1927

We don't know how we could possibly have neglected to mention it in last month's column, but we did. Anyhow, the 1980 fall reunion will be held October 18 and 19, the weekend of the Harvard game.

And President Ken Murray has asked the following to serve on the committee to make plans for setting up an endowment for Dick Hall's House Student Health Center: Larry Scammon, Hale Ham, Steve Tracy, Paul O'Connell, and Tom Gillespie. This was in response to Paul Hannah's motion, described in last month's column.

In September, only a few days before our fall reunion, Bud and Dot Wesselmann celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and really did things up brown in an exciting and unusual manner. For three days, they took over the beautiful grounds and buildings of the Minary Conference Center in Holderness, N.H. Fifteen relatives and friends came from as far away as Ohio to enjoy the luxurious food and service in this rambling, three-story, 12-bedroom building. Bud and Dot had been in Hanover since June and, of course, stayed over for the reunion before returning home to Florida. Incidentally, their granddaughter is a junior at Dartmouth, is very active in dramatics, and has won several awards in play-writing contests.

Ken Ballantyne was in the news again. The New York Times of August 12, according to a clipping sent in by Gus Cummings, noted that, at the age of 72, this former executive of Kidder Peabody and Company refuses to sit at home and be idle. Four mornings a week he goes to the Stamford, Conn., Rehabilitation Center to give vocational-rehabilitation tests.

Chuck Field wrote a long letter from Manchester, Ill., which included the following: "Although I still have my real estate broker's license, I haven't done anything with it for over a year, or anything else that would bring in any coin of the realm. I am purely a volunteer in community activities such as: 1 keep the records and issue the reports on the results by donors in the periodic village blood drives for the Red Cross; also am involved in Kiwanian projects for the benefit of local youth and of such institutions as the public library, the park district, the public schools, etc. This past year I was the club's publicity chairman. I am also a deacon and on the cabinet of the Westchester Community Church. My wife Jo is equally active in a variety of local affairs. Incidentally, thanks for the birthday card."

Brugy Brugiere acknowledged his card with: "I am suffering from only too many birthdays, but try to be philosophical about it all. I'm reasonably healthy, can still swim and play a little old maid tennis, but no more driving. Am getting to like it back here in the East (Reston, Va.) but it isn't easy after 40 years in sunny California."

Doc Harvey also wrote: "Thanks for the card. Yes, Sarasota is now our permanent address, namely: Apartment 500, 8750 Midnight Pass Road. We gave up the New Jersey home two years ago. My wife and I are both active and healthy and are planning a Mediterranean cruise in early September."

From Len Dunn in Mesa, Ariz., came another long and welcome letter. "Some days," he wrote, "I feel my 74 years, but I still get in 18 holes of golf twice a week. I have, however, turned over some of the chores, such as lawn mowing and trimming and pool maintenance, to others. Recent articles in the MAGAZINE about the Barbary Coast brought back memories of my occasional tap-dancing with them on the musical club trips. That may be why I now have tender feet - but it was good experience at the time, anyway."

Frank Polachek broke a seven-year silence with some news, also in response to a birthday card. He noted, apologetically, that the only occasions that could have prompted him to write were his two marriages, two divorces, and the birth of an only son. "Now," he continued, "I am about to give birth to a second baby, but this one is to be a book and will be called Beatthe Casino. It will come out under my pseudonym, Frank Barstow, and will greet the world some time in July. The book is full of systems, many original and really good, and it is hoped that the book will become a recognized reference bible as well as a real money-maker for readers. A 25 per cent discount is available to 1927 gamblers."

We were surprised, as well as pleased, when Bob Long and several others reversed the usual procedure by sending a birthday card to yours truly. Bob also brought us up to date with respect to his own doings during the past year. He and Franchot continue to enjoy good health and both keep in trim by swimming two or three times a week and indulging in a like amount of paddle (platform) tennis. During the last Christmas holidays, they spent a couple of weeks in Los Angeles visiting their son and his family. In March, they took an AARP-sponsored trip to Portugal, and in April when he wrote, they were off on a drive from their home in Rochester, N.Y., to visit friends in Tryon, N.C.

So long for now.

11 Rolling Lane Wayland, Mass. 01778