1931

Smokey Joe Adams was surprised by a recent visit by Dick Henry and Jack and Margaret Bean to Smokey's snug chalet in Kamakura, Japan. They all pored over the 1959 25th yearbook and indulged in 51-year reminiscences. Smokey says he spends most of his time in bed reading, dozing, and perusing his well-worn copy of our 25th yearbook, which, by the way, was autographed by Trudy and myself when we visited in 1979

A long awaited letter from John and Marion Boermeester arrived last week, full of pertinent news. Dave and Alice Loveland, loaded with grapefruit, stopped for a few days en route from Naples, Fla., to Boston and Norwich, Vt. Earlier in the winter, Ed and PegBrummer stayed in Pinehurst and got together with the Boermeesters several times, playing golf, dining, etc. Ed gave John the impression that some of the innkeepers where they stayed could use some professional advice on how to run a friendly ship; running a friendly ship is what made Ed and Peg's Woodbound Inn so famous, and, sadly, such a rarity. John says he is doing a bit of piano work for the occasional fashion show and happy hour at the local club, as well as for an energetic mixed chorus which calls itself the Piney Pipers. He continues to be an unpaid consultant for the Society of Actuaries Examination Committee and is presently embroiled in reviewing an unpublished textbook.

Ralph Hunter confided to me that he has taken up the bassoon as a musical hobby. I was both astounded and awed at this, for a bassoon is an extremely difficult and cantankerous instrument. Most professional bassonists retire in their fifties, having had enough of it. Ralph, plays with a local chamber music group every week or so. He still spends one day a week at Mary Hitchcock and one day a week at Concord, where he attends an epilepsy clinic for children.

Just about one hour before Lucy Cogswell arrived home, Steve Williams had stopped by to slip his class dues under the door. It was rather unfortunate, for he missed a small cocktail party Lucy was having for a few of the early arrivals at Class Officers' Weekend. You win some, you lose some.

Bunce Clarkson nearly injured himself in an early season boating accident. His camp, near Worcester, Mass., is separated from the mainland and requires water transportation. The boat is propelled from shore to shore by means of pulling on a cable stretched overhead. The boat, which had just been put in the water for the season, leaked and sank on Bunce's first trip across, leaving him dangling on the cable until help arrived.

Ori and June Hobbs, with Hank and Rose McCarthy, were booked on a deluxe cruise ship for a trip from California to Scandinavia by way of the Panama Canal. When they boarded they found their staterooms were completely wrecked. The ship had recently been "stretched" by the addition of another midsection, and the interior work had not been completed. The Hobbses and McCarthys were berthed in temporary quarters while their staterooms were finished. If I didn't get these facts straight, I know Ori and Hank will straighten me out.

During a recent trip to California, Don Stoddard talked with Rog Donner on the phone, with the sounds of grandchildren in the background at least Don thought they must have been grandchildren. Don said Rog seemed in good spirits, and I trust that this note may prod him into writing and including more details about his life in California, including his piano-playing.

A '31 mini-reunion was held last May in Kamakura, Japan, as Dick Henry and Jack Bean(second from right and far right, respectively) visited their classmate "Smokey Joe" Adams (secondfrom left) and his wife Reiko. The placard, in Japanese phonetic characters, is roughly equivalent to"Dartmouth '31."

R.F.D. Box 33 Chebeague Island, Me. 04017