1948
As we write these notes in early April we are informed that there have been some really gigantic late-season snowfalls in Hanover and that it is still too early for the duckboards. This may remind '48s of some of the latewinter snows which arrived in Hanover in our day, for many about as welcome and useless as a case of leprosy. You may particularly remember a May 9 which was a Friday or Saturday in 1947 or 1948 during which about seven inches of snow arrived on the alreadyspring-green campus where softball had been underway for at least three weeks. The unexpected snowfall put a real damper on the Green Key dance, especially as most of the dates for the weekend had bathing suits and tennis shorts rather than galoshes. Consternation? You bet! Ridiculous situations? Absolutely! Perhaps some of the laughter can still be recalled today, only about 36 or 37 years later. Remember?
A doer in the largest sense, certainly deserving the plaudits of his class, is DaveMeeker. This accomplished businessman, a naval officer in the South Pacific during World War II, graduated with many of his classmates in the Bema in 1948, obtained an M.B.A. at Michigan in 1950, and joined Hobart Corporation of Troy, Ohio, as a salesman. He worked his way up in this large company, which manufactures food equipment and appliances, to CEO in 1970, a position from which he retired in 1982. Along the way and since, Dave has become director of a dozen or more other companies and has also had the time during his career for such publicspirited deeds as serving many very Worthy educational and civic organizations. Among other things, he is on the boards of the Boy Scouts and Junior Achievement in Dayton and was founding president of the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum there. He and Helen have also somehow had the time to bring up four children, now all grown. Dave is representative of the kind of entrepreneurial and voluntary civic leadership that has meant so much to our country's progress during its history to date. Well done, Dave. You're a '48 of whom we can all be proud.
A couple they just can't keep at home are Professor Bob Huke and his wife Eleanor. In recent years, these two have spent much time in the Far East, where both have worked as research scientists for the International Rice Research Institute. In 1983 they spent time in Bangladesh. Beginning in December this year they'll leave their home in Norwich to spend several months in the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Borneo. Their project will involve settlement on the "outer islands," perhaps in connection with growing population pressure, another chapter in Asia's Green Revolution under which rice productivity has greatly increased. Please give us a rundown when you get back, Bob.
The class is very sorry to hear of the death in Michigan of Jack Costello in February. No details as of now, but we know Jack had continued to be a consultant to Ford Motor Company following his retirement with Cetie to their Tecumseh farm in Michigan in 1980. Deep sympathy from the class to Cetie and the Costellos' five offspring.
On a happier note, we're able to report, based on information delivered to Bob Herrick in California, that notices received by the College of the death of Len Sullivan are somewhat exaggerated. Len, divorced some years ago,-apparently just decided to "take off" for a while from his home in San Mateo. Perhaps he's presently seeing the sights and hoisting a few with his old roommate and friend Jack Mahoney in Fort Lauderdale.
I am always pleased to find something to write about New Hampshire which may be of interest to other '48s. Thanks to Don Dresher, we have the following. Don and the late Keith McLoud and the writer spent one or two summers working on the old Cog Railway of Mount Washington a good many years ago. While there, we learned something of the ferocious and highly-deceptive nature of this magnificent mountain, which is only 6,920 feet high. Since its first ascent by one Darby Field in 1640, who reportedly saw the mountaintop from the deck of a ship in Portsmouth harbor some 75 miles away (impossible today due to haze), Mount Washington has had a fascinating history. Due to its treacherous alpine weather, no less than 94 climbers and skiers have died on its slopes and cliffs, some only a stone's throw from shelter and safety. Sudden storms, fog, and exposure have been major culprits, as have accidents. One fact probably not generally known is that just 50 years ago, on April 12, 1934, the world's highest measured wind Velocity of 232 miles per hour was registered on the anemometer at the observatory on the summit! Unbelievably, several people are alive today who lived through the experience. When you talk about big winds . . . !
Don't make Ken Young and his cohorts have to contact you. Please get your 1984 contribution into the Alumni Fund! 'Nuff said.
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