Home, Home on the Plain

"Round the girdled earth" the song goes, suggesting that the 40,000 sons and daughters of Dartmouth have flung themselves to the far corners of the globe. In fact, a large number of them, some 1,300, live within ten miles of Baker tower. For many graduates, then, their four years at Dartmouth were an introduction to home. What brought them back, or often never lets them leave? Why do they find this such a special place? And what are their hopes and fears for the future of the area?

I began my search for these answers three years ago, as a sophomore taking a course in the Anthropology Department. Required to study some segment of the Dartmouth community, I chose a group that I knew I would one day be a member of: the alumni. What emotions and motivations, I wondered, might I be experiencing 20 or 40 years from now? That initial investigation, which was limited to elderly alumni in Hanover, spurred me to study graduates of all classes in a larger area around the College. I ruled out (with one exception) those alumni who work for the College and looked for a wide range of ages and backgrounds. Sixteen interviews later I had my information.

As many reasons as there are for living in the Upper Valley, the one which tops the list of most alumni is the rural setting. Having lived in New Jersey most of his life, Lester Talbot '26 of Hanover looked for a change of scenery after retiring in 1972. "We had lived in a suburban community, liked New York City, but we had had enough of it. We wanted to get away from that part of the world. With the interstates, Hanover is still convenient, though; it isn't terribly distant from Boston, New York, or Montreal." A similar feeling motivated Dr. Franklin Lynch '38, who had returned many times to visit his three Dartmouth sons. "People said, 'Why don't you just move there?' It made sense. We loved the area and wanted to get out of the crowded Connecticut area where we were." An alumnus living in Hanover was blunt about it: "People are just sick of the urban situation. They reach a breaking point. They reach a breaking point and have to get out."

The scale of rural small-town life is particularly important. For Richard Martz '57, now living in Lyme, the intimacy of growing up in rural Michigan made him a devotee of small-town life. "That scale of things seems to me a natural and ideal scale to live on. It's the level on which you can still know everybody personally." The impersonality of urban life bothers Roger Clarkson '75, too. "It's probably the security of being in Hanover I enjoy most," says Clarkson, a Hanover realtor. "The familiarity with your surroundings, being able to walk down the street and say 'hi' to half the people."

Yet another desirable aspect of country living, especially for younger graduates, is its suitability for raising a family. Clean and healthy, almost free of crime, the Upper Valley seems a naturally idyllic cradle. As an alumnus in Norwich pointed out, he can take a much more active role in the lives of his children than he could in an urban environment. Martz concurred, adding that the smaller secondary schools one finds in a small town "provide a continuity of community for a kid which is totally lacking in a larger school, and avoids a lot of the problems of the urban situation." Would Martz consider returning to a city? Never. "Now it's to the point that I can't stand traveling to a city, don't see how people can live in them, and I hope they all stay there."

Alumni also find the Upper Valley attractive professionally. As the area has grown, more and more employment opportunities have been created, and Dartmouth alumni have often taken advantage of them. Crucially, though, the career opportunities in the Upper Valley are usually ones that "free you from the corporateurban trap," and that is very important to alumni who locate in the area. The story of Mary Beach '76 is typical: Having moved to Chicago with her husband Murray in 1979, she became involved in a large corporation doing stategic planning. Economically, it was a windfall. "We had everything. A house in the suburbs, everything." But while on vacation two years later Beach decided something must change. "We saw ourselves climbing the corporate ladder, dancing to someone else's music. When it came to a place to move to, I pushed for Hanover. I think it combines the best of both worlds: A rural lifestyle, which we find attractive, and business opportunities in which we can work for ourselves. We find that very attractive."

The Upper Valley also provided William Keegan '75 with an alternative to corporate employment but in a very different way. Having decided against a career in law, medicine, or business, Keegan opted for a Peace Corps stint teaching math in Malaysia. "That lasted two weeks. I loved the country, the environment, the people. What wasn't nourishing was having a 24-hour-a-day job teaching. I decided then that what I wanted was a job doing construction work." It was a natural choice for Keegan, who had always worked in his family's hardware store, and he's been hammering nails and installing plumbing in the Upper Valley for five years now, working for a local construction company.

For some alumni the question was not where to start a business but where to move one to. Clinton Gardner '44 and his wife Elizabeth were operating Shopping International, a thriving import business, in the suburbs of New York City, when in 1962 they decided to head back to the north woods. "We found it convenient to move to where we took our vacations. The increased shipping cost to the Upper Valley was more than offset by lower labor and land costs than we experienced in Westchester County. So it made a lot of sense from a business standpoint." Edward Scheu '46 moved his lighting business from Massachusetts when he got "fed up" with the poor climate for operating a business there. A very helpful New Hampshire Development Commission suggested he relocate in the Granite State. Scheu did, in Lebanon, and he could not be more pleased with the decision. "Not only is there an abundance of technically skilled people in the area, but our blue-collar workers have just been a cut above those in Massachusetts. It's ended up as a very happy experience as far as the business is concerned."

