1944
We're pleased to put in a plug for those hardworking Alumni Fund agents, Ben Jones and Ross Higier, and thus our annual message: take out your checkbook, write a number from one to nine, and then start adding zeros. Keep adding till your arm gets tired.
That most happy spring rite, Freshman Parents Weekend, brought three most happy couples to Hanover in April: Jim and Alice Hardigg, George and Rosalind Springsteen, and George and Kit Recke. The Hardiggs motored up from Conway, Mass., to stroll the campus (under umbrellas - it was monsoon weather) with their freshman twins Jeanet and Jim; the Reckes came from Brewster, Mass.; while the Springsteens revved up their magic carpet from farther afield. Wash., D.C., to share Hanover hours with son George.
Jim Hardigg still logs long hours at his own firm, Hardigg Industries, which churns out polyurethane foam and package cushioning devices, along with battery cases and instrument containers, while Alice has a 24-hour schedule on the domestic and agricultural fronts. The latter involves nine goats, two ponies, two dogs and a million fruit trees, while the former involves Lorli in third grade and Arthur in sixth grade. There are also Viva at Northfield/Mt. Hermon, Robert at Deerfield, the twins at Dartmouth, and Thea at Barnard - seven in all.
The Springsteens have their own Camp David on Chesapeake Bay, a small house about 60 miles from Washington where they can get away weekends for a little privacy and relaxation, fishing and water-skiing. "A second lawn to mow, too," says George, "or snow to shovel, depending on the season." Last July, George got a new assignment: director of the Foreign Service Institute, which is the State Department's training arm. He has under him a mere 200 full-time and 500 part-time employees, and if he feels like talking long-distance he can dial his three overseas installations in Japan, Taiwan, and Tunis.
As for the Wrecker (Recke, that is), he is still running his motel and service station in Pembroke, Mass., but more interested in his hobby: renovating their 1690 heritage house in Brewster which they bought nine years ago. The property has a couple of small houses on it, too, which keeps the kids handy. Kathy is married and living in Boston, John is married and practicing law in Plymouth, Maureen is married to an architect and living on the Recke property, Susan is married and finishing up this spring at Boston University, and Judy '80 is the Dartmouth freshman.
Class Officers Weekend, May 6-8, brought three more of the troops in for a Hanover bivouac: Ezz Hale, our esteemed president, and Pat; Merle Hagen, our esteemed newsletter editor; and Ross Higier, our esteemed co-head agent, with Dorene. And just to pay proper homage, a contingent of the local '44 faithful journeyed all of 100 yards or more in order to lunch with that group in the Hanover Inn: Trudyand Fred Daley, Anne and Bob McLaughry, RodMorgan, Dave Eckels, and F. Hier.
Then that McLaughry fellow had to open his trophy cabinet again in April to accommodate a recently won plaque naming him to the nominating committee of the 520,000-member National Association of Realtors.
While still on College business, it must be duly noted that yet another '44 has been named to the Dartmouth Alumni Council. ChuckRichardson, of course, elected to a two-year term, and representing Region VII for all of you dummies who don't know that alumni councilors get elected by regions, all over this great land of ours. Chuck joins a select group of other incumbent '44s on the Council, namely JohnBerry and Ezz Hale.
Out there in your various backyards, our underground informants tell us that Art Saul was re-elected in March to his seventh, count 'em, seventh three-year term as Arlington, Mass., selectman. Art is also president of the Symmes Hospital in Arlington and vice president of the Five-Cent Savings Bank. Art Jr. '69 is with the Norfolk County Trust, outside Boston, and Dick '73 is business manager of the Dexter School.
Walt Blakadar is the featured paddle of an ABC "American Sportsman" show about kayaking in the Devil's Gorge on the Susitna River in Alaska. Zenith's Gene Kinney received the Boy Scouts "Good Sea Explorer of the Year" award at an April banquet. And, you can hardly pick up a copy of a New Hampshire or Vermont newspaper these days without reading of an important decision handed down by Vermont State Superior Judge Lynn Underwood.
John Rexford made the news, too, when he was arrested for taping over the "Live Free or Die" motto on his New Hampshire automobile license plate. He was released immediately, however, and a few days later the Supreme Court ruled that a citizen could cover a part of a license if he found it personally offensive.
Lawman Steve Tate, with Joey, came to Hanover in April for a Horizons program, and Steve still has to be the youngest looking member of the Class.
If you still have some summer weeks or weekends unplanned, get in touch with GeorgeCummings; he's holding forth, May through October, as manager of the Mt. Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods.
And as you drive north, slip off Rt. 89 at Hopkinton, N.H., to check on Randy Lomas and his antique business. After 30 years logging some 30,000 miles per annum for a furniture company, he retired to do what he loves best, selling 18th century American antiques, a business started by his grandfather and carried on by his father. "It's great being your own boss," says Randy.
That's it. Till fall. Blessings.
Secretary, 309 Crosby Hall Hanover, N.H. 03755
Head Agent, 1250 State St. Springfield, Mass. 01101
