1927

Approximately 50 loyal 1927 sons have consented to assist our class head agent BobWilliamson with solicitation for the 1979 Alumni Fund. By any reckoning, that's a super representation, so our thanks go out not only to those who accepted the challenge but also to Bob for the many hours that he has spent in making the arrangements. As we have mentioned before, the emphasis this year is on participation, in an attempt to retrieve the record which was snatched from us last year by Williams College. Bob called us this morning, April 26, to say that it is much too early for him to make any predictions, but it does appear that 1927 is off to its usual very slow start. His hope is unbounded, notwithstanding, and since this will, we hope, reach you a week or so before June 30, here is a last-minute plug to send in your check or your pledge at once, if you have not already done so.

The annual Class Officers Weekend, full of meetings, speeches, and dinners, was held in Hanover on May 4-5. Doings will be reported in our next column, which won't reach you until October.

Advance reservations for the Hanover Alumni Holiday June 11-13 include the following: Frank and Evelyn Strong, Jay and Marion Willing,Tom and Dot Gillespie, Roy and DotWesselmann, and Ellie Blanchard. Since we are delving into the future, and since this is our last chance before the fall reunion, don't forget that it will be held during the Princeton weekend, September 22-23.

Now for some non-business items:

We have an unconfirmed rumor that Rog andMarion Bury have purchased property in Bellows Falls, Vt., and expect to move there sometime in the near future. Also, we have confirmed information that Charlie Fleisher has satisfactorily recovered from recent hospitalization for an operation peculiar to the male of the species.

Fred Page has completed an extensive review of the book situation at Dick Hall's House. He found that many of the volumes need repairing, rebinding, or even replacing, and he plans to make a report shortly to the committee which was set up last fall for recommending action to be taken by the Class at its next formal business meeting on September 22.

Here are a couple of additions to our previous mentioning of classmates who spent all or part of the past winter in Florida: DonMcCall was in Sarasota and Doc Harvey in Siesta Keys. Ben Bell also was back in Sarasota. His last communication some time back boasted of 16 grandchildren and challenged all comers to a better record.

In February, Jock and Elizabeth Davis enjoyed a restful vacation in Hawaii. They wrote us from there that they found lots of beautiful scenery and — surprise, surprise — no snow to shovel, as there was on their several farms and orchards back home in Sterling Junction, Mass.

Also in February, Ken and Ruth Murray flew to Cairo and then to the Aswan Dam. Later, they took a four-day trip by steamer northward up the river to the Mediterranean seacoast.

Merritt and Penny Joslyn also visited Egypt last year. Their interesting and extensive trip included Salzburg, Vienna, and Athens, as well as a four-day trip through the Greek Islands of Crete, Rhodes, and Mikonos, with a stop at Ephesus and several days in Cairo. They began their trip with a flight from Washington to London on the Concorde.

Ed Johnson has moved again and is now back at his former address of 92-0 Calle Aragon, Laguna Hills, Calif. 92653.

Almost every thank-you note which we get in return for birthday cards includes some such comment as, "Glad we were here to receive it." To this, our only comment is, "Me too." BillSt. Amant, in addition, promised from Hillsboro Beach, Fla., that one of these days he will get off his duff, end procrastination, and call on some of the other young lads who live near by.

From Virginia Beach, Jim Van Loon wrote that he is in reasonably good health, although emphysema has clipped his wings somewhat. Now that spring is here again, he's into horticulture in a minor way — mostly roses and tomatoes, grown with the assistance of frequent long distance telephone calls to the Virginia Agriculture Research Station. As for his piano, he still enjoys banging out a few fast choruses of "Maple Leaf Rag" now and then.

A recent brochure for the Campaign for Dartmouth contained a paragraph about Michael Choukas '51, son of Mike Choukas. The former is director of leadership gifts in charge of the five regional offices of the campaign in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Curt Wright recently graced us with a clipping from the Ambler Gazette, Ambler, Pa., which included a picture of his wife Mary in front of an easel and over an article which announced her appointment as senior citizen of the week for her work in instructing oil painting classes in the local SAGA (Senior Adults for Greater Adventure). Curt also included the following: "I am reading the 'Books of the Times' column and see — in a review of TheInklings — a reference to dibulous dons ... fantasia and so forth. Fantasta is clear enough, but what is dibulous? A misprint? If not, it either means one who Uses the small garden hand tool known as the dibble, or one who is inclined to dabble."

We are sorry to report the death on March 31 of Alpha O'Connor Lagacy.

And finally, as we conclude this offering with a hearty wish to you all for a good summer, we lend our complete acquiescence to those words uttered by Ernest Martin Hopkins in 1945 on the occasion of his retiring from the presidency of the College: "Through decades in association with friends and colleagues like yourselves ... I have been impressed more and more with the sweetness that attaches to the relationship between one another which constitutes this great family which is called Dartmouth."

11 Rolling Lane Wayland, Mass. 01778