1934
FORTY-FIFTH REUNION
The class of 1934's 45th reunion was by general consensus the best of them all, and I think I know why. It was warm and caring, and there was a real, affectionate sense of family, of people who have known each other a long time and who share a proud identity. Maybe the fact that we are all just about reaching retirement or settling into it allowed us to be more thoughtful, more appreciative, more open to sentiment.
Joy and I had some of the same regrets we sometimes have after hosting an over-large party in our own house - how many good friends we said no more than hello to, how many others not even that. A universal complaint, I'm sure. The Monday morning quarterback in us says we should have stayed the third day, which many did.
By this time those who may not have noticed the column heading must be advised that a new guy is now filling this space. New, but oh so old! For you may recall, if your memory goes that far back into the dark ages, that the 1934 class notes had their birth pains during the fall of 1934 in the shaky hands of this very scribe. That was when the editors of the Alumni Magazine positioned our notes in some reasonable relationship to the back cover, instead of giving them the indecent exposure they now have, way up front.
I have just re-read George Cogswell's notes in the June issue and feel a little displeased with myself. George 'wrote that the September column would be his last one and he would cover reunion in it. By grabbing the typewriter out of his hands as fast as I did, I've denied Cogs the chance to make his own columnar farewell. I'll try to make up for that, George, by expressing thanks to you for giving us five years of the special brand of kindness, sparkle, and good humor that have always been your hallmark.
At the class meeting during reunion, FrankHeath chaired the election of officers. Frank's successor as president will be Sam Carson. EdBrown consented to continue being treasurer, Art Leonard bequest chair, and for newsletter editor, who else, for heaven's sake, but BillScherman. Frank thanked all the officers, both departing and remaining, but nobody thanked him, so it's my happy privilege to do that now. First for a really excellent performance as president of the class, but equally importantly, for his willingness to take on the exceptionally tough job of head agent.
The rest of this column will try to be about reunion itself. The first order of business in that department is to propose a standing ovation to reunion chair Bill Wilson, cohorts Moe Frankel and Bill Daniells, and distaff associates Irja, Lois, and Jane.
All Monday afternoon there was a lot of hugging and handshaking in front of Streeter, but the first official event was the class cocktail reception in the Smoyer Lounge - a most joyous occasion. That was followed by a buffet dinner in the enormous Thompson Arena, which provided one opportunity for us to bump into friends from '33 and '35. Then, after the Glee Club concert, Nick Xanthaky put on a show of movies of 1934 through the years, and in them we even saw some classmates who couldn't make it to Hanover this time.
You wouldn't think breakfast could amount to much, would you? Yet each morning over orange juice and peanut butter at Thayer you ran into friends you'd missed over beef and bourbon.
A memorial service honored our departed 179 classmates (isn't that number hard to believe?) and roughly similar counts for the two contiguous classes. Hank Werner represented 1934 with his unique brand of dignity and tenderness. The presence at the service of Helen Clark, Barbara Spain, Marge Copp, Dotty Morton, Ethelyn Hedges, Boots Jacobson, and Margaret Noble added an especially poignant note. Their presence at reunion itself was most welcome to all of us.
There were two excellent seminars: "Health in Retirement," moderated by Walt Crandell, with Em Day and John Spiegel as panel members, and "Personal Finance," under the guidance of Moe Frankel and featuring HenryAllen and Dave Callaway.
The high spot of reunion was the class banquet, crowned with an all-star show produced and emceed by Stan Silverman. Barbara Smoyer triumphantly repeated her 1974 high- fashion hi-jinks, introducing six of the most beautifully dressed guys who ever graced a '34 cocktail party at the Top of the Hop. A scintillating "Name That Tune," featuring songs of the early thirties, was hosted by Bill Schernian, with Jack Gilbert at the piano. Bill threw in a lively extra by singing a song titled, "Isn't It Strange How Everyone's Changed But Me," which contained a couple of delightful lines that proved how acceptable a little ribaldry becomes with a little age.
A priceless nostalgia item was the reading by Art Moebius of excerpts from letters written by Dick Campen to his parents in the fall of our freshman year.
The Aires and the Woodswind offered a fine program of songs paraphrased from the originals by Gail Raphael, ranging from the scalawaggery of "When the Backs Go Popping Out to a throat-catching "Our Enchanted College."
But the show's top star was Alan Hewitt, who delivered three soliloquies which he had originally rendered as an undergraduate in his distinguished Dartmouth Players career. From Sheridan's The Critic, Henry IV, Part I, and Iolanthe, Alan declaimed faultlessly and beautifully more than 200 lines of drama which had stayed stored up in his head for 45 years.
Our reunion was attended by 119 members of the class accompanied by 98 wives and guests. This turnout won us the College's awards for both the greatest number and the best percentage of alumni ever to have attended a 45th reunion.
Emerson Day (left) and William Likoff (right), physicians from the classes of 1934and 1933, respectively, were among the participants in a panel discussion on"Health Considerations for Retirement" presented for their classes' 45th reunion.
100 Summit Place Pleasantville, N.Y. 10570
