1948

As these notes are being written in early April, Hanover is gradually moving into spring as one of the finest snow winters in many years draws to a reluctant close. There is still snow on the ground, but rivulets of water have appeared between the buildings, the paths in the formerly beautiful white snow have become drab with the accretion of mud, and the occasional puddle has even appeared. It won't be long before the Juckboards are laid along the main foot thoroughfares of the Green as the awful, but thankfully short, season of s-c-h-l-u-m-p sets in. Soon the first crocuses will appear along the warm outer walls of homes around the town, and students and townspeople alike can congratulate each other that another winter has en successfully endured and another spring gainfully earned.

Yet, we former denizens of Dartmouth and Hanover remember as well with some pain that final, unexpected snowstorm which almost Ml out exception arrived in late April or early May and set back the onward progress of spring. For the next two or three days we had to go back to galoshes or boots, the Softball games on the campus were interrupted, and the water runoff again turned paths and streets into miniature rivers until the new accumulation of white stuff finally disappeared against the renewed resurgence of spring. (Classmates are asked to please correct me on this, but I seem to recall a horrendous snowstorm on May 9 one spring between 1947 and 1949; it in effect turned Green Key into a Winter Carnival. What did this do to you?)

Class Prophet Dick Kuzmier (those of our class who were there on that day in June 1948 when Dirk "rode" a tiny Shetland pony to the Old Pine in the Bema on Class Day will remember his highly serious oration) advises that he recently spent a very enjoyable evening in Denver with lan Macartney and Jim Vanderbeck '47. It was a renewal of close undergrad relationships and one guesses that many a laugh was exchanged. Dirk said that Mac, who has had leg surgery that left him with little muscle control in his ankles, has further developed his patented skiing technique wherein his use of high, stiff ski boots enables him by leaning against the boots with his body weight to control the skis. Mac never was afraid of anything and one can bet that he controls the boards with the skill that he acquired on the hills of New Hampshire and Vermont. I'm sure that some of Mac's old friends and classmates who used to ski with him, such as Don Dresher and Ted Thornton, would enjoy a renewal of those runs down the mountain. Mac and his son, Hal '75, are both geologists with oil firms in Denver, Mac being responsible for exploration in frontier areas for Hamilton Brothers. Dirk has his own law firm in New York City, where he finds himself becoming more and more involved with legal education. He has two daughters in college and prep school in Colorado and thus may see more of the Macs and the Beeks in the future.

I received a very welcome and highly thoughtful letter from Bob Bastian of Oak Park, I11. He discussed some of the changes in Hanover which have affected his outlook on Dartmouth since our days on campus and thus his attitude toward the Alumni Fund. If his permission is forthcoming, I'll write something on this in a future issue. Bob also nostalgically writes, "Recent trips to Hanover still bring back golden memories. Main Street hasn't changed that much. Jim Campion is still wearing his white bucks from college days. I miss John Piane Sr. but was delighted to find his granddaughter working in the Co-Op. Fraternity Row looks bad, but I guess that way of life is gone from most campuses. Eastman is certainly ineresting and a sign of sensible progess."

(Bob will be interested to know that there is hope for Fraternity Row, as the McLaughlin administration seems to feel that fraternities, with perhaps some variation in form or structure, are a social necessity at Dartmouth and that a means must be found to keep the institutions and their physical plants on a sound footing. It appears fairly likely to this writer that support rather than suppression of effectively self-supporting houses which contribute to the College's social needs will be the outcome of the current study in Hanover. This study may result in College help to qualifying houses in such a way that, among other things, the now rundown row will be resuscitated. And for those not aware, Eastman is a lovely College-sponsored community about 20 miles southeast of Hanover, near Grantham. The old medico, Bill Jones, has a place there.)

Bob sent his regards to Houston's Bob Douglas and mentioned his contacts through his wife with close relatives of Dartmouth's renowned poet, Richard Hovey. Perhaps readers will agree that Hovey's magnificently evocative "Who can forget . . . those soft September sunsets . . . those hours that pass like dreams" does more in a few nostalgic words in describ ing our Dartmouth and the way it was than any number of descriptive books. Bob's letter closed with, "Lest the old traditions fail," this in the hope that the Dartmouth he remembers may retain those old traditions that make our memories so meaningful to so many of us.

Hope fellow '48s are enjoying an early summer when you read this. The writer would enjoy your responses, either favorable or unfavorable to, in agreement or disagreement with, anything written in these columns. Please let me know so we can make the notes more interesting and more fun for the whole class. With hopeful thanks.

Four Big Greeners were among those honored at the annual meeting of general agents of NewEngland Mutual Life in Maui, Hawaii, recently. From left to right are Tom Parks '69 ofManchester, N .HRoger Antaya '44 of Baltimore, Md.; Tom "Gus" Gillaugh'46 of Dayton,Ohio; and George Kingsley '54 of Buffalo, N. Y.

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