1931

Jim Frame forwarded the New England supplement to the Boston Globe of April 9. Courtesy of the Globe, we quote from "Homemade Humor" by Richard H. Stewart: "Fred Allen often summered on the Maine coast. It was on one of those visits that he was taken by the native wit of Eliot Winslow of West Southport, a tourist boat operator. Up to that time, Winslow's only claims to fame were having been arrested as a suspected saboteur while rowing a Navy dory standing up in Boston Harbor and skippering a Coast Guard cutter through Townsend Gut so he could bring it into the tiny cove where his parents lived.

"Allen invited Winslow to appear on his television show. To confirm the appearance, Allen called Winslow at his family home in West Southport.

"Winslow, now 68, and still operating his tourist boat out of Boothbay Harbor as well as three tugboats, recalls the event:

"'He called me person-to-person. There was no such thing in those days as person-to-person. I was on an eight-party line. Before he got through, everybody on the whole island knew I was gonna go to New York,

"'Fred says, "If you can ad lib it, we're gonna forget the script." The first - he asked was, "Are you married?" I said I Wasn't this morning when I left home.

" 'Then he asks me, "Are you< gonna get married?" I said, "I'm either gonna get married or insulate my house." By Jesus, that did it. My mother got so many letters from women all around the country she was some wild.

"'He asked me what my requirements would be for a wife. I said "Living in Maine she ought to be able to dig clams, she ought to be able to split wood, and she ought to be able to row my dory standin' up."

" 'A school teacher from California wrote that she was comin' east, that she was a Girl Scout, and that she could split wood. She'd like to learn to dig clams but what was this stunt I wanted her to do standin' up in my dory? God, the people loved that. Everybody knows about the old canoe story. . . . ' "

Some letters arrived after our June issue deadline.

Vance Dickerman writes: "After feeling out of touch with all '31 activities for some time, we have had the pleasure of seeing some new faces here in San Diego recently. John and EllenChamberlin were in town for a brief visit with the Fred Burkhardts, and we had lunch with them. Then Pete and Frances Akerlund came over from Phoenix to see Ken Kendall '32, before the Akerlunds were to return to Illinois.

"Last week we had an enjoyable '31 golf foursome, which included Fred Burkhardt, Tower Snow, and myself. The other member of the foursome was a retired admiral, Annapolis 31, so he fit in well with us. None of us is even close to challenging Bill Lyons, whose claim that he is 'hitting the ball longer and better than ever' is an achievement we can only regard with awe and envy. Burkhardt is headed for a dude ranch vacation in Montana next month, and Tower and Mardie Snow have plans for an Inland Passage cruise later this summer. I understand George Phillips now has a roof over his head again. I think that is a safe assumption, since he and Marion recently entertained Ort Hicks."

Red Gristede mentioned Forsha Russell's golf handicap in the May column. Forsha writes he had a laryngectomy and a radical dissection on his neck at Mayo's in June 1977, "which left quite an impairment to my left side. I had been between 12 and 15 in the handicap department and the day Red quotes was my first day out. They generously assigned me a 36, and our team won. Since, have been reduced to 29 but doubt if it will ever go much below that. Feel fine and am fine-, play golf three times a week, walk most of the way, and lead about a 90 per cent normal life.

"See Bob Oelman very often as we belong to two of the same clubs in Florida (Si Leach too) and are on the board of one together. Also SamGroves. Leave soon for Colorado Springs, where we have a cottage and take three others for a stag party. We'll play golf and watch the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills in Denver every other day. Should be fun."

Ernie Moore writes: "No trip north this year, as we are tied up into fall medically. Nothing serious." Ernie enclosed a Zellwood Country Club bulletin reporting results of the G.I. Tourney. There was a three-way tie for low net between Ernie '67 representing Army, an Air Force man, and a Navy man.

Old Turnpike Bridgewater, Conn. 06752