1932

Trying to recapture some events of his youth, my old sidekick Dick Cleaves and his wife Margo visited the West Indies via the cruise ship Statendam last year. The high point of this cruise was a visit to Martinique, where Dick and Howie Newcomb stayed on the beach in 1933 49 years ago! Dick and Howie are shown below in the still-fine black and white photograph Dick loaned me, sitting on the jetty at Le Carbet, Martinique. To quote from Dick's letter relating to this trip, he says: "Howie and I went to Martinique in early 1933 because a mate on the ship we that includes 'Whip' lived on in Quincy, Mass., told us that the rum punches were only two cents apiece! So six of us got passage on the Munson Line Munamar for $50 each round trip. We found a house to rent for $4.00 per month at Le Carbet, and a lady who would feed us two meals a day (soup, fish, or lobster; salad; meat course; dessert; and a rum punch) for 40ft each per day!"

When the Cleaveses landed in Fort de France they rented a taxi to go to Le Carbet to try to locate old friends. As Dick explains: "We found our beach, 'Le Coin,' where part has been taken over by a small, very nice French hotel, near the rocks where we used to fish. We made inquiries for the Morin family who had befriended us almost 50 years ago. We did indeed find two grown-up ladies of the Morin family, Denise and Desiree, who were little girls of six and eight when we were there in 1933! It was a moving experience, not only for me and the two ladies, but also for Margo who, I'm afraid, has often disbelieved some of the stories I have told her about some of our experiences before we were married."

Dick ends this interesting tale by saying, When we got back to Fort de France we went to a rather non-descript bar for a rum punch at $2.75 each!" Dick and Margo will be at our 50th in June as will, we hope, Howie Newcomb.

Another classmate who will be returning to our 50th is Howie Frisbie. He reports that he is still working out of his office at home in rand Rapids, Mich. He is a business management consultant on group insurance and pension plans. Howie is also an avid jogger, doing his three miles per day regularly, as well as sailing a Rebel Class boat.

My old buddy Cal Geary is another classmate who is still working, in his wool business in Boston. His present life-style, based on his answer to our class questionnaire, is: "Work regular schedule - 10:00-5:00. Play golf in season. Active participation in Park Street Church as deacon. Quite unexciting but satisfying generally." Cal and his wife Siegfrid will be at our 50th.

Ben Burrill also indicates that he is one of the few in our class still working although "retired." He explains this by saying that after 40 years of practicing dermatology he is now the staff dermatologist for the V. A.'s regional office in Newark, N.J. Herb Friedman explains his life-style as follows: "I am currently continuing my laryngology and facial plastic surgery with three young associates here in White Plains, N.Y. My Colombia-Presbyterian Hospital 25year term ended a few years back. In the meantime, my wife Shirley lives in Florida for six months and I commute weekends. In the summer we live here in White Plains and I find it very pleasant to work four days a week and play golf and tennis on my time off."

To break all existing records for attendance at our 50th reunion, some of us still working will also have to take some time off. The present record for a 50th reunion is held by the class of '31, which had 163 classmates return last year. Our class matriculated 586 strong in September 1928. Ben Drew, our reunion chair, reported as of mid February that we had then 175 classmates planning to return for 1932's 50th - on June 11, 12, and 13- That will do it! Your obedient servant,

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