1939

If there is a perfect day for drafting class notes, this is it. I sit on the very edge of the rock-ribbed coast of Maine, glancing out twixt a set of organdy curtains at white waves washing up on a nearby beach. A dripping sky complete with its own private mist has managed to shroud the harbor beyond, and only a solitary lifeguard's orange chair can be positively identified. No one is swimming. Perhaps they are all inside writing class notes. My family, who left but ten minutes ago for a ferocious battle on a nearby tennis court, are just now back, grumbling about inclement weather.

We are gathered to celebrate the 89th birthday of Jim Mathes's mother, who happens to be an in-law of mine. Dusty Rohde is here, being also a relative and maintaining a home just around the point (from where, if he wants to, he can look across the ocean all the way to Spain and Portugal). This is the same Rohde who, thinking back on his undergraduate accomplishments in the 440-yard run, recently presented the College with the better part of the wherewithall to construct the new eight-lane "Rubaturf" track which rings Memorial Field and is now adequate for hosting NCAA track and field championships - maybe in the early eighties?

At this precise moment August is winding down much as my recalcitant Timex is wont to do. Walt Darby has already reminded us of our September 23 weekend date at Bonnie Oaks, when the Class gathers for the annual minireunion. By the time you read this it will be yesterday, and summer will be wrapped in the brilliance of autumn. It is my purpose to recount the events of the summer of '78 as the recorded items dribbled in by mail. Sadly, we lost one of our number. Charlie Gluek passed on in July according to a note received from the College.

On a more positive note, we managed to achieve an extraordinary result in our Alumni Fund effort, a dollar return of $83,046, a year-out class record, not only for us, but for all classes who have been out of college for 39 years. About this accomplishment our president, Bert MacMannis, had this to say:

Dear Thirtyniner,

You will be pleased to know that our class has set another Alumni Fund record, thanks to the efforts of Jim Corner, Bob Howe, Wes Coding, and their loyal troops of assistant class agents.

We contributed $83,846. This not only exceeded our goal by 513,000 but is the largest amount we have ever given in a non-reunion year.

Our participation record of 62 per cent slightly exceeded the College average for all classes, but I would like to point out that our dollar record was set despite the fact that only 307 classmates contributed. In other words, 190 classmates did nothing!

If you were a non-contributor this year, please help us next year. Regardless of the size of your gift, the important thing is that we need your participation.

Sincerely, Bert

Some of our number made a special Dartmouth Horizons in July, details of which have been recounted in "39 Out." On hand were Jack and Billie Coulson, Endy andGeorgette Smith, Cornie and Janet Miller, BillGreen and wife, Walt and Mary Darby, MikeEllis, and the faithful Bob and Evie Kaiser.

There must be something very photogenic about the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, our own Dave Smith. He and his good wife were pictured hobnobbing at a Washington D.C. gala with the head of Houston Natural Gas in a feature article in Forbes Magazine (June 12). The piece didn't mention Dave, except perhaps by inference. It dealt with the validity of bearding government leaders on the cocktail circuit rather than in their offices, where staff and office protocol intervene.

This July also saw Judge Louis Oberdorfer showing his annoyance with the striking transit workers in that glamorous city of Washington, D.C., after they had ignored an earlier order of his to end a walkout.

We are beholden to Dick Storrs, a faithful West Coast correspondent, for an item indicating that Charlie Neer directed a "course on surgery of the soft tissues of the shoulder, sponsored by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Denver. We understand that Charlie is the top man in the country, if not the world, in putting shoulders to rights.

Members of the Book-of-the-month Club's Good Health Club received in May The ThinGame, a book by Ned Bayrd in association with Mayo Clinic Consultants. As reported recently in this column, Ned has been maturing with medical distinction at Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Space prevents further recounting of class accomplishments over the summer, but we'll be back at the old stand in November's issue with more reports. In the meantime, we would welcome some updates from around the country and the world. There are too many guys about whom we hear nothing, and we'd like to make this column a bit more representative, if you please.

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