1954
I'm writing this column in the Hayward Lounge of the Hanover Inn. The leaves have all disappeared, but I want to describe the pageantry and fun that we enjoyed two weeks before, at the Harvard/Dartmouth game. The 15th and 16th of October were the height of fall foliage in the North Country, and the colors were particularly bright this year.
Your class officers met Friday afternoon at the Woodstock Inn, the results of which I will completely report to you in a future column.
The class hosted a cocktail party at the Inn late Friday afternoon, but the real fun began with the Dartmouth Night parade and bonfire. It was a lovely evening and excitement was everywhere marching bands, cheerleaders, the football team and the largest gathering of alumni ever to come to Hanover for Dartmouth Night. The class of '54 outdid itself as well, with over 50 classmates in attendance. Check this list for an impressive gathering: Bob Adnapoz, Pete Ankeny, Dick Barker, Bob Berry, Brad Borden, Bob Buchanin, Jay Chandler, Phil Christophe, Bob Clark, Bob Clements, Jim Conrad, Phil Cook, Dick Fowler, Mort Gelper, Art Geller, John Gillespie, Jerry Goldstein, Dick Gorsey, Dick Grassey, George Grayboys, Lyon Greenberg, Rick Hartman, Mort Haifitz, John Heston, Tom Kong, Dick Leary, Dick Lewis, Al Lewis, Dave Martin, Aaron Margolis, Bruce Mclvor (with his new wife Pattie), Steve Mullins, Charlie Murphy, Bob Osmond, Dick Page, Bob Palitron, Seaver Peters, John Pope, John Scoville, Dick Steinberg, Paul Sullivan, Bob Vosanger, George Voss, Bill White, Ed Winnick, and Shelly Woolf.
If you missed this weekend, you missed a good one!
There was one classmate who I know was particularly disappointed that he could not be in Hanover. Hugh Robert's wife Phyllis had carefully planned an elaborate surprise 50th birthday present, consisting of a long weekend in Hanover for the Harvard weekend parties. Unfortuanately, the day before departure, Phyllis took a bad spill and was confined to a hospital with her ankle broken in three places. We hope Phyllis and Hugh will join us next year.
The positive, yet at the same time frustrating, aspect for coach Joe Yukica has been watching his team improve week after week while still ending up on the short end of the score. You can't please too many alumni merely by getting better. The Harvard game was the perfect elixir to cure the Dartmouth football ills.
Judy and Dave McLaughlin hosted a lively party following the bonfire attended by loads of '54s, wives, girlfriends, and Dartmouth undergraduates. This was a terrific party, and we are all very grateful to the Mclaughlins for opening their lovely house to the class.
We spotted Dave and Betsey Metz picnicking with their family at the West Point-Boston College game in late October. (We are checking out locations for the possibility of a 1954 mini-reunion next September when Dartmouth travels to West Point for the first time since 1954, when the Black Knights handed Dartmouth a 60-to-6 pasting.) Dave is sales director of McGraw Hill's professional management network, which consists of 19 of McGraw Hill's leading business publications.
For the West Point weekend next September, the College is planning an official reception and dinner at the Thayer Hotel at West Point after the game. This is a great spot to party, since the hotel commands a spectacular view of the Hudson. More on this in the June column. A visit to West Point is an impressive afternoon beautiful views of the Hudson, a fortress-like setting, and a fun place to tail-gate if you get there early. A full-dress parade takes place at 11:00 a.m. at all home games. So if you still have young people at home, this should be a must next fall.
The media has been rattling all fall about what a tough winter we are going to have this year. I felt a little independent research was in order.
While in Woodstock in October with our class, I gathered enough courage to ask the resident forester there if he would give me a prediction on what kind of a winter we are in store for. He pointed out that us moderns (people who come to Vermont for weekends), who need a weather forecaster to tell us how the wind blows, dismiss intimate answers about the weather as folklore. But the locals who read the signs have made very accurate observations, and they say that their answers are based on years of verification. Thus you will be distressed to know that it is going to be a tough winter based on the following indicators: There were a lot of foggy days in August, thus a lot of snow days in winter. The cattail heads were dark and long and onion skins were thick. Corn husks were tight and beech nuts were plentiful. The hornets' nests were high, muskrat homes were tall, and the fur was thick on raccoons and skunks. Vermont, he said, this year, will live up to its reputation of having nine months of snow and three months of darn poor sledding.
Jonathan Moore '54, right, was named the second recipient of the "Class 0f1954 Award" over theharvard game weekend. Class President Steve Mullins, left, made the presentation of a limitededition etching commissioned especially for the awards. Moore, who formerly held several high-levelgovernment posts, is currently director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard and a lecturer on theHarvard government faculty. Over 50 's4s were on hand for the presentation of the award, whichMoore called "a great surprise, a handsome work of art, an elaborate and generous citation, a richgathering of classmates and wives . . . altogether a happy honor redolent of the continuity of sharedorigins, friendship, and values."
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