1953's 20th

In the beginning there was the tent, conveniently located directly in front of Middle Mass. First a Friday afternoon check-in with Super Bagman Warren Wentworth, assisted by Ralph Tozier and Dick Fleming. A small check for big value. Oakland Athletics green T-shirts by Ron Lazar. Tote bags for the ladies probably designed by the Dartmouth Outing Club, certainly not by Harper's Bazaar. A fine assortment of Colgate toiletries by Phil Beekman. Non- flattering I.D. tags from The Green Book of September 1949 by Safier Studios (remember?). Offset by flattering comments by Dick Hall's Lois that we all look lots better now. On to BYOL cocktails - with student bartenders calling DaveReplogie "sir" with apparently genuine deference. Fred Carleton being chastised for lack of an Oriental textile industry contribution to reunion. Anson Mark telling Put Blodgett and Bill Beck there wasn't much good snow in Colorado either. Chuck Luker contrasting Ann Arbor and Swarthmore to Hanover. Kester Pierson recounting the particular joys of being resident in Princeton after the Big Green triumphs. GeorgePassano surveying the key operation with a combo engineer-businessman's eye. Bud Friedman with RAF moustache. John Alger bemoaning with Chamber of Commerce chagrin that Chappaquiddick will sink to obscurity beside Watergate. JackJacobus with pretty new bride paying matchmaker's fee to Bob Callender's Cathy. HapHaggett sipping foamy with dignity. Gil Osborn commenting on classmates' non-Haldeman tonsorial styles.

Then to supper at Thayer Hall. Lots better setup than two decades ago, but reminiscent nonetheless. Tickets, counters, lines. Jim Cobb surveying the cuisines with caution born of past experience. Fred England with the wrong picture on his i.d. Bill Andre displaying the extra good health parently looking for the Indian murals.

Down to President Kemeny's garden and residence. Bill Vitalis, Charley Buchanan, DickLombard, and Tony Frank offering expert opinions on developing weather (rain starting, getting colder) while sipping trouble-free punch served by coeds. Back to the tent before the Glee Club concert. Too many friends, too much talk, too rapid bar service, didn't make concert. JohnDodge says Florida weather not like this as thermometer heads for fifties (reached 53 degrees, natch). Canvas and scotch hold heat well, however. Dick Lena, George Sarner, TomNapoleon, Dick Greene, Dick Stanley, BernieSudikoff, Phil Fast, Ollie Conover, DickLoewenthal, and Tom McCrea all look great - happy, healthy, hale, and hearty. Brock Brower introduces special reading by Dartmouth Players. Can't quite hear all that Burton Bernstein wrote, but obviously clever. Frank Casalvieri, KenSewall, Elton Clark, Norm Carpenter, TomDewey, Dave Berry, Alden Sayres, DickKochman, Eliot Robinson, Fred Whittemore, EdParsons, and Max Weisler all reuning in high spirits. Jim West and Harry Bennett compete for Tent Terpsichorean Trophy; Herm wins on basis of mandatory school figures. Cold gets colder, rain gets rainier - tent doesn't fold, but eventually most of us do. Not Ted Spiegel or Butch Edgar, however.

Next morning, breakfast. Winter has set in. JimPenney among those at Tuck School breakfast. Bob Henderson's tennis tournament changed to bowling at Golfside. Campion's has run on sweatshirts, sweaters, windbreakers and raincoats. Only Hanover denizen Andree (Mrs. Jack)Tangerman is really prepared. Off to Spaulding Auditorium in the Hopkins Center to hear President Kemeny describe with both humor and humility the mood and substance of the College. Then to our class meeting in the Faulkner Recital Hall. Jack Crisp chaired the meeting as his next- to-last official act as class prexy, Don Smith received well deserved plaudits for a spectacular reunion program and was exonerated for the weather failure, and Fred Stephens brought us right up to the minute with an Alumni Fund status report. We knew we were within firing range of the world's record, depending on what could be done that day. Paul Paganucci announced the new slate of officers and executive committee members, and after near revolt owing to Pag's inability to identify the members of the nominating committee, Fred Stephens was elected president; Dick Dunham secretary; Don Smith treasurer; Jack Newton bequest chairman; and Dick Blum was reelected to the post he has held since Eleazar Wheelock conceived the idea of class newsletters. New members to the executive committee include: Bernie Sudikoff, Howard Clery, Jim Cobb, Dick Werner, George Jacobus, Ron Lazar, Bill Vitalis, Ed Wood, Bob Callender, Ted Spiegel, John Corcoran, Bill Johnson, Tony Frank, Eliot Robinson, and Dick Lombard. The meeting adjourned with an exhortation to proceed to Storrs Pond with ice skates.