Besides business or employment considerations, the familiarity that Dartmouth alumni naturally have with the area can play a role in their decision to live near the College. Reunions, football games, and three Dartmouth sons brought Franklin Lynch back throughout the years, so when he went into semi-retirement he moved to Hanover "rather than somewhere where I didn't know anybody this always felt like a second home town for me." The Upper Valley also became the adopted home of William Malcolm '66. While at Tuck School, Malcolm ventured up and down the East Coast and across the Midwest, actively pursuing job opportunities. "But I found every time I flew back into Lebanon Airport I always felt I was kind of coming home. My wife and I discussed what it all meant and decided that I should explore the opportunities in the area."

OF COURSE, the primal tie that binds all Dartmouth alumni is the very fact that all attended the College. What role, one must wonder, did having gone to Dartmouth play in the decisions of some of them to live so close by? Somewhat surprisingly, few had proximity to the alma mater in mind when they chose the Upper Valley. Attorney Gary Brooks '70 left Atlanta in 1979 to live near an academic institution, but it wasn't necessary that it be Dartmouth. "I feel very strongly about Dartmouth, am very active as an alumnus. But I would not characterize my case as a 'coming home to Mother Dartmouth' phenomenon.'' Bill Malcolm also ruled out the presence of Dartmouth as a determining factor. One alumnus living in Hanover even went so far as to say that occasionally he wishes he hadn't moved quite so close to the site of his alma mater. "The pressure of it, especially the social pressure, can be a bit of a burden at times."

Yet while most alumni living near Dartmouth denied that the closeness of their college was significant, some hinted that maybe Old Mother was somehow involved. "It's a nice plus," says Scheu. "But if all the business conditions had been met we might just as well have ended up in Burlington or Portland." Then he smiles, and adds, "Looking back I'm not so sure that's true though." When Fran Fenn '37 moved to West Windsor, Vermont, being near Dartmouth was barely given a thought. "We didn't start out saying, 'Let's live near Dartmouth.' " But thinking further on it, Fenn ponders: "Perhaps it was a subconscious thing, which it might have been. I don't know the psychology of it, but maybe subconsciously it was the strong pull this place has on me. It certainly looks like it in hindsight, doesn't it?"

There is no doubt, however, about the importance of the cultural and intellectual opportunities afforded by the College. Being able to drive a few miles and see a production of Shakespeare or hear the Concord String Quartet makes the Upper Valley a natural for the culturally or intellectually inclined. Lester Talbot moved to Hanover very much in search of cultural and intellectual change, and Scheu named "the incredible offerings" of the Hopkins Center as a major part of the excitement of living near Dartmouth. "It's really professional stuff, and the amount boggles the mind." Many alumni pointed out that what is really unique about their location is that all this food for the mind can be found in rural New Hampshire. As Gary Brooks observes, "I think the reasons you put up with the disadvantages of a city are the cultural, intellectual, and business opportunities. Here you have what's really the best of both worlds a small town with the cultural and intellectural atmosphere of a college town."

The combination of city sophistication and country comfort is just one of several bonuses to be had by living near the College, though. Other rewards include the use of Dartmouth's many facilities, such as the libraries and the gym, and the auditing of courses at the College. Because they tend to have a good deal of free time, retired alumni especially take advantage of the benefits to be had, and they speak high praise for Dartmouth's generosity with its facilities. "The College is so benevolent with everything the tennis courts, the classrooms, the Hopkins Center," says Scheu. "I have a lot of Yalie friends, and they're just amazed." For busy younger alumni, the availability of facilities, to whatever extent they are used, is a definite plus. Bill Keegan did not move back with that in mind, but now he thinks it is terrific. "Especially giving alumni library cards."

Athletic events, from Ivy League football to women's tennis, give the alumnus who is also a sports fan plenty of reason to locate near the home of the Big Green. Lynch attends all the home football games, most of the away games, is a hockey season ticket holder, and has become a big fan of lacrosse. Beach and her husband prefer rooting for Dartmouth's crew teams from the banks of the Connecticut River. Interestingly, though, many graduates find that they actually enjoy sports events, as well as other Dartmouth activities, much more as alumni than they did when they were students. In the words of Clarkson, "I've enjoyed Dartmouth more as a graduate living here than as an undergrad. While I was a student I floundered around, worried too much about grades. Now it's a pleasure to go to a hockey game, basketball game, or whatever."

Additionally, living near Dartmouth gives those alumni who want it the chance to maintain contact with students at the College. Whether attending banquets as a Friend of Dartmouth Skiing, or simply meeting by chance with students on, Main Street, alumni (especially the older alum- ni) consider exposure to undergraduates an important dimension of living near the College. Talbot sums up his feelings: "Living in a college atmosphere, you have to some degree an opportunity to mingle with undergraduate life. I think this is a very important seasoning, particularly for older people. Being near Dartmouth, I'm always aware that here is being generated a marvelous civilization. Many of these young people are being civilized not just for themselves but to make better the places they return to. Being among these people and this process is a very satisfying experience."

