1950

February usurped March's role, leaving like alamb. The coldest winter in years suddenly tamed and balmy days emulated April. Ski resort owners watched their hopes for a bountiful season turn to slush and run in rivers downthe slope. The false hope that spring has arrived will soon be dashed. But the promise is worththe delusion.

The juxtaposition of Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays this year combined to form a five-day weekend, ample time for a leisurely trip to the North Country. Finding a room, however, proved to be a difficult chore. Suddenly, the reason was evident: the weekend and Winter Carnival happened to coincide. Persistence and luck prevailed; a room became available at the last moment in the Hanover Inn. We were in the midst of everything.

Carnival is still fun. Trying to see all the events staged from the skiway to the Hop is impossible, even if you keep on the move from dawn until midnight. This year one of the cochairmen of the carnival council in charge of planning the weekend was Walt Linden thai's daughter Mary-beth '77.

Much of the program remains the same. Yet some events, while old, were new for us. On Thursday afternoon the campus was filled with cross-country sprint relays and snowshoe races. The special events moved to the golf course on Friday for downhill canoe and kyack races; there were thrills and spills and laughs. Crowds watched the ski jumping at its usual time on a crisp, bright Saturday afternoon. Winter is a joy on days like that.

Thompson Arena was dedicated on Saturday morning. The Class was represented by Jack Haraed, Bob Kilmarx, and Sandy McCulloch. The ceremony was capped by a rousing hockey game. Dartmouth continuously fought back to defeat Cornell for the first time in years by a score of 9 to 7. The new arena, which seats close to 4,000 was packed. What s superb place to watch a game! Memories of Davis Rink may linger, but the change causes no regrets.

The Dartmouth Player's production was KissMe, Kate, which started its Broadway run while we were undergraduates. In 1950, Steve Johnson took his theme from the same musical to create the center-of-campus statue, "Wunderbar". (Incidentally, Steve together with Steve Flemer designed three of the four snow sculptures during our undergraduate years.)

This year the snow sculpture was a replica of the Statue of Liberty, which fitted in with the Bicentennial theme: A Snow-Spangled Salute. There were three modifications to Liberty: she wore a D, carried a '76 mug in her left hand, and bore a lighted torch at night. (In the small hours of Saturday morning an unknown partisan converted the D to C with bright red paint.) The Tabard had the best fraternity statue, Paul Revere on a prancing horse. And a magnificent effort by Wheeler depicted Huck Finn fishing from a raft as he drifted past a huge Mississippi riverboat.

Their trip may not have been an accident, but Spif and Jane Kerivan were in town for part of the weekend. Spif had a practical purpose - recruiting at Tuck - but he managed to enjoy some of the festivities. Newc and Sally Eldredge arrived late Friday afternoon to watch son John in the cross-country race, which now takes place in the evening under lights. Several weekends earlier the Eldredges attended another race in Putney, Vt., and saw John Caldwell and FrankDickinson, whose sons were racing for Dartmouth and UNH, respectively. All three sons won trophies.

There was still time to see Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx at 12:30 Rep, watch a ski race or two, attend the skating club show at Thompson, hear the Glee Club, and play a few games of squash. We enjoyed our meals with a parade of undergraduates, our daughter's friends. Carnival leaves little time for boredom or relaxation. The weekend retains its charm.

The weather over the weekend varied. Winter's grip relaxed enough to allow the clearing of a two-inch accumulation of ice from sidewalks. Chill nights tempered in a warm Thursday afternoon. Sunday turned hot, thawing set in, and statues were disfigured as Carnival ended.

A more somber note. Natural disasters remain remote until a personal touch intervenes. When the recent earthquakes struck Guatemala, my thoughts returned to a 1974 letter from Izzy Stahl in which he had described ". .. the dream house built for Isa and the boys in a secluded area entered only through the grounds of the Guatemala Country Club." Now Izzy writes, "Luckily, none of us got hurt, but. .. our house is all but a total loss. It still seems like a bad dream, but we must face reality." He continues, later, "Things here in the city are almost normal now, but in the rural areas the earthquake left whole villages a total loss. There is great suffering throughout the country."

Tidbits here and there: Seaver Peters '54 has acknowledged the receipt of the second NormanGrant Clark soccer trophy donated by the Class. Late last year George 'Woodwell joined the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., to direct the Ecosystems Center. Running out of gas three miles from Woodstock, Vt., at 1:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning is bad news, according to Scott Olin. The results may not be any better in Woodstock, N.Y., but at least you could call Phil and Shorty Chase, who have just opened an art gallery and gift shop in this bohemian village in the Catskills.

The illusion of spring will surely pass. Plenty of time remains for wind, sleet, and snow before winter ends and the season of blossoming, greening, and flowering arrives. Enjoy your warming days and lengthening evenings. Spring will come. And summer.

Secretary, 510 Hillcrest Road Ridgewood, N.J. 07450

Class Agent, 174 Tanglewood Dr. Longmeadow, Mass. 01106

THESPIRITOF'51IS COMING BACK.