1938

It's always a pleasure and a privilege when these notes can serve as the medium for conveying word of a tribute paid to a classmate for outstanding achievement.

Such is the case with a report of a testimonial dinner in honor of Fran Belcher in Boston last winter. The program of the event is entitled "An Affectionate Tribute to C. Francis Belcher from the past and present presidents of the Appalachian Mountain Club." A part of the citation reads as follows:

"You have always loved the hills: their beauty and grandeur, their joys and challenges, their history and their resources. And you have always reached out to those who look to the hills for their livelihood and to those who look to the hills for inspiration and release from the press of urban living. Your knowledge of the hills and their people grew as you served successively as AMC hutsman, as volunteer Club worker, committeeman, and officer, and as the Club's first Executive Director and Director of Special Affairs. During the past quarter-century you have been intimately involved in a major expansion of the Club's membership, activities, and outreach. .. .

Throughout this period of growth and change you have been an invaluable source of background, wisdom and guidance to successive generations of Club officers, committeemen, and staff. You have provided this support with innate modesty, which has always elevated the Club's prestige rather than your own."

Of course, the "innate modesty" mentioned in the above citation inhibited Fran from bringing word of this event to your secretary's attention, but Karl Seidenstuecker sent me the information, and I'm grateful to Karl for it. Sincere congratulations to you, Fran.

From Baltimore I've received a recent clipping regarding recognition of achievements of another classmate, Julie Westheimer. The Baltimore Sun February 21 reports Julie's selection, by the sales and marketing executives of Baltimore, to receive its Distinguished Man of the Year award, an honor which, according to The Sun, "for the last year or two has been translated 'the man who has done most to sell Baltimore.' " The article continues, "A general partner in Baker, Watts & Company, investment bankers, Mr. Westheimer is president of the Associated Jewish Charities of Baltimore, a trustee at a hospital and a children's home, a regular panelist on the coast-to-coast television program 'Wall Street Week,' financial commentator for WMAR-TV, and Sun columnist. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth, Mr. Westheimer was president of a department store firm before he began his other careers."

I'm indebted to Frank Chase '55 (to whom I'm most grateful) for the above information about another of our worthy classmates and his achievements. Frank notes, "We in the Dartmouth Club of Maryland are very proud of the contribution to Baltimore that your classmate has made over the years." My saludos to Julie and my thanks to Frank.

My thanks also to Squee Ellis's wife Helen (mother of '38 secretary's favorite girl goalie) for her kind note. The Big Green women's hockey team didn't have quite as good a season as their basketball counterparts, but it was better than the men's record and they were great in the game I saw.

With resumed reference to the hometown of the Orioles and the Colts, I received a telephone call the other day from another eminent businessman of that gracious city, the president of the amazing class of 1938, Clark Barrett. Class Officers Weekend will be over before these notes appear, but a springtime event that will be in full swing and is deserving of the serious attention and participation of all of us is the Alumni Fund drive. Dick Holt and his dedicated crew will be in touch with us. Financial support is one area where each of us can demonstrate our devotion to Dartmouth and our faith in our College and its new president.

The sad news of the deaths of three of our classmates, Dune Marsh, Howie Moulton, and Walter Meschersky, has been received. The sympathy of the rest of us is offered to their relatives.

A welcome letter from Jack Lutz proves again how small the world is. In the course of a Florida sojourn last winter, Jack and Millie visited a mutual friend of theirs and the late Bob Griffin at Punta Gorda, where Ed and Bernice White also have a place. As Jack continued, "We were invited to a cocktail party at Ed White's home, where, oddly enough, Millie met up with some of her far-removed relatives from Chebeague Island, Me., where some of her forebears once owned property. These people were guests of the Whites from Chebeague Island, where Ed and Bernice spend their summers, Bernice's mother having a home there." (Editor's note: Chebeaugue Island is off Yarmouth, Me., maybe 10 miles east of Portland 40 miles west of Damariscotta.)

May I close by urging that we all offer our prayerful best wishes to Dartmouth's new president, Dave McLaughlin '54.

Box 187 Damariscotta, Maine 04543