1944

There was no bumper-to-bumper '44 traffic through Hanover this winter, at least not to my knowledge. You skiers must have been in a hurry to get on and off the boards. Dud Wilson did pop in but only because a double hernia had popped out in January and put him temporarily out of commission.

You guys may not think of Michigan as the Zermatt of the Midwest, but Bethune "Buzz"Duffield says that skiing is very big not far from hometown Grand Rapids. Lots of great slopes, he says, and he, wife Shirley, and their three daughters will challenge anyone to a world-cup downhill. They also fish, canoe, and backpack together. Two years ago Buzz traded the securities business for computers and he's now sales manager for ABC Data Processing.

Hank Best, R.I. sheet-metal fabricator, is another ski nut. He and Ginny discovered the sport three years ago on Mt. Tremblant in Canada and they've been at it ever since. They schussed Aspen last year but settled for Vermont this winter because that's where the snow was. Their two sons are lawyers: Barry, Cornell and B.U. law, is in Rhode Island legal services, and Doug, Dartmouth '71 and U. of Denver law, specializes in medical malpractice cases in Denver.

Handicapper Jim Briggs prefers green greens to white snow. We caught him in Cincinnati just as he was packing the golf cart for a week of sandblasting in the Tampa environs. Son Jim, U. of Indiana gr.ad, is in the mechanical contracting business with Jim senior, and daughter Gale is en route to Kansas where her husband will attend Kansas law school. Jim says he sees West Shell and Bud Coith fairly often and he's on the horn from time to time with HardwickCaldwell.

Nice talk with Dr. Bill Mussey's wife Harriet, out there in Madison, Wise. Doctor-professor Bill has been with the Dean Clinic as an obstetrician-gynecologist for most of his born days, and he is now on its board of directors and doubles as an associate professor. The Musseys are dyed-in-the-tree Audubon Society birdwatchers; and when not fingering binoculars, Bill will be adjusting the carburator of an antique car. If you want to see a man's eyes light up, drive your old Stutz Bearcat into the Mussey driveway. The Mussey's four offspring are in or graduates from colleges in the Wisconsin area.

Paddle tennis is what keeps Bill Benoist in fighting trim in Winnetka at 55 ("double nickel time," Bill called it), and he and wife Irv have helped organize the sport in the area. When I talked to Bill they had just put wintry Lake Michigan blasts behind for a week in Florida sunshine and that wasn't hard to take. What is is the late news that their eldest son Bill was killed in Vietnam in 1970. Four other children are in the Chicago area. The Benoists vacation in a Michigan cottage most summers and Bill sees Fritz Mills most every day.

Our travelin'-man candidate of the month has to be Jack Blackburn, who just manages to slip away now and again from the family wholesale distributor business in Bedford, Pa. He talked about a whirlwind trip he and Betsy made to Munich in November, with side excursions to Salzburg and Innsbruck; and as you read this they should be nearing the end of a six-week sojourn in the British Isles: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales - the lot. Highlight was getting together with daughter Susan who is a researcher for Penn State on a special cancer project in London. Two of their other children have joined the business, a third is with the state police, and the youngest has just made Jack and Betsy grandparents for the fifth time.

When Florida Telephone vice president BobEshbaugh went off to Kansas City for some kind of big meeting, his wife Kitty did the only logical thing: she called your friendly class secretary. She says their three kids are all out and working and married and having children; and she is eyeing blueprints with the thought of building a hideaway on a couple of lots they own in Gatlinburg, Tenn. And for those of you who don't know where Gatlinburg is, for heaven's sake, it's south of Knoxville and Pigeon Forge and "north of the Appalachain Trail and near Clingman's Dome which just happens to be the highest point in Tennessee at 6,643 feet. For heaven's sake ...

We suspect that Trudy and Fred Daley may hold the world's record for watching their boys play hockey. They cheered three of them all the way through Hanover High; the oldest, Fred, through the University of New Hampshire; and the twins, Geoff and Rich, through freshman year at college. Geoff is a junior forward on the Williams College team and that means that Trudy and Fred are still on the circuit - Wesleyan, Hamilton, Amherst, Union, etc.

Finally, when that Ralph Rieth gets promoted, he doesn't fool around. A recent release from Nichols College says that he was promoted from instructor to a full professor of business administration, all in one fell swoop.

That's it. Blessings.

Secretary, 309 Crosby Hall Hanover, N.H. 03755

Treasurer, 815 East Schantz Ave. Dayton, Ohio 45419