1934

By the time this is published, our football game reunions will have ended. A goodly number of '34s assembled with wives and friends in Michie Stadium on a gorgeous September afternoon for the close encounter with Army. Since our newsletter editor wasn't there, I'll report: They came from Florida Nick Nanos and Laurie Herman; from New Hampshire Bill Wilson and Spike Fulton; from Connecticut Fred Robbe, VinnieCerow, and Mayo Cohen; from New Jersey Len Harrison and Dave Beasley; and from New York Art Leonard, Gene Orsenigo, and Sig Stern. Joy Dwyer was there, too, with a Pleasantville gang.

Football stadiums aren't the only places to see '34 faces. I saw Jerry Danzig where you'd expect to see the husband of Sarah Palfrey Danzig at the U.S. Open. Then I ran into Herm and Syliva Spitzer at a concert, or maybe I should call it a happening. Duke Ellington's band, now led by his son Mercer, blared forth in the SUNY-Purchase auditorium. It brought back memories. Herm is still commuting three days a week to his ShearsonAmerican Express desk, but reserves a reasonable winter period for Florida.

In a more traditional concert setting (the New York Philharmonic), I ran into Hank andLiz Werner, and he steered me to Betty who was there without Henry Necarsulmer because he's still a full-time investment banker with Lehman Brothers Kuhn, Loeb and this was a Friday matinee. Hank is tapering off his legal assignments, looking toward retirement down the road. He later reported about his busy family: Son Peter is directing a film for NBC-TV starring Robert Conrad that may turn into a series; son Tom is producing a 13- episode sit-com you've probably seen for ABC, called "O Madeline"; and daughter Patsy stars as a parent of two football-playing sons at Westminster.

You all should have received the invitation from Reunion Chairman Bill Wilson to "Celebrate the Gold on the Green" and I hope you all will circle June 8-10 on your 1984 calendars. The schedule looks great and the projected price certainly is right. Most important, of course, is the fact that this will be a time for catching up with friends who go back further than almost any we know. Many haven't been back to Hanover in a long time.

For instance, Clarence "Bee" Kempff writes from California that he and Peggy will be back east for the first time in 50 years! Charley and Helene Strauss from Virginia and Carl and Andree Vail from California got a head start by reuning in Wisconsin for the christening of Charley's new grandson. Then the Strausses went on to Idaho to visit their son, and the Vails headed for Paris to board the Orient Express.

In another pre-reunion reunion, DickHouck traveled from Tennessee to let DickWells give him a golf lesson and show him the glories of Minneapolis. That followed a lesson from a 35-pound salmon that hooked him for an hour and a half one July morning in Alaska. He needs to be ready for challenges he and May now have a 12th grandchild.

Then there was an October reunion of the Sam McCrays from Ohio, the Dick Emersons from New Hampshire, and the Harry Espenschieds from Illinois on neutral ground, in Kentucky, if ground can be neutral when horse-racing is involved. A fourth couple was to have joined the gathering, but as you will have sadly noted in last month's obituary section, Bob Allabough pased away on October 1. It was a particular shock to those of us who saw him at the Army game enthusiastically greeting friends and so vigorous looking.

We are going to have an area at our 50th for displaying books and magazine articles written by '34 classmates. The lads in '34 are still producing. Stewart F. Alexander recently wrote for the journal of the New Jersey Medical Society a detailed account of home care delivery in Bergen County in the 19th century. He had dug into the handwritten obstetrical records of a pioneer doctor and the result is a clear and interesting depiction of rural community medical practice a century ago.

Another '34 who was recently published is Stan Abercrombie, now a resident of San Francisco. His definitive report for Professional Safety magazine, "Enlarging the focus on motor fleet safety," draws on his background as a staff member of the National Committee on Safety Education in Washington for 24 years. It points out ways that business and industry managers can organize and conduct motor fleet operations to improve the quality of performance.

Last month I promised further word on career choices for those who took the Tuck major hope you can wait one more month. It seems appropriate to end this column with the word that Hanover sent us a facsimile of an impressive "Chairman's Citation for Outstanding Performance" awarded to Robert F.Thompson for his consistent and dedicated work as head class agent during the 1983 campaign. We all certainly say amen to that!

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