1950
Cold. Bitter cold. Not the bright, glistening cold of the north country, but damp cold and windy cold. And no snow, except a touch, a token blanket, lingering in the cold. The gray of January is not the blue gray of the season but the brown gray of a parched land. Winter pers ists. It is cold.
For contrast, think of June. Dave Taylor has sounded the clarion for a touch of class our 30th reunion. There is no promise for the weather except that it will be warmer. Warmer, distinctly a relative concept on the Hanover plain.
Momentum is gaining for the gathering of the clan. Each day the committed list increases. The trick is not to be caught short, so plan now. Only ten weeks or so (do you believe it?) remain before 15-18 in June.
Who is coming? Hosts. The list is too long to print here (my editor constantly complains that 1950 exceeds its bounds). Yet some are obvious, the ones who live within range of the campus and appear from time to time for one class event or another. Still, many new names have appeared, like Tom McMahon or JimBristoll or Mike Mitchell or Joe Garafoli. JackCoffman is one of several coming from California; John Sickman ditto from Vermont; and Izzy Stahl plans his quinquennial hegira from Guatemala. Sadly, several classmates have not yet signed up; one is Sam Jefferson.
Music in one form or another is an essential ingredient of reunions. Much is canned. But the live variety sparkles, recreates the intimate, evokes nostalgia, or simply engenders fun. Tom Ruggles seeks enlistees for instrumental work. And if you sang with the Glee Club, he summons you to join colleagues from '51 and '52 to "knock 'em dead" in a mini-concert at the alumni dinner.
(Notes on a quandry: How should alumni now be spelled?)
About four years ago a new magazine was born. It was Quest/78 (the numbers change with the years). The announcement bore an incipient clash: The publisher was the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, which had been established by the controversial Worldwide Church of God; yet the foundation had pledged to the new editor that it would not interfere in the editorial decisions of the magazine. In the interim Quest has won acclaim for its quality under the leadership of Bob Shnayerson. It achieved its objective in "the pursuit of excellence in all major fields."
Recently, the clash became reality. The foundation insisted upon the publishing of an article. Bob tried to convince the foundation that such an action would undermine "a basic premise that the magazine was independent of the church." The battle joined, Bob and five other top editors resigned. Excellence remains elusive, except as manifest in their act.
Another one-company man rises to the fore. Don Hannigan joined Mass. Mutual in New York in 1950. Given the proximity of St. Johns University, he earned an LL.B. there. In 1958 he was transferred to the home office in Springfield and, in 1962, became a chartered life underwriter. Now Don has been promoted to second vice president and assistant general counsel in the law division. Loyalty does pay. Marita welcomes him home in Westfield.
Jay Buck stopped off at the University of Chicago for an M.B.A. and at the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers before joining the Northern Trust Company of Chicago in 1953. Steady progress through the ranks resulted .in his appointment as (the news release is ambiguous at this point; so, when in doubt, magnify) ... as head of the personal banking department. His responsibilities include the administration of almost everything else more precisely, six divisions such as marketing and product development, retail credit, and master charge. Jay and Diane have four daughters; home is in Winnetka.
Tidbits here and there: Jack Beatty was host for a small mini when Chuck and Tommie Solbert dropped into Portola Valley, Calif., and neighbors Bud and Shirley Bray joined the party. Where is Ed Lawton, last seen in Chicago? An unenviable position: Gene McCabe's job as pricing and allocation manager for Mobil. Jack Elliott revels at the thought (or at the helm) of a fast ship propelled by heavy following winds with Bermuda as the goal. If you need a personal computer, stop in Cortland, N.Y., and strike a deal with Frank Lion, who recently took over a Radio Shack there. A new mix: not wine and cheese but wine and racquetball, Frank Treadway's new enterprises in greater Cleveland. Dave Hitchcock is timing home leave from the embassy in Tel Aviv to coincide with our 30th. His stories did invoke memories of the Bounty, but the precise locale of Si Morand's adventure was French Polynesia. Jim Stevens has left Carl Sandburg's boyhood home for South Hadley, Mass. After a huge success in raising $1.8 million for a gymnasium complex at the Detroit Country Day School, Dave Grinnell has been appointed director of development at Cushing Academy. New England's lure holds fast.
Some mail is better not received. Somehow these letters, portending the worst, stand out among the many postmarked in Hanover. Their message is evident; the only question is. who? News has arrived that two more members of our class have succumbed Jim Martel suddenly while watching a football game at home with friends; and Phil Gross (It. col., retired) at Pease Air Force Base Hospital. We are diminished by their loss.
Remember, now, reunion is only about ten weeks away. Seeing you is important. Please come. You will be enjoyed; you will enjoy yourself. Until then, peace. And cheers.
510 Hillcrest Road Ridgewood, N.J. 07450
