1929

"Had it not been for Robert Monahan there might not be a Mount Washington Observatory." So starts a recent article in the Valley News. We knew Bob as College Forester and hiker extraordinary. I didn't realize how vital it was to the weather station when he, Alex McKenzie '32, and Sal Pagliuca, an engineer, spent the winter of 1932-33 at the summit gathering weather data for the International Polar Year Commission.

Bob earned a degree in forestry at Yale and spent several months with Brad Washburn's expedition on Mount Fairweather in Alaska. At 15,300 feet Fairweather is more than twice Mount Washington's 6,288 feet Bob tells of several adventures, of glorious sunsets, and of seeing the flashing light off Cape Ann 118 miles away. There's now a Bob Monahan room in the new Observatory building.

Bob's senior year roommate and stern paddler in the 1929 cruise down the Connecticut to Hartford was Allan Finlay. Al and I spent a pleasant two hours recently, discussing his good progress with a new hip joint and, of course, settling down to talk of things at Dartmouth, including the flaws and facts in Ben Hart's Poisoned Ivy.

Al and I differ with those who feel only an academic should be president of a college. I'm reminded of the wisdom of our forefathers, who saw to it we had a civilian as head of our armed forces. Al still chairs the finance committee of Simmons College. His years of experience there lend force to his opinions.

The adjacent picture of the '29 championship Penn Relay One-Mile team appears because I do better at digging history than getting current '29 news. At least it resulted in the award of a Wearers of the Green pin to your scribe. I'm immodestly pleased.

Gus and Mary Wiedenmayer successfully tested out his new arteries with an Alaska cruise. Gus had never seen the Northwest and agrees with Harry Baehr. Gus wonders if he'd have ever left if he'd seen it earlier.

Earl and Edith Lister bucked the tide of movers to Cape Cod and moved to Andover, Mass., to be nearer their children. That reminds me to offer to get current addresses and phone numbers of '29ers whenever you want them. To close with a high class literary touch: For a sore toe or lockjaw my versatile doctor will frequently recommend gin. But he shouted. "No, no!" when I stuck in my toe, And said, "Whoa! It works best from within!"

Box 246 Monument Beach, MA 02553