1927

This is catch-up month, as we try to reduce the size of our "pending" file by passing along some lines that came in to treasurer Gus Cutnmings from dues-paying classmates way back last fall.

Guy Bostwick of Holmes Beach, Fla., found it essential to have a respite from Florida's summer heat and accordingly fled to the North Carolina mountains last August. "I still play a lot of golf and cut the grass and pull weeds in the garden, which keeps me busy and is not as boring as it may sound."

Pat Partridge reported that everything was under control in Hadley, Mass. He and Mary make periodic forays to Hanover for lunch at the Inn and a visit to Campion's. As auction buffs with a special interest in clocks, they try each year to cover as many auctions around New England as possible.

Al House, at age 74, became a grandfather for the first time last October 3.

Doc and Eleanor Milliken have moved from Baltimore to a retirement complex called Fairhaven, where their new address is C057 Fairhaven, 7200 3rd Avenue, Sykesville, Md. 21784.

John Machen retired from his practice of medicine last October and, for something to do, is now studying French at his state university.

Dow Mills has bought a condo in Tempe, Ariz., where he and Alice will spend the winters.

Finding it too much to care for his former house and grounds in Dennis, Mass., after the death of his wife Mary in October 1979, FrankCloran has moved to an apartment at 74 Town Hill Road, Osterville, Mass. 02655. He finds apartment living much easier and simpler.

Mike Ross wrote that he is recovering from serious but undisclosed surgery in Sherman Oaks, Calif. We hope that his recovery is, by now, complete.

A record number of replies to birthday cards came in last month, to our great delight. With our advancing years and dwindling numbers, this is reassuring, to say the least. Among those who reported "all's well here" or the equivalent in more interesting words, were LowellWormsley, Bill Tobey, Elmer Zimmerman,Dick Stowe, Vern Whitney, Norm Swift, Gordon Hope, Dud Bonsai, Max Shaw, and GlennHannaford.

Will Shaw put it this way: "I am still in pretty fair shape for an old dog, but, of course, not as spry as I once was. However, I'm a pretty good man at splitting logs for our fireplace here in Woodcliff, N.J."

And Bill St. Amant had this to say: "Down here in Hillsboro Beach, Fla., a 75th birthday, quite naturally, is about as common as pigeons on the Boston Common. We simply refer to ourselves as 'eminently mature' rather than 'senior citizens.' Yesterday, I shot my age in golf (97 less handicap of 22). I understand Paul Revere O'Connell does it without a handicap. Oh well!"

Our entreaties were finally successful in extracting the following from Stu Ensinger on the occasion of his recent 75th birthday: "I am beginning my 20th year as treasurer of our local library here in Madison, N.H., where I spend a day a week paying bills, handling the payroll and managing the investments of a half-million endowment. Helen and I spend our summers in Maine, where we see Norm and Ruth Swift on occasion. In the winter we do some traveling. Last year, it was Hawaii. This year, Florida."

Memory Jogger

You are aware, of course, that one Samuel Occum played a vital role in the early years of Dartmouth. But do you remember the details?

After graduating from Yale in 1933, Eleazer Wheelock owned and operated for many years a school in Lebanon, Conn., known as the "Indian Charity School." His first Indian student was Samuel Occum, a full-blooded Mohegan with a lithe, athletic figure, a strong coppertinted face, and straight black hair hanging over his shoulders. By 1765 the school had grown to 127 students. However, years of difficult times and serious problems finally convinced Eleazer, already a noted pulpiteer, pamphleteer, controversalist, and educator, that the future of his 'carrying on the work of the kingdom' lay in the wilderness, and he began to look around for a new location.

To help raise funds for such a move, his staunch advocate, Samuel Occum, went to England with a friend, Nathaniel Whitaker, in 1766. While there, they cultivated many influential individuals, including an enthusiastic Lord Dartmouth, and during the ensuing two and a half years, in which they traveled extensively in Scotland, Ireland, and England, they raised £11,000. There were 2,500 names on the final subscription list, which included King George for £200. During this period, Occum preached over 300 sermons. In April 1768, Occum began the eight-week boat trip back to Boston, and the exciting search for a new school location began. We'll go into this later, if you're interested.

Making sartorial history, 1927 classmates Don Lacoss,Bill Starr, and MishCleaves (from left) posed during their junior year as exemplars of campus fashion.

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