"This is it": DOC 75th

The 75th anniversary of the country's oldest intercollegiate organization devoted to the out-of-doors is an occasion worthy of note. And note it the Dartmouth Outing Club did with a weekend in late May jam-packed with festivities and with alumni to enjoy them. More than 300 former "Chubbers"

returned to Hanover for the largest gathering ever of DOC members. The weekend was actually just one part of a year-long series of events to celebrate the 75th milestone, but it was the centerpiece of the year's program. The weekend included a cookout and square dance on Occom Pond, a dayhike up Mt. Moosilauke, the official 75th anniversary banquet, and the dedication of a newly-rerouted section of the Appalachian Trail.

Another event was also part of the weekend's festivities, although most of it was taking place far from the Hanover Plain. The Ledyard Canoe Club's annual "Trip to the Sea" was scheduled this year to conclude on the anniversary weekend so participants could return to Hanover from the mouth of the Connecticut just in time for the 75th banquet. This year's river trip covered the entire length of the Connecticut -nearly doubling the traditional Hanover-to-the-sea distance.

This year's 410-mile journey was divided into two seven-day segments a 190-mile leg from the source just north of the Canadian border to Hanover, and a 220-mile stretch thence to the sea. The first leg was led by Brian McDonough '82 on his farewell outdoor mission for the College before heading for the Rockies as a wilderness guide and photographer. The 20 voyagers for the upper section, including two alumni over 60 years of age, were accommodated in an armada of ten canoes. They had to contend with several challenging rapids with at least Class II turbulence and a score of portages around both dams and some particularly treacherous stretches. Among alumni were Walker Weed II '4O, retired director of workshops at the College; his son Tyke Weed '71, former all-America Nordic skier and now a Montana rancher; Fritz Hier '44, retiring director of public programs at Dartmouth; and Bernie Waugh '74, an Upper Valley lawyer and fiddle-player.

The first two days' paddles covered less than 20 miles a day because of rough terrain on shore to bushwhack through. The remaining five days of the upper section included hauls of 24 to 38 miles, with evening accommodations ranging from river-side campouts to the barn of one participant's grandparents.

Upon the group's arrival in Hanover, a second contingent of paddlers took over under the co-leadership of Viva Hardigg '84, first woman president of the DOC and a cross-country skier on this past season's Eastern championship women's ski team, and of Betsy Cowles, also a senior and an Alpine skier on the same championship team. Almost all of the 36 participants for the second leg were fresh to the effort, although 65-year-old Walker Weed went the whole distance. But he couldn't claim senior status for the second leg. That honor went to two '32s Ben Drew of Vershire, Vt., a veteran of several Trips to the Sea, and Dave Kirby of Tryon, N.C. Eight paddlers set the pace in the Ledyard Canoe Club's war canoe, with the 28 others providing a significant escort. Overnight stops were made at state parks, a marina, and a couple of prep schools, including Northfield-Mount Hermon, Hardigg's alma mater. The final night the weary paddlers were feted, as usual, by the Southeastern Connecticut Alumni Club at the Essex Yacht Club; arrangements were made this year by Julia, Miner '76.

Asked before the embarkation why the annual Trip to the Sea was starting at the source this year, upper-stretch leader McDonough responded laconically, "Because the river's there." He then elaborated: "For the 75th anniversary of the DOC we wanted to do something special. This is it."

But the venture, notable as it was, was not entirely "it." Many other arms of the DOC have planned a continuing string of 75th-related celebrations running through next fall, concluding with a dinner in early December very close to the actual anniversary date of the letter to the editor of The Dartmouth by Fred Harris '11, suggesting that students form a ski and snowshoe club to avoid the winter doldrums and serving as the inspiration for the formation of the DOC.

The skyline of Hartford, Conn., provides a seemingly incongruous backdrop for theelemental travelers in the annual Trip to the Sea. This year's trip spanned the entirelength of the Connecticut, in commemoration of the DOC's 75th anniversary, takingin wilderness stretches on the upper reaches as well as urban shorescapes like this.

"The Commencement of 1869 . . . will be marked by a great concourse, cordial greetings, pleasant memories, and hopeful anticipations. It will signify respect for the venerable and fruitful mother, joy at her prosperity, and zeal for her enlargement. Her thronging children will gratefully listen to her history, recite her praises, and receive her blessing." -President Emeritus Nathan Lord