1936
Secretarial procrastination inborn, not job-related plus an inordinate demand for space in the January-February issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE somewhat curtailed the 1936 class notes last month. Not all of the failings should rest, however, with the secretary and/or the MAGAZINE, but substantially with the great silent majority of accomplished D'36ers from coast to coast and elsewhere. I realize that great corporate promotions or achievements are no longer our daily bread; few of us are emerging from the dungeons of medical research with startling breakthroughs in the fight against cancer or some other dread disease; and I haven't seen the bookstores bulging with the great American novels created by 1936 authors. No, retirements and moves to the sunbelt are not necessarily newsworthy per se, but I have yet to talk with a retiree who isn't busier now than when employed and enjoying almost every minute of his new-found toy. Hasn't anyone participated in a ten-end on a curling team? How about a hole-in-one at some spectacular golf course? Or participation in some neighborhood social service project? Or which of you on the West Coast filled the most sand"bags recently in a valiant attempt to hold back the ravages of a capricious Mother Nature in the storms of January?
As a secretary and newshawk, I must admit to being a novice. I don't have a straw hat with a "Press" ticket stuck in my hatband allowing me obnoxious entry into your every gathering. But I will revert to the old, proven sales; technique - 0.Y.B.M.S. On your part, dear classmates, I would appreciate being inundated with clippings, comments, news items, rumors, evaluations, or announcements of any sort traumatic or trivial that pertain to the life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and fame of the class of 1936.
From New Canaan, Conn., we learn that Milton S. Johnston Jr. was elected president of the board of trustees of the Nature Center in that community. Milton goes on to report that late this past fall the center broke ground for a $750,000 energy-efficient, solar-heated, twostory innovative horticultural education building to replace their 70-year-old greenhouses. The center has some 1,450 members (mostly families), a large number of volunteers to help out a full-time staff of seven and three part-time paid workers. All in all, Milt says it is lots of fun and really keeps him busy.
In the field of horticulture, Fred Weiss in Mt. Clements, Mich., writes that he is still working the family flower farm growing roses but is finding the problems of excessive fuel costs extremely aggravating. (Now is the time to insert that cliche Fred, why not develop an iced-tea rose that loves the cold!)
And speaking of the cold, just before Christmas in Andover, Mass., Ted Andrew's widow Pat, assisted by her daughter Carol, sponsored an evening get-together of those '36ers who went on Bill and Anna Wyman's trip to Greece last September. Guests included Rose and Harry Coronis, Sheila and Ted Dearborn, Peg and Jim Lancaster, and, of course, Anna and Bill. Phyl and Cliff England, ex officio members of the group, slithered over the icy roads in the role of chauffeur to Jim Clark, who co-hosted the evening with Pat. The success of the evening is echoed in plans to hold a repeat performance via a trip to Holland, the Rhine country, and Switzerland in the fall of 1983. It will be a small group, well-versed in congeniality and skillfully put together by an experienced pair of world travelers.
Bill Wyman also reports that on their return north from a short stay in Naples, Fla., he and Anna stopped off at Lakeland, Fla., for a visit with Fred and Ray Kneip, who have retired to the Florida lake country. In just a few hours Fred succeeded in showing Bill and Anna many of Florida's treasures, including Cypress Gardens.
And while on the subject of Florida, should you be north of Palm Beach in the quiet community of Tequesta, Bill and Barbara Lee, refugees from New Hampshire, will gladly show the relative values of being on the ocean in Florida vs. New Hampshire. They recently built a house on the coast around Jupiter Island and find that the combination of salt spray and high temperatures sure make a big difference. (Secretary's query: Bill, how about breakfast at Harpoon Looie's?)
From the other side of the popular, sunny, sand-spit of the South comes a report from Class Prexy Bob Fernald that the West Coast Alumni Association luncheon in Naples on January 12 for President and Mrs. McLaughlin was a great success, with about 150 in attendance. Representing 1936, in addition to Bob and Tanna, were Harry and Rose Coronis, John and Jane Bowker, and Fred Babcock. We hope a similar enthusiastic outpouring greeted the McLaughlins at their luncheon on January 15 in Asheville, N.C., where Paul Guibord formally launched the D.A.C. of the Western Carolinas. And now that you classmates have all returned your green cards (and checks) to Norb Hofman in Menlo Park for the 1983 Alumni Fund drive, please punch into the memory bank of your personal computer and feed me a few choice read-backs to share with us, with the MAGAZINE readers, and with the rest of the world.
Merci beaucoup, mes amigos - you all.
32 Lehigh Road Wellesley, Mass. 02181
