1950

Winter's grip is firm. Snow piled up during January in sufficient depth to wreck havoc with normal commuting patterns. (Contrast the observation that in Vermont or New Hampshire traffic continues to flow, perhaps a little slower but without severe hindrance, despite the ravages of the worst storms.) Then flooding rains froze in place as temperatures dipped toward zero. The promise now (or the threat, if your point of view differs) is another storm. Just snow this time and cold and wind with no rain, a complicating factor here.

With one exception winter storms are a joy. The North Country taught us to cope. The familiar disappears in the layering of fold upon white fold. But the task of shoveling becomes more onerous each year.

Get ready. The magazine's production process projects my January days into your late March. Spring will have come and an early Easter. My challenge must come now or risk being late. April is upon us. April with something about cruelty and rains and forms, forms, forms. But April is also the time of first flowers, warm sunshine, and hope. The voice of Joel is heard in the land as Leavitt sends his appeal. Please take the time to give and to give soon. Your responsiveness and thoughtfulness allows us more time to concentrate upon the reluctant, the dallier, and the forgetful.

Charlie Davison traded the blizzards of the Midwest for the warmer, albeit snow-clogged, avenues of Manhattan. The former managing partner of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. in Chicago was recently named to the newly created post of vice chairman and chief operating officer in New York. In his new role, Charlie is responsible for the to-ctay operations of the firm on a nationwide basis. In moving with Lessie and their three boys from Winnetka to Greenwich, Conn., Charlie leaves a vacuum in the many local civic and cultural organizations he served. He was a director of the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry and a member of the executive committee of the United Charities of Chicago. For contrast, he was a director of the Lyric Opera Guild and a governing member of the Orchestral Association.

The theme of the fall convocation at Williams College was "Food — Worldwide Prospects." George Woodwell was a member of the panel that discussed the world food problem, and he was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree. The director of the Ecosystems Center of the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, George was a student of the environment long before ecology became a byword. He has worked in the forefront of environmental concerns for nearly two decades since receiving his Ph.D. from Duke in 1958. Currently a lecturer in ecology at Yale, he has been active in helping the federal government change its attitude toward the environment. George wrote the policy statement of the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. Not only has he written extensively about our environment, but he has also been called upon to testify in court about ecological concerns. (It is a pleasure to note that the stream that runs through our village now flows fresh and clear, a sharp contrast to the clogged, foul smelling mess just seven years ago.) A member of the board of trustees of several environmental bodies, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, George is currently president of the Ecological Society of America.

Tidbits here and there: John Caldwell, usually cited for his exploits in cross-country skiing, represented Dartmouth at the inauguration of the new president of Windham College in Putney, Vt. Elected a charter trustee of Lake Forest College: Jim Vail. To avoid a repetition of the blizzards of '77, Neil Robertson moved from Williamsville, on the outskirts of Buffalo, to Clearwater, Fla. Grandparents are "in," and Bill Carpenter dotes in the role; the fieldhockey team in '97 should fare well. Jim Martel watches from Delaware as his daughters slip away to college and marriage. If you get to Woodstock, N.Y., look up Phil Chase in near-by Skokan. Pleased to announce that SiMorand has joined them as assistant vice president: Kidder Peabody & Co. Out of East Asia and into the Near East, Dave Hitchcock moved to Tel Aviv as Embassy counselor for public affairs; his domain, information and cultural activities.

More tidbits: without news in depth, a morsel here and there is all that can be served. JohnStandish, with the advantage of three graduation ceremonies in five years behind him, lauds President Kemeny's farewell to the seniors as better every year. Then recall President Dickey's triad of challenges at convocation during each of our undergraduate years. Moved from Franklin to Uxbridge, Mass: JerryMensel; and from Oceanside to Leucadia, Calif: John Coffman. Buried in an old, old note was the news that the Rev. Dick Petersen was called to Portland, Maine.

If it is not shoveling snow, it is filling out forms for the omnipresent IRS. Next week the IRS. For the nonce there is a growing drift to tackle. Reluctantly. But it is beautiful. The night is soft with only the muffled sifting of flake upon flake and the sighing of the wind. There is no traffic; the storm forces us to revert to a simpler time.

There will be a spring. You are the witness. Enjoy it as the days grow longer and warmer. Enjoy, enjoy.

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