1927

By the time you read this, if my records are correct, there will be only three of the over 250 living members of the 1927 tribe who have yet to complete their first three-quarters of a century on this glorious planet. Congratulations to us all; as Vic Duplin put it in a recent thankyou note for his annual birthday card, "Those of us who have stayed with it this long are indeed fortunate."

Speaking of birthdays, our old friend and sustainer in times of stress, the Nugget Theater, recently celebrated its 65th. Our fond memories of many pleasurable hours spent there during the 1923-1927 years include laughing and crying while Nat Morey, Nibs Dowe, Phil Thompson, Brownie Langworthy, and others banged away on the tinpanny upright piano at tempos and volumes to match the pathos or excitement of the blackand-white silent film. We also remember the long waiting lines, the cold concrete floor, and the hard wooden seats as well as the popcorn and peanuts flying through the air, not to mention the audience's almost continuous booing or cheering of the action.

For the above memories, we thank Bob Williamson, who sent in an article which appeared in the Valley News a while back and which included the billing for opening night, September 13, 1916, as shown below.

Since 1932, the theater has been operated, as you know, by the Hanover Improvement Society for the benefit of the town, and to date over $1.25 million has been turned over to the town for a wide variety of worthwhile civic projects. The original building, behind the Dartmouth Bookstore, burned to the ground in 1944, and for the next seven years Webster Hall was used as a substitute. Finally, in 1951, the theater was rebuilt on the present site on South Main Street, across from the Post Office. During many recent years the Nugget was managed by Lewis Bressett, an honorary member of 1927, whom we all remember as the owner of Lou's Restaurant. Much of the credit for the success of the enterprise is due to Lou for his many years of dedication and hard work.

And now to get on with some more current matters.

President Ken Murray and wife Ruth planned to spend two weeks in Costa Rica during the recent holiday season. This is happy hunting ground for Ken, who visited there many times during the forties when he was working in Brazil.

Last fall, Gus Cummings, able custodian of our class funds, sent us a package containing notes that were sent to him along with the class dues. Here are excerpts from some of them:

Johnnie Rintels: "I still manage to pull my own cart on the golf course."

Vern Whitney: "I'm glad to be able to send you the enclosed check. It shows that I am still alive, though I don't move very rapidly and am lazy much of the time."

Bob Tobey: Alice and I are leaving soon for two weeks in Greece."

Lee Gore: "Just had a pinched nerve in my wrist operated on. Supposed to cut five strokes off my golf score. Now I'll break 100."

Ken Anderson: "Just returned from a great vacation in Scotland, where we rented a small house for a month in the country, near the west coast town of Oban and about 110 miles northwest of Glasgow. This gave us a chance to tour the scenic country in the western highland region and a few of the islands including Mull lona, TrafFa, and Skye. A marvelous country - and very friendly people everywhere you go."

Syd Voice: "Enjoy my retirement going on six years now. Good health except for annoying flat feet. Keep busy three days a week as a volunteer teaching English to foreigners including Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russians. This is the first year that Evelyn and I have not taken an extensive vacation. It wasn't bad staying in New York City. My ambition is to be able to remain living on Madison Avenue the rest of my life. No Florida, Arizona, or California for us. We love New York."

Our mail bag was bursting out all over during recent months with thank-you notes for birthday cards. These certainly warm our aging heart; thank you to Brick Stone, Bob Long, Art Keleher, Tom Gillespie, Steve Tracy, Ed Ripley, Ed Jacob, Gordon Colby, Seth Besse, Si Morand, Glen Hannaford, Ed Johnson, Bert Gustin, Frank Strong, Charlie, and three others who forgot to sign.

And so, cheerio. . . . It's late January here in Wayland, with snow and ice all about and an outdoor thermometer which now (10:00 p.m.) reads ten below zero. See you at the 55th next June 11-13.

11 Rolling Lane Wayland, Mass. 01778