1960

One of life's truisms is that if you volunteer for a job and do an acceptable job, you are bound to be asked to do another. Thus, I was asked to serve as class secretary for the next five years. Writing nine columns a year shouldn't be difficult if YOU give me something to write, and I give you some thought-provoking subjects. I'm willing to diverge from the usual alumni mag format. Let's see if it works (see below).

Events in Hanover during our 25th reunion were both intense and gratifying. Aside from the myriad physical activists who displayed varying talents in running, rowing, tennis, golf, mountain climbing, singing, dancing, eating, and eating more, the primary activity was talking. Perhaps reconnecting is a better description. With official attendance of 290, we set a College record. Unofficial attendees brought our number to well over 300. Many who live in or near Hanover drifted in and out, and several made last-minute decisions and just arrived, at least two via the "red-eye" from California.

For those who weren't there, here are a few of my images from the reunion kaleidoscope: logistical organization par excellence; the restaurant decor of Thayer; unveiling the controversial Hovey Grill murals for alumni eyes only; the professional caliber of the Hopkins Center student art exhibit; a touching tribute to Warner Bentley; the folk singing of Mary Travers and Tom Paxton; classmate seminars on "Right to Life" and "Foreign Policy"; hundreds of lobsters and strip steaks at Storrs Pond; exploring the myriad shopping opportunities in downtown Hanover; Tanzi checking on consumption at the three-quarter-ton beer truck; classmates pushing baby strollers and one carrying his seven-week-old child, huffing and puffing, to the top of Mount Moosilauke and reveling in the view from the top; talking until 2:00 a.m. and getting six hours of sleep; freely mixing with recent college graduates, many of whom were our children; filling Thompson Arena with our class and loved ones; 280 bottles of wine; requisitioning an upright piano at 1:00 a.m., not a bulldozer; tiredly but happily saying farewells on Sunday morning. To these, hundreds more could be added. The experience was truly coming together again.

At the risk of slighting some, I am only going to mention two classmates by name, Tom Trimarco and Gene Kohn. Tom took on the incredibly complex task of reunion chairman. All I can say, Tom, is the results speak to the excellence of a job well done. And too, the kudos so lavishly expressed at our banquet were all well deserved. But they fell short of the mark because of one glaring omission; nobody thought ahead to thank the one person who gave so freely of his time and talents during the preceding five years as our class president. Our 25th reunion was the culmination of Gene's leadership. In my opinion, we all owe him one of his favorites, a "big round of snaps."

The common thread of motivation and discussion during reunion was the incredible sharing of thoughts, ideas, and feelings which so many contributed to our yearbook, "Musings." Another central strain of conversation was the regret of those who had not contributed. I received literally dozens of requests for one more deadline if we would compile an adden- dum to "Musings." Well, here's your last chance: we are extending the original October 31, 1984, deadline by one year for those of you who are a little slow in getting your thoughts organized. No photos for latecomers, but we welcome "your ruminations on the past 25 years as they relate to you, to Dartmouth, and to our contemporary society." We will type, reproduce, staple, and mail the results to everyone in the class. So get started now.

Finally, let's get back to my first paragraph, the content of some future class notes column. I am struck by the dichotomy between the great success of our reunion and our class's failure to even approach our Alumni Fund giving goal of $1,360,000. Why did we set a College attendance record, yet fall so far short with our financial support? Statistically we were capable of attaining that goal, but what were the reasons we didn't? I take the risk of offering this column as a forum. Any requests for anonymity will be granted. "Musings" proved a collective willingness to share thoughts. Let's continue. If you write to me on this subject or any other, we will have an interesting and provocative experience.

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