1927

As we tap out these lines this warm sunny day in late August on the porch of our cottage on the shore of Bustins Island, Me., it is with considerable difficulty that we realize that when you read them another summer will have passed, the football season will be half over, and our fall reunion will be an event of the past.

Thanks to many replies to birthday cards, our mail bag runneth happily over. With appreciation to those who took the time to write, we pass along the following excerpts:

Gus and Sue Buschmann spent the summer at Sue's ancestral home in East Dennis on Cape Cod with their children and grandchildren. In the winter they hole up in Lewiston, Me., where Gus uses a bucksaw and a six-pound maul to split wood for their kitchen stove.

John and Matilda Shaw recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Leisure Village West, Lakehurst, N.J. They have seven grandchildren to show for their half-century together.

Gus Cummings was hospitalized twice during March and April. We certainly hope that he has long since recovered.

Owen Garfield also had a hard winter, being in the hospital for most of December for several major operations.

In June, Duke Coulter, too, was hospitalized. Chronic emphysema keeps him pretty much confined to his home in Los Angeles, but he says that he has not lost his sense of humor as he, along with the rest of us, strives to make the best of old age.

Kern Folkers uses retirement to renew his technique on the ivories as he tickles the keys almost every evening in his living room. His favorites are the old chestnuts from college days, "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" and "Somebody Stole my Gal."

Jack Thees is learning a lot about trees, shrubs, lawns, and bugs in his job chairing the grounds committee of the cooperative where he lives in Pompano Beach. He neglected to say anything about the birds and the bees, however.

Gordon Smith sent us from Marblehead, Mass., a cartoon which he dreamed up for possible use in connection with this year's Alumni Fund campaign. It depicted an Indian clutching his head and was entitled, "Hold on to your scalp but not your wampum."

Dick Fox wrote us a long one from Sarasota, Fla. He is well but restricted physically to nonathletic activities. In January he met with Al and Edna Macdonald and Dot Cleveland for lunch in Clearwater. Other classmates with whom Dick keeps in touch include Ross Guyot,Gordon Smith, and Hank Murray.

Ed and Dot Jacob ducked home to Pennsylvania from Florida in late March to, do some work on their income tax returns and; to assess the weather. Like the groundhog, they quickly decided to retreat again to Florida!until the pink dogwoods decided to bloom in Pennsylvania.

Bill Browning, in Delray Beach, doesn't agree with his doctor about the ingesting of occasional scotch-and-soda, but otherwise, with some thought to his diet, he is doing pretty well with his emphysema and diabetes. Bill has three grandsons and three granddaughters and makes several trips west each year to visit them in Illinois and California.

Bob Long, after 10 days in Florida and a month in Arizona, has recovered from his heart surgery of last winter. In Tucson last spring, he and Franchot spent a few days with Jack andJanet Sheldon.

Al Wellman wrote from Jamestown, N.Y., where he summers, that after several heart attacks between 1971 and 1976 he recently had a successful double coronary by-pass, and at the age of 73 is now feeling fine again. Al dances, gardens, and plays tennis but gets the most enjoyment from walking his poodle four miles each day.

Doc Milliken reported along with other tidbits that Norm and Ruth Swift extensively toured the West Coast last spring and spent the summer in Georgetown, Me.

Other items of interest:

Tom and Dot Gillespie, Frank and EvelynStrong, Steve and Dot Tracy, Betty Cusack and Jack and Dot Oakes attended the three-day Hanover Holiday last June.

Frank Strong, Tom Gillespie, Ron Michelini and Jay Willing were appointed by class president Ken Murray as a committee to consider plans for the use of the surplus cash funds held by treasurer Gus Cummings.

We regret to report that the deaths of the following classmates have come to our attention since preparing our June column: Gerald S. Brickett, May 7; H. Reginald Horton, May 20; James A. Dalbey, May 24; Robert C. Mix, June 15; Russell B. Tobey, July 14; and Edward L. Marston, Sept. 24, 1977.

11 Rolling Lane Wayland, Mass. 01778