1942

FORTIETH REUNION

Dave and Jane Heald, our 40 th reunion chair and his wife, put on our greatest quinquennial get-together yet. The food was out of this world, both in quantity and quality, and the beer flowed on for ever and ever. In fact, one classmate claimed he tried single handedly to swallow it all and failed. It just kept on coming.

The reunion committee, workers all, deserved and got a big hand from the rest of us we who simply came, enjoyed, and left. Dave reports that we had 300 attendees, men, women, and children 155 who were classmates. This won us the cup both for total numbers and per cent returned. Warren Kreter, our kinetic reunion giving chair, reported a total of $424,424 given by the class in celebration of being 40 years out and still going.

One of the several high points of this reunion was the clambake, put on by Stam Stambaugh and his crew. It was held on the lush lawn in back of Leverone Field House, a lovely setting enhanced by a perfect June evening. The class demolished an incredible quantity of lobster and metabolized it all with dancing to a Dixieland band.

Another high point was the Top-of-the-Hop cocktail party followed by the class dinner, appropriately titled "A Night To Remember." Leo Caproni and his committee had Alumni Hall inventively decorated, including with helium-filled ballons. While we filled these ballons in the afternoon, 13 escaped and soared to the ceiling. One wonders how subsequent users of the hall retrieved our errors.

One of the nicest things about this affair was the easy temper of it all. There was plenty of time for tennis and golf, for contributions to the Hanover economy, and for lounging in the tent with a plastic cup of Anheuser's best. There was also some very worthwhile intellectual fare for those so inclined a panel on "The Arms Race and You," another on "Does a Knowledge of the Dark Ages Prepare Students for Wall Street."

There was a lot of talk about retirement, which reminded one of this quote from Juvenal: "The noiseless foot of time steals swiftly by, and ere we dream of manhood, age is nigh!" We are all pretty much in the same boat: 40 years out puts us right up against the question are you going to retire now or later? A number of the fellows already have. It's interesting to see what they do with their time.

Among other things, Bob Strasenburgh travels. If we heard him correctly he said, "I wish they would wind up this war in the Falkland Islands, for we are scheduled to stop there on our way to the Antarctic."

Bob Whelden retired a bit early and went to work on a childhood dream. He built a darkroom, bought a lot of expensive equipment, and taught himself to be a top quality photographer. He does a lot of wedding stuff and said he only charges what it costs him. "If I charged for my time too," he said, "no one could afford me!" (If any of you out there have good retirement stories or questions, let's have them to share with the class).

Bob Encherman, our new class newsletter editor, said that he had simply turned his back on the Big Apple and moved permanently to his place in Quechee. He's now a citizen of the Green Mountain State. Merrill McLane retired from the Marines some time ago and has become a serious student of gypsies. He travels all over the globe interviewing these interesting people and has written extensively about them. Ernie Grinnel, vice president of Burlington Northern, said that he almost retired on the merger of Burlington with Frisco, where he'd worked since law school. But then he thought he might as well hang on for a while. "The pay," Ernie said, "is a lot better than I got working in that diner on Allen Street while we were in college."

Al Britton and Wally Farr, two Vermont business tycoons in the class, both responded to a retirement query with something on the order of, "Who, me, retire; of course not, what on earth would I do?" So there you have it, all shades of opinion, myriad approaches to the 65th birthday, and probably all of them right.

A quick early-morning class meeting gave us the following slate of class officers for the next six years. If you have any problems, complaints, suggestions, or extra money to unload, these are your avenues to satisfaction: president, Richard Rugen; secretary, David Sargent; treasurer, Leo Caproni Jr.; head agent, Charles Weinberg; newsletter editor, Bob Encherman; bequest chair, Guy Swenson Jr.; Alumni Councilor, J. Richard Burns.

It is always great to meet old friends and compare notes on life's experiences, but sometimes it is almost more fun to find friends you make with men you don't recall even knowing in your undergraduate days. This writer was impressed one more time with what a remarkably likable group the class of 1942 is. There were 165 of us back; the rest of you should have been.

Camaraderie, among new friends and old, prevailed among the 119 '38ers at their 45th reunion.

A highlight of 1942's 40th was a clambake that found reunion organizer Dave Heald pressedinto service hawking lobster (above) and two miners replete after ingesting same (below).

15 Indian Springs Way Wellesley Hills, Mass. 02181