1928
The class of 1928's fall reunion on September 19 and 20 brought out 43 persons and perhaps others who had to hurry home after the game (Dartmouth beat Penn by a large score). Our mini-reunion in the fall started 24 years ago at the Norwich Inn. Each reunion seems to be more special than the last, as old friends get together to renew old ties and experiences.
For the 16th year, Herb and Mimi Sensenig invited all '28ers and their guests to their home on Beaver Meadow Road in Norwich on Friday evening before the game. This year 38 gathered after dinner, five more than last year, to enjoy the fellowship and tables loaded with refreshments and homemade goodies. Herb and Mimi deserve special thanks for hosting the group, as well as for handling the details of planning the reunion.
The usual Friday afternoon meeting of the executive committee, chaired by president George Davis, reviewed class affairs and studied new activities which you will hear more about in the future. Class agent Curly Prosser and his assistants were congratulated on collecting $57,646 from 202 classmates and 40 widows.
In response to our request, John Turkevich sent a report on his and Mila's trip to China and Japan: "Our trip was exciting, interesting, and pleasant, but did leave us quite exhausted. On May 30 we flew directly to Tokyo, where we were met by two of my students who now are professors in Tokyo. We were put up in the International House of Tokyo, which was elegant and had beautiful gardens. I gave two lectures during the next two days, one on "Platinum Chemotherapy and Cancer" at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where I was visiting professor six years ago. I also gave a lecture to the research staff of the Mitsubishi Chemical Company (the Japanese equivalent of DuPont). The Mitsubishi responded with a modest fee and as sumptious a French gourmet dinner as Mila and I have ever had.
"After four days in Tokyo we flew to Peking at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Science. We were well taken care of car, a young professor as a guide, an official banquet. After four exciting days sightseeing, we flew to Dalien in northeast China (old Manchuria). This is a very active city of 1,300,000 with a large port, heavy industry, and scientific research institutes. I gave an 11-day lecture course on my work in chemistry and three lectures on cancer therapy. It was quite strenuous but exhilarating. China is on the move in stience, technology, and medicine.
"From Dalien we flew to Xian in central China, an old capital which has much to see in antiquities and beauty. From there to Luoyang, another ancient capital. We traveled along on the east-west mountain chain that separates north from south China. After a two-day visit to the Longman Caves and their thousands of Buddhas, we came back to Peking and flew to Tokyo. There was a chemical conference at Tokyo, at which we saw many of our friends and students. Japan is affluent, sophisticated, and very expensive. Now we are resting at our summer place in Long Island."
John Nixon's family and several close personal friends, including Red Edgar and the Kenersons, gave him a rousing 75th birthday party.
Roy Myers called October 2 to tell us that his close friend Bill Dietz died that morning. Roy had just been released on September 17 from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York after a prostate operation. When we told Roy to ease up on his lecture schedule, he replied, "I can't I'm giving a lecture November 3 to the Great Neck Women's Club." A friend of Roy's in China has sent her son, Lihe Huang, 24, to live with Roy in East Quoque while at college.
Word has just been received of the death of Chris Hackett on July 20. We are also sad to announce the death of Joe Chay's wife Moon on May 16, Clark Harrington's wife Amber on May 23, and Hank Graupner's wife Helen on September 6.
Our third oldest classmate, Harold Fields, who was 80 on August 9, is a retired professor at Michigan State. He put off driving to Hanover last summer because of the heat, but he expects to go in October. He did drive as far as Stratford, Ont., to attend the Shakespeare Festival. He has gone to almost all of them since the first year, 1953. Let's give a wah-hoo-wah for Harold and his older and equally active classmates Walt Brownstone of New York City, born February 25, 1900, and Joe Chay of Taiwan, born July 16, 1900.
New Hampshire blueberry farmer Park Estabrook '28 tried firing a cannon to stopthe birds from picking him clean - but it didn't work. So he bought a hawkshaped kite from the local toy shop and suspended it from a helium balloonfloated high above the berry fields. And lo and behold, whole flocks of berry-burglarswheeled and retreated at sight of the swooping kite. The U.S. Fish and WildlifeService is interested in the idea, and Estabrook is thinking about packaging it.
Van Dyne Oil Company Troy, Pa. 16947