Martz also values living near Dartmouth: "I view this area as the prime area, certainly in the state, perhaps in the country, largely due to the presence of the College. I'm 60 miles away from the White Mountains, live on the side of the Ski way, but I'm 12 miles away from professional employment, an excellent computer system, an excellent library, and the offerings of the Hopkins Center, as well as a wide range of shopping. You could say I'm an addict of the place." Beach says she'll never leave, and, though he says it's "a little bit unreal," Gary Brooks is in the Upper Valley to stay, at least for quite a while longer. "It's just an ideal situation all around," adds Roger Clarkson. "I've talked to alumni from the other Ivies, other schools, and a lot of them also consider the area to be sort of an 'ultimate retreat.' "

Ah, but there's the rub. If the Upper Valley is so attractive a home for Dartmouth graduates, it must be the same for a great number of non-Dartmouth people. And it is. Individuals, families, and businesses have been moving into the area at a high and steady rate, changing the face and character of the region.

"IT all started with the completion of the interstates and the mushrooming around West Lebanon." So says realtor Clarkson, who anticipates continued rapid growth with the forthcoming expansion of Lebanon Airport and the industrial park being planned for nearby. Everett Wood '38 puts it in other terms: "We simply lost our wonderful isolation, and now Hanover's advantages have become its disadvantages. For example, the Hopkins Center is,"to me, a double-edged sword, one of the things making Hanover so attractive to people with no Dartmouth connection at all." Growth in the Upper Valley has been running at ten to eleven per cent a year, and such a figure disturbs alumni like Marttz: "I'm deeply concerned about it. You have the West Lebanon shopping plaza, which sits on top of some prime farmland and looks like any other shopping plaza coast to coast. It might as well be Tenafly, New Jersey."

That kind of fear of seeing the Upper Valley turn into a New Jersey of the North Country was echoed by several local alumni. As far as Lynch is concerned, more housing and businesses mean more traffic, one of the things he hoped he had left behind in Connecticut. Talbot is concerned that the growth to come may be too rapid. "And when I say too rapid I mean the area may not be able to absorb the changes." Talbot, who lives in a Hanover condominium development, doesn't feel his arrangement is too cramped, but is also quick to add that "when you multiply it over a lot of condominium developments, you get a hell of a crowding."

Vermonter Fran Fenn gives three reasons for future growth near Dartmouth. "For one, it's at the crossroads of two major transportation arteries. Two, the presence of Dartmouth College, the Hopkins Center, at cetera. And three, it's in the real outdoors. Put together, it's a very desirable location." Agreeing with Fenn is Bill Malcolm: "Zoning, building codes, subdivision regulations, capital budgeting, Vermont's Act 250 [controlling development in the state] in spite of all that, it remains a very attractive place."

Given that the further development of the Upper Valley seems unavoidable, Dartmouth's alumni here look to see the process in a positive light. Among the possible benefits suggested by various graduates are a strengthening of finances in the area, a reduction of poverty, improvement of schools and medical facilities, and a drop in unemployment. "I think it's a very desirable growth," says Scheu. "Amenities and engineering, technically-oriented businesses." That preference for "clean industries" is confirmed by Brooks, who feels that the growth of such businesses should be good for just about everyone, and by Gardner, who calls it "good for the whole area."

WHAT tempers this enthusiasm is the need, as alumni in the area perceive it, for the proper control and management of the growth that is occurring. How the development is handled, it seems, will make or break the area. Thus Fenn is positive about the growth "as long as it takes place in an orderly manner, and as long as it is kept within what the environment can handle." Slow, moderate, "reasonable" growth is what most graduates in the Upper Valley favor, and they point to responsible regional and town planning as the keys to successful change. A prerequisite, though, is that the planning itself be done by the local people. As Gardner warns, "The decisions must be made by the people in the area, not by what I call 'economic plungers,' of whom I know a few, who have a lot of money and come in and develop. It's easy to be pushed around, even if you have some laws on the books, if you don't have community action."

Agreeing with Gardner is Bill Keegan. Keegan, who has taken night-school courses in community planning to be informed about what is happening to the area, believes the process of "thoughtful, careful growth" must ultimately include thinking and caring about the people involved. "Those in decision-making positions," Keegan feels, "must realize the effects they have on all the other people in the area. For one person or group of people to gain at the expense of someone else isn't acceptable. . . . As the growth continues, are the people being affected by that growth being thought about?" An alumnus in Norwich added, "We're all in this together, and we've got to see it that way if we want to survive."

What, then, do alumni living in the area see as the future for a rapidly growing Upper Valley? Will it retain the rural splendor that makes it so special to so many? Certainly all hope it will, and many alumni are confident that it will. "It's the people of Hanover who make the town," says Clarkson. "As long as you have the cultural amenities, the College facilities, the excellent school system, Hanover will attract the kind of people who will care about the area." And on the other side of the river, Fenn feels Vermont is also in good shape: "Our laws are doing the controlling job, and the growth in Vermont is taking place in an orderly manner. Sure, there are people who think the laws should be. stricter, and a lot who feel they should be looser, but I feel pretty comfortable with it." Fenn smiles, and then shakes his head. "I'd just like it to be a little easier to find a place to park!"

Jeffrey Boffa '82 graduated, from, Dartmouththis June.