Clubs, Events, Places
In Memoriam:D.O.C. of Boston
December 10 marks the 50th anniversary of a meeting attended by a good-sized group of alumni, most of them recent graduates from the years 1925-1930. In this meeting they formally organized the first Dartmouth Outing Club for alumni. The D.O.C. of Boston did not survive the dormant period of the Second World War, but the time when it flourished and brought fun and outdoor activities to the younger Boston alumni makes its story worth telling.
The idea was hatched in the fall of 1930 by a few recent graduates. They realized they had hit upon a priceless idea a camp, somewhat like a D.O.C. cabin, within reasonable distance of Boston, where they could spend their weekends outdoors, with swimming facilities and a ski slope nearby. They were lucky to find vital support from older alumni who sensed the merit of the project and encouraged, advised, and assisted the young founders. A careful survey of the young Dartmouth men in the Boston area brought an enthusiastic response. The College and Outing Club in Hanover also approved the idea, and by the time of the organizational meeting, tentative by-laws and well-thought-out plans had been formulated. It was decided to have a governing body of seven trustees, the majority older alumni, with two or three representatives of the young promoters.
Next came some busy months of building the membership, raising money, and looking for the ideal place to build. Field trips went to visit a variety of sites but all the scouting parties came back with negative verdicts. At this point, an alumnus who spent much of his free time tramping and hiking in the outdoors came forward and urged us to discard our maps and survey sheets except for the one for Groton, Massachusetts. He was sure that we would find our site there, and he was right.
The first spot we found to our liking had an owner who refused to sell, but soon after we settled on a better location for building our cabin. The construction period occupied much of the second half of 1931. A local mason built our foundation and fireplace and a Groton carpenter turned out to be a stalwart teacher and guide to keep the Sunday volunteers out of trouble. Some of us thought that the time spent building was the best time of all. Dan Hatch '2B, general manager and sage of the Outing Club in Hanover, emphatically agreed: "When they get bored, build something new."
The finished camp was somewhat larger than most of the cabins in the D.O.C. chain. We could seat two dozen guests for our many parties in the big living room. The bunk room slept eight, which seemed adequate for overnight use. There was no system of reserving the entire place for a weekend. Many members came out for the day on Sundays and took a chance on the company they would find. Everybody soon knew everybody else and many of us made lasting friendships with alumni we had not known in Hanover. There were usually a few women among the visitors because many of the members brought their dates along. We even established an arrangement with a friendly retired couple in a nearby farmhouse to board the ladies at a dollar a night. Those were depression days!
Our monthly Sunday afternoon "Smoke Talks" by interesting speakers were a popular summer and autumn feature at the cabin. In the winter season the club held an annual dance at one of the popular Boston nightclubs. An innovation of which we were very proud was the charter of the Boston and Maine's new streamlined Flying Yankee for a skiing visit to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, the first commercial use of such a train east of the Mississippi, thanks to the kindness of Edward S. French '06, president of that railroad. Every seat on the train sold out the day the trip was announced. All these events were publicized in our handproduced monthly bulletin, "The Trail of the D.O.C. of Boston."
It is interesting to recall that none of our most active members had been in the inner circle of the D.O.C. in college days, and few of our group were more than average skiers. We took some trips, hiked, cut brush and firewood on our dozen acres of land, but the main attraction seemed to have been the opportunity to get away from city living, to have the companionship of friends, and to do it all inexpensively. There was a definite turnover in the active membership. As the men married, settled down, and acquired suburban homes of their own, they tended to visit less frequently. We expected this, and many of our members who knew the ropes seemed to make a real effort to welcome newcomers and make them feel at home.
The war, gas rationing, and all that went with the times hit us hard. Valiant efforts were made to get a new start in the post-war period, but the chain had been broken. Some of the fellows who had known best how to weave the newcomers into the pattern were no longer on the scene. The founders, together with the trustees, eventually had to make the decision that it was either a lively club or no club at all. The property was sold and the proceeds went to the D.O.C. in Hanover and were used to pay for a small part of the Holt's Ledge ski development. Some of us think and hope that in the years to come there may be a place for similar alumni outing club's in some of our large cities to assist a new generation of young Dartmouth men and women in their early days of business or graduate-school life, a place where on weekends and holidays they can share again the happy Hanover times.
Coming Events
The Eastern Massachusetts Alumni Association is planning an alumni seminar in February, its annual dinner on April 9, and a "Night at the Pops" in May to support the scholarship fund. Shortly after its annual Christmas party, the Phoenix club is looking forward to a "Dartmouth Day at the Races" at the Turf Paradise track. The St. Petersburg club announces that their December 15 luncheon meeting will be held at the Bath Club in North Redington Beach instead of at the standard Clearwater Country Club location. The club in Sarasota is planning a dance in December or January, a luncheon meeting featuring President Kemeny on February 11, and its annual meeting in March.
