1949
If you examined the masthead carefully you noted that you have a new class secretary. Gordon Thomas asked me to take the place of PaulWoodberry who has become over-committed and had to resigm He caught me off-guard and I didn't have time to develop an argument, so here I am. I hope that I can continue Paul's good work. I trust you ail will make my job easy and continue your deluge of letters, cards, and press releases.
By the time this reaches you the fall reunion, October 10-12, will be history. Based on Gordon's letter, it sounds like a good weekend. Words has it that a number of people we haven't seen for a long time will be there, for example Ed Leede from Texas, a '48 who has adopted '49 as his official class and John Cooley from Beirut, Lebanon. We are particularly happy to learn that John will be there, for this will give us an opportunity to present him with the Robert Frost Medallion which he was awarded at our 25th Reunion.
Bill? Chapman and his assistant class agents are to be commended on the fine job they did in pushing the Class over their $32,000 objective in the recent Alumni Fund drive. We still ended up fifth in the Green Derby out of seven classes, so we could have done better. The major problem is our low rate of participation. We need to raise it to 60 or 70 per cent. Where do you suppose the Class of 1950 found $500,000?
A press release from the Samsonite Corporation announces that Dick Hanselman has been named president of that corporation. He joined Samsonite, a division of Beatrice Foods Co., as president of the Luggage Division in 1970 after spending 14 years with the RCA Consumer Electronics Division. This was duly noted in September's "Rouse" column, but we add class congratulations. Bob Rooke has been elected to the board of trustees at Bucknell University. 'Guess they heard about his skills as a fund raiser.
Dick Mallary has left Vermont and politics to take a job with the Farm Credit Bank in Springfield, Mass. The Farm Cret Bank, although congressionally chartered, is a private lending institution that caters to agriculture interests. I haven't heard as yet exactly what position Dick holds. His decision to take the position means that he will leave Vermont politics after 20 years of activity. The Valley News of Lebanon reports that his name has been mentioned as a possible contender for the Republican Party gubernatorial nomination and also as a candidate for the presidency of the University of Vermont.
Several of our classmates seem to be doing quite well in the oil industry. Bob Reed, a group vice president of Tesoro Petroleum Corp., was elected to the board of directors of Commonwealth Oil Refining" Co., San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a result of an agreement to consolidate the companies. Ken McClain reports that his company, Global Gas Corp., successfully completed a producing gas well in Pittsburg County, Okla. Ken is a petroleum geologist in Ft. Worth, Texas.
A clipping from the Pasadena Star-News describes Bob Huffman's role as Region II budget chairman for United Way. He heads a group of 175 other volunteers in investigating and deciding the proper allocation of $2.2 million. When he is not working for United Way, he is running the California Bicycle Div. of the Huffman Manufacturing Co., started by his father 50 years ago. He holds both division and corporate responsibilities and spends a lot of time flying between his Arcadia home and Dayton, where the company headquarters are located. Bob and his wife Juliette have a daughter Catherine, a senior at Stanford; a son Phillips, a sophomore at the University of Colorado; and a son James, who is a senior at Flintridge Preparatory School and by now is enrolled in college. (Perhaps Dartmouth?)
Harry Randall Jr., who resides in Hillsdale, N.J., has been elected to the presidency of the Bergen County Bar Association for the 1975-76 term. Harry is a senior partner in the Westwood, N.J., law firm of Randall, Randall and McQuire. He also serves as a member of the Bergen County Board of Freeholders. He and his wife Katharine have four children: Lisa, 21; Vicky, 19; Thomas, 16; and Mary Ruth, 14.
The New York Times several months ago carried a feature story on Irish Country Hats, and guess whose picture was included among the suburban businessmen devoted to this type of headgear? Bob Alden. He says he favors the full slouch with the back flip, whatever that is, and claims that he regularly steams his hat over a sauce pot. (I thought they got their shape from being crumpled up in a coat pocket.)
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