1944's 30th

The little elves in the Secretary's Office (Crosby Hall) who make a living keeping "stats" on the number of alumni who do this or that, tell us that the Class of 1944 came within 11 men of an all-time record for a 30th Reunion. That means that 11 of you out there should start feeling bad for keeping us out of The Guinness Book of Records.

And those other hundreds of you who didn't make it to Hanover should also feel bad because it was that nice an affair. Friendly, joyous, nostalgic, light, serious. It was also damned cold and wonderfully sunny.

Anyway, 111 of us showed up, and we totaled 203 adults, and there were an additional 23 offspring under 18. Lots of classes lose money on their reunions; not so '44. Would you believe a surplus of $1,334.39, safely and snugly tucked away in our numbered bank account in Switzerland. At our final dinner, reunion chairman Ray Hensler and treasurer Dave Eckels each received the standing ovations they so thoroughly deserved.

Our "uniforms" were clean and simple: a golf cap (some cockeyed seamstress sewed the "D" on the back instead of the visor, but that was okay) and a name tag with type large enough to read. Simple and clean. No clown suits. No space helmets.

Lots of shorts and sneakers, too, because there were jocks all over the place. I have no eyewitness to any early morning joggers, but eager golfers included Bird Partridge, BobO'Keefe, John Callow, Merle Hagen, and Johnny Morse among others. Positively identified tennis buffs were Bob Harris, Tommy Douglas,Dick Ostberg, Clark MacGregor, Jim Towsen,Tom Miner, and Ray Hensler (who it is said, was seen at 3:30 Wednesday morning still going strong in the tent, and he still kept an 06:45 date on the courts).

As Merle Hagen mentioned in his June 25 Newsletter, there were 12 men for whom this was the first reunion ever, and they surely deserve mention again, especially when you note the kilometers many had to come: JoaquinAguirre (Colombia, S.A.); Tom and MaryCraighead (Maryland); Fran and Julia Dougherty (South Carolina); Harry and Ginny Grieger (Vermont); Bill and Mary Hinson (Kansas); Joeand Ann McDevitt (California); George andLouise McElfatrick (Maryland); Nick and HildeManitsas (Virginia); Bob and Ning O'Keefe (Michigan); Jim and Carol Towsen (Texas); BillTurpin (Washington, D.C.); and Bill and MuggsWhite (Florida).

There were others in the Flying-Carpet category, too: Bob and Helen Gifford and Billand Rusty Hirons, both from merrie olde England; John Bird, Alabama; Don and FranEvans, Georgia; Bob and Patty Fairbanks, Kansas; Gene and Barbara Kinney and Don and PatSheriden, Chicago; Bob F. Miller, Chuck andBecky Richardson and Bill and Kathy Trier, all from Arizona; and Arnie and Ann Sanders, California.

At a rousing class meeting Tuesday morning in 105 Dartmouth (renovated a few years back; you'd no longer recognize it as the location of Doc Pollard s Smut Class 35 years ago), a new slate of officers was installed. Not all new, really; some were kind of tarnished - like BillCraig, Merle Hagen, John Berry and Fritz Hier, all of whom were bulldozered into continued service as, respectively, treasurer, newsletter editor, bequest chairman, and secretary. Shiny and new are Ezz Hale as president, Ben Jones as head class agent, and Ross Higier as deputy class agent.

New to the executive committee are Rog Antaya (whose name inexplicably got left off the new class stationery), Russ Burdge, Mrs. Jim(Tommy) Donnelly (more below), PhilPenberthy (outgoing president), Dick Ranger, and Jim Towsen.

Also at the meeting, a class project - handrails in various campus building to aid the physically handicapped - was approved unanimously, and $1,500 a year for the next several years was voted. And, inflation finally caught up with us; class dues will go from $10 to $15, in line with most other classes.

The program Tuesday evening was just as nice as the meal. Phil Penberthy was the gracious m.c.; Ray Hensler had warm things to say about everyone who'd had a hand in making reunion a reality; a witty Leonard Rieser, Dartmouth v.p., gave a quick, concise view of the College today ("And," he remembered, "it was 47 years ago this week that Don Sheriden and I graduated from kindergarten together in Chicago").

Clark MacGregor urged bigger and better Alumni Fund gifts, hoping for a 60% class participation (we missed; see below); Dave Eckels presented a beautiful, hand-made silver pendant of the Dartmouth pine to Tommy Donnelly as the first woman member of our executive committee and the class liaison to other widows; there was a cheer you could hear in Montreal for Frank Parker whose limitless supplies of Budweiser kept tents and occupants going until the wee hours; and there were huzzahs, too, for the four students, among them Dave's LaurieEckels, who clerked registration and the dorms. (Objective girl that Laurie obviously is, she reported that the '44 group was twice the fun younger, successive reuning classes were); and finally Phil turned the gavel over to new president Ezz Hale, who told a very funny Funny in a Scots brogue.

A few random items from crumpled notes found in crumpled pants: Bird Partridge ran a great private bar from his ground floor window in Middle Mass ... Dave and Dottie Brown had the right idea and got things started early at their summer place at Wolfboro, N.H., with the Russ Burdges, John Callows, Bruce Deans, BobO'Keefes, and Dave Pattersons arriving on Friday for a reunion of their own before the Dartmouth business got started on Monday ... The Jim Towsens zeroed in on Hanover via a 22-day European sojourn that included Germany, Austria, Italy and France ... And the JoeMcDevitts vacationed on Cape Cod before heading for N.H. ... An attempt to work a Navy Air Corps, Whitey Fuller "Happy Hour" into reunion didn't work out, but Eric Barradale came up from Brattleboro anyway ...JoeMacFarland didn't get credit for coming all the way from Brazil because he and the family were at their summer place on Lake Sunapee ... Clint Gardner did a wonderful job eulogizing deceased members of the Class (there are 61) in a joint Memorial Service with 1945 and 1946 ... Hap and Mary Bush reported that they were sit- ting on the Inn porch Wednesday noon when Stan and Isobelle Zarod pulled up. Stan had been tied up in the Massachusetts senate until 2:30 a.m. and for "relaxation" decided to buzz up to Hanover to see if there was anything going. So the Bushes and Zarods had lunch together ... ... We said at the beginning that it was damn cold; it was in the 'thirties Monday night and a bunch of us local farmers were out covering the tomatoes at two in the morning ...

You all know by now that this year's Alumni Fund went over the four million mark and reunion classes played a major role in bringing that about, especially the Class of 1950 and its 25th and the Class of 1925 and its 50th. Our original '44 goal was $150,000, but it was later upped to $175,000. We came in at an unbelievable $193,390.75, up more than $132,000 over last year's giving. Alas, the number of donors was down to 315 from last year's 351. In any case, reunion giving is here to stay ...

And so are reunions. Because of all the things they are. That's it. Blessings.

CLASS SECRETARY