1950

It was the equinox and the best of September. The weather was typical for the North Country, except that the days were hot, not warm; the nights still were cool. Most of the time the skies were cloudless, until the wind swung into the northeast just as the game started.

The gathering place was the Sunset Inn Dave Taylor's hostelry - which is situated where the Connecticut River widens into a lake just above Wilder Dam. Behind the inn the river bank drops sheerly through ashes, maples, and birches to the river. The view of the setting sun is spectacular.

A tent, pitched on a recently leveled patch of lawn, was the focal point for class activity - meetings, breakfast, evening cocktails, tailgating before the game, and, on Saturday night, a clambake. The lobster was superb.

The clan assembled. King Kenny flew in from Los Angeles, the longest trip; A1"Dick" and Joy Dickson, from Michigan; Skip and E Fauver from Ohio. Vally Chamberlain, who also came from California, was an especially welcomed guest.

Jim and Terry Harms shortened the trip from London by retiring from Mobile and moving to Quechee. Jim and Biz Birney and Ben and Joy Shaver chose to drive from Maryland; so did Dave Hitchcock, who is no longer stationed overseas.

For the first time continuity was sustained by the presence of three widows. We were pleased that Mary Jane Devitt,Sally Burrill, and Betsy Pinkham were able to join us.

Newcomers to the fall mini-reunion included Mike and Tee Mitchell, Larry andElaine Batty, and, after a long interlude, Gerry and Ginny Sarno. Stretch Pendleton joined the tailgating crowd without his bridge partner, Ed Gulick. Bill andJudy Cross staked out a corner, too. Others who had missed the last year or two were Ken and Jill Edelson, Dick and SamDale, Jack and Ann Elliott, John Craver, and George and Ann Jewett.

Besides the Sarnos, the revelers who watched the late moon rise above the mists included Fizz Nichols and Margie, Ben Johnson, and Ray DeVoe. By then their pipes were limber enough for a solid, creditable rendition of "Men of Dartmouth."

The music was piped, songs of the late forties. But there was little song; too many voices were absent, too many voices have been stilled.

The weekend planned by Len Matless together with Dave Taylor started with a dinner in the Drake Room (in the Hopkins Center) on Friday night. It ended with a brunch at Jack and Jill Harned's home on Sunday morning. At last there were quiet moments to chat with FrankHarrington and Bob and Mary Kilmarx.

Gridiron gleanings: the one discordant note of the weekend was the game against Princeton. It was close, but there was no spark. The outcome seemed clear from the start, Dick McSorley's invocations not withstanding. The gloom deepens as the season stretches out.

Tidbits here and there: catch Ray DeVoe's analogy of the billion-to-one (or is it the trillion-to-one) martini. General Mills sold Foot-Joy, Inc., the Brockton golf shoe company, to Acushnet, despite the efforts of Bill Tarlow and his brother, former owners of the company. Acting as Dartmouth's delegate, Hugh Brower attended the installation of Northwestern University's new president. Among the lawyers representing Geraldine Ferraro and her family is Steve Pollack.

The drifting October leaves merge into the lightly drifting snows of December. Another holiday season is come, another time to revel in good cheer, another time to reflect upon the past as a new year dawns. Blessings on you. And peace.

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