1931

Members of the class will already have had Bill Wendell's usual complete report of our mini-reunion over the October 1 Holy Cross game weekend by the time this issue is mailed. But for other readers of this column, I'll report that it was a resounding success, with 40 or 50 odd (very odd!) classmates, wives, and friends in attendance at one part of the festivities or all of them. The good fellowship and sistership were great and the weather was at least favorable. The executive committee met and its actions have been duly reported to the membership.

Turning to happenings in other quarters of '31 land, Johnny Martin was awarded the first (and highly prestigious) Bertha S. Ad kins Memorial Award for distinguished service to older Americans. This occurred on May 16 in Washington, D.C, at the tenth annual conference of the Federal Council on Aging, a presidentiallyappointed organization of 15 members. Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler made the presentation.

The honor recognized, among many other contributions to the welfare of the nation's senior citizens, Johnny's service during the Nixon administration as U.S. commissioner on aging and later as special assistant to the president on aging. He had been the chairman of the Michigan Commission on Aging and served the American Association of Retired Persons as legislative counsel from 1973 until his retirement last year. Congratulations, John!

Bob Tonis was featured in a Harvard University Health Services publication as the only male volunteer caring for patients at the university's Stillman Infirmary. He took this on after his retirement in 1975 as Harvard's chief of police. Earlier, he had had a full career with the FBI. Harvard has honored him in many other ways. He is an ardent beekeeper, and he and Paula live in Hull, Maine.

Ed Brummer sent me my first news material for this job. (Everyone, keep it coming!) He reports getting a letter from Dana Howe, who, having earned his M.D. degree at a relatively late age, is now practicing in California. He and Helen plan to come on for our 55th.

The newsletter specializes in travel notes, but here are some of the more exotic trips that classmates have had recently: Ben Hardman - a caravan tour of the Balkans, including Austria, Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Hungary; Don Cruikshank - Portugal, Spain, and Morocco; Jim Rice Alaska; BobOelman a stay in a house in Scotland, near Perth (only two days of rain, but they were the days Bob played St. Andrews and Gleneagles).

Will Light reports via Lucy Cogswell's dues enclosure that he is still working full time and is engaged in launching a new product in the U.S. market. It's called Comb-O-Matic and is a high-quality clothes washer dryer combination on casters. He says his golf game is bad because of a tennis elbow.

Johnny H. Chamberlin and Ellen attended Alumni College in August and enjoyed it greatly. Among their fellow students were the localite Irv Bettmans, whom the Chamberlins greatly enjoyed being with. Last winter they had a house on St. Croix and had several delightful sessions with Jane and BobWagner.

Howie Mason, in the past year, has been re-elected to the New Hampshire legislature, to the Hillsborough County executive committee, to the Wilton Town Budget Committee, and as moderator of his church. He's still in the used book business and does much of the housekeeping because Isabella is not well.

That inveterate correspondent, Jack Wei sert, had a very interesting letter to the edi tor, written from his retirement retreat at St. Jean-de-Luz, France, in a recent issue of the U.S. State Department magazine. Here's a partial quote: "Each time I journey to Paris to renew my contact with our embassy (and to replenish my supply of peanut butter, bourbon, and golf balls in the commissary) I make it a point to take the Metro to Troca dero and walk about Passy a bit, to pay my respects to that statue of Benjamin Franklin in Paris at the head of the Rue Franklin."

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