1944

It won't surprise you to hear that a '44 daughter has made Dartmouth history. This winter, Genevieve "Viva" Hardigg '84, daughter of Jim and Alice Hardigg, was elected president of the Dartmouth Outing Club, the first woman to be so honored. And a nice touch: this is the DOC's 75th anniversary year.

Viva has been part of Dartmouth out-of doors since the day she arrived on campus. She has been a member of Cabin and Trail and the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge crew; she has been a cross-country skier and a member of the woodsmen's team; she belongs to the Ledyard Canoe Club and the Bike Club; she was DOC vice president last year; and she is a member of Casque and Gauntlet and an English major. She also wears a permanent smile.

Then, '44 offspring have got a pretty good foot in the door on the Dartmouth medical scene, too, with George and Nancy Troxell responsible for half the count. Son Jeff is a resident at the Hitchcock Clinic and son Todd is in his first year at the medical school. Other first-yearers are Richard Morse '78, son of Harry and Mary Morse, and Julie Patterson '83, daughter of Dave and Ann Patterson.

We looked up across a snowflake one fine wintry day, and there were the very same Bud and Nancy Troxell, in town from Scotland for a week of local skiing. They said the slopes were sensational and so were the prices of ski tickets, especially as they were paying for themselves and the two boys.

Piqued because they weren't chosen for this year's Olympic team, Bill and Liz Craig said to hell with Hanover snows and headed for Florida. They overnighted with Bob andKitty Eshbaugh, who are happily retired in Ormond Beach just north of Daytona, and the four of them happily called me after a martini and a mozarella casserole. Bob was an engineer with Florida Telephone for most of his life and likes the idea of sand, surf, and sun for the next 62 years. Next thing is to get the Eshbaughs to Hanover in June for the 40th, and they're bending.

Bruce and Puss Thomson are also on the reunion fence (speaking of fences, I worked on the Thomson farm the summer of 1941, outside Lynchburg, and we thrashed enough wheat to feed Asia for 200 years), and their problem is a new grandchild due in June. Bruce's Christmas card brought another dimension: "This Christmas had a special meaning for me, in light of the fact that I had a heart attack in March. Luckily, I was able to get by with an angioplasty operation rather than having to go through with open heart surgery. I never felt better than I do now ..."

It was great fun getting on the horn with George Recke and Bob Vosler, who were freshman year roommates. Whitey Vosler has sold his lumber business in Medina, N.Y., this very month, and it's "golf courses, here we come" come springtime.

The Wrecker, meanwhile, is also on the shy and retiring side. He has sold his motel and garage enterprise and is paying off mortgages by advising friends on how to do the same. When we talked to him, he was just in from a three-hour wood-splittipg binge and I'd hate to be on the receiving end of a Recke maul, I'll have you know. George says that four of his five kids live near by and, with the nine available grandchildren, he and Catherine get in more than their share of babysitting. Daughter Judy 'BO is managing a book store in Pembroke, according to George, and working her fanny off.

Winding his fanny down, up there in Portland, Maine, is Art "Red" Peabody, who says his law practice is more and more playing second viola to skiing, white-water kayaking, and mountain climbing. In a word, retirement is just up the nearest woodroad.

Closer by, Norm Simpson informs us from Syracuse that he'll most probably never retire. "No one in my family ever has," he says. "All of my grandparents have died with their spats or overalls on." Knowing a soft touch when it sees one, the Outdoor Advertisers Association of New York has just elected Norm president for another unstinting term; he began in 1982. He previously served in the same capacity from 1964 to 1970. All I hope is that he'll bring his trombone back to reunion . . .

Friendly Don and Maryann Pfeifle sent us a postcard while they were vacationing in Portugal, and then the next thing we knew Maryann was recuperating back in home town Contoocook, N.H. It seems that she slipped on a wet Portuguese cobblestone and broke an ankle.

Also renewing his visas was Clint Gardner, who led a dozen New Englanders on a two week tour of the Soviet Union as part of a Bridges for Peace project.

And speaking of New England, it just so happens that Dartmouth College is located there, and all roads lead to there, and we'll see you all there/here for our 40th reunion, June 11-14, 1984. That's it. Blessings.

304 Parkhurst Hall Hanover, NH03755

EVEfIGBEEN