1943
40TH REUNION
The class of 1943's 40th reunion in Hanover on June 13-15 was a stunning success. Under the skillfully-wielded baton of Reunion Chairman Eddie O'Brien, about 145 members of the class, more than one-fourth of current class membership, gathered on the Plain. Spouses, children, and friends brought the total turnout to about 260 persons.
Surely the most spectacular event of the three days of festivities was the original show written, directed, and performed by Waldo "Doc" Fielding and his talented wife Suzanne on the last evening of the reunion in Hopkins Center's Center Theater.
Doc, a gynecologist-raconteur, and his professional entertainer wife, from Brookline, MA, traced the activities of the class and its members year by year in song and repartee. There was even a soft-shoe routine that left the theater walls rocking with stand-up applause.
The three-fourths of the class members who missed this performance fall into the category of the deprived. Reunion Chairman Eddie, also the class newsletter editor, knows where to get cassette tapes of the show for $6.00. Eddie lives in New London, NH.
The buildup to the Fielding show climax began on Monday, June 13, as the '43 clan assembled gradually in the class tent in back of Dartmouth Hall. We picked up reunion packets, which included a special edition of TheDartmouth, edited by Herb "Hex" Harrigan of Sarosata, FL, sipped beer, renewed old friendships, and cemented some new ones.
The first of three festive dinners was held that evening in Thompson Arena with the classes of 1947, 1948, and 1949. Then there was a tour of President McLaughlin's garden and a Glee Club concert in Spaulding Auditorium that set spines atingle with nostalgia.
The following morning, an ecumenical memorial service was held at Aquinas House for the 100 '43s who have died since the class matriculated in September 1939. Mort Pechter and Brad Morse participated in the service on behalf of the class.
A class picture was arranged hastily in front of Webster Hall at noon two shots: one with wives and children and one just of class members.
Then it was on to Chase Field for the class picnic under a clear sky, but with 90-degree temperatures and a steamy sun that sent some to the '43 terrace in back of Thompson Arena for shade.
A vicious thunderstorm struck Hanover that afternoon, knocking out electricity, but it kindly held off until the picnic was over and lasted only 30 minutes, so it didn't disrupt preparations for the gala dinner and awards presentations that evening at the DOC House on Occom Pond.
Awards chairman Bodie Mosenthal sprinkled tokens of recognition around like rice at a wedding, amid lots of laughs. Jim Muchemore, an engineer from Hawaii, walked off with the award for traveling farthest to attend the reunion, but Val Vallarino came in a close second for coming from Panama.
An undergraduate octet called the Dartmouth Aires (formerly the Injunaires, but "Injun" now is banned) serenaded the class at twilight. Then steak-stuffed '43s gathered in 105 Dartmouth Hall to see a sensational film shot and shown by Mort and Alese Pechter. Most of the color footage, titled Underwater Wonderland, was taken in the Red Sea near the tip of the Sinai Peninsula.
Tent activities that evening were highlighted by the singing of Frank Hartmann, whose vocal renditions even slowed the beer-drinking.
At the class meeting the following morning, Fred Lent of Chicago, long a toiler in behalf of the class, was elected class president. Other officers: secretary, Tom Gerber; treasurer, Bob Clark; head agent, Bob Ehinger; newsletter editor, Eddie O'Brien; bequest chairman, Bob McQueen; women's program director, Marge (wife of Fred) Stockwell; and Alumni Council representative, Don Reich. Their terms are for five years.
A panel discussion titled "Retirement, Yes or No" followed the class meeting and featured Boston lawyer Bill Glovsky, who said, in effect, to prepare if you're going to.
Another reunion highlight was Wednesday noon at a classic class clambake in the Bema. The hot weather, the steak-or-lobster menu, and the scintillating company made this another memorable occasion.
President McLaughlin addressed the coatand-tie-clad class at an Alumni Hall dinner that evening before everyone adjourned to the Center Theater for the Doc and Suzie Fielding show.
Finally, a few bits of news on fronts other than reunion:
One of the reasons Herb Marx threw in the towel after 11 years as secretary of the class was that he's been elected New York regional director of the National Association of Arbiters.
The day after reunion ended, Harry Gustafson was elected chairman of the Berkshire County (MA) Regional Planning Commission.
And we received word the other day that Scott Mitchell retired May 31 as plant accountant at the General Electric Company's facility in Salisbury, NC.
The class's mini-reunion this year will be the Cornell game weekend, October 22. Get tickets now.
While some members of the class of '43 were studies in intense concentration, above, as they registeredtheir classmates for four days of reunion activities in June, other '43s were the picture of relaxedcontentment, below, as they lounged on the lawn of the DOC House.
RFD 7, Box 34 Concord, NH 03301
