched his own memory plus the resources of the Alumni Records Office and came up with the following:
Ralph W. Totman's name crept into our 1923 records in error - probably because the 1940 General Catalogue so listed him. The 1966 and 1971 issues of the catalogue correctly include him with the Class of 1922. In addition to Ort's help Bill Gates writes that Ralph is a 1918 graduate of Greenfield. Mass., High School, a retired army colonel and is now living in Alstead, N.H., which intelligence is also confirmed by Ted Barstow.
John W. Graydon also appears as a 1923 man in the 1940 catalogue. Ort advises me that John has always been a member of 1921 and is so listed in later college catalogues.
Bob McMillan also helped to correct this record inaccuracy by writing Charles W. Graydon '25, who reports that his brother John is now living at 125 Chartwell Road, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
James W. Cravens was at Dartmouth for two years and then transferred to Princeton where he graduated in 1923. He is now listed as a member of the Class of 1922 and lives in Houston, Texas.
Henry A. Sullivan's most recent address is Marden Newton, Dorset, England. Ort advises me that mail no longer reaches Henry at this address and that he preferred some time ago to be listed with the Class of 1921.
Lawrence T. Barnett was with the Class of 1923 for three years and in 1925 received a law degree from Northwestern. He passed away in 1964 in Glencoe, Ill. He should not be confused with Harold Lincoln Barnett who passed away on May 5, 1938 in Boston, Mass.
My thanks to Ort, Bob McMillan, Ted Barstow, and Bill Gates for their great help in correcting our class records.
The Class of 1923 owes a great many thanks at this time to Vera Hall, Pete Jones' very able secretary. During the past two and more years Mrs. Hall, often during Pete's absence, has typed letters for several of us, compiled data of all sorts, arranged lists, and in general served as a communications medium for your class officers and those who have been preparing for our 50th reunion. She has been of invaluable assistance in interpreting the long hand writing of some of us, meanwhile keeping her boss in constant touch with what we were up to. Much of this was done under the burden of the loss through death of her husband at a time when the 1923 class work load was heaviest.
On Tuesday, March 20 Bob Maxwell and OpalMarie and Charlie Zimmerman hosted a group of 1923 classmates at the Zimmerman's home at the Country Club of Florida in Delray Beach, followed by dinner at the Country Club.
All those who were known to be in the area were rounded up for a gala occasion. Present were the George Scammons, Gardner Akins, CharlesRivoires, Sam Homes, Irish Flanigans, KenQuencers, Bill Gates and Ted Schwartzbaugh. Many of those present hadn't seen Ted for many years.
Charlie says he doesn't know how long it takes to establish a tradition and at our age we can't allow too long for one to take hold. This however is the fifth consecutive year this group has got together and each year is more fun than the previous one. All those there plan to be in Hanover for our 50th.
Major Bird writes, appropos my recent remark that Howie Alcorn, Tom Coughlin, and RoswellJorgenson have lived at the same location since 1923, to remind me that he can go them one better. Major lives in the house he was born in and has never changed his address. His father was a Michigan Supreme Court Justice from 1910 to 1928. Although Major hasn't changed his address for these many years he has done a great deal of traveling and says this lessens the urge to relocate one's home.
I have just forwarded to Ike Phillips a small bale of ancient snapshots taken between the Delta Alpha period and graduation. A few of these appeared in the Golden Review. Ike hopes to include some of the others in a future Skiddoo.
Most of Clarence Goss' time and energies during the past months have been devoted to the Alumni Fund. A recent fine picture of him in his Newtown local paper, however, shows Clarence accepting a generous check to the Newtown Scholarship Association of which he is a member and to which he has also contributed his fund raising talents.
While you are in Hanover I hope, if you don't actually sit on it, that you will nostalgically view the senior fence. If you do perhaps you will discover two brass plates affixed to it. The older reads "Senior Fence, Originally donated by the Class of 1897." Nearby is another marker which says - "Senior Fence, Extended and repaired as a gift to the College by the Class of 1923." If I paced it off correctly the present day fence is just about twice as long as it was when we knew it.
And again - and I don't recognize this reminder as an anti-climax - we are still looking forward to another class reunion - this fall for the Penn game weekend October 13. If you didn't think to discuss it with Ted Barstow during the 50th weekend, write him at Dunster Drive, Hanover, N.H. 03755 for reservations.
These notes mark the completion for me of six years as your class secretary. They have been happy and rewarding years and they have passed much too quickly. It has been a very real pleasure to renew old friendships and to get to know some of you much better than I did when we were at Hanover. Meeting with you again, your generous letters, and your help in many other ways have meant a very great deal to me. Thanks to all of you!
Secretary, Box 2, Francestown, N.H. 03043
Class Agent, 3 Sealand Dr. Newtown, Conn. 06470
