1928
A surprise party was given John Phillips June 24 to honor him on his retirement as president of Vail-Ballou Press' and vice chair of Maple Press Corporate. Three hundred and fifty associates, customers, suppliers, and friends sat down to dinner followed by dancing, at the Fountain Restaurant in Johnson City. Peg and their sons John B. '5B and Bob '6O were there. John B. is vice president of marketing of the Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group. John was presented with a "shop smith" for his work shop in his home in Montclair, N.J. Everyone received a beautiful book with a portrait in color of John on the cover; at the top of the title page was "The People's President, John Phillips 1934-1978." The book contained brief tributes - from them you found his friendliness and his leadership were outstanding. One of the best was Mary Combes' "A Secretary's Fond Remembrances of Her Boss of 44 Years." The book contained many wonderful pictures of John and snapshots of all the employees in the New York office and the two huge plants in Binghamton, N.Y. John and Peg left September 3 on a trip to Russia and expect to arrive home Oct. 1.
Jack and Fran Kenerson returned the end of July from a short trip to Alaska with John andEthel Nixon. They were on a Sitmar Line ship - good food and service, Jack said, "but too many people, 1050 bodies, almost as bad as a troop ship. However, it was great scenery, with good stops at Vancouver and Victoria. The highlight was a full day's cruise in Glacier Bay."
Jerry Warner is assembling an album of pictures of '28ers taken at our 50th. He has sent me some prints in which he has been unable to identify some of our classmates. As soon as he gets them back he will make labels and put the pictures in the album. Jerry took a number of snapshots and has received others from DickFrame, Dick Schmelzer, Don Solis, and two from Ernie Moore '31, who guessed correctly that his friend Wes McSorley would be too modest to send them. Jerry and Rella do not expect to make the mini-reunion in October but will send the album to Norwich for everyone to enjoy it. They left Washington, D.C., August 3 for Alaska, and visits with their daughters on the West Coast.
Won't you guys get busy and send me duplicate prints for the reunion album? Particularly desired are pictures in which classmates, wives, and guests are close enough to be recognized.
George Emery and Lisa left in July on a cruise to South America.
A friend of Bill Treanor's at Hilton Head, S C., has written that Bill just had an operation and is in a Savannah hospital.
One of the recent featured exhibits at Hopkins Center was a large selection from the Hammesfahr . collection of World War I posters, which opened in time for the 50th reunion. Ellmore A. Hammesfahr donated his collection of nearly 150 World War I posters to the College a few months ago.
The collection includes work by this country's finest illustrators, who worked for various federal and private agencies. Well-known artists such as James Montgomery Flagg (who designed "I Want You!"), Howard Chandler Christy, and Christian Leyendecker are represented.
The collection is remarkable because of its excellent condition. Most posters of the era were printed by the photolithograph process on cheap paper with a high acid content, and the paper has become brittle with age. Hammie began his collection as a boy, and his father had most of the posters backed with cheesecloth, which has helped preserve them.
"During World War I," says Hammie, "with no television or radio, posters were the number one way to stir people to action. We Boy Scouts in Bronxville, N.Y., put these potent appeals up in store windows, on fences, on bulletin boards, and on the sides of buildings. I always managed to have one or two 'leftovers,' and so started my collection."
Three weeks and 7500 miles after Bill andEmelyn Rohlffs left Portland, Ore., on their drive to the 50th, they returned safe and sound. Their first destination was Pullman, Wash., on June 3, where they attended at Washington State the graduation of one of their grandsons. That left them only five and half days to get to Hanover, but they made it (the speed limit suffered multiple fractures along the way).
After the festivities in Hanover, the Rohlffs spent a few days in Southport, Me. Carefully avoiding driving through all the big cities, they got to Rockville, Md., where they visited Bill's cousin, John Weissenfluh '32 and his wife Marge. We'd like to quote his final paragraph: "I can't say enough about the reunion, nor can I find words to express adequately my gratitude to those classmates whose hard work made it the success it was. It was my first reunion since our tenth. And I can hardly wait to take up where we left off at the 55th!"
Art Hassell writes from his Summit, N.J., home: "I am taking a day off from the links today, so decided to drop you a line. It was great seeing you and Mary at the 50th, and Jess and I had ourselves a wonderful time.
"I really am enjoying retirement. The only problem being to find the time to do all the things I had planned to do 'when I had the time.' I still serve on the Altman board and do a little consulting work. I also serve on the board of one of our local banks, the United Counties Trust Company. Ray Bauer '37 is president and chairs the board; he is also on the board of the Federal Reserve Board.
"Jess and I elected to stay home for the summer. We play at both Canoe Brook, where I am a life member (no more dues), and Baltusrol. Both clubs have 36 holes, so we have a great variety of courses to play. We plan on being at the mini-reunion."
The summer months have brought the sad news of the deaths of six more of our classmates: Hal Stickney, June 15; Jerry Pitts, July 2; Charlie Gearhart, July 4; JackO'Sullivan, July 30; Chuck Bruder, August 11; and Bud Oshorn, Aug. 13. See obituary section of this or a later issue.
Van Dyne Oil Co. Troy, Pa. 16947