We got there along with the classes of '52 and '54, an oompah band, a massive juvenile volley ball game, and a roast chicken lunch in sufficient quantity to feed the army of the Volga at full strength. And the chow line looked like Napoleon's retreat from Moscow - but it moved faster. Karl Friedmann, Charley Fleet, John Kingsland, Ted Hibson, Fran Thomas, Don Bigham, Tim Reed, Don McMichael, Seth Carpenter, Bob Lundegaard, Don Perkins, Jay Hague, Hilty Rosen, Byron Menides and Peter Spalding were all in view in one panoramic sweep on the meadow, with foamy dispensed at either end. Shortly afterwards, the heavens opened and there followed a Le Mans start for the parked automobiles. Despite cavalier directions from a couple of guides, no car ended up in Storrs Pond or the Oak Hill ski lift, a triumph under the circumstances.

We gathered for cocktails in the trophy area of Alumni Gymnasium, named for Jim Oberlander's dad, instead of the D.O.C. House, owing to the inclement weather unquote. A real Manhattan-style cocktail frenzy, highlighted by the Dartmouth Aires, the new name designed to avoid affront to native Americans. It was reminiscent of Alpha Delt on Saturday night, except that Gaudreau didn't arrive to put the house on pro. Fred Miller, John Rogers, Rick Mainzer, Bill Crotty, Bob Heilman, Bruce Cole, Jack Avril, Dick Geisser, Phil Lewis, Ralph Lash, Blake Hering, Dave Salter, Larry Kabat, George High, Bruce Gilmore, Marty DeGennaro, and Russ Cook were all encountered in various forays to, from, and under the bar. Then down to the varsity basketball course (baskets removed from backboards, heavy duty paper on the court and assorted small fry in the stands) for dinner. We filled the arena, and an impressive sight it was. Roaming up and down the food line, one could chat with Roland Leavens (who got the prize for bringing the biggest family the farthest in a single conveyance - wife and six kids from Hood River, Oregon, in a camper), Owen Cote, Bob Chiesa, Dick C. Goodman, Mayo Johnson, Warren Cassidy, Paul Supovitz, Dave Stanley, Bill Dolan, Jack Zimmerman, Gus McGuire, Bert Melcher, Dick Beatty, Ron Scheman, George Teare, Sock Senne, Charley Cowap, Tom Dixon, John Sargent, Dud Millikin, Fred Pollard, Bruce Sherman, and Tinker Williamson.

At dinner, President Kemeny came to award us the Class of 1930 trophy and - to the resounding cheers of the throng (it sounded like the night the hoopsters beat Cornell in January 1950) - the Class won the inaugural presentation of the Charles F. Kettering trophy for topping the previous world's record (Yale '52) for a 20th reunion class - over $206,000 from almost 500 classmates. A magnificent event, made even more meaningful by Jean Kettering's coming from Denver to be with us for reunion weekend. Then Bob Douglass took over as toastmaster, neatly quipping away while giving special recognition to dozens of classmates who had led the Alumni Fund, reunion, and other class activities. Bob Longabaugh won the door prize and promptly added that C-note to the Alumni Fund coffers. Then Carroll Brewster, Dean of the College, addressed us on the special concerns of the students today. To many of us, they sounded a lot more familiar than the undergraduates of five years ago. Ed Boyle closed with a benediction, which sensitively noted both pride and thanks in our brotherhood and accomplishments for the College.

Then back upstairs to music, dancing, and more boiler fuel. John Springer, Fred Carleton, John Corcoran, Jim Cartmell, and Bill Gilges were all finalists in the twinkle-toes competition, with Gilges getting the nod despite neardisqualification for wearing tennis shoes.

Sunday dawned clear, bright, and warmer. The whole Chuck Reilly family made it to the tennis courts. Dave Stowe conducted our memorial service in the Bema, honoring the 19 men of 1953 who have died since matriculation. It is sad to think of good men lost, but useful and appropriate to reflect on what they brought to their work, family, and friends.

And at the end there was the tent for final farewells. We all pledged to be back for our big 25th - and so we will.

President Kemeny applauds 1953's dinner announcement that the Class had set a newworld's record for a 20th reunion class by giving $212,000 to the 1973 Alumni Fund. PaulPaganucci, reunion giving chairman, and Fred Stephens, head class agent, are at right;Class secretary Bob Malin at left.

Reunion chairman Don Smith '53 (left) andclass president Jack Crisp display the 1930Cup won by the 20-year class with 146 menback. Total attendance of 510 persons establisheda new 20th reunion record.

RETIRING SECRETARY