1929's 45th
Our “45th” - one year early! 103 men, 91 wives, one child, and Janet Woodbridge made it to Hanover for a reunion that was memorable, thanks to advance work by chairman Duke Barto and his officers, and especially the local contingent led by Trunkie Brittan.
Our 45th represented a time of transition, and this was symbolized by John Dickey's absence from the college scene and President Kemeny's new role. The latter addressed us twice; he referred at some length to John's many contributions and we were pleased that John and Chris were there to listen.
Some solid data on 29's transitional period are embodied in "How Golden the Years," a report that summarizes questionnaires returned by 213 of us. This project was suggested by Bob Ramage and the returns were analyzed by Professor Robert Sokol of the Sociology Department. A copy is being mailed to all class members; you can have some fun figuring out who wrote which anonymous quote.
The reunion planners provided intellectual stimulus in the way of lectures and panels. One session with Professor Jeffrey Pressman dealt with relationships between the Congress and the President, and here our own Congressman DaveMartin, speaking from the floor, was able to make a few things perfectly clear to the rest of us. Another session was entitled "Dartmouth Today"; Frank Foster as a panelist raised some searching questions about present trends.
Our tent at Middle Mass became reminiscent of the campus in April when rainstorms left several inches of water on the grass and the familiar duckboards came out again. In the evening RussGoudey played tunes from the 1920's on his sax, accompanied by various characters from '27 and '28 thumping the piano, washboard, and wash tub. This was the nostalgic summit of our 45th.
On Wednesday morning our class meeting voted in a slate of officers proposed by the nominating committee, Phil Fitzpatrick chairman:
Class Chairman, W. F. Barto; Vice Chairman and Reunion Chairman, T. T. Brittan; Vice Chairman, Harold Hirsch; Treasurer, John C.Hubbard; Secretary, Harold H. Leich; Class Agent, E. C. Chinlund; Assistant Class Agent, Richard W. Black; Newsletter Editor, Harry W.Baehr Jr.; and Bequest Chairman, John D.Gunther.
Our new Executive Committee consists of Austin, Bete, Black, Blair, Born, Bulkey, Carter,Clow, Cooley, Cornehlsen, Dickey, Drake, Foster,Jaquith, Keyes, Mayher, Monahan, Moran, Moxon,Ramage, Reading, Redding, Ripley, Rock, and Stearns.
Jack Hubbard's treasurer's report made good reading; our memorial fund now contains more than $5,000. The Class voted unanimously to give $600 from current income to the Library for books.
Then we moved to Rollins Chapel for a memorial service for our departed members, led by the Rev. Archie Crowley. Our final event was a luncheon in Thayer, followed by movies of prior reunions filmed by Harry and Jo-Ann Baehr.
Larry Hale and I were fortunate in staying with Bob and Alice Monahan and thus had a chance to come up to date on college outing and forestry activities. On Saturday I joined a DOC-led group of alumni from younger classes and some [missing text] children for a mass assault on Mt. Moosilauke. We made it up the steep Gorge Brook Trail (new since our day) in a pelting northeaster; the view from the top was all of ten feet. But I did see the ruins of the old Moosilauke Summit Camp (burned by lightning in 1943) and a few yards away a bronze plaque honoring Dick Sanders, who served as the summer hutmaster in our day. More nostalgia thinking of Dick and the end-of-season houseparties we had in the old place.
For 44 years class stalwarts like Mort Jaquith,Gene Davis, Squeek Redding, and others before them have carried on the secretary's duties. Now my free ride has come to an end and I'll try to carry on the assignment for a while - with the help of all of you. Please keep the news rolling in!
CLASS SECRETARY
