1950
Thinking about October in the North Country usually stops with the end of the foliage season. But October offers more. Warm days abound, belying the evident signal of cooler evenings that winter approaches. Then there are the few days of biting cold, more bitter in their contrast. Each night invites the cooling wind that sweeps clear the sky to magnify the smallest star, a sight now seldom seen in the diffused night light and occluded atmosphere near our cities.
On the river, the interplay of water and air at evening is captured in tendrils of mist. And the first snow falls, sweeping in briefly on a front of lowering clouds and swirling gusts late in an afternoon. A rainstorm dulls the day without, spreading the somber gloom of November.
After the flaming colors of the foliage season, the pines flaunt their paths across the hills. A birch grove takes a defiant stance. The high pastures are revealed cropped short yet still bright green. And the distant hills remain a warm brown before shifting into November's grey and winter's blue.
The football season has slipped from dismal to miserable. The defense has been superb; the offense, inept. Since time slipped away from me, my tickets for the Princeton game faced the end zone. Most of the game seemed to take place right in front of us, but we missed the chance to congregate with other classmates gathered high above the 30-yard line in the west stands. The key play was a delay-of-game penalty at the four with about a minute to play in the first half. Losing that scoring chance cost the game. We did happen to see Scott Olin, who had not yet found his '7B son, on Friday evening. And NewcEldredge was on the sidelines at the soccer game the next morning.
In Providence the next week the score was favorable, but 7-6 left few moments for relaxation. This time the Big Green executed the one big play, a 50-yard dash off tackle for a TD. Later the defense started a series with first and ten at the 12 and ended with fourth and 35. Brown's field goal failed and the game was saved. Doug Smith, Bob Kilmarx, and SandyMcCulloch were in the stands to savor the win.
Then came the Harvard weekend in Hanover for only the second time since our freshman year. The team's record was exactly the same as "last year, its fifth championship season, as the clan arrived.
The executive committee gathered early in Woodstock, Vt. Bill and Mary Embree from Chicago were the first arrivals via meanderings and a visit with Sandy and Dottie McCulloch.Joe and Sue Medlicott nearly ran me down in front of Dartmouth row the next afternoon. By evening we were back in Vermont for dinner with Nev Chamberlain, his father Stan '25, and Chuck Gardner. Then others flocked in: Ed andMarlene Tuck, John and Mary Alice Dwyer,Jack and Jill Harned, and Bob Kilmarx.
At 8 the committee convened for a long session of old business and much reunion. Briefly, the Class is solvent. Jack Harned reported that our efforts for the Alumni Fund had been successful and that we had won our second consecutive Green Derby (a match with other classes of our vintage). Joe Medlicott begged for resumes for our "Reunion Book." A DartmouthReader, a compilation of alumni authors, was approved as a suitable replacement for the library program, thanks to Chuck Gardner's effort. Newc Eldredge reported that the College had planted a number of birches with our 1974 gift. The committee voted to continue the tree program for another year.
Reunion plans were the next subject presented item by item by Chairman Nev Chamberlain with help from Dave Orr '57, our college representative. Nev's objective is a reunion memorable to its last detail and epitomized by . a touch of class." Among his cohorts reporting were Len Matless, Tom Ruggles, and Dick Zeising.
The final item was a report by Bob Kilmarx on reunion giving. His message was that this gift is special and extraordinary. It is a mark both of our achievement and our dedication. In no small measure we are what we are today because of what we were 25 years ago. Dartmouth is a part of what we were and are.
The critical task for the committee was to set a goal for the Class. This goal had to set a meaningful challenge within the bounds of possibility. It was a difficult assessment. The resulting challenge is $300,000 and its achievement is all up to you, individually and collectively.
Little remained of the evening. Yet there was still a chance to talk to Bill and Liz Sullivan and, later, John and Carole deGraaf.
Early morning, the meeting behind us, gave us a chance to wander around campus before congregating at the Canoe Club for a bit of lunch: The crowd was thinner than usual, but Ben and Joy Shaver managed to fly in, after an evening's delay by weather over the mountains, to join old buddies Gordie and Betsy Pinkham.Fizz Nichols and Ed Gulick are old timers, but Jack and Barbara Kent were a new and welcome sight. Almost late in the heavy traffic were Jimand Betty Moore along with Jack and AnnElliott.
A fast, unexpected hike to the stadium enabled us to see the kick-off next to Dave andBev Reier, who reported that Tom (Red) Rowe would return in June. Stretch Pendleton was close by and down in front Dick McSorley urged us all to cheer the team on. The half offered a moment to spot Frank Dickinson, BruceHazelton, Dave Pittenger, and John Craver.
The mini-reunion ended with a dinner at the Woodstock Inn. We were joined by Warren andLoudean Franz, who practices medicine in Newport, N.H., and our elusive Hanover agent John (Squeak) Piane with wife Toni. As usual, our apologies if we missed you.
Then there was the game. Last year's win was not repeated. The defense remained stalwart except for one 40-yard lapse that ended on the one. But there was another play - a last ditch 40-yard toss on the last play of the game to the elusive Tom Fleming. The Harvard defender just nicked the ball at the last instant for the final frustration of the afternoon. We lost in '46 too.
Tidbits here and there: an article in the May Bulletin of the Council for Basic Education by Harry Foster chronicles "The Debasement of School Libraries." After years in industrial relations Ralph Muehlig chucked it all to enter law school; he is now in his final year. There is a touch of lament in Jim Farmer's wife's note that their first four children chose large Midwestern universities. Jim has only one last chance at an excuse for fall weekends. Jay and Mary Buck welcomed Cal and Khaki Bauer back to Chicago after a long sojourn in Dallas. The new chairman and chief executive of Lincoln First Bank of Central New York is Bill Balderston. Jim McCrum remains the will-o-the-wisp and before you catch him he has gone - back to Australia. Dave Taylor wants you all back for Reunion.
Hopefully, late news about the football team will be better. Some key plays have to turn in the Big D's favor. Next month, the final.
Now, a moment of reflection. With the holiday season upon you, my greetings and best wishes. Pax.
Ed Feaster '49 (1) and Cul Modisette '50 and Northeast Alaska's Sheenjak River. Culwas the guide and Ed his bowman for a six-canoe expedition, down the river to the Porcupine River and to Fort Yukon. The 500 miles took the month of August.
Secretary, 510 Hillcrest Rd. Ridgewood, N.J. 07450
Treasurer, Oppenheimer & Co. One New York Plaza New York, N.Y. 10004
